Studio Network Solutions’ (SNS) EVO Shared Storage Server Supplies Collaborative and Cost-Efficient Workflow Solution for UK’s Award-Winning Met Film
Based at Ealing Studios in London, the oldest continuously working film studio in the world, Met Film Post is one-third of one of the UK’s most remarkable film organizations, Met Film. Met Film combines three leading-edge companies, Met Film School, Met Film Production and Met Film Post. By providing hands-on professional experience for students, award-winning productions and front line post-production technology services, the vanguard organization creates a unique and a symbiotic working setting for aspiring filmmakers and established experts.
When Met Film Post needed to make a significant change in their post-production workflow, they turned to SNS EVO to provide a more accessible, collaborative and cost-efficient shared storage solution.
“We were looking for a system to replace our Xsan that would allow us to do shared collaborative Avid offline services,” stated Matthew Troughton, Senior Colorist and Online Editor at Met Film Post. “Bringing the EVO on-board allowed us to fully provide Avid offline and online services. Prior to EVO, our editors were not able to work collaboratively on projects in such a developed way. EVO gave us the flexibility we needed and immediately increased our productivity.”
Met Film Post’s state of the art facilities include Baselight and DaVinci grading theatres along with Truelight and CalMan color calibration systems. Pro Tools mixing is provided in their sound theatre along with recording, Foley and ADR in sound suites and through the use of a stage on the Ealing Studios lot. They use Avid and Adobe suites capable of both offline, online and VFX along with a plethora of other software applications.
Prior to bringing on SNS EVO, Met Film Post had three major workflow challenges: lack of collaborative project sharing capabilities, limited connectivity and accessibility to projects and a cost-prohibitive per workstation/user workflow. SNS EVO addresses all of these needs, and more. EVO has the most extensive connectivity options available in a single product, including 8 Gb/s Fibre Channel and 10 Gb/s Ethernet. EVO can be a SAN, a NAS, or both at the same time and is designed for online, real-time use with leading Mac/Windows applications.
“With Xsan everything was Fibre attached,” stated Troughton. “Sure, there are other ways to attach it, but they require a lot of upkeep, support and expensive additional gear. With EVO, we can hook up the cheapest machine we have in an offline suite, or the most expensive one in online suite, no hassles, no extra cost. And now anyone on our production team, inside the building, or remote, can easily access and review rushes and dailies, projects and media. The collaborative opportunities went from zero to infinite instantly.”
EVO has no per-seat licensing and allows for unlimited users. It’s expandable up to 320TB per managed system and supports multi-stream HD/2K video, stereoscopic 3D and 4K. EVO’s desktop client, ShareBrowser (included in every unit) was designed for top professionals like Met Film Post who require multiple user access to assets. ShareBrowser enables users to search, index, verify and preview assets across all EVO storage as well as local, offline, and other network disks.
Met Film Post’s client roster includes Discovery Channel, National Geographic and BBC. They are currently working on the UNTITLED JIM LOACH PROJECT from British film director, Jim Loach (ORANGES AND SUNSHINE). In addition to boasting top quality post-production services, Met Film Post works closely with Met Film Production and Met Film School, consulting on and providing post-technology for student film projects and, providing a central hub for media assets and repository for finished films and content.
“One of our goals is to ultimately have all 200+ workstations in the film school connecting to the EVO,” explained Troughton. “So many things can go wrong with a storage system. That’s why it’s vital for us to have not only the best shared storage, but the best support for it. Right from the start, it was clear SNS had time for us. And as our workflow needs grow, EVO’s easy expansion options, high-performance value and connection flexibility will help us remain leading-edge post providers.”
For more information about Met Film Post visit, www.metfilmpost.co.uk
For more information about Met Film; Met Film School, Met Film Productions, Met Film Post visit, www.metfilm.co.uk
About Studio Network Solutions (SNS)
SNS shared storage solutions are at the core of optimized video workflow for professional content creation workgroups worldwide. The SNS EVO shared media storage server combines high-performance with extensive connectivity, including 10Gb/s Ethernet and Fibre Channel. With EVO’s included ShareBrowser asset management software, you can search, index, preview, tag, and verify video and project assets with no additional software required. NAS, SAN, or both at the same time, EVO is designed for online real-time video editing with leading video/audio applications including Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere Pro/CC, Final Cut Pro (FCP), Final Cut Pro X (FCPX), DaVinci Resolve, Pro Tools, and others.
Read more user stories or contact SNS now to see how the EVO shared media storage server can help your company.