Back to Workflows
Media & Post-Production Company Streamlining Cloud Collaboration Workflows
Company Situation
The company operates within the media and post-production industry, managing a distributed team of in-house editors across multiple U.S. locations and a growing network of freelancers both nationally and internationally. Their workflow supports a high volume of video content requiring efficient collaboration, review, and storage solutions at scale.
Existing Workflow
The company transitioned approximately two and a half years ago to a cloud-based workflow using LucidLink for file access and Frame.io for review processes. Media assets are currently stored and managed across multiple platforms, including IBM Cloud for primary storage and Wasabi for cold storage. They rely on several third-party tools to handle media ingestion, management, review, and storage, which leads to a fragmented ecosystem.
Issues with the Existing Workflow
Fragmented Systems: Multiple siloed platforms (LucidLink, Frame.io, Iconik, Wasabi, IBM Cloud) create complexity and require separate management and integrations.
High Costs: Storage costs on IBM Cloud are significantly higher (~$70-$80 per terabyte monthly) compared to alternatives like Wasabi (~$7-$8 per terabyte), leading to wasted expenditure on hot storage for archived media.
Inefficient Media Movement: Constant copying and transferring of large media files across platforms consume time and resources, slowing down workflows.
Contract Lock-ins: Vendor push toward long-term subscriptions restricts flexibility, with pressure from providers like LucidLink to lock in costly contracts.
Nickel-and-Diming: Competitor platforms such as Iconik impose additional charges for essential features, increasing total cost of ownership.
Lack of Unified Support: No single vendor provides end-to-end support or seamless integration across ingestion, storage, and review, resulting in operational friction.
How Shade Would Change Their Workflow
Shade offers a unified media operations platform that consolidates ingestion, storage management, proxy creation, collaboration, and review into a single solution. This integration eliminates the need to juggle multiple tools and reduces copying and transferring of media files. Shade’s approach allows the company to streamline workflows from ingest through post-production to review without redundant data movement or siloed systems. Additionally, Shade supports flexible storage options, enabling cost-effective cold storage strategies and better control over storage tiers without vendor lock-in.
Benefits
- Single platform for media ingestion, management, review, and storage
- Significant reduction in data transfer times and associated labor
- Lower overall storage costs through optimized storage tiering and vendor flexibility
- Avoidance of nickel-and-diming fees by bundling key features in one solution
- Improved collaboration across distributed teams and freelancers
- Enhanced operational efficiency by removing workflow silos
- Greater control and flexibility over media lifecycle and storage contracts
Technologies Used
Want to see how Shade can improve your workflow?
Book a Demo