Back to Workflows
Broadcast Production Managing Multi-Studio Creative Teams
Company Situation
This company operates within the broadcast and creative production industry, managing multiple broadcast studios and a diverse team of editors, motion graphics artists, and digital and technical professionals. Their workflow supports a variety of content types including live broadcasts, interviews, and event footage. The team size requiring access to production tools is approximately 12-15 creatives across different departments, including external freelancers and companies.
Existing Workflow
The company currently relies heavily on on-premise storage infrastructure, utilizing about 50 terabytes accumulated over the past three years to store high-quality footage. Their remote working setup is supported primarily via VPN access to on-premise Network Attached Storage (NAS) and Storage Area Networks (SAN). For external collaboration and review, they use Frame.io with an enterprise license to maintain strict security controls, including multifactor authentication.
Issues with the Existing Workflow
Remote access to on-premise storage is cumbersome, relying on VPNs that impact productivity and user experience.
Frame.io licensing costs are high (£5,000/year for just four users), limiting the number of creatives who can collaborate efficiently with external stakeholders.
Managing large volumes of footage (e.g., 48-hour event recordings) leads to data sprawl, multiple duplicates, and challenges maintaining a single source of truth.
Current workflows lack seamless remote collaboration capabilities and simplified asset tagging or search.
The company is interested in cloud workflows but hesitant to migrate core storage, preferring to maintain on-premise infrastructure while exploring cloud-enabled collaboration.
How Shade Would Change Their Workflow
Shade offers a cloud-native, all-in-one platform that unifies search, access, and sharing of creative assets under a single interface, replacing the need for multiple specialized tools. By introducing Shade:
- The company can enable remote editing and collaboration without relying solely on VPNs, improving creative workflows from anywhere.
- Shade’s intelligent indexing and asset tagging automate organization, eliminating the manual overhead and reducing duplicate files.
- The platform supports secure external collaboration with flexible user access, potentially reducing licensing costs and expanding team collaboration beyond the current four-user limit on Frame.io.
- Upcoming on-premise caching capabilities will allow hybrid workflows where creatives can work locally on SAN/NAS while remote users stream content, providing flexibility during a phased migration to cloud-enabled workflows.
- Shade’s platform aligns with the company’s security requirements and supports future cloud-first initiatives while respecting their significant on-premise storage investment.
Benefits
- Streamlined remote access to high-resolution footage without VPN dependency.
- Reduced licensing costs and expanded user access for external review and collaboration.
- Automated asset indexing and easy search improve efficiency and reduce data duplication.
- Hybrid workflow support with on-premise caching for seamless transition to cloud workflows.
- Enhanced collaboration between internal teams, freelancers, and companies in a secure environment.
- Centralized management of creative assets through a single platform.
Want to see how Shade can improve your workflow?
Book a Demo