Launch of VMI Microsite to show 20-year Sustainability Journey Not many people know that we have been working for almost 20 years to make VMI into a more sustainable and socially equitable company. We are totally committed to becoming a Net-Zero company by 2030 have launched a microsite to share our journey.
VMI is a certified Great Place to Work! VMI has always striven to be a place that people enjoy working in and a recent independent audit by organisation, GreatPlaceToWork, has confirmed that 96% of VMI’s workforce judge VMI do indeed be a Great Place to Work. This certification required a minimum Trust Index© threshold to be achieved of at least 65% including appraisal … Read more
VMI wins National Climate Award VMI won a national award being crowned “Hero of Net Zero” by the UK Government at the international COP26 climate summit in November 2021 for its work on sustainability. More than 160 businesses entered the competition, making a commitment at the UK Business Climate Hub to achieve net zero by 2030, 20 years ahead of the Government’s own climate commitment. VMI.TV won over the competition judges for taking responsibility for their sectors environmental impact, spreading the sustainability message as founding members of the Bectu’s-Film-For-Future group. VMI.TV, Bristol and London-based camera rental company, crowned Hero of Net Zero at COP26 awards ceremony. Small business celebrated for original and creative actions taken to cut their own greenhouse gas emissions. The company urges other businesses to commit to net zero at UK Climate Hub. Read the full story of this amazing achievement here.
VMI Christmas Jumper Day to help Save the Children VMI took part in Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day on Friday 10 December 2021, for us all to wear our silliest, most festive jumper on & donated £124 to Save the Children.
VMI 2021 Client Survey – 96% Service In December 2021, we held our 14th annual client satisfaction survey, asking all VMI clients who had hired from us in the previous 12 months exactly what they thought about us and we have included them for you here. Most importantly though, 40 of you voted VMI 4.8 on customer service (3 is average, 4 is good and 5 is excellent), which is equivalent to 96% client approval rating.
VMI Shortlisted for Park Royal Business of the Year award 2022 For the third year in as many years, VMI has been nominated as a finalist for the West London Business Awards. VMI has been shortlisted as one of three companies for the Green ‘Race to Zero’ Business of the Year but what is really surprising is that also, for the first time, we have been also shortlisted as one of three companies in the category of Park Royal Business of the Year. Read Full Story
VMI Retires all Tungsten Rental Lighting Tungsten is the most traditional form of TV/Film lighting still in use today, having replaced expensive and dangerous Carbon Arc fittings. In reality though, tungsten lighting fixtures ought to be called lighting heaters, since 96% of the energy used is output as heat, leaving only 4% to produce light. This makes them immensely inefficient and not at all compatible with modern sustainability ideals and on these grounds, VMI has decided to retire all of its tungsten lighting in October 2021*. Read Full Story
VMI Stops Using Disposable AA Batteries VMI has made the transition to using rechargeable AA batteries and entirely stopped the environmentally harmful use of disposable batteries and shared this practice with the wider rental community.
VMI takes on three new Apprentices Our apprenticeship programme has launched! Jonah Mann, Josh Barker, and Matt Fisher are our first recruits. This makes all the nagging, lobbying, meetings and consultations worth it. 200 people applied and of those we invited 42 to an activity event hosted at the London Screen Academy. 13 trainees will become the first cohort of Camera Technician Apprentices, They started a 2 week “boot camp” at the LSA on 24 August to begin a 2-year training programme designed by UK rental companies, which will train them to near Senior Technician standard without any cost to them and whilst being fully employed. Upon completion, they will achieve a formal industry qualification of a level 3 NVQ by August 2023. Read more
Long-awaited UK Camera Tech Apprenticeship standard is rolled out More than 200 young hopefuls who initially lodged their interest in the new Camera Tech Apprenticeship programme, were reduced to 100 after the first sift, 56 at the second and just 42 received invitations to the activity and selection day event, hosted at the London Screen Academy on Wednesday 21 July.
VMI wins award to achieve net-zero by 2030 VMI is the proud recipient of a Better Futures+ Green Innovation Voucher, awarded by West London Business, to help VMI to become a net zero, fully sustainable business by 2030. VMI was chosen as just one of twelve companies in West London for this process, which involves being coached by Imperial College’s Leonardo Centre, as … Read more
Brand New VMEDIA Online Database V2 With so many different recording formats, memory card types, media sizes, compatibility issues and upgrade requirements, it can be a challenge trying to find compatible memory cards or SSDs for your camera or recorder. However, Lewis has been extremely hard at work to make this easier for you with the VMEDIA Online Database V2 which is organised into the most popular brands and sortable by camera model, which gives details on compatibility, data rates and approximate recording times too
VMI Bristol is 6 years old VMI Bristol celebrates six years since it was set up and in that time, Gary, Jon and the rest of the Bristol team have established it into a mainstream camera rental supplier for natural history and commercials/documentary productions in the South West.
VMI’s Barry Bassett wins prestigious Nelsonian Award. A surprise announcement by Infinity Photo-Optical Company, saw VMI’s Managing Director, Barry Bassett being awarded their annual Nelsoniantm Award to recognise his work and lifetime commitment to imaging excellence and specifically in publishing his paper on macro and micro cinematography. Full Story
Living Wage Week coincides with VMI’s anniversary achieving accreditation One year ago, VMI achieved formal accreditation of being a Living Wage Employer. The Living Wage foundation are the organisation at the heart of the independent movement of businesses and people that campaign for the idea that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. They celebrate and recognise the leadership of responsible employers who … Read more
IATA Guidelines For Air Transport of Lithium Metal and Lithium-Ion Batteries The rules have on air travel with Lithium-ion batteries have become much more restrictive recently and this article give updated advice on the new limitations.
Drive and Media Sales VMEDIA is a partner of media reseller, CCK Media and can now supply you with SSD, drive and card sales as part of our rental service.
Types of Apple Prores Codecs The Apple ProRes format comes in five versions: Apple ProRes 4444, Apple ProRes 422 (HQ), Apple ProRes 422, Apple ProRes 422 (LT), and Apple ProRes 422 (Proxy). This is an overview of their specifications
VMI Expands London Facility post lock-down It might seem a strange thing to do in such uncertain times but VMI has taken the opportunity of the lock-down to expand its London operation to build a third camera test room, more storage and a larger green-room/recreational area. We are still being mindful of social distancing measures and the need for good hygiene … Read more
Too Many Cards, Too Many Cameras, Too Many Adapters I began my time at VMEDIA back in May of 2017 after spending just over 6 years working for Samsung as an in-store rep, and while also completing a degree in Film Production. Being that we live in the 21ˢᵗ Century, and a period in human history coined ‘The Digital Age’, it seems ridiculous to label myself … Read more
The History of the CFast 2.0 Memory Card September 18ᵗʰ 2012, at the Photokina trade fair in Cologne, Germany, SanDisk officially announces the creation of a new specification of CFast card, the CFast 2.0.¹ Using the SATA 3.0 interface, these cards were theoretically capable of 600MB/s bus speeds². A logical progression in the memory card timeline as cameras were demanding evermore larger resolutions, frame … Read more
Tips on Data Recovery This article gives some useful tips on what to do if you are unlucky enough to experience the unthinkable of perhaps losing your data, through corruption or media failure.
How to Avoid Data Loss An article to give helpful tips on best practice to avoid data failure and corruption by adopting some sensible precautions and sharing best-practice.