philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

The Cloud And The Evolution Of Post Production

WHAT MAKES THE CLOUD SUITED FOR POST PRODUCTION? Just as large-scale suppliers provide electricity more economically, processing and storage requirements can often be met more economically by cloud services. And just as electricity comes to us directly via connection to a power grid, data comes directly to a computer via connection to the Internet. In addition, cloud services from different providers can easily interact through automated interfaces, providing a highly flexible way of using solutions and add-ons from different suppliers throughout a given workflow.

However, when it comes to video post production, not just any cloud service will do. Generic cloud-computing providers, such as Amazon Web Services, are built for IT and consumer data rather than the voluminous data and throughput performance requirements associated with broadcast video. The requirements for editing video are formidable, with huge amounts of data and the need for real-time response. The process of rendering effects and transitions in a generic cloud environment are expensive since these services charge according to CPU power and time used, and the unresponsiveness would be frustrating for users accustomed to dedicated desktop solutions. When all of this is taken into account, building a broadcast post-production operation on a generic cloud infrastructure simply doesn’t meet broadcast standards for performance, cost or reliability.

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