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Pharmaceutical Communications Company Consolidating Frame.io and Atomos
Company Situation
The company operates within the pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical communications sector, providing custom video production and animation services for corporate and conference environments. Their team collaborates with a global network of vendors and frequently covers large-scale events with multiple camera setups and numerous presenters. Their post-production workflow involves virtual machines accessing a central company server, which houses all media and project files.
Existing Workflow
The company currently integrates various tools to manage their video content and collaboration needs. They primarily use Frame.io for video review and feedback, as it integrates smoothly with Adobe Creative Cloud, their main editing platform. For field shoots, especially single- or two-camera setups, they utilize Atomos devices combined with cloud uploads to Frame.io, enabling proxy workflows for small files. However, for longer, multi-camera shoots—often involving continuous takes lasting 45 minutes to an hour with large file sizes—they rely on physically shipping hard drives or reserving extended time for file transfers. Their storage remains primarily on-premises on a central server accessed by virtual machines. They have also trialed platforms like Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, LucidLink, and MASV, but found limitations related to speed, complexity, or corporate buy-in.
Issues with the Existing Workflow
Large File Transfers: Long continuous takes result in multi-terabyte files that are slow and cumbersome to upload or download, often necessitating physical shipment of drives.
Storage Bottlenecks: Frame.io and cloud storage solutions serve well for review and proxy workflows but do not provide an efficient long-term storage or seamless file syncing solution aligned with their on-premises server infrastructure.
Workflow Complexity: Multiple tools are required to handle shooting, ingest, review, and storage, creating inefficiencies and potential for errors.
Remote Collaboration Challenges: With the absence of physical office locations, direct server connection for fast uploads is no longer feasible, complicating large file management.
Corporate Constraints: Newer solutions like LucidLink faced challenges with pricing and complexity preventing adoption at enterprise scale.
How Shade Would Change Their Workflow
Shade offers a unified cloud platform designed to streamline the entire video production lifecycle—from camera ingest through post-production review—all in one system. By consolidating storage, review, and collaboration into a single cloud-native environment, Shade would eliminate the need for multiple disconnected tools. Its architecture would enable efficient handling of large files without reliance on physical drives or slow downloads, directly integrating with existing editing software workflows. This would provide seamless, fast syncing of high-resolution footage to their central server environment, accessible by their virtual machines, thus resolving the bottleneck around large file transfers and storage. The platform’s built-in review and annotation tools would maintain the company’s preferred collaborative feedback process without sacrificing performance or convenience.
Benefits
- Streamlined end-to-end video production and review within one platform
- Significant reduction in time and cost associated with large file transfers
- Elimination of physical drive shipments and extended upload windows
- Seamless integration with Adobe Creative Cloud and existing editing workflows
- Cloud-based storage that syncs efficiently with on-premises server infrastructure
- Simplified vendor and remote collaboration via real-time review and annotation tools
- Reduced complexity by replacing multiple tools with a single consolidated solution