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For those who don’t know the tool: ohm.rent manages equipment loans and bookings for rooms and workspaces at universities and research institutions. It runs on the institution’s own web server and is used through a browser, placing it on the resource-planning side of a production workflow.
Somewhere in the university kit cupboard, a camera is enjoying a remarkably busy Tuesday. Three productions want it, two calendars seem to promise it, and the lens cap has declined to comment. Before anyone can make moving images, somebody has to establish which equipment is actually moving, where it is going and when it should come back.
That is the territory of ohm.rent. In this interview, co-founder Alexander Vexler walks us through bookings, kits, handovers and the less glamorous decisions that keep a shared equipment pool useful. We also get the inevitable AI question, with a refreshingly direct answer.
Meet the makers
Alexander Vexler is co-founder and CEO, a Munich-based Director of Photography, senior colourist, and lecturer. Beginning during his Media Design studies at the University of Applied Sciences Nuremberg, he brings over 20 years of hands-on experience across documentaries, commercials, corporate films, and various cinematic productions, alongside teaching cinematography and colour grading. His profound understanding of inventory management stems not only from managing extensive camera, lighting, and grip packages in the field and working closely with external rental houses, but also from leading the equipment rental facilities at the University of Applied Sciences Nuremberg.
Nikolai Wüstemann is co-founder and CTO and comes at the same problem from the other side of the image. He studied Design at the University of Applied Sciences Nuremberg, with a focus on Film & Animation, CGI and interaction design, before moving professionally into VFX and compositing. His career includes work as a compositor for RISE and TRIXTER, and he is currently with Wētā FX in New Zealand. So while Alexander deals with cameras, lights and the occasional migrating lens cap, Nikolai works in the part of production where unwanted objects can simply be painted out. Sadly, this technique remains in use, even though some people return.
The common denominator is the University of Applied Sciences Nuremberg, Germany. ohm.ren grew out of an actual equipment-management problem in the university’s Film & Animation environment, where cameras, lighting kits and studios needed something rather more dependable than an analogue wall calendar. What began as an internal solution eventually became the system discussed here, now used by universities and research institutions beyond Nürnberg. Apparently, rental chaos scales rather well.
The kit cupboard gets an upgrade
DP: We last. covered ohm.rent years ago. What has changed under the bonnet, and has the obligatory AI chatbot moved into the kit cupboard?
Alexander Vexler: A lot has changed under the hood! The kit cupboard may look familiar, but the plumbwe’ve given the plumbingention. We rebuilt major parts of the UI, added a smart dashboard, introduced recurring bookings, item instancing, booking overview, etc.
As for more: No, we didn’t shoehorn an AI chatbot into an equipment rental system just to chase a trend. We focus on solving real logistical headaches: making sure the right student gets the right camera without five people writing conflicting notes in a shared Excel sheet/Google Calendar.
The one-sentence pitch: ohm.rent is the self-hosted, user-unlimited rental management system built specifically for academic and creative environments where usability actually matters.
DP: What can ohm.rent do these days, once we put the elevator pitch down and pick up a camera case?
Alexander Vexler: In short: full inventory management, interactive calendar bookings, automated PDF lease agreements, and role-based access control. Students can log in, check equipment availability in real time with visual colour-coding, create projects, and reserve gear, studios, and classes. For admins, it offers automated insurance value calculations, semester-based access restrictions, item sets/kits, and complete frontend management – meaning you never have to train staff on database backends.
DP: Where does ohm.rent live: online, offline, in the cloud, on our network or in yet another app? And what happens when the Wi-Fi takes a coffee break?
Alexander Vexler: ohm.rent is 100% web-based and runs self-hosted on the institution’s own web server using PHP and MySQL. We deliberately avoid external cloud dependencies to comply with strict European university data protection standards.
It’s fully responsive and optimised for tablets and phones at the rental desk or on set. If the Wi-Fi dies right when someone picks up five lighting cases, the PDF lease agreement can already be pre-generated or printed locally, so check-out still happens on paper with physical checkboxes and a signature. We are planning to support a fully digital workflow, though, where you can sign directly in the web app.
