You’re ready to pitch on a big project or new client and want to put your best creative foot forward. But how do you show them your best work in a way that makes them take notice? When it matters most, you want to show a reel that not only makes your company look great but can also be customized to the particular client’s needs, even if it’s on short notice. Here’s how to make that happen.
What Matters When You’re Building Reels In House
Keep It Together
Every additional step it takes to get your work samples onto your finished reel is another obstacle between you and your potential new work.
Think about all the disparate components involved in delivering a video showreel:
Cataloging and storing all the pieces of content you want to include
Choosing and finding the best ones for the particular reel
Gathering them from storage into your reel-building platform
Making sure they’re all in the same correct format
Designing a template or format to showcase them
With all these steps, you must find as streamlined a solution as possible. Since the reel is your primary calling card (tailored, of course, to your prospective client), you’ll want to make it possible to draw from the entire archive of your company’s creative work samples, as well as any job-specific or client-specific creative references and illustrative examples you need. If you need to hunt them down in more than one place and move them to another, you’ve already lost time, and team members may overlook important pieces.
Choose a solution that doesn’t require people to take the media out of various other systems and move it, transfer it, convert it or send it to another system. It should all be ready to go and easy to look through. Once you have a library of all your finished work and other elements uploaded, cataloged, tagged and easy to search, you can easily use it as a resource to create customized pitch reels whenever you need.
Many companies use a variety of different tools to present and share their work, but very few are comprehensive solutions and many require a significant amount of oversight and expertise to keep track of and run smoothly. The multi-tool approach requires numerous steps to collect assets and deliver a polished reel. It also means paying multiple monthly fees for different tools and multiple storage costs and licenses across those tools. It also creates more moving parts that can potentially fail when you need them.
Instead, look into building a setup that combines all of these functions in a single place so that everything is compatible, easy to find and ensures your presentations are consistent and reliable.
Keep It Simple (But Attractive)
You want tools that are simple enough that anyone can easily create a reel when prospective clients want to see one. And “anyone” could even mean a junior staffer who happens to get a reel request when everyone is out of the office. One of the main reasons to bring your reel-building in-house, in addition to cost savings, is the ability to turn things around quickly. Your responsiveness alone—along with your ability to turn around a beautiful presentation quickly—will make a strong impression from the start and potentially get you the chance to compete for projects you might have missed out on otherwise.
Make it easy for salespeople and technophobes to pitch your company’s services by finding a solution with premade templates, customizable design themes, and drag-and-drop presentation-building features now available on many modern platforms. The most efficient in-house reel-building systems don’t demand tech or editing skills, nor require you to hire someone especially to manage the solution. You’ll save lots of money and time by choosing a platform that doesn’t require heavy training, a systems background, coding knowledge or substantial IT support.
Use these features to create a consistent and appealing look, and then make it standard for all your presentations. A unified look is a sign of professionalism. The ability to simply plug in an asset and have it “just work” saves many nail-biting hours otherwise spent struggling with incompatible file formats, overcomplicated editing software, and painstaking creative guidelines. Since you’re selling your creativity and taste, it’s important to keep in mind that every presentation you send out represents your company’s creative standards, even if it wasn’t put together by an art director or designer.
If there’s any caution that must be taken around allowing business development people, sales reps, producers, and other non-creatives to build effective creative reels, it’s that you have to create firm standards for your presentations in advance. There should be fixed guidelines for what your materials look like and a system for making attractive showcases that consistently represent your company’s brand while incorporating your prospective client’s. You want to avoid forcing individual users into making their own design decisions on the fly. That’s a recipe for quickly turning a potentially captivating portfolio into an embarrassment. Set up templates that fit the image you want, and then apply those templates automatically to any reels or presentations that go out for any purpose. It will make you look professional, regardless of your company’s size.
Technology Is Your Friend
While the process of creating and sending out reels may be mired in the past, technology has provided a host of advanced tools that can help you make your reels work even harder for you. You can use tech to up your new business game if you take full advantage of the tools available.
