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without investing in additional hardware, utilising a pay-as-you-go model that offers flexibility to posts that weren’t previously available when working on-premises. However, working in the cloud also requires a reliable, high- speed internet connection, ongoing cost management and careful consideration of data security. While the initial start-up can be lower cost, ongoing subscription fees and usage charges can add up, potentially leading to higher long-term expenses. Without careful management, there’s the risk of costs spiralling with unexpected usage or data-transfer fees. SP: The cloud brings geographical freedom. You can work anywhere, with anyone. The cloud is also scalable – you can spin up resources in an instant and turn them off when you don’t need them. The cloud is unbeatable for speeding up the end-to-end process of acquisition, editing, post-production and delivery. It’s ideal for social media (we call our cloud methodology ‘Lens to Likes’) and breaking news coverage. Def: How are new collaboration tools transforming the way production teams work together, especially in a remote or hybrid environment? Can you share any examples of successful implementations? SP: The cloud removes physical barriers, so professionals can work together as if in the same room from anywhere in the world. It also removes the need for physical transportation, so a film clip can be everywhere at the same time. Furthermore, it encourages parallelism: one crew can shoot while another works on post-production. We now have many examples of how Camera to Cloud collaborative workflows are speeding up production, especially in sports (LA Clippers), live events (BRIT Awards) and extending social media coverage – for example, the Sundance Film Festival. JC-S: Remote review tools have really changed the landscape from a creative perspective. Tools such as Sohonet’s ClearView have made it possible for our colourist to review with directors, DOPs and producers in real time, regardless of their geographic location. From a
STREAMLINED SERVICE Working in the cloud allows people to work collaboratively, in real time, from anywhere in the world provided they have a strong internet connection and data security
SP: Increasing bandwidth and processing power are massively boosting performance and usability for the current generation of codecs. Highly efficient Long GOP codecs like H.265 can now be used in professional productions with 10-bit, high-bit-rate variants, and Apple ProRes Raw brings massive flexibility to post-production. Future codecs based on AI will provide orders of magnitude of improvements, but meanwhile, current technology based on cloud and hybrid workflows can be incredibly effective. Def: What are the advancements in storage technology that are most promising for enhancing production workflows? SP: Virtual storage, or storage in the cloud. It’s infinite and, these days, pretty fast. For on-premises or location workflows, SSDs now have commodity pricing, making everyday workflows faster and cheaper. JC-S: With everything storage-based at an enterprise level, you’d need to weigh up cost vs efficiency. We’ve used custom-built NVMe RAID solutions in our dailies work to shuttle data between set and post for years, but only in recent years have we started to introduce
dailies perspective, especially when dealing with 35mm, this has been a game changer. We’ve been able to establish daily review sessions across 100+ day productions shooting on different continents, sometimes in the most remote regions, seamlessly allowing creatives to review and adjust their rushes before delivery. Def: How are codec developments influencing production workflows? What should production teams be aware of when choosing codecs? JC-S: The development of codecs has had a significant impact on enabling remote and cloud-based working practices. The transition from ARRIRAW to HDE and Sony’s work on its X-OCN codecs have allowed us to capture data of the same quality with significantly reduced data rates. Without these codecs, remote dailies and cloud-based deliveries to studios such as Amazon and Netflix would be significantly more difficult, especially on the dailies side, where our shows can generate anywhere from 2 to 20TB of data daily. This data needs to be securely verified and archived in the cloud before the camera media can be reused, so the ability to deliver the files efficiently is essential for many productions.
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