Pros and cons of cloud vs on-premise video storage solutions
As a video production professional, choosing the right video storage solution for your media assets is a crucial decision. While file and project sizes continue to grow exponentially, deadlines are continuously shrinking, so having a video storage system that can keep up with capacity demands while remaining fast, secure and cost-effective is essential.
In this article, we’ll examine the pros and cons of the two main options – cloud video storage and on-premise video storage – and look at the benefits of the hybrid solutions that combine both.
What is the difference between on-prem and cloud storage?
On-premise video storage is locally connected media storage such as individual hard drives and RAIDs, network-attached storage (NAS) or storage area networks (SANS) that are physically located at your facility and managed by your own IT staff.
The benefits of on-premise storage include the potential for air-gapped security, predictable costs and reliable performance. The downside to this kind of video storage is that the full expenditure is incurred upfront, your internal IT or creative teams must manage, backup and repair the system, and significant expansion requires additional costs and expertise.
Cloud video storage, however, is offsite, internet-connected media storage managed by an external third-party vendor. One of the main benefits of working with cloud storage for video production is that the cost is limited to a monthly subscription for the capacity used, negating the requirement for a lot of up-front cash.
That capacity can be rapidly expanded or constrained in tandem with current project requirements, leading to cost savings and overall efficiencies but also a more unpredictable monthly spend. Furthermore, the third-party vendor bears all management, servicing and infrastructure costs, which is often preferable for teams without this in-house expertise.
Hybrid video storage solutions aim to combine the best of both worlds into one integrated system. Fast, high-bandwidth local storage is used for active projects and workflows, while completed projects and non-urgent media are sent to the cloud for archiving. This combines the performance and simplicity of on-premise storage with the scalability and cost savings of the cloud.
What about remote access? For both on-premise and cloud video storage, remote access is possible, depending on the security and performance requirements of the video production team.
The Pros and Cons of On-Premise Video Storage
While there are many benefits to having all of your video storage on-premise, cloud storage is designed to overcome limitations and challenges. Let’s consider some of the pros and cons of on-premise video storage in more detail.
Pro – Full control over all hardware and software
One of the advantages of on-premise vs cloud storage is that you design and control the entire hardware and software architecture, selecting a system that best meets your specifications and overseeing maintenance and upgrades. You’re not at the mercy of an external vendor’s roadmap, business changes or downtime.
Pro – Predictable high-speed performance
Local hard drives and network-attached storage provide fast, reliable connectivity for high-bandwidth processes like multi-stream video editing. Unlike cloud storage for video editing, your read/write performance doesn’t suffer due to internet congestion, server loads or bandwidth limitations.
Pro – Enhanced security
Keeping your storage on-premise protects sensitive media files from being erroneously or maliciously accessed while on shared cloud infrastructure. Restricting physical access and air-gapping (disconnected from the internet) your media storage adds a further layer of protection.
Pro – No hidden costs
While on-premise storage comes with larger upfront costs than a cloud storage subscription, it also negates any hidden or unexpected expenses, such as egress fees, which occur when you move your data out of the cloud or surcharges enforced when you over-step your subscription limits.
Pro – Integration with legacy systems
Existing edit bays, asset management software and established video production workflows can often more easily connect to new on-premise storage without the need to re-construct the whole system, as everything is under your control and most often is largely plug-and-play.
Con – High upfront costs
Purchasing substantial video storage capacity as well as the switches, servers, and management software required to make it all function comes with a large capital expenditure. You’re also paying for all unused capacity from the start.
Con – Complex configuration and management
Even a medium-scale video storage solution requires some IT staff time for the initial design and integration, not to mention the ongoing administration and daily troubleshooting. This staff skill set also needs regular updating as technology and workflows evolve.
Con – Separate disaster recovery site required
A system for backing up and storing all of your media in a second physical location is needed to replicate and recover all of your data in the event of a disaster at your main premises. This necessitates purchasing yet more storage capacity and connectivity.
Con – Scaling requires overprovisioning
While you can work within the constraints of your initial storage capacity, adding further storage capacity requires purchasing it in large chunks and planning for the upgrade downtime. Running out of storage space will obviously impact the efficiency and productivity of your creative team!
Con – Dependence on locality
To get the best out of the system, users must be physically on-premise to access the media, while remote users often have comparatively limited connectivity and bandwidth. Even when remote access is established, staff are still required onsite to manage the physical devices.
Pros and Cons of Cloud Video Storage
While we are all used to working with cloud storage on a daily basis, from our Dropbox accounts to our iCloud photo backups, cloud storage that is capable of storing, managing and streaming or downloading large video files with the performance for real-time playback is a different beast altogether.
Here are some pros and cons to consider when using cloud video storage for modern video production workflows.
Pro – No infrastructure to manage
As part of your subscription fee, the cloud storage provider handles all of the necessary hardware, component upgrades, system maintenance and offsite backups, and instead, your team focuses on their creative work.
Pro – Scalability on demand
Adding further capacity to your cloud video storage account is as simple as clicking ‘upgrade.’ This has the added benefit of only paying for what you need when you need it and allows you to respond quickly to unexpected growth or capacity requirements.
Pro – Global availability
Storing your media in the cloud means it’s instantly available to authorized users anywhere in the world with an internet connection. This gives you access to a global talent pool, the efficiency of single-source asset management, and the potential for a creative team to work around the clock from different time zones—all without the need for setting up remote access VPNs for your on-premise storage.
Pro – Reduced disaster recovery costs
As cloud providers replicate their data storage globally by default, there’s no need to build and maintain a second offsite backup in case of disaster recovery. This is already done for you.
Pro – Lower initial costs
With no upfront expenditure on expensive hardware, there are no large CapEx purchases to wait and plan for. Costs move to OpEx, where subscription fees based on usage, storage capacity, and the number of seats needed are much more manageable from a cash flow perspective month-to-month.
Cons – Vendor dependence and lock-in
Once you choose a cloud video storage provider, you have no real control over that vendor’s policies, service charges, fee increases or business stability. Once a workflow has been established and a lot of media is stored online, switching cloud providers is more complicated.
Con – Variable performance
While most cloud video storage providers offer some form of performance guarantee, internet outages or service congestion are unpredictable. Also, each end-users experience relies on a range of factors, including their local internet connection strength and stability, proximity to the data center and local system spec.
Con – Limited integration options
While using cloud storage does open up the potential for some newer automated workflows and remote production capabilities, it is not always possible to integrate legacy apps with cloud storage or even with other online services and storage providers.
Con – Security risks
No matter how tight your security procedures, storing your valuable media online, especially in a shared cloud storage server you don’t control brings a level of exposure to a greater number of threats.
Con – You may end up paying more in the long run
If you store and maintain a substantial amount of video media in your cloud storage over a long period of time, your total cost of ownership (TCO) may end up exceeding that of on–premise storage. Services often charge egress fees for downloading data, for example, when making room online or moving it to cheaper archival storage like AWS Glacier.
The Pros and Cons of Hybrid Video Storage
If you decide to use a hybrid cloud and on-premise storage solution, you can get the benefits of both and avoid some of the limitations of either one, yet you will create some new challenges to consider.
Let’s examine the pros and cons of a hybrid video storage workflow.
Pro – Best of both worlds
The most obvious benefit of a hybrid video storage solution is that you’re set up to enjoy the strengths of both models, gaining the performance and security of on-premise video storage with the scalability and global reach of the cloud.
Pro – Elastic Capacity Management
Having your media stored in the cloud gives you the buffer to absorb the unexpected variable demands of different projects and the flow of projects over time, while your local storage can handle anticipated project requirements.
Pro – Reduced disaster recovery costs
By setting up an automatic cloud backup of your on-premise video storage, you can more affordably and easily manage both archiving and disaster recovery by creating an offsite duplicate.
Pro – Greater workflow possibilities
Modern video productions require a wide range of workflow capabilities, from high-performance local storage for demanding processes like color grading final high-resolution media or combing through terabytes of archival material to enabling a globally distributed creative team to manage assets and artistic responsibilities through shared media stored in the cloud.
