Hire company VMI has launched VMEDIA, a new offshoot specialising solely in renting recording media.
VMI md Barry Bassett said: “What every job has in common is the requirement for memory cards. As people embrace higher quality with 4K the media demands are significantly higher than they used to be. That’s why we have elected to create a new company with a new website and unique service characteristics.”
VMEDIA’s media inventory includes high capacity 1 TB and 500 GB cards, REDMAG and RED Mini-Mag, drives for Convergent Design’s Odyssey and Apollo and Atomos Shogun, all XQD and CFast 2 formats (for ARRI Amira and Alexa Mini), Express P2 media and more plus associated readers and Nexto transfer devices.
The service includes delivery by electric-powered BMW driven daily into central London. Being environmentally friendly the vehicle incurs no congestion charge, and VMI says the saving will be passed on to customers with a delivery fixed fee of £25. Collection and drop is at VMI headquarters in W3 with an additional drop-off point located in Fitzrovia.
Bassett adds, “Given the dynamic use of media, where a big production may suddenly need a very generous quantity and everyone is under pressure to meet deadlines, it has been difficult for kit hire companies to satisfy demand since it is hard to judge exactly where and when the need will fall. As a guide, when the Canon EOS C300 was first released in 2012 the primary SD card capacity was 32 GB. Today’s standard media for the C300 mark II is 128 GB. Meanwhile capacities for SSD recording are regularly at 250 GB, up to half a Terabyte and sometimes larger. The 4x higher than HD data demands of 4K is typically driving these recording needs. There is a clear need for a rapid response service dedicated to offering file-based media on time, on a budget and with the super-fast operational performance professional productions expect.”
All existing VMI clients will automatically be given an account with VMEDIA.
Jon Creamer
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