In Brazil, the necessity has become the mother of invention. The hinterlands of South America's largest country are virtually inaccessible by roads, and copying and transporting hundreds of reels of film is expensive. Founded in 2002, Rain Network is a brazilian company that has created a solution for independent cinema market by interconnecting theaters in a digital network, with built-in antipiracy measures, and Brazil is poised to take the boldest steps yet into all-digital cinema, with 100 theaters - the largest digital network in the world.
The creative spark that was harnessed for more practical ends by Rain when they sought to develop a new digital exhibition and distribution platform. Using Windows Media 9 software, engineers came up with MPEG-4, video compression software that is cheaper and faster than the current system. The MPEG-4 software can squeeze a feature film onto a file of just five gigabytes, 15 times smaller than the MPEG-2 technology presently used.
The films are then beamed by satellite from Rain's central computer in Sao Paulo to picture houses across the country. Depending on bandwidth, it can take as little as 20 minutes to send a 90-minute film to a theater.
By eliminating celluloid and transport costs, distributors could quickly and cheaply beam blockbusters to distant towns the same day as they première in London, Los Angeles, or Sao Paulo. They can offer a wider range of films and even live broadcasts.
With offices in Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, New York and London, Rain Network currently transmits, by satellite, films in digital format to more than 106 screens in Brazil, 14 screens in US and one screen in UK.
Rain Network
Av. Eng. Luiz Carlos Berrini 500 - cj 21
CEP 04571-000 - Sao Paulo - SP
Phone: (+5521) 2164-9797
Site: http://www.rain.com.br