Pro – Gradual transition path
Developing a hybrid storage model can be a simple and gradual process that doesn’t require wholesale reinvestment or scrapping existing workflows or hardware. When starting with local storage, it’s easy to add cloud storage for archiving. Or, when starting from a cloud platform, it’s easy to add local storage for more demanding tasks. This makes it easier to test the benefits of either solution before fully committing to either or both.
Con – Added complexity
One consideration of combining on-premises and cloud storage is that it does add a further layer of complexity to managing media files, user access permissions and deciding where files should live and for how long. Further complexity arises if files live in multiple locations at once rather than having a ‘single source of truth’ for all uses.
Con – Potential replication lag
If you have to move media files from local storage to cloud storage (or vice versa), a lot of data must be copied between locations, which can create a delay. This also requires the on-premises storage to have access to adequate bandwidth.
Con – Two sets of storage to purchase and pay for
With the costs of a cloud subscription, on-premise infrastructure and software, the hybrid model may be more expensive in combination than leveraging a single platform.
Con – File management training
Having worked at a few facilities that had their own unique way of doing things when it comes to file management, and sometimes, in fast turn-around environments, management goes out the window – educating your users on where to store their files or where to look for the right files becomes all the more important – otherwise you end up wasting either time or storage capacity.
Con – Partial vendor dependence remains
While there are many benefits to a hybrid workflow, one consideration when choosing a cloud storage provider for that workflow, is that you will be locked into a dependence on them.
How to choose the best cloud video storage solutions for your needs
Determining the ideal storage solution for your video workflows depends on several key factors:
Bandwidth needs – High-speed on-premise storage is best for multi-stream 4K editing, while remote teams will need cloud or VPN connections.
Scalability requirements – The cloud offers the most flexibility for rapid growth.
Budget – While the cloud has lower startup costs, on-premise storage can offer TCO savings at larger capacities.
Security – Contractual requirements may require on-premise storage for sensitive footage and projects.
Team skills – The cloud reduces the need for dedicated storage admins and IT professionals.
Disaster recovery – The cloud’s built-in redundancy makes backups easier to manage.
Growth plans – A Hybrid solution can future-proof on-premise expansion with cloud filling in the gaps.
The best way to evaluate your needs is to take an in-depth look at your current infrastructure, workflows and pain points, then calculate the total cost of ownership for an on-premise vs cloud video storage solution over a 3-5 year timeframe. Ask your creative team for their opinions and try to road test potential solutions in a small way where possible.
With the right strategy tailored to your situation, you can build a storage setup that keeps your creative work flowing while staying within budget and IT constraints. The goal for the optimal solution will be to transform how your team collaborates and unlocks greater productivity and business potential.
FAQ about on-premise storage vs cloud storage
Which storage solution is better for you?
How much do storage solutions cost?
How secure is each solution?
How reliable is each solution?
How scalable is each solution?
How easy is it to manage your storage?
How easy is file-sharing or real-time viewing?
What are the potential drawbacks of relying solely on one storage for a business?
What are the key considerations for implementing a hybrid storage solution, and how does it address the limitations of both on-premises and cloud storage models?
Which video storage solution is better for you?
The best storage solution is a hybrid cloud and on-premise storage model for performance-intensive workloads with cloud storage for scalability and broader access. The high-speed local area network would enable smooth video editing and collaboration, while the cloud side would allow remote team members to access files from anywhere. The cloud capacity would also help manage spikes in storage demand. This hybrid approach delivers a solid mix of control and reliability with on-premise along with the flexibility and global availability of cloud.
How much do the storage solutions cost to use?
Cloud storage has a lower startup cost since it avoids major capital expenditures on hardware and software. Monthly subscription fees based on limited usage are more predictable. On-premise storage requires large upfront investments in storage, servers, networking equipment and more. But at scale the ongoing costs of cloud data egress fees can make on-premise more cost effective in the long run.
How secure is each solution?
On-premise storage keeps data isolated within a controlled environment, reducing exposure to external threats like hackers or ransomware. Control over physical access and air-gapped networks ensures high security. Cloud storage, however, involves some additional risks since data resides in a multi-tenant environment while being stored on a shared server. Most cloud providers offer robust security measures, vetted by the media industry, but security is always a concern when data leaves the premises. A hybrid solution provides strong isolated security for the most sensitive files, along with the convenience of cloud access for low-risk assets.
How efficient is each solution?
Cloud storage enables great access efficiency by allowing authorized users to access files from anywhere with an internet connection, avoiding the need for remote access VPNs back to the local network.
However, the performance efficiency of cloud storage can suffer from variability based on internet traffic levels. On-premise storage offers consistent and predictable high-speed performance thanks to dedicated local networks, especially valuable for bandwidth-heavy video editing work. A hybrid configuration puts performance-sensitive workflows on reliable on-premise storage while leveraging the global accessibility of the cloud.
How reliable is each solution?
On-premise storage has higher reliability since its performance depends on a controlled local network rather than the open internet. Latency and congestion on the public and local internet connection can inhibit access to cloud video storage. However, cloud services tend to have very durable underlying infrastructure with lots of redundancy to minimize downtime risk, as this is an essential part of their business offering.
How scalable is each solution?
The cloud is extremely scalable, allowing storage capacity to be increased essentially instantly through a web dashboard rather than waiting for fresh hardware deliveries. Cloud services are designed for massive scale to handle demand spikes and growth surges that would overwhelm on-premise infrastructure.
On-premise storage requires purchasing and installing larger capacity systems in chunky increments to scale up gradually. The combination of the two enables core consistent storage needs to be handled on-premise while leveraging the cloud to absorb surges in requirements.
How easy is it to manage your storage?
Cloud services are much easier to manage since the provider takes care of all hardware, software, troubleshooting and maintenance behind the scenes. So your creative team can focus on creative work rather than storage infrastructure.
On-premise storage requires dedicating skilled IT staff to architect, integrate, administer, optimize, and upgrade storage systems on an ongoing basis.
How easy is file sharing or real-time viewing?
Cloud video storage’s global accessibility makes sharing and collaboration very straightforward for distributed teams. It allows access from anywhere with credentials as long as the video storage platform supports this functionality.
However, the ability to view high-resolution media files in pristine quality, smoothly in real-time, such as in a color grading suite, depends heavily on having consistent high network bandwidth, something on-premise storage excels at.
What are the potential drawbacks of relying solely on one storage for a business?
Depending on only cloud or only on-premise storage increases vulnerability. If the cloud goes down, all workflows halt without the backup of a local system. Disaster recovery becomes very difficult if local hardware fails or is destroyed without off-site backups.
Blending the two provides contingency options to mitigate risk – essential data is protected on-premise through RAID-level redundancy, with archives and overflow capacity stored in the cloud. A hybrid solution means an outage in one environment won’t cripple overall operations thanks to the redundancy and flexibility cloud and on-premise storage can provide each other.
What are the key considerations for implementing a hybrid storage solution, and how does it address the limitations of both on-premises and cloud storage models?
The keys to an effective hybrid implementation are ensuring adequate bandwidth between environments, thoughtfully integrating workflows and applications across cloud and on-premise boundaries, and designing cost-effective disaster recovery.
The hybrid approach helps overcome the inherent limitations of a single storage model. The cloud side provides scalability and geographic diversity missing from pure on-premise. The local side offers reliability, performance and control lacking in pure cloud deployments.
Together they can complement each other and side-step the weaknesses of either standalone option.
At first glance, video storage for post-production seems so simple. Just buy a big external hard drive and start editing. (Of course, we know professional post-production storage solutions need to be more robust than that.) For a lot of editors, when the project is done, they just put the hard drive on the shelf. Rinse and repeat. Many shops have used this method and end up accumulating a closet full of hard drives. The lead editor has the inventory of what was shot and when it was shot in his or her head. So, if a junior editor needs a clip, they just ask their lead. As long as there wasn’t a disaster, teams would keep going with this system.
