The Royal National Theatre – more usually referred to as the National Theatre, the National or just the NT – is one of the UK’s best known theatre venues. Founded in 1963, the reach and influence of the National has extended over the last 15 years beyond its concrete building on London’s South Bank. This is in part due to NT Live, the cinema programme of multi-camera captures of productions, distributed by satellite or DCP, to over 700 UK sites and more globally. Making the arts more accessible to a wider audience.
During the covid pandemic the National Theatre’s live performances were suspended but they adapted by creating the NT at Home streaming service. Initially it started as a program of free streams on YouTube with the full NT at Home SVOD service launching in December 2020. During this time the National Theatre discovered inefficiencies in the infrastructure when faced with a large increase in captured content, so they needed to look at the addition of post production storage. Central to this was the installation of an EditShare EFS 300 storage system, which was designed and implemented by Tyrell.
“When the pandemic hit, we were no longer able to capture new material and the cinemas were closed as well,” comments Jim Cross, Senior Post Production Manager, National Theatre. “But part of our Arts Council remit as a publicly funded organization is to bring theatre to our audiences. Because of this we started putting out productions free on YouTube, which became the NT At Home platform. To support that we went from a team of 15 to now nearly 60 people, who now work on the dual delivery of NT Live for cinema and purpose capture for NT at Home.”
Cross explains that these services along with the requirement to promote shows in the theatre, as well as the rise in the volume of work for the internal learning department meant their workload increased significantly. As a result, both the production/post-production and archiving departments realised the three legacy servers that had been used since the mid-2010s were no longer suitable for the increased demands being put on them. “It was very hard drive-based, with IT ‘non-video’ servers that weren’t specifically for media,” he says. “And these days we do less live satellite, we do more full post-production workflows in house, including editing, mixing and grading, so we needed a more dynamic, powerful and robust solution.”
This has meant there is a lot more media moving around and being worked on by the edit team, which has doubled in size in the last three years. Cross explains that by the end of 2021 the increased workload meant the NT was beginning to run out of storage. “During the covid pandemic everyone was working from home and shuttling hard drives back and forth,” he says. “We knew we were going to come back into the building, but it became very obvious we needed near-line, hot storage. A NT Live show takes on average 4 terabytes of storage and it would take three, four or five hours to ingest that. Now with EditShare EFS we can do it in just 45 minutes.”
The NT’s digital content is archived using the Preservica cloud-based platform and although that is a self-contained operation, it needed to connect to any new near-line storage set-up in a more efficient way than previously. “Historically there wasn’t such a smooth workflow process around getting material from the digital media team into the archive involved a lot of local knowledge on the part of the editors, producers and me,” comments Post-Production Archive Manager Zoe Bowers, who describes herself as sitting between the digital media team and the archive. “The move towards the new EditShare system came in tandem with thinking we all needed to know where content is so we can find it, particularly as so much more is being created.” Tyrell’s sales and marketing director, Dan Muchmore adds, “it’s a common issue that every facility hits as they grow and it’s our speciality as a technical partner to help migrate workflows away from a single source or knowledge to a way of working that benefits the business, regardless of team size and structure”.
The NT previously did not have a digital asset management system but worked on a SMB file share arrangement, with folders for short-term and long-term storage. With both Tier 1 and Tier 2 server systems nearing the end of their operational lives, Jim Cross and Zoe Bowers instigated a request for proposal (RFP) process, with EditShare being their primary choice for a new system.
“I worked with Tyrell on the installation of the system into our server room, which involved the networking and commissioning of the 256TB EditShare hardware,” Tom Rhodes, Head of IT Infrastructure explains. “But really it was all quite self-contained within the EditShare technology. It’s now utilized on our 10Gb infrastructure, which allows us to ingest material a lot quicker than before. EditShare also has its FLOW media asset management software and although we haven’t fully implemented this yet, it is something we looked at when selecting the system.”
The National Theatre has been using EditShare for 18 months and in that time, Jim Cross concludes, the new storage installation has changed the way the post-production process for the NT. “Previously the team would take material from the SANs and save content locally and on drives,” he says. “Now, the machines themselves are clear of data and we don’t use hard drives in that way anymore because of how fast it is. This means anyone can pick up a project at any point because everything is in EditShare. It has revolutionized the way we work.”
The NT has always led the way in representing the arts in the UK. Constantly evolving to find ways to make productions more accessible to wider audiences, both geographically and financially. NT Live began as a fantastic initiative and become a leader in the event cinema industry. What we love most about their hunger to evolve is that the NT team worked hard to not only maintain the value of the arts to its patrons but also the actors and production teams, who would have been impacted by the loss of work.
This evolution continues to this day, with Jim, Zoe and Tom not only identifying their post production inefficiency but also the importance of their roles as stewards of the NT archive. Inefficiencies often result in additional expenditure, which could instead be used by the arts and as we know the NT archive is important for future generations. EditShare solves both these problems whilst giving the team another opportunity to evolve again.
Brings order to the complex demands of golf coverage
Boston, MA, December 11, 2023 – EditShare®, the technology leader that enables storytellers to create and manage collaborative media workflows, has delivered a shared storage system, with integrated asset management, to Singapore-based Asian Tour Media. The company provides coverage and content distribution for the Asian Golf Tour, the only recognized pan-Asian professional golf tour in Asia.
Asian Tour Media had an existing shared storage network, but its operation was severely limited by its lack of practical production asset management functionality. Editors searching for material were using OS searches, which was slow and inconvenient. As well as good asset management, the new storage system also had to provide comprehensive support for 4k Ultra HD, including the ability to move material as proxies when bandwidth was limited.
The Media Village, EditShare’s partner in Singapore, set up a comprehensive demonstration built on EFS storage nodes and FLOW production asset management. The proof of concept also showed that the EditShare architecture provides ample bandwidth for multiple I/O and concurrent users in 4k.
In capturing all the coverage of a professional golf tournament, the production generates a huge amount of content. The new EditShare installation allows media managers to put markers on all the action points afteringest, so editors can instantly access the clips they need. The system is used on the road at tournaments, and also in Asian Tour Media’s headquarters to prepare packages in advance to make the live coverage more engaging.
“We knew that we wanted to replace our aging video servers,” said Peter White, Senior Head of Production,at Asian Tour Media. “We wanted good asset management, and excellent bandwidth for multiple users and remote access. The Media Village arranged a demonstration, and the rest is history.
“At Asian Tour Media, our content and our staff are the assets.” Whitecontinued. “With EditShare we have found a better way of managing and monetizing our content. We are developing new workflows which will allow us to become more efficient. Time saved means more time to be creative – and more work/life balance for the staff.”
Said Bacho, Chief Revenue Officer at EditShare commented “With our local partner The Media Village we could show Asian Tour Media how they could transform their workflows with EFS and FLOW, and give them the confidence to develop efficient workflows and operational practices they need. That is because the technology is designed for production professionals, making it logical and intuitive to use and absolutely reliable when there is no second chance.”
EditShare is an Emmy award-winning technology leader supporting storytellers through collaborative media workflows across on-premise, cloud and hybrid architectures. The market-leading open software solutions and robust APIs improve workflow collaboration, third-party integrations and content sharing across the entire production chain. Designed specifically for media applications, the high performance line-up provides shared storage, archiving and backup, and intelligent media asset management.