Make sure your reel-building solution offers robust data reporting built-in, so you can make better, faster and more effective decisions about how to follow up on the presentations and reels you’ve sent out. The available resources these days go way beyond the basic Google Analytics codes used on the showcase pages of yesteryear. Beyond basic viewing stats, you can eliminate uncertainty around the business development process by knowing not just whether your reel was viewed (or wasn’t) but also when it was watched, whether and how widely it was shared, which parts the client viewed, how long they spent on each part and which bits they viewed more than once. That definitely can help you decide what should go on each reel and if you’re likely to get their business or at least attract their interest. You can even use it for A/B testing to determine what performs best and what to include on future reels. All of these types of insights can signal interest, consideration and the urgency of a decision. Finding this type of solution can help you make better, more profitable new business decisions.
The right technology also helps keep things under (digital) lock and key. All clients like to know that their valuable work is safe and can’t be accessed randomly. Since you’re usually using existing clients’ work to attract new ones, you want to be respectful of your existing clients when you show their work to new prospects. By doing that, you’re also letting your new prospects know that you’ll take the same care with any work you create for them. Unlike showcase websites and traditional asset storage solutions, modern asset management and reel-building systems can also offer higher-tech security features, like watermarking and personal access codes. Once your materials are uploaded, you can make sure that only the people you want can access your files and view your reels. This allows you to show new work to potential clients even if it’s not yet ready to be viewed by a wide audience. And it lets you privately and safely share your other clients’ work without compromising their business. You also don’t have to settle for old-school basic protections like passwords if you feel you need a higher level of security. Some platforms offer more advanced multi-factor security and even integrate it with their analytics so you can keep track of who is seeing your work in real time.
Make Your Next Pitch A Fast One
The arduous process of finding new clients and bidding on their work isn’t going away any time soon. But with tools that let you quickly put your prospective clients front and center – using the beautiful work you’ve already created – you can get on the shortlist and possibly even short-circuit the process of winning more work.
Want to learn more? Watch the webinar now!
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At the end of 2022, we surveyed 367 Shift Media customers in the film and television industry on their workflow to gather insights on the latest trends from pre- to post-production. The goal was to help others better understand the opportunities and challenges our industry has overcome recently.
Just as the pandemic brought new ways of doing business, so does the challenging economic climate we face going into 2023. As budgets face scrutiny and managing costs becomes more of a priority, streamlining processes with more comprehensive solutions will be more important than ever.
Read the Full Report Now
Who We Surveyed
Key Insights from the report
Remote Work Is Here To Stay
The challenging economic climate in 2023 will bring new challenges that require streamlining processes with more comprehensive solutions, with many still working from home.
*Fully or Semi-Remote.
Uplift In Virtual Production Projects
Production teams have adapted to having fewer people on hand and learned to lean on virtual tools for remote production. Here are the tools that they use most:
*Participants were allowed to choose more than one response. OTHER includes: Frame, Airtable, Frankie
Distribution Workflows Require A Digital First Approach
Streamlining processes is essential as the need to create high-quality content at a fast pace increases in demand.
“We get as much done in pre-pro to prep for production, so things go more smoothly. Using tools such as MediaSilo and Asana, we’re able to access any assets or briefs we might need.”
Read the full Video Production Workflow Report
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.
Technology has the ability to shape the way we work, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. With the introduction of new technology, such as cloud-enabled editorial tools, it can be an opportunity to consider a better way of working.
The Evolution of Video Workflows: From Bespoke Hardware to Cloud Operations
It is worth reminding ourselves that up until maybe 10 years ago, all the equipment we needed for media production depended upon bespoke hardware. You bought a box to do a job, and your workflows were defined by the boxes you owned and how you connected them together. That applied whether you were shooting in the field, in the studio, or in post.
The twin-pronged revolution came when processing power developed to be able to handle video in real time, and when standards were established to share content as data files, replacing SDI (which of course also required bespoke hardware). By opening the option to use standard hardware and open standards, video workflows became more accessible and the ability to process video in software made these workflows more flexible.
Virtualizing Post Tools: The Benefits of Cloud Editing
The next step was to virtualize the software, and build systems on microservices. In simple terms, we have moved from connecting boxes that we happen to have into assembling the precise functionality we need, in precisely the order we need. With the infinite scalability of the cloud, the architecture can flex to do what we want without the requirement for large capital investment.
And that is why we have the opportunity to take a completely fresh approach. We need to decide what it is we are actually trying to achieve, and how best to do it.
