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Remote Post Production Team Streamlining SSD and Cloud Backup
Company Situation
The company operates within the media production industry, specifically focusing on post production workflows. The team is small, comprising three core members, with project-based employees onboarded as needed. The company operates fully remotely and handles large volumes of high-resolution video content, including episodic long-form projects.
Existing Workflow
Currently, the team relies heavily on LucidLink for remote editing and media access. Their workflow involves mounting drives via LucidLink, caching media locally on external SSDs to enable real-time playback and editing of 4K footage. They also use a combination of physical drives and cloud backups for media storage and company review. Review workflows vary depending on company preferences, sometimes involving generated content or company upload portals.
Issues with the Existing Workflow
The primary bottleneck is speed to market, specifically related to caching and playback performance in remote workflows. LucidLink’s reliance on local caching to SSD drives leads to significant delays when handling large datasets, often exceeding four terabytes. This caching process can take days, causing inefficiencies and increased labor costs as editors wait for media to be cached before actual work can begin. Despite high internet bandwidth (gigabit symmetrical), the company experiences latency and playback issues with high-bitrate files such as MXF and ProRes. Additionally, the costs and limitations of external SSD storage represent a financial challenge.
How Shade Would Change Their Workflow
Shade offers a consolidated post production platform that integrates storage, access, review, and sharing within a single environment, reducing the need for multiple tools and improving workflow efficiency. Shade’s streaming and caching technology operates similarly to LucidLink but aims to optimize caching performance and reduce latency. The platform also incorporates AI-driven features such as automatic shot detection and search, which, while not the primary selling point for this company, add value by streamlining media management. By potentially mitigating caching bottlenecks and providing a seamless online 4K editing experience, Shade could enable the company to avoid the time-consuming process of full media caching and reduce dependency on costly external SSDs.
Benefits
- Faster speed to market by reducing media caching time
- Seamless online 4K editing without heavy reliance on local SSD caching
- Consolidated platform combining storage, access, review, and sharing tools
- AI-powered media search and shot detection to enhance productivity
- Minimized hardware costs by reducing dependency on expensive external SSDs
- Improved workflow efficiency for remote teams working with large, high-resolution files
Technologies Used
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