But then remote work became a thing. Post-production teams became distributed and immediately encountered the shortcomings of the “closet full of hard drives” approach. Scalable storage infrastructure was needed. Granted, dedicated post-production facilities had “SAN” (Storage area network) systems connected by fiber channel for their post-production data storage. Some teams even deployed a NAS to help them share projects in the office along with various other post-production workflows. However, a typical NAS setup will quickly come up short for a team of distributed video editors, and it is vulnerable to a single point of failure.
We’re seeing more and more cloud storage systems come online today, but many of them have unpredictable fees and complex systems of per-seat licenses, storage tiers, and even fees for accessing your data.
At the end of the day, you know your footage is valuable. For data to remain valuable it has to be accessible. And it has to be quickly accessible. Data also needs to remain accessible if there is a malfunction or a hard drive goes bad.
This is why your video team needs a shared video storage solution.
Why do I need a video storage solution?
It isn’t uncommon for a video shoot to produce 2-4TB of data in a single day of shooting. If you have just a single editor on your team, storage is pretty straightforward. You need a primary copy of your footage and a backup copy. If you are smart, you’ll make another copy and put it in an offsite location.
When you add a second editor things get a little bit more complicated. Both editors may need to access the same footage. Duplicating footage is wasteful. So the answer is to use a NAS (network attached storage) device. This enables a couple editors to access the same data at the same time.
It doesn’t take much to max out the performance of a typical NAS. Video editors need to playback timelines with multiple tracks of 4K video. That kind of demand can cause a NAS to slow down and stutter during playback.
If your team has a remote editor, you need flexible storage that can be accessed securely and remotely. The moment you start working remotely, content security is at the top of everyone’s mind.
If you have multiple people who need to access the same footage, you’ll need video storage and infrastructure that allows your storage silos to be accessed securely (Content is valuable. You want to keep it safe), remotely, and without getting bogged down.
What is infrastructure for post-production?
A post-production infrastructure is a hardware and software solution. The hardware is designed to facilitate delivering uninterrupted playback to multiple video editors. The software handles the organization of clips and efficiently manages the traffic on your system. Shared video storage isn’t like other kinds of servers. Video files have different demands than PDFs.
EditShare EFS is a simple, yet powerful open storage platform designed to work with all creative applications in the VFX and post environment. It works on Windows, Mac, and even Linux. The hardware and the software applications work together to deliver the performance that will keep your team cranking away without costly delays.
How is shared video storage different from a regular server?
You might have the unpleasant experience of trying to upload large files to a cloud service like Google Drive only to run into slowdowns and failed uploads. That’s because it just isn’t designed to handle those kinds of files well. Why is that? There are different ways to format a file system. Some favor speed, others favor stability, and so on. Video editors and VFX artists need both. They need performance and bandwidth. The system needs to be fast, not just for one computer but for multiple users.
Typical storage solutions are often designed like the streets through downtown with a lot of stoplights. Data comes and goes in starts and stops. However, editors need their data to flow like an interstate. If your video starts and stops, you can’t feel for the edit. This video does a wonderful job of explaining the difference between a NAS and a SAN.
Active Storage
EditShare EFS simplifies storage by putting everyone on the interstate. Editors can get uninterrupted performance while working off the same system at the same time. The software that comes with the system can also serve remote editors as well.
When working on an active project, you want the highest performance available for your footage. That is why the part of your infrastructure that supports the fastest performance is called “Active Storage.” It uses an underlying technology called “block storage.” This helps everything to perform at its peak.
Nearline Storage
Your team probably has a bunch of older footage that needs to be available, but it doesn’t necessarily need to be on the fastest hardware. Stock clips would be a good example of this. You might have a stock library that you go to every now and then.
“Nearline storage” can utilize “object storage” instead of “block storage.” This technology is great for long-term archival or parking media long term. If you want to learn more about the difference between these kinds of storage, check out this video.
Archive Storage
The third tier of storage to consider is “archive storage.” When you are storing footage long term, it is crucial that you can find what you need when you are looking for it in the years to come. Archive storage can be slower than nearline storage. This is for projects that may not be accessed, except once in a blue moon. You don’t want to delete it, but it might be accessed very infrequently. Some teams might want to use an online service for their archive storage, and EditShare’s software can handle that whole process of archival for you.
Backup Storage
If you have ever lost data, then backup storage is a prerequisite for you. If you haven’t been through data loss you might be tempted just to skip this section. Backup storage is critical because files can be lost in two different ways. You might experience mechanical failure, or it can be caused by human error. A robust, reliable, redundant storage solution will not protect you against someone accidentally deleting the wrong files. EditShare EFS features different hardware tiers for each of these storage needs. EditShare’s software can automate your backup process as well.
Organizing Footage
Video files use obscure naming conventions that aren’t helpful when you are searching for a clip. Some cameras, like ones on drones, always name the files in the same way, which can cause serious organizational issues. EditShare helps you organize all your data by project instead of folder. This is also important if your team members have permission to access certain media but not others.
EditShare’s software effectively replaces the “file system” in the head of your lead editor with an interface that everyone can search. Now, team members can find favorite clips and even a specific moment that has been marked on a clip.
EditShare EFS is agnostic to which video editing app you use. If you like to edit in Premiere, there is an integration. If you prefer DaVinci Resolve, you’ll find that it works seamlessly with it as well.
Remote Editing
Some teams are fully local. Some teams are hybrid, with local editors and remote collaborators. We’re now seeing the rise of fully remote teams, where there is no physical “post-house.” That’s where EditShare FLEX comes in.
You can set up the ability to remotely access instances of these NLEs in the cloud. This is cutting-edge technology that became critical during the early days of lockdown. It does require a few more pieces of gear and software, but the ability to edit from anywhere with a solid internet connection is now a reality.
Conclusion
Now, you have an overview of how EditShare EFS can benefit your team. It removes the most significant roadblock to the growth of your post-production business: your storage. Editshare automates the tedium of data management, enabling editors to be in their NLE editing, instead of wading through files systems, passing around hard drives, or wondering which hard drive a certain clip lives on.
Your team can collaborate locally, remotely, or even in a hybrid environment. Your data retains its value because it is organized, accessible, and backed up.
Producers, directors, editors, and VFX artists can now collaborate without friction or wasted time. This is the flow that you want your team to be in, and it’s why EditShare goes “Beyond Storage.”If you are ready to see if EditShare is a good fit for your team, just reach out here.
It’s hard to believe we participated in our 20th National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show in Las Vegas last week! As always, NAB provided a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase our latest innovations, like the new NVMe unit, EFS swift link technology and the new review enhancements for MediaSilo. It’s a lot of work, but it allows us to connect with industry experts, bring together our globally distributed team and gather valuable feedback from our esteemed customers and partners. We had a terrific show, and we appreciate everyone who made time to visit the booth.
NAB reports that more than 61,000 people attended the show this year, with more than 27 percent coming from outside the United States.
“We’re blown away to see over half of our attendees this year experiencing NAB Show for the first time,” said Karen Chupka, incoming executive vice president and managing director of NAB Global Connections and Events. “This, and the strong international attendance, proves that NAB Show is where global storytellers come to find the tools and technologies needed to create, distribute and monetize content.”
From AI-powered production tools to immersive virtual reality experiences to the evolving creator economy, seeing the innovation in tech for broadcast and delivery and everything in between is always inspiring. Here are a few highlights that we noticed at this year’s NAB.
AI is everywhere
Artificial intelligence is on everyone’s mind, from production to sports to the newsroom. Touching every industry, AI dominated the conversation at this year’s NAB, where cutting-edge technology and innovative strategies are redefining how we create, share, and consume content. These are a few trends in conversation:
Decreasing costs and increasing efficiency: When automating repetitive tasks and business processes, AI frees up employees’ time to focus on more strategic and creative tasks. Most people believe AI can also help businesses make data-driven decisions, leading to more accurate forecasts and reduced risk.
Language translation technology: Translation tools and software are more refined than ever, making it easier for individuals and businesses to communicate effectively.
Metadata: Tagging and logging assets is tedious, time-consuming and prone to human error. AI-powered capabilities open doors to innovative possibilities, propelling our productions at an accelerated pace
Learn more about how FLOW’s AI solutions can help you work more efficiently.