Through a merger with Shift Media, EditShare also now integrates tools for content review and distribution, the creation of customized, branded pitch reels, and secure preview of high-value pre-release content.
In the ever-changing world of broadcasting, remote projects have transformed the industry. The pandemic showed us what was possible, with production moving from inside studios to live locations and even peoples’ homes, using techniques that may include remote desktop software and cloud platforms such as Zoom and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Several elements are needed to execute remote broadcasting successfully, including a reliable internet connection, quality broadcast equipment and web-based tools for collaborating on video editing, graphics and more. Broadcasters also face continuously shifting, imminent deadlines, so streamlining workflows and sharing files quickly is imperative. That’s why employing the right collaboration tool is so important.
Why team collaboration is essential for remote broadcasts
Remote broadcasts require capturing massive amounts of audio and video content from remote locations and sending it all to a central facility or studio. The remote production team must collaborate efficiently with that facility to ensure a seamless broadcast.
Digital video transmission enables the delivery of high-quality content and timely updates to their audiences, regardless of the geographical distance between facilities. That’s why having the right equipment is imperative for the success of a remote broadcast.
In this industry, creating and editing content quickly is nonnegotiable. If a single copy of media gets lost or destroyed, finding something else to plug in for that evening’s broadcast in a pinch can cause a frenzy, with producers and editors scrambling to fill the slot. That’s why resilience is essential, along with having alternate media available online at all times. If a producer needs to pivot to a new story at the last minute, they must have access to all the required assets without adding the unnecessary delays of searching for the proper files.
Employing the right video collaboration software can increase your team’s overall efficiency and help establish clear goals. Sharing information quickly and easily saves you the most precious resource available in broadcasting – time. Additionally, when your team sees the results of their work in real-time, it can help boost morale and strengthen the culture.
How MediaSilo accelerates collaboration
MediaSilo’s cloud-based video management and collaboration software is designed to streamline your workflow and video collaboration process. The software provides real-time feedback and file sharing in a secure web-based environment ideal for remote teams.
From a production and post-production standpoint, employing video collaboration software like MediaSilo is an essential ingredient in a remote broadcast team’s success. The tool makes it easy to manage, share, review and present your video projects all in one place. MediaSilo is a creative collaboration HQ that provides the following capabilities:
Asset management
Save time with fast file uploads that allow you to store everything from clips to scripts to project files in one secure location so they are ready to use. Accelerate your team’s creative process with intuitive folder navigation, metadata-rich search and tagging, and flexible user permissions. You’ll also be able to keep your assets current, track changes and update versions as needed.
Streamlined communication
Expedite your review process and make edit requests clear using time-coded comments or on-screen drawings. Brainstorm and collaborate with your entire team, whether in the field or the studio, in real-time with MediaSilo’s cloud-based software (available through the web browser or app). Enable private or password-protected external links—allowing outside collaborators to interact with your team. You can also limit comments to a select user group to keep your information assets confidential.
Showcased content with Spotlight
MediaSilo empowers broadcasters to create bespoke digital experiences that showcase content as intended with customizable templates, pitch decks and microsites. Share access with specific users via password or to a broader audience with open access. Gauge what content gets the most engagement with Insights, the analytics tool that allows you to track activity, viewing location and history of any individual user, file, link or presentation.
Trusted security
Ensure only specific users can access your content with MediaSilo’s password-less login and multi-factor authentication. The most effective theft-deterrent measure is available by placing user-specific SafeStream™ customizable watermarks on your content. You can also generate one-time links to verify user identity, grant secure access to login, and share content securely with private expiration-dated links and role-based user permissions.
Data-driven insights
MediaSilo makes it easy to see your videos’ performance in real time within one central dashboard. You can measure the engagement of your content, review user logs, monitor drop-off points, and more—to see which users and files are the most active. You can also export your data in different formats and track review links to see views, comments, and approvals.
Why broadcast professionals choose MediaSilo
MediaSilo solves many common problems faced by broadcast professionals. Remote broadcasters often encounter unreliable internet upload performance. MediaSilo tracks the progress of your uploads, reports on the speed and recovers the files if your connection is interrupted. Our robust tools for managing user permissions and two-factor authentication mean you never have to worry about gaining secure access to station video and graphic assets.
MediaSilo also helps broadcast professionals with the following:
Organizing, storing and sharing digital media files
Collaboration for vital feedback
Synchronization with your timeline for adequate changes
Managing, sharing, reviewing and presenting video projects
Faster project approvals
Today’s broadcast professionals and post-production teams want the freedom to choose the tools they prefer without compromising the creative process, and that’s where MediaSilo comes in.
Widely known as a go-to platform for post-production professionals in the TV, media and entertainment industries, MediaSilo is used by production companies, broadcasters and content creators worldwide. Providing a centralized hub for media management, collaboration and distribution, MediaSilo streamlines your workflows, accelerates team collaboration and helps you distribute content to the market faster.
MediaSiloallows for easy management of your media files, seamless collaboration for critical feedback, and out-of-the-box synchronization with your timeline for efficient changes. See how MediaSilo is powering modern post-production workflows with a 14-day free trial.
Kim is a seasoned content marketing professional with over 15 years of corporate communications experience. Her sweet spot is with creative writing, both short and long-form, and she has a proven track record working with IBM, Jackson Healthcare, and Walt Disney World, among many others. Kim is also a singer and actor and has been performing on stage and screen since she was a child. She has a great passion for TV and film production and went to school for broadcast journalism.
It’s no secret that Automated Dialogue Replacement (ADR) is not the most revered part of post-production. ADR mixer Greg Crawford jokes that “there are three things people don’t want to do…number one, go to the dentist. Number two, go to the DMV. Number three, do ADR.”
Despite being often shunned or feared due to the perceived complexity of ADR (not to mention the extra work involved), it is a great way to improve audio quality and clean up less-than-perfect dialogue captured during production. Nowadays, the available tools and technologies make it a more viable, easier option than ever before.
A quick recap – what is ADR?
First up, let’s recap on what exactly ADR is. Automated Dialogue Replacement refers to the process of re-recording audio in post-production – typically in a more controlled, quieter setting.
There are a few main reasons why you may want to utilize ADR. These include:
Tech issues. There could have been a problem with the audio captured on set caused by a plane flying overhead or too much bleed-through from another actor’s microphone.
You may want to replace an actor’s vocal performance. This is particularly popular for (but not exclusive to) musicals.
If you’re creating a “TV safe” cut that removes the adult language, for example, ADR is a great way to achieve this.
Creative purposes. From time to time, both actors and directors prefer ADR. There’s a particularly famous example of this: Marlon Brando confessed to mumbling on purpose during his performance in “The Godfather” (1972). He wanted to see the final edit so that he could improve his performance with the full context!
The ADR process today
While the technology has advanced, the principle of ADR is the same. In general, you’ve got two different ways to carry out ADR. First, there’s visual ADR – the process by which an actor listens to a line of dialogue and then aims to match that line of dialogue while watching the performance on screen (with no sound).
