The Soho facility is about to become Forbidden Technologies' technology partner, a move that could see cheaper, more convenient editing for directors, producers and editors, while increasing Nats' capacity for more profitable online and finishing work.
FORscene - an internet-based editing system developed by Forbidden Technologies - only requires a PC or Mac and internet access, with projects located at secure web addresses for editing and remote client approval.
Small clips can also be sent to mobile phones for review.
Importantly for Nats it could cut down on the number of off-line suites that are needed while potentially increasing the number of clients with minimal capital investment. Offline edit suites - which are used as a honey pot to secure the more profitable online, grade and audio work - do not bring in much profit when balanced against Soho rent.
Capital investment by Nats has been relatively low;£3,000 to buy Forbidden Technologies' ingest machine, which hooks into the machine room. Nats will still get to charge for ingest but ongoing revenues from use of FORscene - expected to be around£10 per hour - will be split between the facility and the developer.
Charles Leonard, managing director of Nats Post Production, said: "We're talking to people at the moment. We're not going to force anyone into it."
Forbidden Technologies managing director Stephen Streater, said it may wait up to a year before rolling the technology out to other facilities: "We have to give Nats the time to establish itself."
Streater sees the partnership with Nats as being vital to the development and eventual uptake of FORscene as it is the "third piece of the puzzle" after deals with production company Mentorn and broadcaster GMTV on different projects.
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