Take editing, for example. Online editing has meant a largish room in a post house, with room for clients to sit around. That costs a lot in real estate, and power, and catering, and security, on top of the salary for a top editor and the cost of the equipment.
It is the way we have always done it, because it was the only way we could make it work. But if we are starting with a blank sheet of paper, is it the best way?
Collaborating Remotely: Enhancing Productivity and Saving Time and Money
At EditShare we talk a lot about how post tools, like editing, can be virtualized alongside the storage network and asset management platform. These are the industry standard tools that editors expect: tools from Avid, Adobe, DaVinci and others. With remote desktop access technology such as PCoverIP, the editor will work exactly the way they are used to, whether the processing and storage is in the machine room in the basement or in an AWS data centre hundreds or thousands of kilometres away.
The logical extension of that is that the editor doesn’t have to be in the expensive edit suite in the city centre post house. They can be anywhere which is convenient for them. The idea of editing high-value content on someone’s kitchen table has always been a security nightmare, but with cloud editing the video never leaves the central, controlled environment in the cloud.
But of course an editor rarely works in complete isolation. Producers and clients want to know what is going on, and directors may well want creative input. That is why the expensive edit suites have large couches for all these collaborators. And having everyone in the room may be right for some projects.
But for others, producers, directors and other collaborators will need to understand progress and approve material, without watching the whole process. With cloud-based tools it is easy for remote contributors to securely access proxy versions of rushes and cuts for comment. . If you need real time collaboration, there is no reason why you cannot use Zoom as the communication tool.
That saves time for producers and the rest, who are not sitting around while the dull parts of the job happen. They focus their attention where it matters most. And they save time and money by not travelling to the post house.
Balancing Work and Life: The Importance of Staff Welfare in Cloud Operations
The travel point is becoming increasingly important. Commuting every day, only to sit alone in a darkened room until late into the evening to meet a deadline can be demotivating and sap creativity and productivity. Connecting with people in person undoubtedly improves a quality of life, so it’s a balance of travelling when it counts. With the ability to start work in one location and continue somewhere else helps address work/life balance whilst still keeping to commitments. .
The cloud could, and should, be transformative for video creatives. It should be boosting staff welfare, business economics, and creative collaboration. That is why it is important to draw up a list of what is important to your facility, and fit the technology around it.
Want to find out more? click here to book a demo, or a chat with your local EditShare team member.
Major UAE post house builds foundation for continuing expansion
Boston, MA, February 6, 2023 – EditShare®, the technology leader that enables storytellers to create and manage collaborative media workflows, has implemented a comprehensive storage and media management platform for Last Cut Media, based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The system was implemented in conjunction with Advanced Media Trading, EditShare’s distribution partner in the region.
Last Cut Media was increasingly finding workflow limitations in its ad hoc storage systems, so was determined to move to a coherent and powerful single-point solution. Having evaluated the market, the company identified the EditShare solution as the ideal match for their requirements.
The initial architecture for the system features a 160TB EFS shared storage node with the full functionality of the EditShare FLOW media management platform. This works in conjunction with a 240TB nearline store for disaster recovery as well as rapid access to content as projects require it. Long-term storage is on LTO-8 tapes, using EditShare ARK archiving software and hardware.
“We provide state-of-the-art services to users across the Gulf region from our base in Abu Dhabi,” said Saad Duaibes, Founder & Creative Director at Last Cut Media. “The new workflow and storage system from EditShare allows us to be much more flexible and productive, delivering the performance and quality that our clients expect. We also appreciate the way that EditShare is designed for remote access and multiple locations: we have bold plans for growth including a facility in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the near future.”
Among the workflow improvements opened up by the EditShare video content management system is the capability of remote editing, allowing productions to access their files from wherever they are shooting and wherever the editor is working. EditShare FLOW ensures that, as content is ingested, so proxy files are automatically generated allowing remote editing from any location.
FLOW also provides for rigorous content and metadata management, and automated secure archiving according to business rules set up for each project. Last Cut Media covers the whole range of post from commercials to movies, drama serials and documentaries, so needs to be able to set workflows and functionality by project, with complete security between clients.
Said Bacho, Chief Revenue Officer at EditShare, said “Working with Advanced Media Trading, we displayed to Last Cut Media that we could provide solutions from a secure and orderly transfer of existing content to long-term archiving strategies, to comprehensive training.”