Virtual production
Vegas, where the ridiculously cool Sphere shines brightly in the sky at all hours of the day and night, is perhaps the perfect place to promote virtual production.
The 360 / virtual video industry continues to grow, with more channels for consuming immersive content than ever before. Combine these advancements with new, affordable and evolved spherical cameras that simplify how you capture footage, and you have an industry on the verge of exploding.
Showcasing its evolution into a mature and immersive technology, companies showed off their seamless synergy between cameras, lights, and screens in real-time, revolutionizing the creative process for professionals and enthusiasts alike. LED walls drew audience members in like flies. We particularly enjoyed this display by YesTech.
Creator economy
In response to the thriving creator economy, NAB launched the Creator Lab and expanded show programming to include more pioneering creators to share their insights with the next generation. Covering topics from streaming and television to global distribution, AI, shifts in the media landscape and innovative audience-building methods, sessions offered insights from digital disruptors influencing and directing the movement.
Inside the Creator Economy editor and publisher Jim Louderback confirmed for attendees that “short form [content] is not going anywhere,” despite some articles proclaiming a return to long-form media. “People will be consuming a lot of it in those gaps of time between when they’re living their real life,” he says.
See how EditShare can help small teams in the creator space get more done with EFS storage solutions and our new FLOW + MediaSilo integration.
Everyone needs faster storage
Audiences are demanding higher resolution, which means creators need more storage. Luckily, our new NVMe node does just that, which led to great conversations on its impressive performance and stats – three times more bandwidth and throughput compared to traditional SSD storage solutions, which, by definition, were 5-times faster than HDD nodes. Specifically designed for high-end finishing work and file-per-frame workflows in the post-production and VFX market, EFS NVMe enables creative editors to stay in their creativity zone without any limitations on codec, frame rate or plate size.
While the MovieLabs 2030 vision is still a ways off from reaching its goal of a fully cloud-based workflow, attendees at this year’s conference were still interested in integrating the cloud in some fashion in the future. A study of NAB attendees found that while current usage and interest varies, there’s a clear path towards considering or planning for increased cloud-based storage and hybrid workflows, driven by the need for greater efficiency, scalable resources and the creative influence of real-time collaboration.
One of the biggest perks of NAB is getting to spend time with our channel partners! The night before the show, we had a wonderful meeting with partners from around the world, where we awarded Key Code Media as Channel Partner of the Year! Thank you to everyone who came out to learn about the latest EditShare news.
Review workflows can be tiring and confusing. On most projects, numerous reviewers and stakeholders share, review and comment on any number of assets from pre-production to distribution. Even when all feedback is contained in a single platform, comments can get lost among the different versions and people can easily miss questions in different threads. While stacking versions is helpful for organization, toggling between screens makes it difficult to track what changes are pending and what you can mark complete.
These problems might sound insignificant, but they all add up to time and money wasted, and you cannot afford delays. MediaSilo aims to provide users with a way to collaborate with their team and clients more efficiently with new features to our review tools.
Range-based commenting
Sometimes feedback on a single timecode doesn’t say it all. With range-based commenting, you can select a range of time on your video content to leave a comment.
Drag in and out points and use keyboard shortcuts to make your comment frame accurate.
Ranged comments highlight on the timeline during playback.
Easily edit your in and out points on your comments.
Loop a comment range to hone in on the changes made.
Side-by-Side Review
When making changes during the editing process, it’s helpful to see edits all in one place. With side-by-side version review, you can compare versions of the same file to ensure the feedback is properly implemented.
Playback two versions of the same file at once.
Select which version’s audio track you’d like to listen to.
@user mentions
The review process is all about collaboration and, more importantly, prompt responses to notes. With @user mentions, you can tag your team in comments to send them an email notification that something requires their attention. By clicking on the notification, they are brought right to the file and comment to take the next step.
Tag team members in Review Mode who are a part of your workspace or who you share a project with, depending on workspace privacy settings.
Get email alerts when you’re tagged in a new comment so you never slow down the workflow.
Simply tag and add users who don’t currently have access to a file to seamlessly continue communication
There is no doubt that in Dec 2022, with the release of ChatGPT, we didn’t fully understand the tsunami of AI coming towards us. Programmable models like DALL-E, Stable Diffusion and Midjourney came hot on the trails, and quickly more and more AI platforms emerged and joined the AI goldrush. Every week something new – this week Heygen released an Avatar AI. Making sense of it all is quite a challenge, especially for us in the media and entertainment industry. In 2023 alone, billions of queries were processed, reflecting the exponential growth in AI utilization across various sectors, ushering in a new era of innovation.
The talk at the moment is about the creative capabilities of AI, particularly when videos of what SORA can create via prompts have astounded and actually scared many people in the industry. You have people like Tyler Perry halting an 800 million dollar expansion of a studio set after being shocked by the advancements of AI. And one key issue of contention with all three major guilds in recent strikes was the use of AI technologies and how they affect the film industry’s relative aspects.
All of this raises serious ethical questions for content producers. Who is in charge of the work? Where are the boundaries between fact and AI generation? What are the intellectual property implications, particularly since every AI platform has been trained against real content produced by humans. Isn’t that some form of copyright infringement? When AI can create completely convincing images from a brief text description, what is truth, and when does it matter?
These ethical dilemmas can make media businesses a bit uneasy in terms of the creation. You are starting to see content appearing on sites such as TikTok with notes created with AI. This will increase in the coming months with platforms providers asking you to confirm if any content that you upload was produced with AI
That’s the context, but can AI be good for you? The answer is overwhelmingly yes! AI can be a lifesaver in some areas. It’s like this: people are great at the fun, creative stuff, while computers excel at the dull, repetitive tasks. AI is just another example of this age-old truth (although it’s getting better by the week!)
It’s all about the metadata
Think of asset management as our compass in navigating the vast expanse of our content storage and LTO archives. By adding rich metadata descriptions, we not only streamline our search process but also unlock hidden treasures within our archives. With robust metadata with the assistance of AI-powered capabilities, we open doors to innovative possibilities, propelling our productions at an accelerated pace
At EditShare, we’re all about helping you keep track of your content. Whether you’re producing blockbuster movies or TikTok videos, our FLOW asset management software bundled with our EFS storage and archive systems is the optimal choice. One fundamental truth with all asset management platforms is the better the metadata the easier it is to find the raw material to tell your story.
The real timesaver: Intelligent software
Completing good, detailed metadata is a time-consuming business and sometimes, it is not an especially rewarding task – which can lead to human fatigue and, in turn, errors. Spending hours or even days in a darkened room manually tagging hours of video can be tough, but it is needed if you want to be sure you can later find the people, places and items you need; to sort the best takes from the OK; to find new and informative B-roll to tell the story.
But computers are good at repetitive tasks, so this is an ideal application for AI. If the software is intelligent enough, it can reliably tag objects, people, locations and even emotions. It can process audio, transcribe the speech and sync the script to timecode, so that users can quickly jump to the part of the clip they need. Processing audio and video together helps fine tune the script tracking and understanding of emotions.
This all sounds great in theory – a real timesaver at the point of ingest, and throughout the extended life of the content. But can it be done in practice?
FLOW AI for Superhuman Vision
At EditShare, our team conducted thorough market research and identified a promising company headquartered in Berlin. This company, known as Mobius, caught our attention with its visionary approach and an impressive technology stack. Their AI platform, Superhuman Vision, aligns closely with our own aspirations, making them an ideal partner for our goals.
So we have integrated Mobius into our FLOW asset and workflow management system. We call the add-on FLOW AI. It adds yet another layer to our already highly automated environment. FLOW AI can process content for keywords in a scene, automatically tag people based on facial recognition and improve the post environment with intuitive scene and detection algorithms.
One of the operational considerations in AI is that it has to be trained to know what you know. FLOW AI is supplied with a lot of basic knowledge already in its database: as soon as you plug it in, it can recognize more than 5000 objects, emotions, actions and even 10,000 famous people. And you can teach it more – you can add people to the database, for instance, and it will index them every time they appear in your archive.
