Why the hassle to experience all your assets organized and searchable? Here’s why Shade is an easier solution to Iconik.
Key takeaways
Real-time access and collaboration.
Shade makes it easy to to work with your data and media workflows wherever and whenever. Shade’s on-prem hybrid solution acts as a virtual drives on your computer, while avoiding ISG issues with transcoding errors and messy edit uploads. Because Shade works real-time, all your files and media are available to share and edit instantaneously.
AI for all media asset types.
Shade’s AI indexes, tags, organizes all types of Assets from camera media, 3D Assets, Audio and the other 500 file and media types Shade currently supports. Unlike Iconik, Shade’s AI-driven search functionality for navigation and previewing is for all asset types.
Shade is easier to use.
Everyone should be able to easily work Storage and Sharing systems all in one. Shade is quick and easy to set up in less than 30 minutes, works with petabytes of file sizes and file types, and integrates with already used softwares.
Ready to switch from Iconik to Shade?
Shade solves search & share.
Shade is solving the core issues of search, access, and sharing for file systems for individuals and more importantly, teams.
Shade’s AI cataloguing and metadata caching abilities erases the manual work of tagging and searching through petabytes of data. This eliminates the confusion most users of Iconik face initially working with the interface.
Any DAM (Data Asset Management), MAM (Media Asset Management) or File Sharing tool shouldn’t restrict the file types it supports. For creators, camera media, image sequences and custom assets are crucial to their work, yet Iconik requires an additional third-party transcoder or specific settings to create previews of several asset types, and not audio file friendly. Shade includes the natural language AI search and editing capability for over 500 different file types, including BRAW, R3D, Prefabs, Unreal, and even subtitles. Shade’s AI also provides previews for all multimedia files, taking workflows to the next level.
Unify your data across locations.
Above all this this, Shade unifies your data, from NAS, cloud, or cold storage, into one file system that works in real time. That means by centralizing your data management through Shade, you'll streamline workflows and eliminate the hassle of navigating multiple storage platforms.
While Iconik often is used in pairing with other tools like LucidLink, Axel, increasing hassles in the workflow, Shade combines the best of multimodal AI, MAM/DAM, and File sharing tools into a real-time file system.
Iconik doesn't support B2 systems, audio files, and more.
Loving the product is one thing, but following the terms of service is another. Shade makes sure enterprise is able to use MAM, real-time synching software, and AI search-ability all in one without the headache of terms of service due to geographic legal issues Iconik users face.
Despite Iconik’s support for S3 cloud systems, they lack consistent delivery for B2 and similar systems. This isn’t an issue for Shade. Shade is built to work with all types of storage types by offering options for Shade cloud storage with added AI capabilities, BYOS (bring your own storage) or NAS without the glitches. This allows you to utilize your current infrastructure and storage without the burdensome IT and security concerns of managing access permissions.
One of Iconik’s biggest issues is the lack of support for Audio Files. For almost all audio extensions it does allow, there’s specific bit rates and encoding settings that are compatible. Not only that playback and managing more than 1 audio track is impossible with Iconik.
Iconik users face the issue of not being able to navigate away from the upload page or else the upload stops. Shade does the opposite where the app continues to run so users can exit out of a screen anytime and not have to worry about stopping archiving and tagging.
Shade is less expensive and easier to use.
Shade is easy. As real-time file system desktop app, Shade makes time-consuming downloads or uploads into just seconds, and facilitates seamless work on large media files from anywhere and wherever. Shade is adaptable for offline access for local data caching and handling version conflicts. The app works as the unified file system built as workspaces and drives, an organized way to manage permissions and access, with more flexibility to use existing storage infrastructure.
Shade has continuously been improving search and indexing capabilities for users to find assets quickly, saving time and costs. The latest version includes a production video player capable of handling a wide range of codecs and color spaces, addressing common frustrations with media file previews and playback.
Shade is also cost-friendly. Shade has the most straightforward and lowest costs for any user, from individual videographers, to 500+ employees at a marketing agency. This also means users get access to a AI backed storage/catalogue system, cost-effective cold storage, real-time access
When to use Iconik over Shade.
Iconik is used as a media asset management system by many already and despite the limitations such as a complex setup process, reliance on the user for tagging assets, and specific settings for audio file compatibility, it works for many teams. For teams that are able to afford Iconik and its features and have already integrated it well with their editing or archiving workflows, it may be a good solution for you. Some users also enjoy the simplicity of collaboration on projects created only in Iconik as the system works best for Iconik-based work.
If you and your team are looking for a wider range of features, flexibility of interface usage, and efficient data and media organization, consider Shade.