Bacho continued, “Having a strong presence in the Middle East also gave Last Cut the confidence that our solution is well supported as well as technically the best for their needs.”
For further information on all EditShare solutions, please visit the website at www.editshare.com
EditShare is a technology leader that enables collaborative media workflows on-premise, in the cloud, or in a hybrid configuration. With customer and partner success at the heart of EditShare’s core values, our open software solutions and robust APIs improve workflow collaboration and third-party integrations across the entire production chain, ensuring a world-class experience that is second to none. The high-performance software lineup includes media optimized shared storage management, archiving and backup, and media management, all supported with open APIs for extensible integration.
EditShare’s cloud-enabled remote editing and project management technology was recently recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) with a prestigious 2021 Emmy® Award for Technology and Engineering.
When you’re in a business like EditShare, the start of a new year means the time to think about what is going to be important in the coming 12 months. What are users going to talk about, what capabilities are they going to need, how will they challenge us?
Here is my view: this is going to be the year that hybrid production comes to maturity. Hybrid in the sense that it will be part on location, part remote; part using traditional tools onsite and part in the cloud.
Why 2023?
Before I explain why I think it is going to be important, let me just say why 2023 is the year when it is going to happen.
In media, we have a well-established four year cycle, driven by external forces, mainly sport. In 2024 and every four years from then on we have the Olympics (and a US presidential election). In 2026 and every four years we have the Winter Olympics plus the FIFA World Cup. In 2025 we have the European football championships. But in the other year of the four year cycle – like 2023 – we do not have any big events. So we have time to think, to develop sensible plans.
Think about this: there is no one size fits all post production workflow. If you are making a nature documentary you may be accumulating footage over years; but investigative journalism might be shooting almost up to the time of transmission. Movies will allow months for post production; sports broadcasters will want a fresh highlights package every time there is a break in play.
If you are planning a major sports event like the Olympics, or a major location-shot reality show that needs daily coverage, do you want to ship your post production team off to the location – where you will have to build facilities and pay for food and accommodation – or do you want to keep them back at base where they have set up their rooms just as they like them, and they know the quickest route to the best coffee shops?
Fast connectivity has changed everything
There are no right answers to any of these questions. But what has happened is that we have built workflows because, in the past, they were the only way that the technology allowed us to work. Now, thanks to fast connectivity around the world, we can take a step back and decide what is the best way to work on each individual project.
The cloud, of course, is central to all of this. That is not to say that it is compulsory: there will be plenty of workflows where traditional, in-place post is the best solution. The major nature documentary series I talked about earlier is a good example: getting all the content to a post facility for editing and finishing at a considered pace is probably the way to go (although you might want a security archive in AWS S3).
But if you do put all your content in the cloud, then you can access it from anywhere. You can call up processing resources when you need them, for instance for batch creation of proxies, or to do large-scale transcoding.
The real transformative technology, though, is cloud editing. All your media is in the cloud, as is all the metadata. With EditShare FLEX, you can host the edit software – whichever platform is your preference – within the storage network. If the post-production storage network is in the cloud, so too is your edit software. Remote desktop technologies like PC-over-IP (PCoIP) means you have the look and feel of a traditional edit suite, but it is all happening at some distant location.
You can access huge resources without the cost or time of moving large amounts of content. With good, automated proxy generation you can work with even a modest broadband connection.
Cloud editing is not for everyone, or for every project. That is not the point. What it does is open up new avenues and new workflows. You can take a step back and decide what is the best way for you to work on this particular project: what is best for staff welfare, for business economics, and for creative collaboration. Workflows your way.
MBC Group and a division of the Dubai Government focus on server redundancy and tape archiving
Boston, MA, January 23, 2023 – EditShare®, the technology leader that enables storytellers to create and manage collaborative media workflows, has delivered two large-scale EFS storage network systems, alongside FLOW workflow tools, to clients in the UAE. The solutions were designed and implemented by EditShare’s systems integration partner in the region, UBMS (United Broadcast & Media Solutions).
This division of the Dubai Government has been a user of EditShare storage for over five years. To provide access to all users from a common location it has now returned to EditShare for an extended storage node, a fully redundant backup site in an alternative location, and an LTO tape-based ARK archive sub-system.