DP: What has changed around user accounts? Can a new intake of students arrive without bringing a new mountain of seat licences?
Alexander Vexler: The core promise remains untouched: Unlimited user accounts across all tiers. Most commercial SaaS tools charge per user seat, which is completely unfeasible for universities with thousands of constantly changing students. We only scale by total inventory items. The cameras count toward the student queue. Admins can set up granular rights, qualify users based on semester level or completed equipment workshops, and approve accounts with a single click. We all know THOSE special students and how they treat the kit.
Calendars, kits and crossed wires
DP: What role does messaging play inside ohm.rent? Does the rental desk really need another inbox?
Alexander Vexler: ohm.rent handles automated email notifications for overdue items, booking confirmations, and project status changes via cron jobs; we don’t have a built-in messenger because direct communication – when needed – should happen through familiar channels like WhatsApp or email, and in-app messages are more likely to get lost or overlooked. If a lens has a specific quirk, admins can link a note or tutorial right on the item card so students read it before taking it to set.
DP: How does the calendar handle availability, bookings and returns, especially when everyone wants the same camera on Tuesday?
Alexander Vexler: The interactive calendar has always been our core UI centrepiece, a digital evolution of the old paper wall calendar. It shows real-time equipment availability, colour-coded statuses, and time-slot granularity down to 15-minute intervals for room or suite bookings. The system automatically archives completed projects in structured yearly subfolders. We also added a new feature called ‘Booking Overview,’ which lets you view the booking status of multiple items simultaneously across several weeks. This makes it much easier to get a clear picture of the current rental status of an entire category, such as all cameras.
DP: Can users book complete camera setups, lighting packages or recurring production kits without sending every battery through check-out separately?
Alexander Vexler: Absolutely. We call them Item Sets or Kits. Instead of selecting a camera body, three lenses, batteries, cards, and a tripod individually, admins can bundle them into a single kit. One click reserves the entire package. Batteries are included with the camera. We’ve also added a Repeat Feature for recurring bookings, which is ideal for weekly university seminars or recurring studio slots.
Rental chaos needs no translation
DP: ohm.ren.t is now available in English. Was that the point where you decided that the German-speaking market alone wasn’t enough rental chaos?
Alexander Vexler: Haha, exactly! German universities definitely do not have a monopoly on bureaucratic rental chaos. It travels perfectly well without a passport. Adding full English language support was a natural step as international departments and global research facilities started asking for the system. We also want to be inclusive to all international students within Germany.
DP: What is the largest ohm.rent deployment so far? How big does the kit cupboard get?
Alexander Vexler: Our showcase deployments include clients with over 3000 items li, like the Flensburg University of Applied Sciences. However, we have other major instances at Universities of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden, Lübeck, Bielefeld, Nuremberg, etc. Between these institutions, the software manages dozens of specialised labs and studios for thousands of active students and their productions.
Serial numbers and wandering lens caps
DP: How does an existing inventory get into ohm.rent? Must some spend a long weekend retyping serial numbers?
Alexander Vexler: We provide straightforward JSON and spreadsheet import functions. You don’t need to be a developer, or resin yourself to a weekend of serial-number typing: categorieyou can batch-import s, item names, serial numbers, and initial statuses can be bas. For more complex transitions, we are happy to help our clients rate their database.
DP: How do you track damage, maintenance and missing accessories, including the lens cap that has apparently started a new life?
Alexander Vexler: Through item instancing, status flags, and physical PDF handover protocols. Items can be marked with specific availability statuses, blocked for maintenance, or flagged for inspection. During check-in/check-out, the printed PDF lease agreement features physical checkboxes for every single item – from cable adapters to lens caps. Even the smallest escape artists get a checkbox. We are working to improve this process further by assigning booking-specific staff, so no information gets lost.
Paperwork before the plot twist
DP: What happens when accounting enters the chat? How are quotes, invoices or billing data created or passed on?