FLOW AI also includes intelligent support when searching for content. User requests can be very specific or quite vague, and the retrieval system will suggest relevant clips beyond the usual, so that stories become more interesting.
Obvious applications are systems with a high throughput of content, like newsrooms and sports broadcasters. Say a golfer hits a hole in one: you can quickly find all the other times this golfer has done it; or it has been achieved on this hole; or even disastrous triple bogeys at the same place.
It is a powerful tool for other users, too. Say you are producing a multi-part drama serial, and you need some cutaways to manage the pace of the story. By framing your request by mood, weather, time of day or people in shot, you can help the editor by offering clips that will match and flow seamlessly. For post houses versioning content for different markets, it can help by identifying the points which may need conformance editing, like nudity or swearing.
The partnership with Mobius is already proving very worthwhile. The algorithms in their software not only save time but offer more accurate, richer results, and as users get into the capabilities of FLOW AI, the benefits continue to grow. Object detection is just one string to our AI capabilities, with other integrations including speech to text and translation, but that’s something for a future blog!
AI can be a powerful tool when used to support human decision-making. That is why we see FLOW AI as a great enhancement for our storytelling platform.
Want to find out more? Download our guide to FLOW’s AI solutions below, or click here to book a demo with your local EditShare team member.
We use the expression “asset management” so regularly today that we can be forgiven for overlooking the critical significance of the words. Content – production material and completed programmes – are the core assets of the media business. You invest heavily in the content, creating business assets, and subsequently expect to earn a fair return.
Any leak of the material risks those returns. Movie and premium drama producers are notoriously averse to any risk of leaks and spoilers, and every facility in the production and post chain will have to demonstrate the highest levels of content protection.
Broadcasters pay very large sums for the rights to cover major sports events. They invest heavily in must-watch programming like Traitors or Love Island: if these are leaked before transmission then the audience disappears completely – along with the substantial advertising revenues.
When we talk about security in media systems, we are looking to protect the intellectual property. As technology develops to help us create even better content, so its security layer must grow to ensure the content cannot be pirated. The entirety of the financial investment in the content is at risk.
The same applies to other cyber threats. In court we are asked to tell “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” In media asset management, we want to know that the file is what the metadata says – complete as originally created, and nothing has been added. That means we must consider security a central part of any file-based environment.
Responsibilities
The major cloud providers, like AWS, Microsoft and Google, have adopted a shared responsibility model. Put simply, this draws a distinction between protection “of” the cloud – the infrastructure itself – and protection “in” the cloud – the user’s data and processes.
Protection “of” the cloud is the provider’s responsibility, and they are very good at it. AWS has a page on its website about how its security allows it to provide services to the US intelligence community.
Protection “in” the cloud is the responsibility of the user. That includes ensuring tight control on identity and access management.
In practice, users share responsibility with their technology partners. A post house, for example, which uses EditShare cloud-enabled shared storage, will look to us to provide the structures necessary to secure the content. Indeed, we would like to think that one of the primary reasons our customers choose EditShare is that we have thought through the security implications of the cloud and have the tools and certifications in place to make it simple to implement.
Remember that protection “in” the cloud is your responsibility. If material is pirated or systems corrupted because of a failing in your security, you have no-one to blame but yourself.
Identities
The core of that protection is knowing who can get into your content and workflows. This is IAM: identity and access management.
Every individual in your operation must be uniquely identifiable. Individuals must also be cross-certified in a matrix so that they can only access the parts of the system and the specific content they need.
This is vital for security, of course, but it is also an operational benefit. Editors are immediately presented with just the materials for their project, rather than having to wade their way through the whole of a large asset management system, wasting time and potentially compromising the security of other projects,
Powerful IAM is part of a new generation of cloud-appropriate security systems, which must be integral to any media system. The goal, as always, is to let creative people focus entirely on creativity with no worries about building and protecting workflows wherever the technology sits.
That could include multiple cloud providers. Your commercial and operational decisions should not be limited by technical and security considerations.
With secure client-side security “in” the cloud, users can work with content that happens to be stored on different sites. Or, perhaps more likely, the assets are in one cloud, and the deliverables must go to another.
In conclusion
Security is vital. No one wants content pirated, and no one wants to be at risk of cyber-crime like ransomware. Cybercrime Magazine estimates that ransomware could cost victims up to $42 billion this year, with a new attack occurring every two seconds.
Piracy is an existential threat to your business. You have invested in creating great content, and you must ensure you get the full return on that investment. Data leaks mean significant, perhaps total, financial losses.
Cyber-crime is on the rise, and we are all aware of high-profile cases where operations have been halted for extended periods. In 2023, one of the largest entertainment groups in the world, Sony, suffered a number of ransomware attacks. Also in 2023 – and probably also by the same criminal group, Rhysida – the online catalogue of the British Library was compromised, causing damage likely to take more than a year to rectify,
Security is vital for any media enterprise. Understanding the issues around security and how they can be addressed has to be at the top of the agenda when specifying systems and developing workflows. When looking for a technology partner to implement collaborative systems and cloud operations, make sure they really understand just how important it is to get the security right.
FAQs
Why is security important?
You have invested a lot in your content: you do not want anyone taking that content without paying for it. Or blocking it by ransomware so you cannot exploit it commercially,
Content can also be leaked for malicious purposes, like spoilers or to harm some of the performers. And content can be changed or damaged by adding to the files in your store.
Keeping your content safe is business-critical.
Who is responsible for cloud security?
The roles are shared. The cloud provider is responsible for securing the infrastructure, to ensure it keeps working. You are responsible for securing access to your data and processes.
How do you secure content?
Primarily, by ensuring that only those authorised to do so can access your data and processes. A careful sign-on process will ensure only those who should be there can get there.
In a multi-tenant operation like a post production facility, that means only granting access to the content relevant to each individual. An editor working on production A cannot see anything of what is going on with production B, for example.
That incidentally makes it easier for the editor, who is presented with just the content they need for the part of the project they are working on.
What is IAM?
IAM is identity and access management.
Through a system of secure log-ins and validated paths, IAM ensures that only authorised people get onto your site, and then only see the media and processes they need. Good IAM will keep everyone else out.
What happens if IAM is compromised?
Criminals can get in. They may be seeking to pirate your content, but more worryingly they may want to hold you to ransom: pay a large sum of money or your content is destroyed. Ransomware gangs are international in scope, and it can prove impossible to even isolate where in the world they are before they carry out their threats.
Can I carry security from one cloud to another?
Work in AWS but need to deliver to Microsoft Azure? With good IAM and other security practices, this is simple.
Remember the difference between the cloud providers protecting the infrastructure and you protecting the data. Your own security systems should move transparently and seamlessly with the data across barriers.
After a few very tough years throughout the pandemic and the rise of streaming services, the past 12 months have actually looked pretty bright for Hollywood. And now, it’s that time of year again. With nominations announced and locked in, the 2024 Oscars are upon us. The Oscars have always been the pinnacle of awards in Hollywood and as such, they tend to reveal a thing or two about the industry. So, what can we learn from 2023’s memorable batch of Oscar-nominated films?
Cinema ain’t dead
There’s no doubt that the cinema industry has been through utter turmoil in recent years. The combination of the Covid-19 pandemic, which kept cinemas closed nationwide for years and halted productions, alongside the continued rise of various streaming rivals (which were, of course, buoyed by the stay-at-home nature of lockdown), has meant that the industry was hanging on by a thread.
Then comes along a special, culturally significant moment – Barbenheimer. This meme that grew legs and snowballed uncontrollably ensured that the two filmsBarbie and Oppenheimer grossed over $2 billion worldwide. To have this many people visiting cinemas and paying for tickets again was a huge moment for Hollywood. It’s clear that when the films are good and they’re marketed right, cinema ain’t dead. There is still hope for the industry.
In the hyper-competitive, over-saturated world of unlimited content on social media, there’s often the notion that audience attention spans are getting worse. While there may be truth and science in that, Hollywood hasn’t been afraid to go big with their runtimes and clearly, this hasn’t been a detriment to the success of the films.