Leading regional broadcaster MBC Group, based in Abu Dhabi, needed to boost production workflows at its facilities, and has now implemented its first EditShare EFS storage network. Again, redundancy was important with two alternative locations and an ARK tape archive maintained in synchronization by the FLOW media asset management system that resides on the EditShare storage network. The result is that content can be ingested as soon as it is shot, and it is immediately available to all the editors, whatever editing software they choose.
“The EditShare platform provides all the functionality that these two very different customers needed,” said Rayan Nasser, Head of Projects at UBMS. “We were able to configure the systems as each user required, setting up business rules for synchronization and archiving to provide the highly resilient, highly productive solutions they sought.
“We have been working with this division of the Dubai Government for a long time, so we understand their requirements and workflows well,” Nasser added. “This was our first project with MBC, and we supplied them with the complete production system, including cameras from Sony and ARRI. EditShare sits well in such a high-profile production workflow.”
Said Bacho, Chief Revenue Officer at EditShare, added “We are delighted to be involved with two important high-profile storage implementations in the Middle East region. We understand the significance of protecting valuable assets and this fully fledged EditShare solution, with complete redundancy, ensures that robust, secure and cost-efficient workflows are maintained across these mission critical environments.”
The production platform for MBC is now online. The new storage network for this division of the Dubai Government is being implemented as part of a rolling program of enhancements.
EditShare is a technology leader that enables collaborative media workflows on-premise, in the cloud, or in a hybrid configuration. With customer and partner success at the heart of EditShare’s core values, our open software solutions and robust APIs improve workflow collaboration and third-party integrations across the entire production chain, ensuring a world-class experience that is second to none. The high-performance software lineup includes media optimized shared storage management, archiving and backup, and media management, all supported with open APIs for extensible integration.
EditShare’s cloud-enabled remote editing and project management technology was recently recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) with a prestigious 2021 Emmy® Award for Technology and Engineering.
One of the first things any post professional needs to get a handle on is the concept of a “codec.” Short for “code/decode,” a codec is the method that is used to write your video and usually audio into a file.
The analogy I find most helpful when talking about codecs is that of a language. You have an idea, and you can write that idea down in Hindu or Swahili or Cantonese. With video, you have an image, and you need to record it; you can also record it in any of a variety of codecs, depending on what you are hoping to do with that image and who you need to communicate with.
Codecs Vs. Wrappers
One of the first questions that come up is often, “oh, is a codec the difference between .mp4 and .mov and .mxf?” Actually, those aren’t codecs. Those are wrappers. If we want to continue our language analogy, you can think of those like the format of a written document. You can have a German language magazine or a Ukrainian magazine, but both are magazines. Or you can have a Ukrainian magazine and a Ukrainian book; both are Ukrainian but in different wrappers.
Codecs and Wrappers work the same way. You can have an H.264 (one of the common video release codecs) that you write into a .mp4 file, a .mov file or a .mxf file. It’s still written in the same language (in this case, H.264), but you put it in a different format depending on your use. In this case, MXF (media exchange format) is the most robust professional format, while MOV is an older QuickTime movie format, and MP4 is a popular consumer format. Something like YouTube accepts all three, but your phone is unlikely to be able to play an MXF file, while it’ll almost definitely play an MP4.
What Are You Using the Codec For?
We broadly divide up the uses of codecs into three categories: capture formats, intermediate (or editing) formats, and release formats. All of these tasks for a codec have different jobs, so we use different technology to achieve that job.
The job of a capture format is to capture as much of the on-set information as possible. You want the brightest brights and the darkest darks and the full range of colors in front of you captured as best you can. The job of an intermediate codec is to be easy to work with; you want your editing process to feel easy, with applications opening quickly, timelines whizzing by, and quick exports for client approval. For final release, the goal is different; the file will generally only be played linearly (forward from beginning to end), without skimming or image manipulation, so all you care about is making the best-looking image in the smallest file possible.
These are all different tasks, so we often use different codecs, or different flavors of codecs, to achieve them.
Download our free Guide to Codecs now.
At the capture stage, we frequently use either RAW formats, which aren’t even really codecs, or larger codecs with high bitrates to capture all the possible scene information. The bitrate of a codec refers to how many Mbs are allocated per second to create the image, with more Mbs offering higher quality images. There are capture formats that are close to 2000 Mb/s for 4k video capture, which can quickly fill up a hard drive and can be too onerous for even powerful computer systems to easily deal with.
