True Collaboration across Creative Tools with Universal Projects
Stephen Tallamy, CTO, EditShare
There is no right or wrong way to post produce a project: there is no right or wrong software package for each part of the process. How you choose to complete the work is down to a number of factors, not least individual preferences.
Except that for most organizations, they are locked into a specific toolset because that is the only way they can move projects around and work collaboratively. Everyone using the same suite of software applications may limit the operators, but it means projects can be (reasonably) seamlessly exchanged.
At EditShare we wanted to take a fresh approach to this. Our users told us that it would be great to have more flexibility. This is why we created Universal Projects, which allows you to move between platforms as easily as possible.
The idea is that you can start a project in any tool – including EditShare FLOW to set up bins and even rough cuts – and work in any other.
In the real world it may be unlikely that a single project will be worked on by multiple editors each using different NLEs, so you might ask why we have devoted our development efforts to this. But there are real-world use cases.
Imagine, for instance, working on an episodic series at an Avid post house. During the edit, the production company or broadcaster needs to start on the marketing campaign, and the in-house trailer editor prefers Premiere Pro. Having to go back to the raw footage and start the search for clips from scratch is clearly not an economic option. Being able to look into the programme edit, browse bins for each episode, and with key moments tagged by the producer, saves days of effort and leads to a much better result. When the pressure is always on to deliver things faster, this is a big benefit.
The idea of being able to share projects between platforms is sound. What does it mean in practice? Inevitably, there are differences between platforms.
FLOW is the EditShare media management platform. In 2021 we introduced FLOW Panels – plug-ins – for Adobe® Premiere® Pro and for DaVinci Resolve, which were very well received. The Panels provide a means of accessing FLOW media management from within the familiar editor user interface.
FLOW panel connected directly into the Adobe® Premiere® Pro UI
More importantly, it is a simple means to swap bin structures, content, and all the metadata around the edit. Where it can, this is all maintained completely automatically. So you can create a project structure in advance in FLOW and have it pop up ready when you log in to your editor. If you add bins or sub-divide timelines or make any other structural changes, these are immediately reflected back into FLOW, and are available to any other user who logs in.
Avid Media Composer takes a slightly different approach and lacks the simple hooks for tight, cross-platform integration. But it would not be a very valuable cross-platform integration if it did not include Avid. So we have now brought Media Composer under the Universal Projects umbrella.
We think we are pioneering the universal projects concept. We are certainly the first to be able to integrate Avid technology and workflows into cross-platform collaborations.
Our implementation respects Media Composer’s way of working, like locking bins when a user has logged into a project. To allow it to be always available to other collaborative users, we implemented a routine that automatically generates a copy of the structure which is then reconciled again when the original user logs out or publishes.
This works in conjunction with the Avid Attic, so projects are backed up both here and in FLOW, ensuring each user can always access the history of a project as well as the latest version.
In effect, EditShare FLOW appears as another user in the Media Composer environment. It becomes a very powerful edit assistant, either manually through other portals into FLOW or automatically.
Sync between FLOW and Media Composer respecting bin locking
The original Universal Projects links are already available; the complete system including Media Composer integration is currently in advanced beta trials with a number of organizations from boutique post houses to major national broadcasters.
Whatever the application, it gives you an overview of every project and a means of planning and optimizing workflows. As a side benefit, it also helps engineers plan for future expansion, showing where the bottlenecks are in projects, and facilitating data-lead decisions about where to optimize workflows.
Ultimately, it is part of the new metadata revolution, whereby a strong, common, resilient set of information is used to drive complex workflows and automated processes from the camera to the screen.
Want to find out more? See it in action at IBC, book a meeting or a demo here, or request a follow-up
In one of the largest contracts awarded of its kind, Digistor has won the nationwide post production upgrade for one of Australia’s major national broadcasters. The upgrade encompasses existing post-production facilities and the broadcaster’s editing platform, with Digistor providing and installing a hybrid on-premise and cloud solution with remote editing capability and automated speech to text. The new upgraded solution also includes a powerful production asset management (PAM) layer to organise and automate production workflows.