Six of the ten nominations for best picture run over the 2-hour mark, with Oppenheimer touching 3 and Killers of the Flower Moon running for a colossal 3 hours and 26 minutes:
Anatomy of a Fall – 2 hrs 36 mins
The Holdovers – 2 hrs 13 mins
Killers of the Flower Moon – 2 hrs 26 mins
Oppenheimer – 3 hrs
Maestro – 2 hrs 9 mins
Poor Things – 2 hrs 21 mins
It appears that audiences aren’t particularly dissuaded by longer runtimes and increasingly, directors and editors aren’t shy of them either. If a story needs three hours to be told, then so be it.
Film is alive and well
You’d be forgiven for thinking shooting Hollywood blockbusters on analog film was a thing of the past. While digital does remain the overall format of choice, more and more filmmakers are reverting back to film. This has been well reflected in this year’s Oscar nominations for best cinematography. Four out of the five nominees (Oppenheimer, Maestro, Poor Things, Killers of the Flower Moon) were shot on Kodak film.
This is the first time this has been the case since 2010, marking the revival of the medium. Some filmmakers feel so strongly about this they’ve gone as far as creating brand-new film stocks, as was the case for Oppenheimer. “Film, I think, is uniquely suited to pulling an audience into a subjective experience…the way a film camera records light onto its emulsions – that’s as close as you can get to the way the eye sees,” gushes director Christopher Nolan to Kodak.
Going forward, expect to see more and more cinematographers opting to shoot film rather than digital.
A masterclass in cinematography
To be nominated at the Oscars for best cinematography, you have to do something pretty special. With Oppenheimer, cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema really did pull out all the stops. As mentioned above, he shot the film using 65mm KODAK VISION3 250D Color Negative Film 5207 for exteriors and brighter day interiors and KODAK VISION3 500T Color Negative Film 5219 for low-light and night scenes.
But in order to support the different storylines, they also shot in EASTMAN DOUBLE-X Black & White Negative Film 5222 – a film stock created explicitly for this film. The nominated DP tells Kodak “that filmstock was unfamiliar to everyone, had never been run through IMAX or System 65 cameras, and required the reconfiguration of a 65mm film processor at the lab…It became quite a complex engineering process – encompassing things like the thickness of the backing for the film emulsion and making new gates and pressure plates in the cameras so as to avoid scratches.”
As if the careful handling and creation of film stocks from scratch wasn’t enough, Van Hoytema was also juggling a complex lens equation. Having established that 50mm and 80mm are the sweet spots when shooting in IMAX, but not wanting to be stood so far away from actors and needing to shoot in low-light situations, the cinematographer had a problem. These kinds of lenses don’t really exist.
He turned to Panasonic’s “lens guru,” Dan Sasaki, for help. “He tweaked existing lenses or re-engineered others from the ground up…he even built a special, waterproof snorkel lens for use with the IMAX cameras that didn’t exist before”. A range of different lenses from Hasselblad and Panavision were eventually used on the IMAX MKIV, IMAX MSM 9802 and Panavision Panaflex System 65 Studio cameras.
Hoyte Van Hoytema’s dedication to his craft is exceptional. Rather than simply accepting the answer “no,” he found ways to engineer brand-new film stocks and lenses to suit his specific needs. It’s a worthy winner if we’ve ever seen one.
Game changers
The VFX category is a really exciting one this year because it contains game-changers that potentially alter how Hollywood does things. Great VFX doesn’t necessarily mean huge budgets. Who knew?
The Creator, directed by Gareth Edwards, is the shining beacon for run-and-gun filmmakers. Looking at the stunning nature of the VFX in this beautifully crafted sci-fi world, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the budget for this thing was eye-wateringly large. Astonishingly, the film cost just $80m to make.
Typically, with VFX on this scale, you’d need to build it all from scratch. Green screens and studios would be the order of the day, costing a lot of money in the process. Gareth Edwards and the team went about things differently, opting to first shoot everything in real-world locations, edit the footage into the story they wanted, and then send it to ILM (Industrial Light & Magic). ILM was then tasked with effectively “painting over” the frames, adding in sci-fi aspects afterward. The fact that they could integrate the CGI so seamlessly is phenomenal work and saved a lot of money in the process.
The Japanese film industry has made similar inroads. Godzilla: Minus One rightly received a nomination for best VFX, too. The stats speak for themselves: just 35 VFX artists, 610 shots, 8 months and a total film budget of just $15m. It’s hard to call who ends up winning this category, but it’s an exciting landmark moment for the VFX industry.
Less can be more
Though often overlooked, sound is absolutely critical to the success and quality of a film. James Mather (already an Oscar winner for his sound supervising work on the excellent Top Gun: Maverick) has earned another nomination for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. What caught our ear here was that, in many cases, Mather found that less sound can actually be more impactful.
Speaking with A Sound Effect, Mather admits that nowadays, the audio for most films has every little detail filled in, but for this production, he and Tom Cruise decided to go in a different direction… “it’s a distraction if there’s so much sound in a piece, whether it’s percussion in the music or footsteps in the sound design. If there’s no need for it, then don’t have it.”
How far to take this theory was up to the talents of the sound designer, who revealed that, more often than not, “we started with an awful lot more sound, which we then peeled away until we were in a place where we recognized what was happening.”
Masterfully, Mather and his team also used sound design as a way of aiding the story. “They wanted to highlight the fact that the train was out of control. They wanted these big bangs and jolts to remind the audience that they were on a runaway train. Earlier on, when you are with The White Widow, it’s very quiet. They wanted the train to sound very luxurious and smooth. So there’s quite a lot of work in the train sounds to subliminally remind the audience of where we are in the arc of the storyline for that section.”
Black and white as a storytelling tool
The category for best editing is a tough one to call this year, but one thing stands out in two of the nominations.
In Oppenheimer, first-time nominee Jennifer Lame masterfully balances interlocking subjective points of view from both Oppenheimer himself and antagonist Admiral Lewis Strauss. Despite the film effectively having a lot of people talking in rooms, the tension and pacing are handled beautifully by Lame, who reaps the benefits of using black and white to cover and differentiate Strauss’ storyline.
Similarly, in Poor Things, editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis manages the sudden shifts in style and tone by using black and white, then various shades of color that mark out and define Bella’s journey. Color isn’t the be-all and end-all of editing, but it certainly makes its presence known in this year’s category.
Interestingly, Maestro (nominated for categories including best picture and best cinematography) also adopted the use of black and white to showcase the different time periods and storylines, as well as going even further in switching up aspect ratios. It did not get the nomination for best editing, which may reflect the feedback from some audience members that the aspect ratio change was actually quite jarring.
Subtitles? No problem
This was a big year for non-English-speaking films. Through previous nominations, we’ve seen the likes of Roma, Parasite, Minari, Triangle of Sadness and All Quiet on the Western Front all win big (and rightly so). In 2024, for the first time, there’s more than one movie nominated for best picture that is primarily not spoken in English (Anatomy of a Fall, Past Lives, The Zone of Interest).
While many movie-goers may have turned their nose up at foreign language films and the idea of having to read subtitles not so long ago, that trend appears to be less and less existent. Nowadays, perhaps in part thanks to global streaming services such as Netflix, it seems that audiences are much more willing to watch a film from any part of the world, and they don’t mind at all if it isn’t spoken in their native language.
This appetite for non-English speaking films has ensured a fairer distribution of budget, consequently unearthing plenty of gems that may have yet to see the light of day ten or twenty years ago. Long may it continue.
All hail the king
You have to appreciate greatness while you have it. At 81, Martin Scorsese has made history by becoming the oldest nominee for best director. He’s now overtaken fellow legendary director Steven Spielberg as the most Oscar-nominated director with 10 nominations overall.
Like a fine bottle of wine that gets better with age, Marty appears to be at the height of his powers. Killers of the Flower Moon is being hailed by some as his best picture to date, and he certainly considers this his most important thus far. To undertake such large, influential and important projects at his age is phenomenal and worthy of the highest praise. We can only hope he has a few more left in him.