Alternatively, you have audio ADR, where the actor will listen to the line of dialogue and recite that dialogue over and over, with the audio recording playing in their headset. It’s agreed that audio ADR may give a slightly better, more accurate result, but these different processes come down to the preference of actor and director.
How to achieve great ADR
Because ADR is recorded in a “clean” environment with no interference, it will most likely feel very jarring and completely wrong if you edit it straight into a scene. Audiences will know almost immediately that this audio was not recorded on set, and it will make for awkward viewing.
Expert ADR mixer Greg Crawford (responsible for ADR on blockbusters including Avengers Infinity War and Spiderman) gave a great interview, shedding light on the process of achieving great ADR.
Ultimately, he always aims to keep as much of the original production performance as possible. Sometimes, his ADR is as nuanced as just pulling a syllable or one word to cover for a moment where there was a rustle of clothing on set. He calls this “surgical ADR.”
However, there are other scenarios where full-blown ADR is called for. Greg discusses the “three Ps” of pitch, performance and placement. He’s constantly looking to match the actor’s ADR pitch and performance with the pitch and performance they gave during production. Alongside this, he’s always looking to match the placement of the microphones on set.
To achieve this:
The same microphones used on set during production are used for ADR
The microphone placement is the same as during production
The room is as large as possible (a smaller room creates more problems with reverb and echo)
The environment reverb is matched
The first three-pointers here are self-explanatory, but the fourth requires a little more work and begins on set.
Matching reverb with Adobe Audition
Reverb is a small detail, but it can make the difference between good ADR and great ADR. Considering you’re already recording room tone anyway, this isn’t too much extra hassle, as the folks at The Film Look expertly demonstrate on YouTube.
ADR recording software to consider
Naturally, when it comes to recording ADR, you’ll need to decide which software you will use for recording, editing and syncing the new dialogue. While the example of Adobe Audition is used above, there are plenty of others to consider:
Pro Tools is a popular, versatile DAW (digital audio workstation) offering plenty of features and plugins for ADR, including Revoice Pro, VocALign, EdiCue and EdiPrompt. You can record multiple takes, edit and refine the dialogue, sync it with video and export in various formats.
Nuendo is another specialized DAW with a dedicated ADR module. Processes such as spotting, cueing, recording, editing and syncing are all simplified here in an easy-to-use interface.
Meanwhile, Fairlight is a DAW integrated into the DaVinci Resolve suite. Its comprehensive ADR toolset enables you to record, edit and sync dialogue, all within the same interface as the video.
ADR recording hardware
Alongside software, there’s hardware. Greg Crawford touches on it briefly in his interview, confirming what you should already know. If you can, use the same microphones as used in production. It will make your job that much easier. When it comes to microphones, here are a few great choices to consider:
The Neumann U87 (mentioned in the interview with Greg)
The Sennheiser MKH 416
The Rode NT1-A
Meanwhile, the quality and compatibility of your hardware will undoubtedly impact the quality of your ADR. You may consider looking at intuitive controllers that adjust sound levels, sync and playback during your ADR session. Here are a few:
Avid S1
Steinberg CC121
Blackmagic Fairlight Desktop Console (great when paired with the Fairlight DAW)
Of course, a great pair of noise-canceling headphones will be needed, too. Popular throughout the industry are:
Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro
Sony MDR-7506
AKG K240
Remote ADR collaboration tools
Post-covid (and in general, in modern times), it’s not always feasible to get everyone together in the same place at the same time. This is one of the most challenging aspects of ADR – coordinating and communicating with multiple people in different parts of the world and different time zones. Fortunately, there are some great tools out there that can enable you to carry out ADR remotely.
Source Connect effectively takes your studio global, allowing you to stream high-quality audio over the internet and record or monitor your ADR sessions remotely. You can integrate with other DAWs or even video conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Skype.
SessionLinkPRO is a web-based service where you can conduct ADR sessions using your browser and microphone. You’ll find an array of features, including video playback, chat, file transfer and encryption.
Meanwhile, cloud-based ipDTL offers video sync, ISDN bridging, multi-track recording and live streaming.
The future of ADR
In the past few years, AI has been a hot topic of discussion, advancing at a blistering pace and infiltrating just about every part of the filmmaking process. ADR is no exception. What has typically been a long, painstaking process of refinement, requiring many takes and long hours, could soon get a whole lot easier and shorter.
Check out this astonishing example of TrueSync in the movie “Fall” (2022).
Using AI, TrueSync analyses and tracks the performance of Virginia Gardener, recreates her face with a 3D model, removes her original dialogue, and then replaces it flawlessly with language that can take the scene from R-rated to PG13. You just watched the future of ADR.
This example demonstrates a new and exciting way of conducting ADR – one that could save hours of time, as well as money and resources. Lengthy processes in software such as Adobe Audition, where you have to sync up multiple tracks and experiment with impulse response recording files, could be rendered unnecessary. Things could be achieved with a few clicks.
While we’re not quite there yet, it’s clear that lip-synced dubs with custom-made AI-recreated voices could become commonplace in the next five to ten years. TrueSync is not the only example of how AI is starting to make its mark on the ADR space.
Lovo.AI, for example, now offers the ability to clone any voice and create high-quality custom voice content. Similarly, Murf.AI offers the tools to “clone once. Use forever” – a foreboding phrase that would make any SAG-AFTRA member rightly shudder. When you listen to the examples on these sites, they’re not quite there yet. But they are pretty impressive and, in some cases, definitely usable.
Other notable AI technologies doing a similar thing include Respeecher, which uses deep learning and neural networks to transform one voice into another (again, without requiring the original actors). And then there’s Lyrebird, which creates a digital copy of your voice using a few minutes of audio samples. Then, you can generate a totally new dialogue or alter the existing dialogue with different emotions, tones and effects.
The writing is on the wall here. This technology is only going to advance, and as we’ve already seen, the rate of that advance is extremely fast.
Wrapping up
So, that’s the rundown on the state of ADR today and where it’s headed tomorrow. It’s no secret that ADR has often been a laborious, tedious process (remember Greg Crawford’s joke about ADR being one of the only three things people hate to do). However, there are many great tools out there that ensure you can get the job done to the high-quality standards we expect from all big blockbusters.
As we move forward into a new post-production landscape in which AI increasingly dominates, we can expect to see drastic changes to how ADR is conducted in the future. If you told the folks experimenting with ADR in early 1930s Hollywood that one day, ADR may be an almost irrelevant, minuscule aspect of the post-production process, they may have fallen off their chairs.
MediaSiloallows for easy management of your media files, seamless collaboration for critical feedback, and out-of-the-box synchronization with your timeline for efficient changes. See how MediaSilo is powering modern post-production workflows with a 14-day free trial.
Josh is a filmmaker and storyteller based in Indonesia. He is passionate about travel and shares and documents adventures and stories through his films because he is a firm believer that travel is the greatest education tool out there. If you want to do anything in life, the experiences travel offers you can set you up with the perfect foundation on which to succeed.
In my last blog, I introduced the thinking behind our new workflow management layer, EditShare One. If you have not read that yet, you can find it here. In this blog I’ll explain how it is used in a real-world production.