Digistor’s new solution not only replaces a legacy system, but also brings significant workflow improvements and efficiencies whilst leveraging the cloud to enable remote workers and teams to seamlessly collaborate, regardless of their location.
The new upgrade and solution includes many of the key technologies that Digistor specialises in, including EditShare storage, both EFS on-prem and EditShare FLEX cloud solutions (previously known as EFSv). There’s also comprehensive FLOW media management tools, AirFLOW media sharing, FLOW NLE integrations for remote editorial and FLOW Automation to orchestrate workflows. Alongside and integrated with these are HelmutFX to manage multi-user Adobe® Premiere® Pro projects and production workflows, and Audimus AI-based automated transcription.
All new hardware and software will be tightly and seamlessly integrated with the broadcaster’s existing networking and server environment by Digistor’s team, and the cloud components of the system will be hosted by AWS.
In addition to providing, installing and commissioning the new hardware and software components, Digistor engineers will work closely with EditShare to provide a range of services during the implementation. These include workflow discovery to understand, redesign and define workflows to improve productivity, a detailed design phase, project management, and full implementation.
Digistor will also provide the broadcaster with comprehensive staff training services including, superuser training, train-the-trainer and administrator training. When the training has been completed, the new system will then be supported by Digistor’s premium and highly-acclaimed Customer Assurance Plan.
This new and major contract comes after many years of Digistor having long and successful associations with all of Australia’s major broadcasters, where they supply and support solutions for editing, graphics, live broadcast, storage, asset management, playout and distribution – often leveraging the cloud and remote workflows.
A key, important and common aspect in all of these solutions are the technical services that Digistor provides to ensure all projects are successfully implemented and supported over the life of the solution.
In more EditShare-based news, Digistor has also recently designed, installed and rolled-out a multi-petabyte solution in Sydney for a global religious organisation, providing them with the significant benefits and expertise that come with all of Digistor’s large-scale deployments.
Ends
About Digistor Managing Director Andrew Mooney founded Digistor in 1990. His experience designing, installing, and maintaining services for broadcasters and post-production houses had made it clear to him that the industry needed a group of experts who could look at things objectively. The result is a company that for over 30 years has been providing elegant solutions to leading organisations in the most technically demanding application areas.
Digistor provides solutions for the creation, management, storage, and distribution of digital assets. From post-facilities to broadcast operations, from single studios to collaborative, networked environments operating across a room or across the world, Digistor empowers its customers through smarter technology and service solutions.
For more information on Digistor, please visit the website at www.digistor.com.au
About EditShare 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 line-up 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.
Tour De Force Born out of sheer determination and passion, 3P Studio has earned its place in Australia’s creative landscape as one of the industry’s hardest working boutique post-production houses. Founded and led by artisan Haley McDonald, 3P Studio’s eclectic portfolio of post-production work includes desirable commercial brands such as Subway, Allianz, Isuzu Motor Company as well as iconic and defining shows like Sesame Street.
“There are a few projects that we are particularly proud of at 3P Studio and one that stands out is the work we did with Brisbane-based advertising agency, Carbon Creative, for the Australian Department of Premier and Cabinet’s ‘Stop the Hurting: End Domestic Violence’ campaign,” comments McDonald. “It was the first large-scale national campaign that we undertook in the studio; it was an honor that they selected 3P to work on such an important campaign.” A testament to their quality and influence, 3P Studio was recognized for their outstanding work on the “Stop the Hurting” campaign, receiving a silver medal in the Brisbane Advertising and Design Awards.
Humble Beginnings Leads to a Local First With almost two decades of experience in the media and entertainment industry, McDonald has worked for some of Australia’s largest post facilities. Passionate about her craft, McDonald always knew that working as a creative storyteller was her true path. “I got my love of TV from my late father. I never had a bedtime as a child and he used to let me watch TV with him whenever I wanted. This led to a lifelong obsession of working with media and creatively telling stories. On the flip side, I got my work ethic off my mum, who worked in a hospital laundry for 30 years. I grew up in a housing commission until I moved to Brisbane when I was 18 and worked in a supermarket there until I saved enough money to go university and study film.” Drive and passion work hand in hand and proved to be incredible assets to McDonald as she forged her own path in a male-dominated industry.