Alexander Vexler: While designed for academic non-commercial loans, we offer a feature that displays daily rental rates and total replacement values. For universities, this serves as a visual cost-awareness indicator for students and as a baseline for budget planning or project proposals. Stripping away a commercial model has been a conscious decision to keep processes simple in an academic environment.
DP: Where does insurance fit into the rental process, before several thousand euros of equipment head out for a student film?
Alexander Vexler: This is a crucial feature for student film sets: when a student generates a project booking, ohm.rent automatically calculates the total insurance value (replacement value) of all booked equipment. This figure prints onto the lease agreement, making it easy to secure student film production insurance or liability coverage before gear leaves the building.
DP: Could ohm.rent eventually manage LUTs, scripts or digital assets, or should the kit cupboard stick to things with handles?
Alexander Vexler: Technically, any digital resource, software license, or editing suite can be created as a time-slot item in ohm.rent. Our primary focus remains on physical equipment and room management, where multiple people might be trying to access the same limited resource at the same time. Managing unlimited digital assets is not our focus. We are more concerned with the camera that cannot be in two places at once. Linking camera manuals, lens grids, or other media directly to item profiles is already part of the daily workflow, though.
The budget meets the booking desk
DP: What does ohm.rent cost? Let us introduce the faculty budget to the price list.
Alexander Vexler: We keep pricing completely transparent and budget-friendly for academic institutions:
● S Plan: €25 / month (up to 100 total items)
● M Plan: €55 / month (up to 500 total items)
● L Plan: €95 / month (up to 1,000 total items)
● XL Plan: Custom quote for unlimited total items
There is a one-time setup fee of €300 for installation on the customer’s server; all future updates and premium support are included, and user accounts are 100% unlimited.
DP: What does onboarding look like? How does a new team get from spreadsheet archaeology to a working rental desk?
Alexander Vexler: Anyone can test the live system instantly without registration at demo.ohm.rent. Once an institution signs up, we install the system directly on their web server. We assist with inventory import and offer an optional Zoom onboarding workshop for staff. A team can easily go from ‘spreadsheet disaster’ to fully operational in less than a week. The spreadsheet can finally take a break. We also support full Custom Branding: institutions can easily adapt accent colours, colours, and terms of service so the frontend seamlessly matches the university’s corporate identity.
When the spreadsheet deserves retirement
DP: How small can a team be for ohm.rent to make sense, and when should the shared spreadsheet be allowed to retire?
Alexander Vexler: The S Plan (up to 100 items) is built specifically for small faculty pools, studio collectives, or small gear houses. Switch the moment you experience your first double-booking, when equipment goes missing without a trace, or when you spend more than two hours a week answering ‘Is camera X available next Tuesday?’ via email.
DP: Who is ohm.rent not intended for? Which rental desk should keep shopping?
Alexander Vexler: If you are a commercial rental house needing full point-of-sale ERP integration, complex VAT/invoicing mechanics, and credit card processing at the counter, ohm.rent is not for you. We build for educational, scientific, and creative communities that need fast, intuitive frontend booking without bloated administrative overhead.
DP: How can people reach you, and what is your advice before you have team attemptstriestise its entire cupboard?
Alexander Vexler: Test the demo at demo.ohm.rent or email me directly at info@ohm.rent for a personal live demo via Zoom. My advice: start by structuring your categories, gather serial numbers, and don’t try to digitise chaos. A messy cupboard with a login is still a messy cupboard. Clean up your item list before importing, and let the software handle the rest.
| Product | ohm.rent |
| Makers | Alexander Vexler, co-founder and CEO; Nikolai Wüstemann, co-founder and CTO |
| Purpose | Designed for university equipment loans and room or workspace bookings, ohm.rent is also ideally suited for research institutes, creative communities, and shared facilities that need to manage gear and spaces efficiently and hassle-free. |
| Deployment | Institution-hosted web application; browser access; PHP and MySQL |
| Users | Unlimited user accounts |
| Pricing | Monthly subscription rates: S €25 up to 100 items; M €55 up to 500; L €95 up to 1,000; XL on request. Prices are gross and billed annually. One-time setup: €300. |
| Demo | Official demo linked from the product website |
