If you watch this F Stop tutorial video you'll see it see that they use a pen/mouse pad device.

That was an interesting video. But I'm really not looking to draw things myself - just looking for sources of pre-paid animations with alpha channels so I can drop them over my existing video.

Steve:

At its peak, Digital Juice put out an extraordinary amount of excellent material (along with some truly mind-numbing stuff). Most of that stuff is out of print now, and what remains available is very high quality--and expensive. Over the last half-decade, Digital Juice has stuck to its collection-based, premium-level pricing structure--while most of the non-broadcast professional and prosumer-focused animated graphics industry has moved to a single-clip-based, dirt-cheap pricing structure. I like those guys, and I've bought a lot of their stuff--but budgets are tight all over, so here are a few other sources for your consideration.

(I have no relationship with any of these sites/vendors except as an occasional user, and no rooting interest. I hope others can add to this list.)

Various VJ Loops Collections at the Moving Image Archive section of the Internet Archive
http://archive.org/details/vj_loops
Hundreds of animations and animated objects, all of them free and nearly all free of any restrictions on usage. You might get an alpha channel, you might not

Motion Elements
http://www.motionelements.com
Huge and rapidly-growing collection of animations, graphic elements and stock video, ranging in price from USD $5 to $100+ and in quality from clipart-awful to state-of-the-art spectacular. Alpha-channels/mattes provided on some clips. A significant chunk of the collection is priced at $5, $10 and $15, and there's a bin containing about 200 clips of all types, all of which are free (the site rotates clips in and out of the free bin every so often, and it limits free downloads to--I think--five per user per day)

VideoHive
http://videohive.net
Impressive collection of animations and animated objects--quality work, royalty free, priced as low as USD $5 (but most a bit higher, up to about $40). The bulk are AfterEffects projects, but also include a pre-rendered Quicktime video with an Alpha channel

VJ Vault
http://www.vjvault.com/index.php
Free, public-domain animations, backgrounds, stock footage, pop-culture ephemera. Site founded by and geared toward club DJs; clips are short and lean toward psychedlics and found-video snippets. But there's a lot here, and no restrictions on use. As for Alpha Channels: not usually

The large stock video/animation retailers all have a lot of animated objects for sale; these four offer one free clip per week in exchange for your email address (you know how that goes). Of the four, Motion Loops is focused on animation; the other three mostly deal in stock video but have animation, too:

Motion Loops
http://www.motionloops.com

Pond5
http://www.pond5.com

Revostock
http://www.revostock.com

Unlimited Stock Media
http://www.unlimitedstockmedia.com

Good luck, Steve!

--JK

lajeffk/JK,

Just was cruising this thread since I am technically a retired graphic artist but have enough on my life plate to not be able to make something for others right now. I'm also on a very tight budget (personal, not a pro) and took advantage of ArtBeats freebie spree a couple of years ago. Call me an opportunistic pauper.

I just checked out Unlimited Stock Media that you included in your list.
Wow, that's an interesting concept for the greedy paupers such as I:

Go in, do recon, bookmark favs, get ready (incl. plenty of coffee), set, pay, and...

I may even consider it.
Seriously :)

So thanks for the referral.

~ Philip

I have spent a considerable amount of money at Digital Juice ... but I have NEVER purchased anything that was not on sale / special.

If you don't need it NOW, and can wait, that technique can get you quite a it of good "stuff" from them.

Thanks, JK! That's very helpful. I do have a lot of Digital Juice stuff, and I do always wait until they have their "specials" to pick up new stuff because, as you say, their collections are expensive.

Having sites where I can look for specific elements is just what I needed. Thanks for taking the time to list them.

Steve