It was after the birth of McDonald’s son in 2013 that life took an unexpected change and really challenged her commitment to being an artist. “I had left for maternity leave in 2013 to have my first child, Dash, who is now eight. When I came back to work after six months, my position had been made redundant and I no longer had a job to return to.” While most would see this as a devastating blow, McDonald turned it into the opportunity of a lifetime. “For some time I had wanted to open my own shop. But, like most people, I had a mortgage, daycare and other bills. So, venturing off on my own was just too risky, but with no job in hand, I had nothing to lose. It was my chance to follow a dream and I gave it everything I had.” Starting out as a freelance editor and designer, McDonald took every job that came her way. “I would never say ‘no’ to a job. I would never say I was booked. I would just say, ‘Yes, no problem, I can do that.’ Even if I had three jobs in one day, I would just take them and work out how I was going to deliver. Eventually, I started hiring people to help as I took on more demanding projects. Since I had been in the industry and was so well connected, I was able to get projects out the door with a very high degree of quality thanks to very talented colleagues. This, of course, translated to very happy clients and exceptional word of mouth marketing.”
Working 7 days a week, McDonald transformed the busy freelance business into one of Brisbane’s few woman-led post-production houses. “I bought my office in 2016 and took six months to fit it out. On Christmas Eve 2016, they handed me the keys to the office and they went, ‘There you go.’ And as 1st of January 2017, 3P Studio was officially in business.”
Purpose Built for Business and Creative Content McDonald built the stunning boutique facility from the ground up. And the chic design took into account installing an EditShare shared-storage solution in late 2017. “When we were wiring the office I made sure I had the cable runs and all the infrastructure shared down the track. I always knew that I wanted to install EditShare because I had used it before, and I really liked the way it supported the content flow. We just needed to save for the investment.” For the first six months, the team worked off the old hard drive system where they had RAIDs that were backing up to other RAIDs overnight and doing mirroring for redundancy. “So, we’d put a project in motion and eventually come to the point where someone would say, ‘Oh, that operator needs to use the project on that,’ meanwhile someone else also needed to use it too, then we’d copy off the data onto another drive and it just became unmanageable so we made the leap to EditShare.”
McDonald quips that she could have purchased other gear, but the EditShare scale-out shared storage nodes were the solution to power her successful business. “I could have gone out and purchased a Mac Pro and hooked it up to a couple of hard drives. Would it have done the same thing? To a certain degree, but it hasn’t been tried and tested like in EditShare. After talking with the guys at EditShare and getting the rundown of the specs and performance reports, investing in EditShare gave me the peace of mind I needed. In addition, my previous experience with using EditShare on very demanding projects assured us that this system would take a beating and keep performing.”
3P Studio installed an EFS 200 single node scale out shared storage solution connecting 10 creative Mac and PC-based workstations over 10-GB Ethernet comprising a mix of Adobe® Premiere® Pro and After Effects®, The Foundry’s NUKE, Maxon’s Cinema-4d, Autodesk Maya, 3D Studio Max, DaVinci Resolve for grading and the premium hero suite, Autodesk Flame Premium while Avid Pro tools is utilized to provide audio post production. With advanced support for project and media sharing, EditShare features helped tremendously with the boutique’s retail clients who, more often than not, required an incredibly fast turnaround. It allowed the team to work simultaneously on projects with one person recording voice-overs while another artist works on the graphics and another edits. “Because the EditShare system is designed for content sharing, it makes the workflow as fast and as collaborative as possible. This means higher quality projects completed on time and of course most importantly, happier clients.”
A Business in Overdrive The successful post-production company tripled its staff between the years of 2017 and 2021, requiring an expanded media infrastructure. Upgrading to EFS 450 and adding FLOW and AirFLOW, the team was able to facilitate traditional editorial campaigns and the growing number of fast-turn projects targeted for social, digital, and other marketing channels. McDonald adds, “More and more client requests are project-specific rather than a campaign. While the content still needs to be delivered across all channels, it has a short-shelf life and smaller budget. The pace from start to finish is accelerated. With our expanded EditShare installation, we have a content factory workflow that gives our clients a first-class post-production experience meeting both their tight timeline and budget requirements.”
