Avid recommends Four Workflows for Hybrid Cloud Storage
Avid is currently the industry standard for NLE's for sure. But many have found it difficult to adjust to the realities of social distancing and remote working. This triples for those looking to share storage securely.
Oriana Schwindt from Avid recently wrote up a fantastic article listing 4 great hybrid cloud workflows to help editors access and share their files.
"A hybrid cloud storage model offers advantages that are critical in today’s post environment: it readily addresses challenges of scale, remote collaboration, redundancy, and security. But what does hybrid storage look like?" she wrote.
A hybrid cloud workflows is exactly what it sounds like. This is a hybrid of both storage on a premises and some of a cloud to be accessed online. This could be putting files on the cloud that are less than 90 days old. Or maybe rendering video via the cloud, while editing media saved to a local drive.
1: No more fear of burst capacity
"A well-diversified post house won’t need to bring every person or machine on deck for every project. But there will be times when your on-prem capabilities simply aren’t enough, and a new project will require a nimble storage solution that you can ramp up or down as needed. This is where SaaS-based cloud services come into play: providing the additional computing power and remote access via PCoIP so that editors have secure and reliable access to the same editorial workflows they would otherwise use on-prem machines for. If your on-prem and cloud storage keeps your files on the same system and both storage instances are properly synced, the experience for your team will be seamless," wrote Oriana.
But the best is yet to come. Installing physical storage solutions can take days, even weeks to get a proper workflow established. But with the cloud, you can be up in a matter of hours saving both time, energy, and probably a lot of confusion for people used to other workflows.
So while Covi-19 certainly had put a damper on production, needing final products has not. So its a perfect storm of needing edited content, but being unable to be there to actual edit. While this will still be a problem, its now much less so thanks to a cloud based solution.
2: Collaborating Remotely
Oriana is quick to point out that the ability to collaborate remotely is is important. This is a collaborative medium after all.
"A hybrid cloud storage model makes it possible to bring in the best post-production talent, even if they’re thousands of miles away. Post teams can still have it both ways, though, with people working on files on-prem alongside remote team members working on the same project. This is where a hybrid approach can really sing: those who want to be (or must be) off-site can do so without sacrificing the connectivity that collaboration requires," she wrote.
3: Faster Reviews and Approvals
That dreaded waiting period for a yay or nay is now quickened One of the hardest things to deal with as an editor at this time is the long wait period. While people worked on the premises, that wasn't so much the case. nevertheless, the new reality of this pandemic has made review and approval problematic.
A hybrid solution will let people who need access to the files or the project to have access immediately from just about anywhere. No more lock and key drives being shipped back and forth, or having to risk your own health by going into work directly.
Oriana writes, "Plenty of productions already had to come up with workarounds for off-site producers; having these materials in the cloud simply streamlines the process. It helps teams avoid waiting for physical media to arrive, those well-known “I can’t access this?” messages, and the lag between physical R&A for off-site execs—no more ad hoc approval emails."
4: Keeping those costs down.
Cloud based solutions tend to be paid on a month to month basis or annually. This tends to be cheapen than usually having to pay for everything upfront. Now it can be done chunk by chunk. It can also save a company money of havign to rent out an editing suite or studio. Now the editing can be done from home, or via computers already available from the company.
Oriana concludes with this, "As the industry shifts more toward flexible, hybrid work environments, the cloud will become all the more indispensable. Technology will continue to enable new storage opportunities that post teams need—the only question is whether they embrace the cloud head on or opt to weave it into parts of the workflow."
I have to agree.
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