Back to Workflows
Construction Media Company Consolidating QNAP and Adobe Creative Cloud
Company Situation
The company operates within the construction media sector, managing an in-house marketing team that produces just under 100 videos annually. Their team includes videographers and graphic designers who serve various internal departments and leadership within a large, employee-owned construction company. The video production group handles a significant amount of footage ranging from B-roll to interviews, supporting multiple ongoing projects across different locations.
Existing Workflow
Currently, all raw and edited video assets are stored on two large QNAP servers with a combined capacity exceeding 90 terabytes. The team uses a strict folder structure on these servers to organize project files, downloading footage for editing and re-uploading completed projects back to the servers. Adobe Creative Cloud is the primary editing suite, with Frame.io utilized for video review and sharing. Additionally, the company employs Canto as a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system, primarily for photographic content. However, the video team finds Canto ill-suited for their video-specific workflows. Uploads and downloads are often handled manually via physical drives due to unreliable network transfers.
Issues with the Existing Workflow
The QNAP hardware is outdated, unsupported, and nearing capacity, complicating storage scalability and increasing the risk of data loss.
Search functionality is minimal, forcing the team to rely heavily on memory to locate archived footage, which is accessed at least monthly.
Asset duplication is common because of the need to maintain folder structures for project relinking, leading to inefficient storage use.
Upload and download speeds are inconsistent, particularly for large 4K video files, causing delays and workflow bottlenecks.
The current DAM system (Canto) does not adequately meet the needs of video workflows, limiting metadata application and making asset management cumbersome.
The team lacks a seamless cloud integration, resulting in dependence on physical drives and manual transfers, which hampers collaboration and efficiency.
Decision-making around new storage solutions is complicated by company-wide impact and the need to evaluate multiple options, causing implementation delays.
How Shade Would Change Their Workflow
Shade offers an all-in-one, cloud-native platform that streamlines the entire video production lifecycle—from camera upload and post-production to color grading and final delivery—without requiring multiple transfers or manual duplication of assets. By replacing their aging QNAP servers and fragmented tools, Shade would provide:
- Robust metadata tagging and powerful search capabilities tailored for video content, enabling quick retrieval of archived footage without relying on memory.
- Native integration with Adobe Creative Cloud for a smoother editing experience and easy linking of project files.
- Reliable batch upload and download performance optimized for high-resolution 4K files, eliminating the need for physical drives.
- A unified platform that consolidates storage, collaboration, review, and delivery, reducing dependence on multiple disjointed applications like Frame.io and Canto.
- Cloud storage that scales seamlessly, removing hardware constraints and simplifying IT management.
- Improved version control and asset management, minimizing duplication and ensuring consistent folder structures without manual intervention.
Benefits
- Streamlined video production workflows with fewer manual steps and less duplication
- Faster and more reliable cloud-based uploads, downloads, and collaboration
- Enhanced search and metadata capabilities tailored for video assets
- Seamless integration with Adobe Creative Cloud and existing review tools
- Scalable cloud storage eliminating hardware limitations and maintenance overhead
- Reduced risk of data loss and improved archival access
- Increased efficiency and time savings for the video team and internal stakeholders
Technologies Used
Want to see how Shade can improve your workflow?
Book a Demo