This is a great time to remember the difference between Mb and MB: Mb is “megabits,” while MB is “megabytes.” Megabits are usually used for datarates of something happening in real-time (like uploading/downloading data or playing files), while Megabytes (and the larger gigabytes and terabytes) are used for data storage. Bits and Bytes aren’t equal: a byte is 8 bits. That means a 2000 Mb/s file capture format works out to around 250 MB/s.
To make matters worse, since we do multiple different things with files, you’ll often see their data rates written in different ways. For instance, intermediate codecs will often talk about quality in terms of MB/s, while a release codec like H.264 will often be discussed in terms of Mb/s. If you think about it, it makes sense since the intermediate codec will be taking up storage space on your hard drive, while that H.264 will be streaming over the internet, but it can take a second to get used to.
RAW
RAW isn’t a codec since it isn’t even video yet; it hasn’t gone through the “codec” step of “code/decode.” RAW formats take the RAW sensor data, unprocessed, and compress it. It still needs to go through all of the processing to even make it a usable video file.
Because of the unprocessed nature of RAW files and the massive file sizes of capture video codecs, as soon as we get into post, the first step is often doing a demosaic (sometimes called a debayer). This process takes a video file from one format (RAW) and translates it (there is our language analogy again) into a codec for use in editing. You don’t have to worry too much about this transcode process since we generally reconnect back to those original video files for our final color grade, so image quality loss in this transcode isn’t a major deal.
The Intermediate Codec
We then get to edit our smaller files wrapped up in a more manageable codec, usually with a data rate under 200 Mb/s (25MB/s), sometimes even down around 100 Mb/s or less (12MB/s). This makes life much, much easier while you are editing since the computer has to bring much smaller files “live” into memory while you are working, and your edit process can feel smooth and painless instead of slow and tortuous.
Another major feature of editing codecs is that they typically focus on intra-frame encoding instead of inter-frame encoding. This means that the compression they apply (and all the video we ever work with has some compression) is applied one frame at a time instead of looking at multiple frames and encoding them together. Intra means “inside,” and you can think of this as each frame is only compressed “inside” itself. With inter-frame encoding, the encoding is spread between frames.
Inter-frame encoding, sometimes called Long GOP encoding (for Group of Pictures), is wonderful for a final release format, like a file you put up on YouTube. But it’s very frustrating in post-production since you are going to be moving forwards and backward and scrubbing over clips quite a bit. To do that with a Long GOP codec, the computer has to constantly be looking at all the frames around an individual frame in order to “draw” that frame accurately.
With intra-frame encoding, the computer has to do a lot less work. Every time you land on a frame in your timeline, the computer only has to look at one individual set of data, one frame, to “draw” the frame on your screen. It’s much easier on the processor and makes for a faster edit process. Once you add a cut, with intra-frame encoding, you are A-OK. With inter-frame encoding, the computer still has to keep referencing those other frames outside the timeline to draw that frame.
The big codecs that are used in editing (Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHR) use intra-frame encoding and are available at a variety of bitrates, so you can choose a reliable codec for easy editing at a bitrate that fits the power of your editing workstations and the available space in your storage.
Online & Release
After you edit, you reconnect to your capture format, whether it was RAW or a larger capture codec, and do your online color grading session. Typically this requires a more powerful machine since you are working with the larger capture formats that were used on set. From there, you’ll transcode the movie into your release codecs.
This typically involves a larger file (something like a ProRes 4444 XQ file or similar) that will become your master file and will be delivered to your client and a smaller file for web delivery. That web delivery file is where a Long GOP codec like H.264 becomes a great fit. Since it’ll be watched linearly, the image benefits of Long GOP compression will outweigh the drawbacks.
Check out our handy guide on the most common codecs for a better understanding of how they work and how they fit into your post workflow.
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.
Our Senior Director of Innovation, Michael Kammes, recently sat down with Richard Sanchez to talk about his work as a visual effect and assistant editor. Richard has assisted on the films “Robin Hood” and “Naked“, the television series “The Good Place” and “I’m Dying Up Here.” More recently, he was the visual effects editor on “Bill & Ted Face The Music” and “She-Hulk: Attorney At Law” for Marvel Studios. As co-creator of Master the Workflow, Richard provides in-depth training and information for aspiring film and television editors.