The addition of EditShare’s remote media management solution, AirFLOW, to the workflow allowed 3P to offer a “content warehouse” service to its clients. Clients can log in from anywhere, browse through content at their convenience, review work-in-progress and submit project changes. The service removes the burden of clients needing to maintain their own drives or storage servers as all content is stored on the EFS storage platform, maintained by 3P. It also enabled remote collaboration, which was key during the pandemic restrictions.
McDonald notes of the growth, “Our business has reached a point where we need to utilize advanced tools to refine our service offering and delivery. EditShare workflow solutions and creative tools like Adobe have enabled us to make those advancements across our business and deliver a superior level of service.”
Setting a Great Example As a woman-run and owned post facility, Haley is in a very rare category. “I am very proud to be a female post house owner and can definitely say there is room for more of us to take the lead! Running my own shop has given me the opportunity to work with female directors, producers and operators and I take great pleasure in collaborating with them in my studio. In addition, I also have the support of a fantastic group of young men who are sound designers, VFX artists, animators and videographers and I am very lucky to have them. I also have the support of loyal clients that have been with me since I started and most of my work comes from word of mouth which is nice.” As for EditShare, we are very proud to be a part of this success story.
EFS, FLOW, and AirFLOW and Adobe integrations support workflow demands and enable new client service offerings
Boston, MA – October 26, 2021 – EditShare®, a technology leader that enables collaborative media workflows for storytellers, today announced that Brisbane’s leading post-production facility, 3P Studio (3P) has expanded its investment in EditShare’s FLOW media management and EFS storage solutions to manage its growing editorial business. The full-service post-production house, which produces creative content for top brands like Isuzu Motor Company, Subway, and Allianz, has tripled its team over the past three years to support the rise in client projects and campaigns across broadcast, digital, and social channels.
“Our business has reached a point where we need to utilize advanced tools to refine our service offering and delivery,” states Haley McDonald, Founder and Managing Director, 3P Studio. “EditShare workflow solutions and Adobe creative tools have enabled us to make those advancements across our business and deliver a superior level of service.”
3P upgraded their EditShare environment to facilitate traditional editorial campaigns and the growing number of fast-turn projects targeted for social, digital, and other marketing channels. The EditShare media foundation connects the facility’s premium creative tools which include Adobe® Premiere® Pro and After Effects®, Avid Pro Tools, Autodesk Maya and Flame, DaVinci Resolve, NUKE, and Maxon’s Cinema 4D, creating a well-integrated ecosystem that optimizes post-production workflows. The talented 3P team of compositors, editors, and color graders can seamlessly collaborate on projects utilizing FLOW and EFS to manage the nuances of file sharing, asset tracking, file formats, and package delivery for multiple channels.
McDonald adds, “More and more client requests are project-specific rather than a campaign. While the content still needs to be delivered across all channels, it has a short-shelf life and smaller budget. The pace from start to finish is accelerated. With our expanded EditShare installation, we have a content factory workflow that gives our clients a first-class post-production experience meeting both their tight timeline and budget requirements.”
The addition of EditShare’s remote media management solution, AirFLOW, to the workflow allowed 3P to offer a “content warehouse” service to its clients. Clients can log in from anywhere, browse through content at their convenience, review work-in-progress and submit project changes. The service removes the burden of clients needing to maintain their own drives or storage servers as all content is stored on the EFS storage platform, maintained by 3P. It also enabled remote collaboration, which was key during the pandemic restrictions.
“EditShare is designed to make it easier for customers like 3P to collaborate with their clients from anywhere,” Paul Hayes, Regional Sales Manager for Asia, EditShare “Rather than having clients send in individual drives to work with, 3P houses all of their content and clients simply log in, browse, and give direction. EditShare speeds up the entire workflow enabling 3P to create space and scale their business in new directions while creating a more personalized service for their clients.”