A wealth of talent
When you take a moment to scroll through all of the nominations, what you’re looking at is an astonishing wealth of talent. These awards are about celebrating and recognizing that talent because, without them, we simply wouldn’t get these amazing movies.
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) wrapped its 29th annual Tech Retreat in Palm Springs last week, and EditShare was honored to meet with attendees in the Innovation Zone. This show is one of the most anticipated events in the media engineering world, where industry leaders, scientists, creatives and organizations gather to discuss innovative new technologies, standards and practices.
From cutting-edge technology discussions to collaborative innovations, join us as we unwrap the key takeaways and exciting developments that unfolded at the highly anticipated event.
AI continues to dominate the conversation
HPA President Seth Hallen took on the task of programming the AI track of the main program, which discussed topics ranging from using GenAI as a screenwriting partner and pre-production assistant to demystifying AI in the supply chain.
Some worry that AI means you soon won’t be able to trust what you see, while others believe it could help accelerate content creation by as much as 50% by removing mundane tasks from your workflow. Only time will tell, but a look back at this interview on the launch of Photoshop 25 years ago might improve your outlook.
Five years into MovieLabs 2030 Vision
Our friend Mark Turner, Program Director, Production Technology at MovieLabs, led a “State of the Union,” providing an update on the progress of their 2030 Vision. Mark and his MovieLab partners hosted several sessions to discuss industry advancements and identify gaps that need to be filled.
“We’re approaching five years into our odyssey towards ‘ProductionLandia’ – an aspirational place where media creation workflows are interoperable, efficient, secure-by-design, and seamlessly flexible,” said Leon Silverman, HPA founder and past president. “It is the destination – and the 2030 Vision is our roadmap to get there. What we are finding is that this Vision resonates well beyond Hollywood and that the HPA Tech Retreat has become the vital meeting place for fellow travelers to learn all about MovieLabs’ work while MovieLabs gains visibility into pioneering developments that would otherwise go under our radar.”
Themes at the event included implementing the MovieLabs Ontology for Media Creation, Bringing the “Studio in the Cloud” to Fruition and Enabling Interoperable Workflows. Mark stressed that while there has been tremendous progress, they still have a lot of work to do to achieve the 2023 Vision.
Exciting news from EditShare
We were excited to demonstrate how our products help enhance the quality and efficiency of production and post-production processes, particularly for remote work and seamless cloud integration.
With Swift Link, we address the need for storage solutions that connect multiple facilities and integrate with the cloud, catering to users working remotely or from home. Swift Link significantly improves remote client speeds over VPNs or high-latency connections, boosting throughput up to 10 times. This technology allows users to preview and edit proxies and high-res media, optimizing connections for remote work without altering existing equipment or workflows.
Now available with all new EFS systems, EditShare Connect features new swift link technology, a revolutionary productivity tool turning your on-premise storage into your own private cloud for remote editing workflows. Reliably connect from any location using automatic latency detection and use your favorite NLE software on any OS to work on your media remotely and securely.
EditShare One, a new user experience, streamlines creative processes, with initial applications like Producer View facilitating task assignments and feedback delivery across dispersed teams. Producers can mark key points in transcriptions for editors through the FLOW panel, enhancing collaboration. AI-driven services, such as speech-to-text transcriptions, integrate seamlessly into FLOW, expediting work and enabling automatic creation of rough cuts or integration of selected clips into Adobe Premiere sequences. This can be extended even further with the new integration between FLOW and MediaSilo, allowing users to share links, create presentations and collaborate throughout the production team.
Thanks for the Double-Double®
HPA surprised us by bringing in an In-N-Out Cookout Truck to close out the show. The conversations with customers and knowledge gained were unbeatable, but an Animal Style Double-Double® comes in at a close second.
Thank you to HPA for another remarkable event that helps keep us on the cutting edge of the M&E industry.
MediaSilo’s panels for Adobe Premiere Pro, After Effects and DaVinci Resolve Studio* make uploading a breeze
Sometimes, at the end of a long editing session, you just want to hit “export” and call it night. But everyone has experienced waiting for exports to complete, then initiating an upload to a review platform, and then waiting for that to complete. Then, you have to wait for the transcode to complete. Then, you have to ensure it plays right and the watermark is applied. Then, you have to send emails to producers and directors. Next, you wait for their comments.
The next day, editors try to figure out how to match the comments from emails back into their timelines. Then, you have to be careful because making changes affects the timecode, which throws off another set of comments where a reviewer typed in the timecode in a Slack message. And so on.
MediaSilo’s Panels for Premiere Pro, After Effects and DaVinci Resolve Studio solve this whole mess for editors. Let’s investigate the panels and see how they can save you time and grief.
MediaSilo Panel for Premiere Pro and Resolve
The MediaSilo panel gives you access to assets in MediaSilo right within your NLE. It also allows you to export a timeline with a single click and have it uploaded into the right project folder on MediaSilo. You can choose your upload settings and identify the people who need to be notified. Once the team has made notes in MediaSilo’s review mode, you can immediately import those comments as markers into your sequence.
Those features streamline so many manual steps in the review and approval process. Basically, the MediaSilo panel gets you home in time for dinner.
DaVinci Resolve Studio
Once the panel is installed, Open DaVinci Resolve Studio and go to Workspace -> Workflow Integrations -> MediaSilo. A floating window appears with your projects. It uses a helper app called “Electron,” so don’t quit it. Your assets appear in the projects. When you float your mouse over each asset, you can preview (Resolve only), download, create a new version, or Open in MediaSilo.
Premiere Pro
Install the MediaSilo Panel from the Creative Cloud desktop app. Go to “Stock & Marketplace” and search for MediaSilo. Once the extension is installed in Premiere, open the Window menu > Extensions > MediaSilo.
After Effects
Install the MediaSilo Panel from the Creative Cloud desktop app. Go to “Stock & Marketplace” and search for MediaSilo. Once the extension is installed in After Effects, open the Window menu > Extensions > MediaSilo.
Downloading assets into your project
If you want to include one of your MediaSilo assets in your local project, just drag it into the media. If you prefer to download a proxy version, click the download icon and select “Proxy” from the drop-down menu. Proxies are smaller, lower-resolution versions of the original footage. They are handy when you are putting together a rough cut. And when your project is ready for color grading, you “conform” it to the original, high-resolution clips.
Exporting your timeline directly to MediaSilo is a breeze with the panel. Once you’ve completed your cut, click “Export Timeline” (Premiere says, “Export Sequence”) in the MediaSilo Panel. The “Export Sequence/Timeline” window opens up. You can choose your encoding preset based on your needs. Sometimes, you need the highest quality version to go up, and sometimes, you just need a lower-resolution version for quick approval. Choose the whole sequence or just from the In/Out points. You can specify a title and add a description that will appear in MediaSilo.
“Upload Location” is the next option. Start typing the project name, folder or asset with which this upload should be associated. This step is important because an editor may work on projects with different security levels.
The “Recipients” field saves you the hassle of waiting for an upload to complete before notifying reviewers. Enter the names of the individuals who need to receive a review link, and they will be notified once the asset is ready for viewing.
Create a new version of your timeline
Typically, when I’m ready to output a new version of an edit, I export it from the timeline. If the service I’m using for review and approval (non-MediaSilo) keeps track of versions, I usually just cross my fingers and hope it picks up on the new file coming in. Most of the time, I just append a “v2” or “v3,” and then manually identify it as a new version once the upload has completed. Then, I send a message to alert the reviewer.
The MediaSilo panel takes a different, more efficient approach. This feature is so simple that it took me a moment to understand how it works.
This process applies if you have already exported your timeline once and you need to export another version after some changes have been made. Select the clip in the panel and click on the button to share a new version.
This will bring up the export window. Rather than simply exporting the asset, all these options are designed to help you streamline creating a new version of the asset. This way, you can give the new version its own title, and MediaSilo will keep it associated with the initial version. This means the links that you have previously sent out will continue to work.
You can even change the access on the new version, and reviewers will be notified when it is ready. You’ll also receive a notification when they view it. This little box saves so many steps in the process of exporting compared to the process I outlined at the beginning of this section.