Footage is shot, in a studio or on location. Those files are ingested into the shared storage, along with the metadata. That may include information from a production assistant on set, about good or bad takes and other details.
Depending on the nature of the production, a producer or director may want to make another decision on preferred takes, or an edit assistant will need to build bins making it clear to the editor which is likely to be the best material.
The editor then cuts the scene and hands it on for review. That may lead to rework later, or the scene may be locked ready for final assembly and finishing. In parallel, the sound designer will be mixing and sweetening the audio to match the cut.
The producer will be monitoring progress at all times and will be commenting on scenes as they are cut, giving notes to the editor and sound designer. The final cut will be passed to the colorist, and again the producer and director will make comments on the grade.
There may be other people taking note of the progress too. For marketing, there may be a second editorial team creating trailers and teasers, for example. Where an independent company is making programmes for a broadcaster, the executive producer will want to check progress.
The huge advantage of collaborative file-based workflows is that every stage is non-destructive. You can go back and tweak any stage of the post production until everyone is happy, because all of the material is still available in the shared storage.
EditShare One and the Produce Tool provide access to the material throughout the process. There is a single sign-on to all the content and metadata, but each user has different requirements, and will be presented with different tools, different media and metadata, and different capabilities.
A producer could be alerted to new cuts that need to be reviewed and signed off. The user interface would simply offer the new material, a player, and a text tool for comments. No need to know how the underlying technology works, or even where the content is at that moment: just focus on the job at hand.
More generally, the Produce tool is a simple dashboard that saves time and potential confusion in searching through media spaces and folders. It is completely independent of all the other tools, so users simply see what is relevant to them.
For the editor, the EditShare One intuitive interface appears as a panel within the edit software itself. Editors are, of course, free to choose whichever software package works best for them, but within the Adobe or DaVinci user interface is a panel or integration tool which is linked to EditShare FLOW asset management and its management tools.
Producers can highlight interest points in transcriptions through EditShare One’s web-based UI, which editors can then import using the FLOW panel. Services, like AI speech-to-text transcriptions, can also be seen in the FLOW panel to speed up work even further. This automated process creates rough cuts or integrates selected clips into Adobe Premiere sequences, enhancing overall efficiency in the editing process.
Once the sequence or program is completed, the same simple user interface exports it as new material in the shared storage and drives it to other EditShare One users who need to see it.
The goal is to make it simple to create and expedite collaborative workflows, wherever the individuals are, by offering just the functionality and material each needs, at the time they need it. By simplifying everyone’s working environment, more time is available to concentrate on making great content.
Remote workflows have quickly become the norm across much of the post-production world. While bringing significant advantages in flexibility and the opportunity to collaborate globally, it also brings some significant challenges. Internet speeds, communication and leaks keep producers up at night. So let’s look at the top five most common challenges of remote post-production and some practical tips on how to overcome them.
Challenge #1: Uploading and downloading large files
Efficiently getting files to and from the cloud can be a significant challenge. Slow upload speeds, interrupted file transfers, hanging loading screens, and uncertain transfer completion times are just the beginning. Although numerous services are dedicated to file sharing, few are optimized for media professionals.
The consequences of a failed upload can mean the loss of hours. Who hasn’t seen an upload get halfway through and then it gets interrupted? Now, you have to start over again.
The first step to solid performance is ensuring your physical network is reliable. For instance, if you have cable internet, have the cable company inspect your network at the box outside the building, the splitters in that box, and the jacks in your home. Unterminated cable jacks can degrade the performance of your connection. Faulty splitters can introduce problems as well. Your ISP service person can test the performance of the signal at the jack coming out of the wall where your Gateway (modem/router combo) is connected.
Once you’ve ensured that the signal at the jack is solid, make sure your Gateway or modem is up-to-date. A DOCSIS 3.1 modem is capable of faster speeds than a DOCSIS 3.0 modem. If you rent your modem from your ISP, sometimes you can be eligible for a free upgrade on your modem. If you’ve had yours for a few years, this can significantly boost your network’s performance.
Hard-wire your network
A hard-wired connection is the next thing to consider. WiFi performance keeps getting faster but is still vulnerable to latency issues. As cloud technologies improve, editing apps can stream connections to editors. Even if you have a fast connection, you may not get performance if you are experiencing latency issues. Your internet “speed” measures the “bandwidth” or how much data can be sent simultaneously. The latency measures how fast it gets from the destination to you. By using a wired connection with Cat6 ethernet cable, or better, you reduce the traffic that can compete with your work. A good switch, cables, and ethernet adapter will ensure that your video files meet with the least amount of resistance from competing traffic in your home.
If you have family, and everyone hops on the network when they come home, do everyone a favor and let them know that if they are trying to game or video chat while you are uploading, it will slow everyone down. Many ISPs offer very fast download speeds but relatively modest upload speeds. (Like Xfinity 1200 Mbps down and 35 Mbps up). So a family member can watch a movie, and it won’t slow down your upload, but if they hop on FaceTime, they are uploading video data that will compete with your workflow.
But transfers can get interrupted with even the best setup. Some cloud services not optimized for video will make this an excruciating process. You’ll have to try to cancel an upload. That may or may not register. Then, you’ll have to begin the upload again. This results in you reaching back out to your client, informing them they must wait while a new transfer is completed.
MediaSilo monitors the speed and completion percentage of your upload and estimates how long it takes until the transfer is complete. Suppose your transfer is interrupted (maybe a Thunderbolt cable came unplugged from an otherwise solid connection). In that case, MediaSilo will pause the transfer and continue to look for the link to be re-established. Once a connection is live again, MediaSilo will pick up where it left off and complete the transfer.
Challenge #2: Keeping track of revisions
The second challenge that remote post-production pros face is versioning. An exported file is sent out for review, and comments come back in an email. This works for a version or two, but at a certain point, someone on the email chain or Slack channel gets left out of the loop, and people get confused about what is being referenced.
MediaSilo addresses the challenges of versioning with an easy-to-use drag-and-drop method of updating assets.
This method eliminates the uncertainty when you upload a new version to the cloud and wonder if it will update the old one. Often, the file names have incremented according to the version, and the duration may change. When you face this kind of uncertainty on a longer project, it means that you have to check the upload when it is completed and possibly manually version the asset so that your review links don’t need to be updated.
If the new version is in MediaSilo as a separate asset, just drag it over the old one, and you are all set.
Challenge #3: Communication
Communication can be tricky in an all-remote world. There are multiple communication channels, each with its own settings and notifications. It is challenging for clients and executives to know what has been covered already, what is “final,” and what is still a work in progress. Sometimes, you have different “classes” of reviewers. For instance, direct collaborators may want to call out small things, and executives may just want “the big picture.”
MediaSilo enables you to create different review links for the same asset so that viewers will only see the comments relevant to them.
If your workflow requires a private review session, you can create a review link and turn on the toggle “On this link only.” This way, comments made in the review link are only visible to people with access to the review link, and comments made in the review link will not appear in your MediaSilo project when you enter Review Mode.
Reviewers can then comment on the assets according to timecode. They can even use the drawing tools to call things out visually. If your reviewers put their comments into the comment section, you can export those comments as well.
