PART 2: EDITING IN THE CLOUD INDUS TRY.
and technical worlds, so that creatives can manage tasks quickly, without making concessions on quality. The cloud isn’t just a new way to do things – it’s the first technology that can actually do the work for you. While this will threaten some jobs, it will create new ones in which cloud management, task creation and automation are made by professionals, taking workflow to a whole new level. AG: That is a definite yes. However, it must make real economic sense to do so. I see many vendors pushing beyond the boundaries – and that’s good – but when the costs and complexities outweigh the benefits, it hurts adoption. In three to five years, I think we’ll see end-to-end cloud across all areas of our industry. There are projects doing it now, but wide acceptance is still some time away. JA: The resources and platforms available in public cloud, or cloud-like infrastructure, mean there are capabilities beyond the traditional post workflows. We are already seeing companies create new innovations around AI and ML, because they can now test, develop and deploy these tools easily. ST: The long-term trend is towards the entire globe being wrapped in a fabric of high-bandwidth, low-latency broadband. Edge computing (like AWS Wavelength) is becoming a factor, providing powerful compute within 5G zones. Eventually, full-resolution Raw media files will enter the cloud as they’re shot. All of this will need management, but we have the fundamentals. And then there’s the things we can’t imagine yet, enabled by large- scale AI – and even quantum computing. What we do know is that the cloud will become the default for most media activities, and our lives as media creatives will be better for it. PML: Delivery is cloud-based, archiving can be, and ingest is getting there. Thinking that cloud can’t, or won’t, be implemented into every aspect of the workflow, from acquisition to delivery, will only lead to missing the boat. The sooner we embrace this idea, the sooner those technologies will be developed.
“The trend is towards the entire globe being wrapped in a fabric of high-bandwidth, low-latency broadband” PML: Our focus is on educating people that you can use the cloud without being forced into an always-online climate, and that it doesn’t equal vendor lock-ins. Those two concepts are holding people back from seeing cloud workflows as feasible and readily available, either on-premises or locally. EF: As a whole, the industry is in acceptance, more out of necessity at this moment. So it can adapt and supply the huge demand for content, as well as the need for remote, real-time collaboration. We are showcasing the many benefits of working within a cloud-based infrastructure, and encouraging adoption by developing POCs with post houses on our vGPU platform – the 3XS Cloud. This is supported by our in-house data centre service team and IT experts. Can the cloud go beyond post-production in our industry? MC: IoT, C2C and AI/ML will completely revolutionise the process of content creation by 2030. Just about every person will lean on the automation, speed and control made possible by instant centralisation. Security, access, input, sorting and keyword collections will reduce turnaround times, increase control and allow decisions to be made with fewer blockers. Studios will rely on C2C to get content into their cloud instantly, where archives can be done without a hard drive ever being shipped. AI automation will filter into both creative
Early adoption of Frame.io C2C is a great help to companies and content creators that want to leverage creative advantages of speed and control. As C2C grows, those with the most experience will make it central to their workflows – and include ancillary techniques, such as AI colour correction, AI action tagging and machine learning. AG: Our customers have been driving a cloud-first adoption for some time, and many were experimenting with cloud- based workflows in the early days – mostly for ingest, transcode and delivery. We’ve taken a conservative approach and been consultative, moving pieces that made sense in a highly monitored way. To date, no one has moved back to a traditional workflow model. JA: There is a general acceptance that it is here to stay, but I wouldn’t say that every facility, broadcaster or studio is adopting cloud workflows regularly. We see a mixture of adoption, from all-in to ‘not for me yet’, and we continue to encourage customers to ensure they are identifying the best routes based on their needs. Nvidia’s specialists regularly engage in workshops and proof of concept projects to test specific workloads in full-cloud environments, on-premises private clouds and hybrid compute approaches. ST: The pandemic has provided the best possible evidence for both the need and effectiveness of the cloud. The advantages are there for all to see, and they are a better match for today’s working environment. We encourage cloud adoption by showing customers how it can help them to work collaboratively from anywhere.
39. DECEMBER 2021
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