Encoding Presets
The encoding presets section allows you to choose the resolution for your upload. Sometimes, you need to get a change up quickly or share a low-quality version with a collaborator. So you can choose a lower-resolution setting. If you need to upload at a higher quality, choose your “current render settings.”
Watermarking and security
If you have watermarking turned on with your project, that will get automatically applied in MediaSilo. This is really helpful for editors because they don’t need to turn on and off a watermark within their NLE. In addition to the visible watermark, MediaSilo supports forensic watermarking with SafeStream. This technology ensures that any leaks can be traced back to their source.
MediaSilo also supports the ability to use your own custom email server for email notifications and 2-factor authentication — to ensure an even higher level of security.
Support articles
MediaSilo offers support articles for Resolve, Premiere and After Effects that show you how to install and use the panels in detail.
Conclusion
The MediaSilo panels in DaVinci Resolve Studio and Adobe Premiere Pro will save you time and energy. They help to make collaboration, review and approval a much more streamlined process.
*Note: The MediaSilo + DaVinci Resolve Studio integration is only available on the DaVinci Resolve Studio paid tier. You can find their pricing here.
When you send large video files, you can encounter all sorts of challenges. When your team is collaborating on a video project, you often have to send multiple versions, track review and approval comments, and make sure everything is secure. However, video collaboration workflows are more demanding than your typical cloud-based file-sharing workflows. This can be even more challenging when the creative team and the IT team propose different solutions for sharing video files.
Here are 10 of the top ways to share large video files and their pros and cons. I’ll also share things I wish IT knew about the unique demands of video review and approval processes. So, let’s dig in to find out which solution is best for your video collaboration workflow.
WeTransfer
WeTransfer’s simple interface makes it easy to share files up to 2GB. To upload larger files, you’ll need to upgrade to Pro or Premium.
WeTransfer uses a web browser interface for uploading. With some browsers, like Safari, you can run into an issue where the browser will time out before your large upload is complete. This isn’t the case when apps feature an app that installs on your local machine.
While WeTransfer Pro does a great job of sharing your final exports in the delivery phase of your project, it lacks review and approval features, so it might not be the right tool for collaborating during the post-production phase.
The other major drawback is that WeTransfer does not recover well from an interrupted file transfer. You’ll need to re-initiate if your transfer is interrupted (maybe due to a bad WiFi connection). If your upload is a large file, this can mean a significant amount of lost time, and you still won’t know if it will complete on a second go-around.
Dropbox
Dropbox is well known for its ability to sync files between the cloud and your various devices. But since DropBox Business Plus caps file sizes at 250GB, it runs into similar constraints as WeTransfer Pro. DropBox does feature “Replay,” which allows for commenting on videos, but it is not available on the least expensive plan. Additionally, the replay feature is limited to 10 file uploads on their top plan.
While Dropbox offers reliable syncing, it can be confusing when working with two different organizations. It tends to demand that both parties upgrade. That makes it confusing when you are trying to figure out who is hosting which files. A common question that arises is, “If I delete this file on my computer, will it vanish from yours?”
Post-production professionals need to know that they can deliver files without confusing mismatched subscription tiers between vendors. So, if you find yourself dealing with multiple projects and multiple clients, getting everyone to collaborate through Dropbox is a tall order.
Box
Box enjoys a solid reputation for handling lots of smaller files well. Their lowest tier caps file sizes at 250MB. (The highest tier caps out at 150GB per file). This gives you an idea of where their emphasis lies. There are no review or commenting features associated with videos.
Box is a great example of the difference between typical workflows that IT supports vs. media workflows. While an IT team may be accustomed to supporting petabytes of small files, this is different from workflows that have a smaller overall footprint, but the individual files are larger.
Google Drive
Google knows how to sync and send large files. Google Drive is inexpensive and reliable. Google offers a web interface and a downloadable app that syncs locally. The downloadable app is more reliable than the web interface for large transfers.
However, by many accounts, Google Drive is slower than Dropbox. My personal experience is that Google will eventually get your file uploaded. But sometimes, you can run into a frustrating scenario where interrupted syncs hang. This causes Google to stall out until Google Drives figures out that a file has been moved or renamed. This can put a halt to your other uploads.
Google also changed how sharing works between paying and free users.
If everyone within an organization is on a paid tier, then file sharing works well. But if you are sharing between organizations, Google will basically push both sides to upgrade. It is frustrating because you cannot know whether the person on the other side of the share has a paid account. I just ran into this a couple of weeks ago. I had a paid version, and the other team had free accounts (but I didn’t know this). The other team had to get their CEO to join the shared folder to accept my shared folder because he had a paid account.
Post-production pros need to know that the delivery of their assets is friction-free. You don’t want your client hit with promotional “nag-ware” when you are trying to deliver your final assets.
OneDrive
Microsoft enjoys a solid reputation with IT teams for good reason. Their products cater to the needs of corporate users. Microsoft places an emphasis on security and integration with Windows.
However, OneDrive is not oriented toward post-production. It lacks features oriented toward video review and approval and version tracking. This makes it a good solution for sharing graphics and project files, but it isn’t great for managing video projects.
Vimeo
Vimeo has been the champion for preserving video quality for films delivered to the web. Vimeo is a great tool for the distribution of assets online, where video quality trumps workflow efficiency. It works well for embedding your finished project on your website. In the past few years, Vimeo has also been adding collaboration, AI, and live-streaming features.
However, in my personal experience, I have found uploading to Vimeo painfully slow. Transcoding also seems to take longer than other services. It will be interesting to see if Vimeo’s performance can keep pace with their aspirations.
Resilio
Resilio uses P2P technology to facilitate the syncing of large files between multiple collaborators. This is a powerful technology, but it does require the app to be installed on the computers of both the sender and the recipient. This means Resilio is a nice solution for frequent collaborators. However, it’s really a no-go for client work where somebody just wants to click a link, quickly compare versions, and leave some comments.
Frame.io
Adobe’s frame.io platform is a popular solution for review and approval. It features integration into popular NLEs, and tools for managing versions. Adobe is working to incorporate AI features into frame.io as well.
However, my experiences with frame.io over the past year have been challenging. They’ve acknowledged these challenges and reported that they are working on an overhauled version of their software.
Infrastructure solutions: Aspera, Signant, and EditShare EFS
IBM Aspera and Signant Media Shuttle are robust solutions that integrate your team’s IT infrastructure. They’re often used by broadcasters to move large files. However, many teams are finding challenges with these solutions. And they are expensive.
EditShare EFS has built-in file acceleration for large transfers from one EFS system to another. This can be particularly advantageous to customers who have multiple facilities and the transfer software is included in the standard EFS license – no additional costs are involved.
MediaSilo
MediaSilo delivers a platform designed specifically to tackle the challenges of video collaboration. It integrates right into Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve. This allows editors to save huge amounts of time when exporting, uploading, and versioning.
MediaSilo allows users to upload through the browser or the desktop app. MediaSilo’s robust uploader gives you real-time feedback on the speed and progress of your uploads. If you’re connection is interrupted, MediaSilo does a great job of completing the transfer when you are reconnected. It is also easy to cancel an upload and clear the queue. This avoids the hangs and syncing issues that other solutions run into.
The SafeStream technology ensures that assets can be forensically tracked to individual users, and watermarks deter IP theft.
MediaSilo’s review and approval tools allow for easy commenting and versioning. This helps everyone on the team to know if specific notes have been addressed. It is easy to send your collaborators a MediaSilo link, and they don’t have to worry about having an account, what tier they are on, or sync settings. MediaSilo’s strength is wrapping powerful features in a simple interface. If you need to send a collaborator a video file for review, it doesn’t get easier than MediaSilo.
Conclusion
Moving around massive video files is a challenge without the right tool. Sometimes, you just need to send someone a file, but other times, you need to gather notes, compare versions, and intelligently group assets. Video files present challenges that are different from syncing a bunch of documents. Tools like MediaSilo, and EditShare EFS can smooth out your workflow and simplify remote collaboration.