So whether you need to keep the commentary private or work together, MediaSilo’s advanced commenting functionality helps streamline communication.
Challenge #4: Visibility
Have you ever sent off a link and wondered, “Did they even watch it?” This question is crucial when submitting to film festivals or potential distributors. Without this feature, editors can feel in the dark about whether or not they can begin a new revision or if they should wait for additional viewers to watch the video.
MediaSilo includes analytics for your assets. You can see if viewers watched the whole thing or if they dropped it off. This was a vital feature in the submission process of The Othrs‘ latest documentary, “Defiant,” which went on to become a TIFF Official Selection. They knew if all the key partners had viewed the film or if any stakeholders had yet to review it. The ability to tell not only who watched it but also when they viewed it and where they were viewing it from proved invaluable.
You can enjoy a broad overview of all of your assets, Spotlights or review links. You can see who downloaded the videos, and if they haven’t, you can see when their link will expire and nudge them to view the asset to ensure the project meets its deadline.
This insight helps resolve many unanswered questions in the review and approval process. Ultimately, this helps remote team members achieve visibility and transparency with each other.
Challenge #5: Security
In some ways, this challenge should be numero uno. A leak can spoil a film and jeopardize a project. Sharing a link and hoping for the best simply won’t cut it. New tools come on the market to circumvent older methods of DRM. And leakers can have private, personal agendas that don’t align with your team’s goals.
This problem is why MediaSilo implements a multi-prong security strategy. The MediaSilo platform is SOC 2 Type II certified and follows the Secure SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle). This ensures that every feature is built securely.
MediaSilo provides an array of tools to safeguard your assets with SafeStream. User permissions and classes help to limit the scope of your project’s exposure. Visual watermarks deter would-be leakers. Forensic watermarking enables you to track the source of leaks if they do happen. Administrators can implement security policies at an organizational level so editors don’t have to go through the hassle of turning watermarks on and off in their timelines.
Conclusion
The world of remote post-production is upon us. Producers who take advantage of the opportunities will see productivity gains and cost savings like never before. Tools like MediaSilo will help deliver assets and streamline communication workflows so deliverables can arrive on time and on budget.
MediaSiloallows for easy management of your media files, seamless collaboration for critical feedback, and out-of-the-box synchronization with your timeline for efficient changes. See how MediaSilo is powering modern post-production workflows with a 14-day free trial.
Reuben Evans is a director, an award-winning screenwriter, and a member of the Producers Guild of America. As the former executive producer at Faithlife TV, he produced and directed numerous documentaries and commercials. Reuben’s tools of choice are RED Cameras, Final Cut Pro, and DaVinci Resolve.
Creative marketing agency works with Tyrell to develop future-ready solution
Boston, MA, November 9, 2023 – EditShare®, the technology leader that enables storytellers to create and manage collaborative media workflows, has provided a comprehensive storage and asset management platform for creative marketing agency Linney. The system was designed and implemented by UK reseller Tyrell.
Linney, based in Mansfield in central England, is a leading developer of marketing content for commercial clients. Those clients include some of the most well-known global brands, who rely on Linney for innovative approaches to engage customers, including material for social media, in-store displays and out-of-home digital signage.
The company had an existing central storage system which was a proprietary platform, and had reached the end of its supported life. It had a very clear idea of its needs for content storage and management, which included the ability to access material from multiple locations, as well as hosting in-house editing, grading and finishing suites.
Linney worked with specialist reseller and systems integrator Tyrell on defining the requirements, and developing the system. Tyrell in turn specified EditShare storage, and an architecture that includes three 20 TB SSD nodes, two 128 TB EFS-300 online storage servers, and a 300 TB EFS-40NL nearline storage system, together with the software required to manage the content and the flows between devices. The nearline storage node is in a separate building, providing resilience to the installation.
Critical to the success of the Linney installation is the ability to directly connect post-production tools. The facility includes multiple editing, grading and finishing suites running Avid Media Composer and DaVinci Resolve. Producer/directors also access the shared storage from their laptops, over the office network, so can clip up content in preparation for the craft editors. The ability of the EditShare environment to support all these functions is vital for Linney.
“Our business is about creating and delivering exciting content which enhances the brand values of our clients,” said Andy Dawson, Lead Editor at Linney. “We really need our technology platform to just be there and do just what we need, so our people can focus all their energies on telling stories. This is very clearly EditShare’s brand value, and Tyrell showed how we could implement the technology that would serve us well as we continue to develop our business over the coming years.”
Simon Wocka, Account Manager for Cloud and Solution Sales at Tyrell, noted “Our first role in this was to listen to what the customer was really saying. We knew they didn’t need a like-for-life replacement for their old shared storage, and by understanding what Linney’s business goals are, we could propose a solution that puts them in a really good place.
Said Bacho, Chief Revenue Officer at EditShare, added. “The complete solution is very adaptable and easily configured to the way you want to work. It provides a lot of practical tools, like transcoding on the platform as well as direct access for post production tools. Linney wanted simplicity in operation, efficiency and speed, and this EditShare installation provides all of that and more.”
Linney has appointed Port-P to manage all of its IT services. Tyrell sold the EditShare system to Port-P, who will manage it on Linney’s behalf. The contract includes five years of hardware and software support by Tyrell on behalf of EditShare.
The first phase of the system was installed and handed over in mid-2023. Linney and Tyrell continue to work together to implement additional functionality to meet client demand.
EditShare is an Emmy award-winning technology leader supporting storytellers through collaborative media workflows across on-premise, cloud and hybrid architectures. The market-leading open software solutions and robust APIs improve workflow collaboration, third-party integrations and content sharing across the entire production chain. Designed specifically for media applications, the high performance line-up provides shared storage, archiving and backup, and intelligent media asset management.
Through a merger with Shift Media, EditShare also now integrates tools for content review and distribution, the creation of customized, branded pitch reels, and secure preview of high-value pre-release content.
About Tyrell
For 24 years Tyrell has been providing video, audio, graphics and storage solutions to the Irish and UK broadcast, post, production, corporate and education markets. In this time, we have become the leading provider of technology and service solutions both on-premise and in the cloud. Tyrell has an excellent understanding of the fast pace and unique pressures facing the media and entertainment industry; developing solutions for complex workflows. Allowing our clients to concentrate on the creative process and business development. From our two locations we offer a comprehensive range of professional services from consultancy to system design and integration, technical support and maintenance. www.tyrellcct.com
Quickly migrate all of your content to MediaSilo with MASV. MASV enables accelerated uploads without compressing or splitting files, allowing collaborators to upload to MediaSilo without needing access to your secure workspaces.
In this webinar, you’ll learn:
What is MASV, and how does this work for me?
How to quickly migrate all of your content to MediaSilo.
How to use MASV Portals.
Okay. Let’s get started. Thank you for joining today, everyone. My name is Michael Kammes, and today I get to proudly say I’m with EditShare, and we’ll be talking today about how the MediaSilo product, which are probably familiar with, from Shift Media, now that we’re with EditShare we’re gonna talk about how MASV can greatly enhance your MediaSilo experience.
