To lease or buy: Rental houses, resellers and system integrators can help guide you through the world of evolving technology

Post, April, 2002 by Edmond M. Rosenthal

Three cheers for new media and advancing technology. Otherwise, rental houses, equipment resellers and system integrators would be having a harder time coping with a depressed economy. Instead, they are making the most of their clients' need for guidance as they test the waters of such new areas as high definition and new media. And, if these service-oriented companies weren't heavily into the education field before, they certainly are now.

VCA FUSION: SERVING THE LIFECYCLE OF MEDIA

Serving the New York and New Jersey areas, VCA Fusion (www.vca.com) is a reseller and system integrator that also deals in rentals and equipment servicing. Executive VP Dave Berlin says all of these operations are co-dependent For example, when clients have equipment failures in the field, it has people to diagnose and remedy the problem, and it can provide redundant equipment Key manufacturers represented included Miranda, Grass Valley, Leitch, Avid, Sony Broadcast, Media 100, Panasonic, E-Studio and V-Brick.

Berlin says the more than 200 manufacturers represented occupy all of the places in the lifecycle of media -- from production of the content to broadcast and distribution, and even consumption of the content at various display venues.

"We're doing a lot more consulting with our clientele in alternate means of communicating," he says, "such as streaming video and intracompany video. Clients are more concerned about getting a return on their media assets." These clients, he notes, include advertising agencies as well as corporate and educational clients."

He adds, "As stations convert to digital broadcast, people in production and post production will have to work differently. And a big part of what we do is promoting the new technologies. We typically run one user group and one seminar per week" Principal subjects recently have been digital creation tools and how to share information through high-speed Internet connections.

One major system integration project for VCA Fusion was unraveled by the World Trade Center attack It had been working in a midtown building on a project for Morgan Stanley that included a master control operation and networking. After the attack, the financial firm decided to sell the building and decentralize throughout the city and suburbs. But Lehman Bros., formerly in the World Trade Center, acquired the building, so VGA was engaged to re-engineer the facility in a hurry for Lehman, including much redundancy so that there is no interruption of business.

WEXLER AND THE CLIMATE OF REALITY TV

Focused primarily on rental of equipment to video shooters, Wexler Video (www.wexlervideo.com) in Burbank came out of a 2001 growth year despite a decline in business after September 11. President Chris Thompson reports rentals picked up again in December. Reality programming has been a boon to Wexler including Survivor, The Amazing Race, Fear Factor and The Real World.

"Reality shows require understanding of the location that the shows are going to," Thompson points out. "You have to be concerned with whether the equipment works for the client in a wet location, for one thing. When you send stuff to a tropical rainforest, you make different microphone selections, choose different batteries and concern yourself with rain housing for the cameras. And we're always trying to be flexible. This has meant creating an infrared camera system that's switchable from a daylight system. It's also meant wiring cars to drive across country with self-contained systems that can record from different angles in the back seat"

Involvement with pilots for the next TV season has included Fox Network's Bernie Mac, which is shot on Sony's 24p high definition camera. For this project, Wexler has supplied a number of film-type accessories, including specialized power distribution and microwave transmission for the camera so it could be put on a Steadicam.

MIDTOWN VIDEO EMBRACES NEW MEDIA

Midtown Video (www.midtownvideo.com) in Miami has been a rental company and reseller since 1984, being the exclusive Sony Broadcast rep for South Florida and carrying hundreds of other lines. But the big push these days is in new media -- CD, DVD and CD-ROM replication systems and compression and conversion equipment.

"Programming is going out on everything these days," comments co-owner Debby Miller. "Businesses are sending out training programs on CDs and DVDs, for example. In professional and high-end video, there was a much smaller customer base than there is for the new media, and also for DVCAMs" Because of the new media, along with lower-cost, user-friendly equipment, Midtown has moved more heavily into the corporate and institutional market.

Workshops and seminars, which generally had been held quarterly, are now typically every other month as the company deals with new products and vendors ranging from nonlinear editing systems to HD cameras and their support equipment. This includes visits from such suppliers as Media 100 and Sonic Solutions.

The lagging economy, according to Miller, has resulted in a flat resale business but about a 15 percent gain over the previous year in rentals. She reports larger-ticket bids for sales and rentals -- three-camera shoots, for example, with more accessories and fullblown systems, including teleprompters and jibs. "Maybe people are in a catch-up mode from postponed projects," she comments.