“We love seeing studios such as 3P tap into the power of our Adobe Creative Cloud apps, like Premiere Pro and After Effects,” said Sue Skidmore, head of partner relations for Adobe video. “EditShare takes advantage of Adobe panel APIs and other integration features that bring media management right into the creative applications, enabling users to pivot their productions and deliver high-quality content quickly.”
About EditShare EditShare is a technology leader in networked shared storage and smart workflow solutions for the production, post-production, new media, sports, and education markets. Whether you need on-prem, cloud, or hybrid solutions, our products improve efficiency and workflow collaboration every step of the way. They include media optimized high-performance shared storage, archiving and backup software, a suite of media management tools and a robust set of open APIs that enable integration throughout the workflow. Customer and partner success are at the heart of EditShare’s core values ensuring a world-class experience that is second to none.
EFS media platform provides video professionals a powerful collaboration and storage solution
Beijing, China – June 23, 2021 – EditShare®, a technology leader that specializes in collaboration, security, and intelligent storage solutions, today announced that it has deployed its EditShare EFS solution at Malanshan Video Cultural and Creative Industry Zone (The Zone). Located in Changsha, China, The Zone is known as a “World Media Arts City” that integrates creativity, culture, and technology into the fabric of its community. As the cultural epicenter of China, The Zone draws filmmakers and artists, boasting a thriving digital media market. The EFS solution, which was installed by EditShare partner Thinktone Technology at the park’s main creative hub, integrates with a wide range of production and post production solutions including key editing applications Adobe® Premiere® Pro, Avid Media Composer®, Apple Final Cut Pro® X and Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve.
“Media production is fluid and collaborative. In order to achieve full artistic expression, you need a foundation that connects artists with tools to fuel the creative workflow process,” Alan Dishington, vice president of sales for Asia Pacific, EditShare. “EditShare has always designed products that prioritize creative users with no compromise on technology. Creative professionals are abstracted from the complexity of modern media management while the technology at the heart of the EditShare products is designed to the very best principles of software engineering. All of this is wrapped in the imperative that our systems are open and scalable in order to adapt to future requirements.”
About EditShare EFSMedia Engineered Storage Powering faster EditShare storage nodes and networks, EFS enables media organizations to build extensive HD, 4K, and 8K collaborative workflows. To the end-user, EFS is a fast and flexible, collaborative, easy-to-use, storage space with an incredible throughput performance. To the engineers who manage it, EFS offers a scalable, stable, and incredibly secure media storage platform. Unlike generic IT storage systems, EditShare has written its own efficient drivers for EFS, for use with Windows, MacOS and Linux. Users access more real-time video streams, without the bottlenecks caused by legacy network protocols.The open platform features robust APIs for extensive integration and workflow optimization.
The EFS product line offers solutions for on-premise, hybrid and cloud-based workflows. Other feature highlights include:
EFS Single Namespace – a distributed file system designed to scale at will, while retaining a single namespace across tiered storage.
EFS Native Drivers – native client drivers substantially increase bandwidth and reduce latency across the network.
EFS Auditing – real-time analytics for every nuance of your valuable content’s journey.
EFS APIs – restFul API’s for simple but powerful integration with third party applications and services.
EFS Fault Prevention – distributed file system, writing content and giving protection across multiple nodes that intelligently replicates data as often as needed without negatively impacting performance.
Active directory integration with SSO
EFS High Availability – extreme reliability, and with no single point of failure, facility managers and administrators can have peace of mind in 24/7 environments such as broadcast playout centers.
Support for Industry Creative Applications – support for video and audio editing applications, color grading and visual effects solutions including Adobe, Apple Autodesk, Avid, Blackmagic Design and Sony.
For more information on EditShare solutions, please visit the website at www.editshare.com
About EditShare
EditShare is a technology leader in networked shared storage and smart workflow solutions for the production, post-production, new media, sports, and education markets. Whether you need on-prem, cloud, or hybrid solutions, our products improve efficiency and workflow collaboration every step of the way. They include media optimized high-performance shared storage, archiving and backup software, a suite of media management tools and a robust set of open APIs that enable integration throughout the workflow. Customer and partner success are at the heart of EditShare’s core values ensuring a world-class experience that is second to none.