So joining me today is Ricky, who you’ll get to meet in a few minutes who’s a Senior Product Manager, over at MASV. As I said, my name is Michael Kammes, and we’re gonna go over MediaSilo and how MASV can greatly enhance your experience with MediaSilo. But there’s a couple things we wanna do before we jump into that. First, is that I want to make sure all of you know that Shift Media, which was a rebrand several years ago that is the parent company over MediaSilo and Screeners.com and Wiredrive, right before IBC, so about a month or so ago, a month and a half, Shift Media merged with EditShare.
Nothing has changed in terms of who you’re talking to when you contact Shift Media. You’re just contacting EditShare, but the same people are there. So you don’t have to worry about any hiccups or bumps in the road. Everything has gone great so far. So just feel free to reach out. If you have any questions, But as of now, nothing has changed in terms of pricing or availability of product. We’re all just one big, happy family.
So as we move along, I wanna make sure all of you are aware of what MediaSilo is. Those of you who are already using MASV and wondering what the heck is MediaSilo, let me show you that. So if you don’t mind, I’m gonna exit out of this window and I’m gonna jump over to a web browser and what you’re seeing right now is the web interface for MediaSilo. And MediaSilo is an on-demand review and approve platform that you can access in your web browser or via a desktop app or even on your mobile device, and it allows you to upload content.
It allows you to leave comments on that content. It allows you to look at things in a time code, accurate way, and then send links out to people. But you’re probably wondering, well, okay, how do I get content up to MediaSilo? Right?
Well, what we’ve built is the easiest way possible, which is from my finder, or explorer if you’re on windows. If I wanna get content up here, I just drag and drop. And as you can see on the right hand side there, we upload as fast as we can. We break things up into chunks and we upload as fast as humanly possible, no matter how many files you have, but there are inherent limitations.
There are some features that we just don’t have inside the MediaSilo uploader that we thought internally, what can we do to make the MediaSilo upload and transfer experience better. So I’m gonna go back to my keynote, and we asked ourselves the following questions. Right? What if with MediaSilo, we could give you the users of MediaSilo greater control over transfers.
Right? What if we could give you the ability to say I wanna upload it tonight? I wanna upload it in an hour. I wanna upload it using only this amount of bandwidth and not everything.
What if we could give more people access to MediaSilo, not just people who have accounts with MediaSilo, but what about outside collaborators?
For our enterprise clients, which we have many, what if they wanted to code against our API and automate file movement with their internal DAM, MAM or PAM systems or their other cloud storage systems.
We also found that, you know, metadata is king and that all of the media you have has metadata, but how do we get that metadata to go with the media in MediaSilo. Quite often, we have to enter that manually after you’ll cut and paste, and that can get pretty tedious. How can we solve that? And once we hit that fifth question, we realized, is this something we wanna try and build?
Or why don’t we just talk to our clients and see what our clients are already using. And one of the things that became very apparent is that a ton of our clients are using MASV. And so we got together with MASV. We broke bread. We had some coffee and decided that an integration between the MASV technology, no pun intended, along with MediaSilo would greatly benefit our clients and also give folks who use MASV an opportunity to start using some media-centric tools.
So today, we’ve brought on Ricky. Ricky’s a Senior Product Manager at MASV, and Ricky is going to show us just exactly how MASV can work with MediaSilo. So I’m gonna stop sharing my screen.
And, Ricky, thank you for joining us today.
Thanks, Michael. It’s great to be here. Hi, everybody.
So let me just share my screen and I’ll start my presentation and demo for everyone.
Outstanding.
So let me just first start with a full chart diagram here just to give a sense of where we sit, how we interact and how our customers use us. So both MASV and MediaSilo are in the cloud.
In the first block here, we have our users who want to send files, either to MediaSilo or and or also to their collaborators.
So they can send files directly to customers. They can send files through our MASV portals, which I’ll show in a little bit. And, MASV is the fastest way to send big files as well as many files. So we can handle files in the terabyte range.
And we have customers who, for example, send mapping data, and they will send literally up to a million files at a time. And so we can do that quite well.
Great thing about our integration with MediaSilo is that we’ve done all the heavy lifting to make the integration work. So for our customers, there’s no necessity to dive into the APIs.
We have a very easy, no code way to integrate. You just have to enter your credentials, set the path you want to, ingress into MediaSilo, and then we and MediaSilo take care of the rest.
I’ve mentioned with portals, a benefit of portals is that your collaborators who want to send files into MediaSilo don’t necessarily have to have an account. And so that you can have people working from anywhere in remote locations all around the world.
Who can then send their media directly into MediaSilo.
Ricky, just something I wanna make sure that the lead doesn’t get buried. What’s fantastic about that is, traditionally with MediaSilo, the users that are on MediaSilo have permissions. And those permissions allow you to view content, upload, download content, etcetera.
This allows MediaSilo users to send a link to someone who is utilizing MASV, and then anyone can upload if they have that permission, and they don’t have to have an account with MediaSilo. So this could be, external stakeholders, this could be maybe subcontracted creatives. It could also be end users who say, look, you know what? I want the video to look more like this. Here’s an example, or here’s a PDF on our brand guidelines. It allows just everyone to get content into MediaSilo without having to have a paid account.
Exactly. But all the permissions that are set inside MediaSilo are still recognized, of course. And so, there’s still the security aspect of the media once it’s inside MediaSilo.
Excellent.
So just to give an example of how our customers in the production world work. So this is an example of a workflow that is part of an article that we’ve posted at this site here. As you can see, we have a post production workflow article that dives into the roles and the workflows in more detail, but you can see where these are all sorts of areas where people in different roles and different processes and stages of the post production can utilize MASV. And, for example, here, you can deliver daily through MASV into the MediaSilo portal, for example. If you have VFX pulls, then you can send the files to whomever after having had reviewed the media and the shot so you know which takes to deliver. So, again, that’s where a MediaSilo is used for the reviewing of the shots, and then you can send the camera originals to your vendors, for example.
So here are some examples, sort of, sample folder structures that our customers use. If you’re sending dailies, then you’ll break it down into different shows. And then you’ll have folders for each day and all the different components and all the different elements that you are shooting every day and then sending through.
If you’re doing a VFX pull, you already have all your shots saved, and then you can, again, decide to send the folders or files that you need to for your vendors.
Ricky, something else I wanted to point out, this is over the past couple of years, we’ve obviously seen the rise of camera to cloud, you know, getting content directly from the camera up to the cloud to use. But, a majority of folks are still doing the let me take the camera cards and I have a DID on set or, you know, a runner is taking it back to the post facility or even the office the next day and uploading from there. And the beauty of what MASV is doing is that you’re retaining the folder structure and the file structure. So any organization will translate to the web, but also if you’re uploading the original camera negatives, the original camera content directly through MASV to MediaSilo, we are retaining that high-res content in its folder hierarchy and also generating proxies.
So you still have access to the high-res to pull down later if you wanna go out to another facility or finishing house but you also have the proxies generated as soon as you upload. So you kinda get the best of both worlds, right? You get the content in the cloud with the folder structure you’ve created but with using MASV to get that content uploaded through a web page or even a dedicated app.
Exactly. And even some of our customers, they wanna enforce the full instructor, older vendors and collaborators. So sometimes, even before the footage and the media is ready to be sent, they’ll just send over this entire folder structure so that it’s already ready at the other end.
