Refine Announces Complete 'Tapeless Workflow'

A content processing and re-purposing business has sealed a deal with production hardware giant Panasonic which sees the facility buying in a volume of P2 memory cards to lease to content production companies.
The deal is designed to present the market with an affordable and accessible means to facilitate tapeless image capture and safe content management.
re:fine will offer producers access to sufficient P2 cards to cover a specific part of a shoot and then manage the content back at their London base.
In a move seen to remove ‘card ownership issues’, data management and pressurised data transfer time frame limitations, both re:fine and Panasonic see this initiative as giving productions the safeguards and back up necessary to make tapeless acquisition safer with zero hassle.
After the initial shoot, footage can be delivered to re:fine, still on the P2 cards, then stored with metadata, transferred onto a longer term storage medium such as hard drives, online servers, LTO data tape, offline to Linear Tape-Open, uploaded to a viewing portal or digitally delivered on the Soho Network.
Formatted cards can then go back to the shoot with the production secure in the knowledge that the content is safe and accessible.
In addition re:fine will also offer the producer a range of services to the initial hire which will close the loop on the storage, processing and delivery business it currently manages for a growing number of content owners from the BBC and All3Media to small independent film producers.
Anita O’Donnell, Director at re:fine said: "our joint venture with Panasonic allows us to provide content makers with storage and distribution options at every stage of the production cycle. The benefits of tapeless operation are clear for the broadcasting industry - over 5 years P2 systems can cut media costs by as much as 75%. Along with the other services in our portfolio, we offer comprehensive processing options from initial shoot to finished programme delivery for digital platforms."
Marc Irwin, Marketing Manager at Panasonic PBITS added: "The many benefits of P2HD Workflow have long been recognised by the industry but there have always been issues with who should own the P2 cards. Owner operators have worried about P2 card ownership since the format was introduced. Productions going down the traditional route of hiring cards with camcorders have always been pressurised to return cards with the other equipment. We see this partnership opening the doors for many productions that have seen tapeless production as being too risky and giving them a one stop media management option and owner operators a reason to look more closely at Panasonic P2HD camcorders."
For further information visit: www.refine-group.com
(BMcN/BMcC)