In this interview, they discuss why you need VFX turnovers, collaborative workflow between teams and demystify conflated VFX terms. Richard walks through his process and gives aspiring VFX editors a preview of what they will learn in his Master the Workflow course.
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.
Leading long-form post facility relies on EFS for speedy workflows and resilience
Boston, MA, January 5, 2023 – EditShare®, the technology leader that enables storytellers to create and manage collaborative media workflows, today announced it is maintaining a strong relationship with leading post group Clear Cut Pictures. The post house relies on EditShare’s EFS-450post-production storage across its central London facilities.
Clear Cut Pictures specializes in end-to-end post for factual television. It is the first choice for major production companies and broadcasters, because of its skilled workforce and its ability to manage a huge variety of projects. At any time, the company will be supporting a wide range of programmes, from those being shot over a period of years to those that are turned around within a few hours of transmission.
“When we went out to replace our shared storage, we were looking for something that would service all of our needs — to consolidate in one solution where in the past we had different systems for different areas of the business,” said Jess Nottage, Group Operations and Technical Director at Clear Cut Group. “We looked at all the likely players, but EditShare gave us more than simple storage, it allowed us to make the business more unified.
“We started with 1.2 petabytes of storage, which was a vast uplift on what we used to have,” Nottage added. “We continue to expand, and we have identical installations in separate Clear Cut Pictures facilities in London linked to all London sites via our dark fiber network. Customized synchronization routines back projects up from one site to the other. If one site failed completely, the other would be instantly available with an up to date synced copy of project and media.” Group Managing Director Rowan Bray said, “Streamlining the operation has training advantages, workflow advantages, and direct and indirect financial benefits. It also gives us a consistency of approach, whatever the project.
“Today we see huge amounts of data coming in: shooting on multiple cameras and fixed rigs, in mixed formats, mixed frame rates and mixed resolutions,” she continued. “Clients have 10 or 15 edit suites hanging off the same media, accessing the same footage – this is clever stuff!”
Clear Cut also emphasized the importance of support and communication with EditShare. “In our initial discussions it was clear that EditShare was not just selling hardware and software: they were offering a relationship,” Nottage said. “That was key to our decision. We continue to work collaboratively with them to feed back on the product and functionality we would like to see. EditShare is very responsive to us: it is a real two-way relationship and we can see our input feeding into the product roadmap.”
Said Bacho, chief revenue officer at EditShare, said “Clear Cut’s requirements put a whole range of demands on the storage network, from incredibly fast turnarounds to very long-term security and access. We designed EFS to meet the expectations of the industry, and we are proud to continue our proven relationship with Clear Cut through the functionality and services we have developed.”
When Clear Cut Pictures expanded the storage capabilities of their twin High Availability EFS-450 installations — these included dual metadata controllers for resilience allowing the system to survive the loss of a metadata controller or a storage node without any operational impact.
The new system was designed and installed by EditShare channel partner, Jigsaw 24 Media.
Picture courtesy of Clear Cut Pictures from Kelsey Parker: Life After Tom (Flicker Productions for ITVBe)
EditShare is a technology leader that enables collaborative media workflows on-premise, in the cloud, or in a hybrid configuration. With customer and partner success at the heart of EditShare’s core values, our open software solutions and robust APIs improve workflow collaboration and third-party integrations across the entire production chain, ensuring a world-class experience that is second to none. The high-performance software lineup includes media optimized shared storage management, archiving and backup, and media management, all supported with open APIs for extensible integration.
EditShare’s cloud-enabled remote editing and project management technology was recently recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) with a prestigious 2021 Emmy® Award for Technology and Engineering.
About Clear Cut Group Clear Cut Group comprises four companies: Clear Cut Pictures, The Edit Store (acquired by Clear Cut Pictures in January 2019), Clear Cut Nations & Regions (operating from Birmingham), and ClearMotion VFX. The group is renowned for providing highly creative post-production to a wide range of global producers and broadcasters. Offering full end-to-end post-production across three sites in London, plus location services as needed, with 4K, HDR and SDR capabilities utilizing bespoke workflows to deliver content to any screen creatively and effectively.