And when we were talking prior to us doing the webinar, you had mentioned that, you know, one of the things that MediaSilo is not currently utilizing, unless it’s been configured elsewhere, is something like multi connect. Right? So if you are in a remote location where you may not have broadband, can MASV actually use the other tier of transfer mechanisms?
Exactly. Yeah. We can bond internet connections on your computer. So If you have multiple ethernet ports or if you have multiple wifi dongles, you can combine them all. We can, use all of that aggregated bandwidth to send your files as fast as possible because you may be in a remote location that just has poor landline internet, perhaps, maybe maybe you have 5G or whatever, but, just combine all the internet you can, to send files out of the usually remote locations.
Excellent. Thanks. Thank you for that.
Yeah. You bet. So I’ll just start with going to our web app. So, MASV allows you to access us through a web browser using our web app. We also have a, native desktop app as well that runs natively on Macs, PCs, as well as Linux machines. We also have an API that you can use, and you can run headlessly as well, either using our API or we have a Docker container as well so that you can install that onto any server in the cloud, for example. You can install the Docker image in, an access of Synology or QNAP or TrueNAS.
And, so wherever you have your files, we can access them and send them and receive them.
So typically, in our web interface, we have some administrative tools, as well as the ability to still send files directly through the web app in the drag and drop format.
But the desktop app is more powerful. We recommend our users use the desktop app wherever possible, because it provides more resiliency. It provides some bandwidth controls that Michael had alluded to earlier, which I’ll show when we get to the desktop app.
But all the project administration, user administration, all those management tools as well as cloud integrations are set up within our web app. So for example, we already have a MediaSilo integration set up here. I’ll just quickly show how we set that up. I would have the credentials for the MediaSilo account. I can choose a project within MediaSilo if I wish to. I can also set a target directly within the MediaSilo folder structure, if I wish to. And then an interesting thing about our connection with MediaSilo is that if we have or if we are capturing metadata, we can send that metadata into MediaSilo as well so that all that important metadata is in the database of MediaSilo and searchable and viewable within MediaSilo.
And just to make sure we don’t gloss over that, a lot of time spent when it comes to review and approve is copying and pasting descriptions, information from one platform to another. So being able to sync metadata from one location to another that travels with the media just takes one less stressful step out of media migration, out of your workflow, and it makes your life that much easier not to have to cut and paste and manually type in info time after time.
Exactly. So let me show you a portal, for example.
This has been optionally set with a password so that even if somebody has access to the URL and they shouldn’t have had, they wouldn’t be able to access the portal itself.
And you can skin this. Right? So it looks just like your organization.
Exactly. So this is a custom branding for monkey games, for example. This is our standard branding for MASV, but as you can see, you can customize the logo, the colors, the background as it fits your organization or your project.
So here, also we have the drop zone, for dropping your files and folders. You can enter information.
Typically, our portal has only three fields. The uploader enters the email, they can give a package name if they wish and send a message so that the recipient can see what this package is all about.
But with this portal, I’ve configured it to have my own custom fields. So, for example, if I’m working with someone who’s working on my show, if I’ve got a bunch of shows, going on right now, I can select these preset options so that I can easily enter the metadata that’s required by the production company, using custom metadata fields can ensure that there’s no error in entering information. If you’re simply sucking from dropdowns, and it just makes the whole process more efficient as well.
We have lists of all the files that we’ve been sending and receiving. So, for example, these are files that have gone through my portal. And, I can see the contents of these, and I can download them if I wish.
We’ve already had the integration with MediaSilo set up. So the files have also automatically been forwarded to my MediaSilo account.
So this is, interacting with our web app. But let me show you the desktop app.
So similarly, we can send files. We can receive files. We can manually send two portals. So, again, I just designate the portal that I want to use, and I drag and drop my files.
Another strength of the desktop app is that you can create automations so that you can have watch folders on your local storage so that you just have to move files into the watch folder and the transfer will happen automatically.
And, also, you can configure so that your portal will automatically download files to your on-prem storage, if you wish. This is on top of that MediaSilo integration automation where we send the clouds to the MediaSilo bucket, if you wish at the same time to also send files to your on-prem storage. This is how you would set that up.
And again, this is where our customers either want to have backups in multiple locations. So, of course, whenever you’re shooting with your masters, you wanna duplicate them and back them up as quickly as possible for safety. You wanna send them to the cloud for people to review in MediaSilo. And so we enable all of that, with single automations with setting this up to the portal.
And within the desktop app, with our advanced controls, you can customize the service, so that, for example, if you have certain transfers that you know are very important, you can set priorities to the transfers, and, so that specific packages or portals can be granted more bandwidth so that they will be transferred faster than than the others. So the other transfer is really queued up afterwards.
We have a lot of speed settings as well, as I mentioned, there’s multi connect. If you are, working at a facility with great on the 5-GigaBits-per-second bandwidth. There’s a setting for that so that we optimize our service so that we can take full advantage of all your great speed.
Also, we can do a speed test of your local storage so that we can sort of ascertain whether you’re using old-school hard disk drives if you’ve got SSDs, if you’re running on a NAS, we can sort of figure out what the optimal right modes for handling such storage. So we do all these things just to make the transfers as fast as possible through all the various possible bottlenecks that’s in your system at your facility.
And, so by default, MASV will flood your internet connection. We typically will just want to use all your internet connection, which if all you’re doing is transferring files, that’s fine. But if you’re working at a facility with other people, if, for example, here we’ve got Zoom calls with our clients and our vendors at the same time that we wanna transfer files and backgrounds, then we have to behave nicely. So we can set speed limits. And you can schedule these speed limits as well so that you can still work effectively at your computer, your coworkers can work effectively, and you can still send files with MASV. And then when the speed limit ends, for example, at the end of the business day, when all your colleagues have gone home and you’re no longer doing Zoom calls, then we will, again, automatically revert back to maximum speed for sending your files overnight, for example.
And, just to be clear, this is something that MediaSilo doesn’t do. Right? Like I mentioned at the onset, we will flood the pipeline and we’ll flood the pipe and upload as fast as possible, but there aren’t any inherent controls to throttle or accelerate, or to postpone.
Some of that you can try and code through our API, but we don’t have any of that out of the box. And that’s one reason that MASV is just plug and play with your MediaSilo credentials.
Exactly. At this point, I can take a quick break to see if anyone has any questions.
Sure. A couple questions have come in during chat. And I knew this one was gonna come in. But let’s, let’s take it anyway.
I typically use Signiant and Aspera. What are some reasons or why should I use MASV rather than Signiant or Aspera?
Right. So our pricing model is very different from the Signiant and Aspera. We don’t charge per-user seat, whereas they do. So we generally go with a pay as you go model. So, you’re only, I guess, paying us for the data that you transfer. We have on our website our pricing plans.
We start off at twenty five cents per gigabyte of transfers. But if you typically are a heavy user, you may want to be a subscriber and then pay on a monthly basis, for example, and then you’ll get a discounted rate. And if you’re a very, very heavy user of transfer, then you can contact us. We can negotiate large volume pricing as well, down to five cents per gigabyte pricing.
