Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/57245
workflow Crawford: giving artists more options This studio embraces a multi-user post workflow. has become an early adopter of a new multi- user post workflow in which editors and graphic artists working privately or collabora- tively on different platforms can share content within a single storage pool. Established with the company's transition to a new 80,000-square-foot facility in Atlan- ta, the workflow leverages versatile edit suite configurations, a file-based environment with centralized storage, and an enormous virtual KVM matrix to provide the best combina- tion of tools, talent, media and space required regardless of the project. "We needed the technological means and capacity to perform any media-related project across multiple platforms and with maximum flexibility," says Ron Heidt, senior editor/techni- cal director at Crawford. "Our goal was to create a highly efficient collaborative multiplat- form editing environment, and we did so by integrating systems that put content at the center of the workflow and, in turn, allowed us to optimize our media production processes." Any room within the new Crawford build- ing can be equipped with any type of work- station and offer any hardware or software needed for a particular project. Seven rooms have been designed specifically as edit suites in which staff might use Avid DS or Media Composer one day and Apple Final Cut Pro or Adobe After Effects another. Two additional suites are geared toward color correction, with space and furnishings designed to accommodate staff and clients, and five workstation areas within a Digital Online Creation (DOC) center allow users to call up any additional graphics or editing application as needed. Though they typically remain dedicated to sound design and mix- ing, the facility's four audio rooms boast the same flexibility. A The MediaGrid active storage system installed. STREAMLINING THE PROCESS The new workflow at Crawford takes this emphasis on flexibility a step further by pro- viding project-based access to media from any system. A mirrored 144TB (72TB usable) Omneon MediaGrid active storage system from Harmonic is integrated with an MXF- server from FilmPartners to support a work- flow in which editors can work on different platforms, share content within a single stor- age pool and work on projects indepen- 40 Post • March 2012 TLANTA — In its bid to improve agility in delivering finished media, Crawford Media Services (www.crawford.com) dently or collaboratively. Crawford has connected 20 systems directly to the MediaGrid system, which allows the company to accept client content in virtually any format. The MediaGrid sup- ports not only NLEs but also Adobe After log in and gain immediate access to any job without searching through a large file system on shared storage. Inline content presentation as virtual AMA volumes gives Avid editors access to all file-based material without the need for preprocessing or conversion. Ron Heidt (inset): Gannett's "It's All Within Reach" campaign includes a :30 spot that was offlined on a Media Composer. Effects, FilmLight Baselight color correction and Avid Pro Tools systems. These media apps connect directly to the single storage pool, and users work on content in-place rather than transferring media or making local cop- ies. The Omneon storage platform provides the bandwidth to support all systems at once — most of those using multiple streams of HD content — without dropping frames. "With the MXFserver, we now work in a managed environment in which media stor- age is orderly and its presentation is job- based, and these are particularly valuable benefits in an organization staffed by editors, graphic artists and other creative talent," says Heidt. "The MXFserver forces a high level of organization without requiring a lot of work on our part, and finding media and related content now is as easy as searching by job number or client name." The MXFserver provides independent, project-based virtual views of available con- tent, related assets and metadata to each editor, and presents the appropriate project file structure for each supported platform. Any authorized editor or graphics artist can www.postmagazine.com Because Crawford has implemented a massive KVM matrix across its new facility, any computer in any room can access both the editing app and the media needed to work on a project. If a user starts a project on a Mac with Media Composer and needs to work on it with a PC using Avid DS, he or she can easily launch the application as if it is a new local machine. IN ACTION For Gannett's "It's All Within Reach" nation- al brand campaign, brought to Crawford by Scout Marketing, the company worked on a :30 commercial about how Gannett gives businesses the opportunity to engage target- ed audiences on any platform. Five hours of footage was shot and ProRes 444 QuickTime files were transferred to the MediaGrid sys- tem to enable an immediate edit-in-place workflow, with media available to all members of the post team. As one editor did the offline in Media Composer 5.5 with AMA-linked ProRes files, continued on page 47