Remote editing is all the rage these days. But just because everyone is doing it, doesn’t mean they’re doing it well.
Many content creators and post-production teams moved from in-studio online editing to at-home offline editing workflows this year. We did too, so we understand your struggle. If you are looking for ways to optimize your remote editing workflow, here are our top eight tips, tricks, and best practices for taking your video editing projects on-the-go.
We’ll start with some general advice on working from home, then narrow down into specific remote editing solutions for the creative community. For more detailed advice on each of these tips, watch our full webinar: Editors’ Guide to Remote Video Production.
Webinar: Editors’ Guide to Remote Video Production
#1: Optimize Your Remote Editing Workstation
You may be surprised by how many video editors have been working from home for months—or even years—who haven’t really optimized their home editing workstation to work for them.
Take a few minutes to think about making your remote workspace more functional for your creative projects. You may want to buy some accessories like a new monitor, keyboard, or office chair. Or, maybe all you need is that desk lamp in the basement and a blanket to block glare from the window. A little creativity and ingenuity can go a long way in turning a makeshift home office into a functional video editing studio.
#2: Maximize Your Bandwidth
Is your home internet managing Zoom school, Netflix binge sessions, and heavy editing projects all at once? Schedule your bandwidth-intensive file transfers during off-peak hours to avoid bogging down your connection.
With an EVO shared storage server, you can schedule your downloads, uploads, and backups to run anytime you choose, like after the kids are asleep.
If your internet speed is still lacking (check at speedtest.net), consider upgrading your internet plan or service provider to maximize your bandwidth for your budget. Regardless of your internet speed, ditch the WiFi and plug into your modem via an Ethernet cable. This will give you a more reliable connection for uploading and downloading media from home.
#3: Remotely Connect to On-Prem Shared Storage
It’s important to connect to your shared storage remotely so you can access all your media files and export your final projects properly (see tip #7). There are two primary ways to connect to your shared storage remotely: VPN and remote desktop.
Connect to shared storage with a VPN
A VPN, or virtual private network, is a safe and secure way to access a private network (like your studio network) over a public network at home, the airport WiFi, or anywhere. This isn’t the IP-scattering VPN app you have on your phone; it’s a VPN server or service that you configure to access your studio network from a remote location.
If you don’t have a VPN set up yet, SNS recently released SNS Cloud VPN, a cloud-hosted, secure, virtual private network made exclusively for EVO. SNS VPN is easy to set up and configure for multiple users across various remote locations. The service can be deployed rapidly, and in most cases, without any changes to your firewall and network infrastructure.
Interested in learning more about SNS VPN? Contact us today for more information.
Remote desktop to access shared storage
The other popular way to access your shared storage remotely is with a remote desktop software like TeamViewer or LogMeIn.
With a remote desktop connection, you use your computer at home to control your workstation at the studio. Just make sure your studio workstation is turned on and connected to the network. Then, you can use TeamViewer or another software to take control of that machine and access your shared storage as if you were right there in the studio.
Learn more about accessing your media files via VPN and remote desktop applications in our webinar on-demand (hint: tip #3 starts at 11:56).
#4: Use Proxies Whenever Possible
Proxy files, or proxies, are low resolution, offline copies of your media files. Using proxies conserves bandwidth and makes remote video editing feasible for teams working with large file sizes like 4K, 6K, and even 8K footage.
You can create proxies with an encoder like Adobe Media Encoder or Apple Compressor, or you can batch export compressed clips in DaVinci Resolve. Creating proxies in any software can take a while depending on how much media you have to transcode, how long the duration of the footage is, and how much compression you’re putting on it.
An easier way to generate proxies is to use the built-in tools with your EVO shared storage solution. As you upload media to EVO shared storage, it automatically transcodes that media and creates proxy files for you. These proxies are then ready on your storage device, and they are easily retrieved and delivered to your remote workstation by SNS Nomad, a remote editing utility for EVO.
#5: Standardize Your Folder Structures
It’s easier to find and share files you need when file paths are predictable. It also saves time and hassle in the conform process when relinking your media back to the high-resolution, online footage. Standardize your folder structures now to make remote collaboration easier in the future.
If you’re using Nomad, your proxy files will mirror the folder structure on your EVO shared storage system. Just point to the root of the high resolution media, and relinking is smooth sailing. If you aren’t using Nomad, standardize those folder structures or beware of broken links!
#6: Stay Organized with Media Asset Management
The farther we are from each other, the more important organization becomes. A media asset management (MAM) system can help your team get organized and enhance collaboration among team members.
ShareBrowser media asset management is a powerful and easy to use MAM software that lets you search, tag, comment, and collaborate on all your media. When connected to shared storage via VPN, you can access and use ShareBrowser MAM remotely from anywhere and your media will appear as a local drive.
See more tips on staying organized with asset management, communication, custom metadata, and project management tools in our webinar (hint: tip #6 starts at 22:15).
#7: Sync Back to Your Shared Storage
We talked about bringing your media home with you, but the reverse trip is just as important.
When you relink your offline proxy files to your shared storage for final export, any media that hasn’t been uploaded to shared storage (say, a music track you added last-minute) will still be offline when you conform. To avoid this, sync your media back to shared storage regularly.
Syncing your files back to shared storage is also important for backup, archive, and replication. You can schedule your EVO to automatically backup your files to another storage space—like EVO Nearline, cloud storage, or another server—so you have your media backed up in case of an emergency.
This can all be done remotely via SNS Cloud VPN or another method of connecting to your on-prem shared storage server remotely (see tip #3).
#8: Contact Tech Support
Still not confident in your remote workflow? Check in with your IT department or customer service rep. Ask friends and colleagues what they’re doing to solve their video workflow challenges. And always feel comfortable reaching out to the SNS support team.
Just don’t try to go it alone. Reach out, ask questions, and let’s find a solution, together.
To start working from anywhere with EVO, get a personalized demo and 1-on-1 remote workflow consultation today.