And all those other features that we have in MASV, such as custom metadata, such as SSO, such as the portals, free use of portals. We typically don’t charge on top of your base rate or your fees. So you pay your transfer fees and you get all of our features included in your account.
And I guess while we’re talking about pricing, for you to use MASV with MediaSilo, there’s no additional cost on the MediaSilo side. You can request an API secret key, which is something we do quite a bit. And then you just plug those in as Ricky showed, you enter in your credentials and it just works.
And, as Ricky mentioned as well, it adheres to the permissions that you’ve given those users. So there isn’t any kind of security, you’re not taking a hit in security by doing that. So that again, there’s no cost on our side for that.
So other questions. Oh, I just. Go ahead.
Sorry, I just also wanted to mention that typically Aspera and Signiant users have high initial capital costs, because they generally have to install servers. They need IT to set up their system. They have to open ports for UDP, which is how Aspera and Singian, transfer their files with, but for us, it’s much, much simpler. So again, there’s no upfront costs. You only pay as you go for actual transfers.
If you’re facilities policy is not to allow users to install software, or even browser extensions, then simply use our web browser, and anybody has instant access to our sites, to our service, you can sign up for a new account and within a minute, you you can get going in and start transferring files and your partners and clients can immediately receive those files as well.
Again, without the delay of setting up a contract, if necessary, with our with the competitors, I guess, and also then of setting up the hardware and allocating the hardware and so on.
Another question, can one transfer go to multiple endpoints?
Yes, for sure. So for example, with a cloud integration, I’ve already set up two integrations in my account.
I don’t know. If you’re trying to share your screen, I’m not saying it.
Oh, sorry. Sorry.
Well, the answer is yes. Okay. And let me just quickly share again. There we go.
Here’s a portal with access to all my integrations that I currently have. And I can just quickly add more integrations on the fly if I want. And although this is set up to flow to MediaSilo, I can just easily set it up to flow to multiple cloud storage providers, if I wish. And also with the desktop app, if I have an automation to receive from that portal, then that means any files uploaded to that portal will go to my on-prem storage here on this computer, as well as to these two cloud storage devices as well.
With the portals, you can also set multiple recipients.
Who will either get the download links, or they can also set up their own automations as well so that, well, sorry, I guess, test accounts, but I could set up my email address, I could set up yours, Michael, and so on. And we would both be able to receive files uploaded to the portal at our own local storage devices.
Got it.
Another question, our team typically records b-roll with their phones. Is there a mobile app to upload content with MASV?
So at the moment, we don’t have a mobile app, but you can access our website on your phone, such as a portal. So you can, on your browser on your phone, go to a portal that you’ve been given to, and add your files here. Just click add files, it will then pop up a little dialogue to access your camera’s photo library, for example, and then you can send files from your phone that way.
Excellent. Well, I I think that does it. The majority of the questions I think were answered during the presentation.
So I’m gonna share my screen one last time.
I’ll go back to Keynote, and there’s Ricky again. We’ll hit play.
We’ve just gone through Q and A, so, I’ll leave chat open for another minute or so to see if there’s any other questions.
Ricky, is there something that we haven’t talked about that, you find, people will ask you maybe the second time you meet or the third time you meet. Is there something else kind of fundamental about what MASV does that you think the folks who are watching and listening may find interesting.
I think we’ve covered all the major points.
Okay. Well, if you check out your screen right now, you’ll see different ways to get a hold of us. First off, we have EditShare. Right?
Again, Shift Media and EditShare have merged, and we’re keeping the EditShare name and all products will be rolled under EditShare. So your MediaSilo, your Screeners.com, your Wiredrive, and you can learn more at EditShare.com. And of course with MASV, you can sign up for MASV and give it a shot at MASV.io. As you can see on screen, this has been recorded.
So if you wanted to rewind it, watch something, clarify it, show it to some of your tech friends, that would be great. Ricky, thanks for joining us today. Shauna, thanks for handling this on the back end, and we’ll see you on the next webinar. Thanks, everyone.
Thank you, everyone.
MediaSilo allows for easy management of your media files, seamless collaboration for critical feedback, and out-of-the-box synchronization with your timeline for efficient changes. See how MediaSilo is powering modern post-production workflows with a 14-day free trial.
Corporate learning specialist migrates workflows to the cloud
Boston, MA, November 6, 2023 – EditShare®, the technology leader that enables storytellers to create and manage collaborative media workflows, has provided the migration path to the cloud for AMP Creative. With offices in Dallas and Seattle, AMP Creative brings a fresh approach to corporate learning, using video to create tailored programs that are immersive and compelling.
As a successful business, AMP Creative has a growing archive of content and elements which can be re-used in new projects. At the same time, it has to provide support for designers working today, allowing them to manage work in progress and create deliverables, as well as providing secure archiving.
For some years AMP Creative has used EditShare storage solutions to manage its media. More recently, business transformational programs, driven by the COVID-induced need to implement remote working, have led the company towards the cloud for much of its IT. It turned to EditShare to provide the same transparent transition for media workflows.
FLEX is the EditShare workflow and asset management platform for the cloud. It mirrors precisely the functionality of FLOW which AMP Creative already used to manage content and projects, with the same comfortable and familiar user interfaces.
The challenge was to implement a practical, affordable infrastructure to meet AMP Creative’s needs. The solution was to use EditShare FLEX to manage all content storage within AMP Creative’s existing AWS account, moving material between EBS and S3 storage tiers as required, and accelerating file transfers using CloudDat from EditShare partners Data Expedition.
Editors work at remote locations, using Adobe® Premiere® Pro. Projects and bins are created centrally in EditShare FLEX, and high quality proxies are transferred to the edit workstations. Once packages are completed they are rendered against the original media in the cloud. The result is that all creative staff are happy and AMP Creative was able to shut down its traditional server room, a significant saving for the business.
“The pandemic, and the changes in business requirements it created, were transformational for many businesses,” said Ofelia Yánez, President at AMP Creative. “Working with EditShare we were able to come up with a fresh way of working which kept our teams doing what they do best – creating stunning, innovative, engaging content – while allowing us to transform our business, reducing our footprint in real estate and carbon emissions.”
Stephen Tallamy, CTO at EditShare added “It’s clear that we are moving on from the first phase of seeing the cloud as some sort of magic bullet. Now we are creating tailored solutions that use the best of technologies wherever they are housed, to create workflows and environments that really meet the needs of our users. At EditShare we continue to develop the tools and functionality that allow us to get the best out of remote and hybrid working, and the implementation for AMP Creative is a great example of the power we can bring.”
The project was completed in association with US channel partner, TM Television (https://tmtel.com/).
EditShare is an Emmy award-winning technology leader supporting storytellers through collaborative media workflows across on-premise, cloud and hybrid architectures. The market-leading open software solutions and robust APIs improve workflow collaboration, third-party integrations and content sharing across the entire production chain. Designed specifically for media applications, the high performance line-up provides shared storage, archiving and backup, and intelligent media asset management.
Through a merger with Shift Media, EditShare also now integrates tools for content review and distribution, the creation of customized, branded pitch reels, and secure preview of high-value pre-release content.
