Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1316365
www.postmagazine.com 20 POST NOV/DEC 2020 OUTLOOK T echnology is the biggest driver in all industry, and in 2020 we saw how the COVID-19 pandemic made us rethink how we use technology in VFX. This was particularly apparent in the rapid pivot to remote workflows as a necessity during lock-down for business continuity. Where stringent security require- ments had been a barrier previously, the relaxation of some of these rules has allowed VFX companies to provide more flexibility to their workers while continu- ing to deliver great work. This will likely continue into 2021, and as VFX vendors, we need to work with major studios to ensure that while security remains paramount, we are able to maintain this much-needed flexibility. A wonderful side effect is a more stable work-life integra- tion, which will likely see more parents (particularly women) continue in VFX careers for longer. 2021 will also be a year of how we access and manage the global talent network. Physical distance is no longer an impediment to hiring someone, so VFX vendors will need to assess how to manage people in a global context; teams that don't necessarily reside in the same city, or even country. This not only includes daily interactions and produc- tion workflows, but also how to deal with longer-term career management, work health and safety, as well as address the very real mental health concerns that many of us face — some as a result of prolonged isolation. VFX is a mature industry and it is evolving into a new phase. Larger con- glomerates are amalgamating to become super entities, while others are becoming leaner, more agile and more disseminat- ed, whose nimbleness can provide cost efficiencies. Barriers to entry are be- coming less due to the remote working transformation and the global workforce. Embracing advances in technology will be a key driver to success. The uptick in vir- tual production will continue and the likely confluence of gaming and filmmaking. Most importantly, culture remains the single most distinctive piece of the VFX puzzle. My heart goes out to anyone that lost their job, lost someone that they loved, or was in lock-down for the greater good. 2021 needs to be a year that we say there is no "us" or "them". We are one — one driving force, coming together to change industry culture from the top down and the bottom up. We are collaborative, making great things to inspire people. We are human and we need open and honest communication all around in order to change the industry and make it a better place for all. EXAMINING VFX CULTURE & TECHNOLOGY BY JENNIE ZEIHER HEAD OF BUSINESS DEVEL- OPMENT RISING SUN PICTURES ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA HTTPS://RSP.COM.AU STORAGE wo of the most important trends for 2021 will be the need to archive digital content for the long term and, with no end in sight for the pan- demic, the continuing need to access archived content remotely. LONG-TERM DIGITAL CONTENT ARCHIVING The huge volumes of valuable digital content that the media industry creates every year are works of art — cultural ar- tifacts and shared human memories that have immense emotional and econom- ic value. The challenges of managing, storing and protecting this data over the coming years and decades will be a ma- jor consideration for media professionals in 2021. Today, the most cost-effective solu- tions for archiving content use high-ca- pacity tape robotic libraries in local, cloud and remote locations. Addressing modern archiving challenges of the future will require advanced, easily-scal- able, air-gapped tape architectures that can support erasure coding, geo-spread- ing with exascale capacities, extreme reliability and ironclad cyber-security protection. It will also require intelligent active archive software with metadata capabilities so that it can intelligently move and classify content. ACCESSING ARCHIVED CONTENT REMOTELY With the pandemic putting a brake on new film and TV productions, creative teams need simple ways to access, up- date and reuse all of this older archived content. Media companies are adjusting by moving the application to where the content is instead of moving huge amounts of video data around. In 2021, technologies that offer remote produc- tion and editing capabilities with secure, virtual workspaces to handle graphics-in- tensive applications will be critical. Remote desktop technology will con- tinue to be widely adopted for dispersed teams to seamlessly maintain creative workflows with access to their worksta- tions and applications from their home studios. This is especially valuable when moving everything to the cloud isn't feasible, yet remote teams need ongo- ing access to shared assets to complete projects and meet deadlines. For creatives, it's crucial to first store then easily access and share content for their projects. To help make this happen, storage infrastructure will be a key com- ponent in their workflows. With remote desktop technologies, organizations can use their existing storage ecosys- tem to streamline remote video work- flows without interrupting the storage infrastructure. The content can then be securely stored for the long term, and accessed as needed. While 2021 will likely continue to bring many of the same challenges that we've seen in 2020, the combination of long-term digital archiving and remote production technology will help media companies and creative teams to successfully navigate these challenging times. LONG-TERM ARCHIVING & REMOTE PRODUCTION WILL BE CRITICAL BY ERIC BASSIER SENIOR DIRECTOR, PRODUCT MARKETING QUANTUM SAN JOSE, CA WWW.QUANTUM.COM T VISUAL EFFECTS