Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1464279
emote production should be seen as a rare opportuni- ty to transform workfl ws and productivity. The simple idea of abstracting content storage, processing and creative talent has the potential to make editing faster, more creative and collaborative, and more cost-effective. The variable quality, reliability and throughput of network- ing can impact the speed at which video content can be moved. Data networks have variable capacity and throughput, and that has a direct impact on the speed at which video con- tent can be moved. Even with high bandwidth, like an internal network, it is still a constraint, and ingesting content from external sources or venues can be a practical limitation. The traditional working model of the post facility is chang- ing, with many looking at how to incorporate more fl xible and remote working. It may be time to reconsider the concept of expensive hardware sitting in rooms in use for maybe 50 percent of the time, and to which editors, producers, content managers and runners all have to travel. Remote editing, and in particular cloud editing, address- es all these issues. The large, full-resolution files all tay in one place; editors log into the hardware configu ation they need only when they need it; and producers can look over the editor's shoulder from their own homes or offices using remote desktops. Key to making this work is to re-evaluate the use of the proxy. With today's encoding technology, these can be per- fectly good enough to edit with, but take up one percent or less of the full-resolution file s bandwidth. The EditShare workfl w provides automatic creation of proxies as video is ingested into the system. The proxy has a negligible impact on your storage costs, but it means the ed- itor can get started very quickly indeed, even if the transfer is over the open internet. The editor can also organize the proj- ect remotely, creating the bins on the central server or cloud storage, so you only transfer the proxies you need, making it even faster. We offer two fl vors of proxy. You can choose a "streaming proxy," which is designed to be as lightweight as possible for fast delivery. You can start with anything up to 8K originals and deliver an MPEG-4 fil . The only real limitation in MPEG-4 is its audio support, so if you need multiple audio tracks in the edit suite, we offer an "editing proxy"— a slightly larger (but still tiny compared to the original) in an appropriate wrapper. Key to making this work is to ensure you can quickly switch between the proxy format and the high-resolution fil . EditShare Flow keeps track of the dif- ferent versions of a file so th t whenever the high-resolution video is available and required, it can be used. To make this work it needs to be completely intuitive and seamless in oper- ation. Flow, EditShare's media management software, includes a plug-in panel for Adobe Premiere Pro and a window for DaVinci Resolve, meaning that all the content management happens within the editor's familiar environment. Flow integrates directly with the built-in proxy toggling features of both Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve, which allows the editor to flip bet een proxy and the original if you need to check quality. Checking whole sequences like this defeats the point of the proxy workfl w, but comparing frames can give the editor reassurance. Providing access to media remotely must be secure to protect the original content and work in progress. EditShare's storage and media management tools have multiple layers of security, and when used in a cloud environment, these security features mesh tightly with those provided by cloud vendors, like AWS. This is not a vision of the future — it is working today in the real world. It means taking a completely-fresh look at the human and technology factors in your post architectures, but if you do, it reaps real benefits. ditors get started earlier and are more productive, wherever they are working; producers can monitor projects at any stage at any time; and you eliminate the overheads of expensive hardware sitting idle. If you have not already started your journey to the cloud, now is defini ely the right time. BOOSTING WORKFLOWS THROUGH REMOTE EDITING BY STEPHEN TALLAMY, CTO, EDITSHARE, HTTPS://EDITSHARE.COM R REMOTE WORKFLOWS www.postmagazine.com 28 POST MAR/APR 2022