CAMERA TO CLOUD GEAR
inherent organisation of assets,” says Patrick Holroyd, CEO and co-founder of mobile and cloud tech company MAVIS. “Files can be automatically associated with their source device and categorised by date or content type, all while residing on infinitely large storage.” Holroyd likens camera-to-cloud adoption to the transition from tape to tapeless: “We saw a gradual adoption of new technology as people learnt about the benefits and organically replaced their existing equipment and workflows.” Wise calls growth steady rather than exponential. “There are a lot of moving parts. More and more cameras are capable of being network-connected, and an Atomos monitor-recorder will connect any HDMI or SDI camera, but Wi-Fi hasn’t always been the most stable means of transmission. This has probably been the biggest obstacle, but the technology has improved leaps and bounds in just a few years.” Consequently, convenient and reliable connectivity is
key to growth, but this doesn’t preclude working on location. C2C is more likely to be found in studios where cameras and recorders can be plugged directly into broadband networks or routed over 5G, but on- location C2C workflows are more practical than they’ve ever been. For larger productions, bonded solutions and low Earth orbit satellite connectivity provides a level of guarantee, even in remote locations. “Bonded cellular solutions from companies like Sclera Digital and portable kits from Starlink can easily fit in a backpack, providing high-speed, low- latency internet on the go,” says Wise. Atomos claims to have pioneered the concept of the monitor-recorder – a field monitor that also records high-res ProRes files to cheap, removable storage. Three years ago, it added Wi-Fi connectivity alongside an online service that integrated with all leading C2C platforms, including Adobe’s Frame.io, Sony Ci Media
Cloud, MediaSilo and Dropbox Replay. “We also developed a new progressive file- transfer technology so that the upload of the file starts as soon as the camera starts recording,” Wise adds. “If the connection is lost during the upload process, file upload starts again as soon as the connection is restored, ensuring no data is lost.” German reality TV series Bauer sucht Frau (best translated to Farmer Wants a Wife ) used Atomos’ Ninja Ultra and Shogun to send camera proxies directly into ProSiebenSat.1 PULS 4 headquarters in Vienna, saving time on the previous route of sending dailies via physical hard drives. Similarly, rather than physically running cards between the editors and camera operators, Bauer Media fed content from the red carpet at the BRIT Awards into Frame.io for real-time highlights editing via Atomos Shogun plugged into wired Ethernet as well as Wi-Fi. For smaller productions, 4G- or 5G- enabled devices and mobile phones
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