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Media Production Company Streamlining Cloud Storage and Transfer
Company Situation
The company operates within the media production and post-production industry, managing large-scale, high-resolution video workflows. Their team is distributed across multiple locations, including in-house and remote staff, working collaboratively on extensive video projects involving raw 8K footage. They maintain an on-premises storage infrastructure supported by robust internet connectivity to handle significant data volumes.
Existing Workflow
Currently, the team employs a combination of tools and platforms to manage their workflows. They use Frame for video review processes and rely on various remote workflow applications. For file synchronization between geographically dispersed teams, they utilize a syncing server that mirrors project folders to remote drives, enabling near in-house collaboration. For media distribution, particularly for large file transfers, they use Media Shuttle, having moved away from Aspera due to complexity concerns. Their monthly data transfers can reach upwards of 20 terabytes, consisting primarily of large raw media files.
Issues with the Existing Workflow
The existing setup presents several challenges:
Complexity and Usability: Some tools, like Aspera, proved too complicated for the broader team’s needs.
Transfer Protocol Limitations: They rely on UDP-based transfers via Media Shuttle to mitigate latency issues inherent in TCP/HTTP protocols. Standard FTP and HTTP transfers often fail or slow down due to latency over long distances.
Proxy Management: Questions remain about how proxies are created, managed, and stored, especially given their on-premises storage environment.
Scalability and Efficiency: Handling terabytes of data monthly requires efficient, reliable transfer and review mechanisms that can keep up with the volume and resolution of the media.
Cloud Storage Compatibility: Their on-premises storage is not S3-compatible, limiting compatibility with some cloud-based solutions.
How Shade Would Change Their Workflow
Shade offers a cloud-based platform capable of integrating with existing workflows while addressing major pain points. Shade streams files directly from the source, avoiding the need for local cached proxies and enabling access to original media without the latency and complexity of traditional file synchronization or transfer methods. The platform supports HTTPS transfer protocols optimized for stability and speed, even over long distances, potentially replacing the UDP-dependent Media Shuttle setup. Shade provides built-in proxy creation and management, with proxies generated and stored within the platform’s cloud infrastructure, removing local storage constraints and simplifying remote collaboration. While Shade’s system works best with S3-compatible storage for direct integration, it offers its own managed cloud storage solutions that can handle large-scale media assets with hot storage for active projects and archival options.
Benefits
- Simplifies remote collaboration by streaming files directly from source storage without local caching complexities
- Reduces reliance on complicated and latency-sensitive UDP file transfers by using optimized HTTPS transfers
- Centralizes proxy creation and management in the cloud, easing storage and workflow burdens on local infrastructure
- Provides scalable, cloud-based storage options tailored for high-resolution, large-volume media workflows
- Enhances workflow efficiency and reliability, especially for distributed teams handling terabytes of media monthly
- Potentially replaces multiple legacy tools with a unified platform, reducing operational complexity
Technologies Used
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