X

The challenge was to create a fan-made film about Darth Vader, one of the most complex and interesting characters in the Star Wars universe. The film needed to be of cinema-quality and had to be accepted by the Star Wars community, which is known for its rigorous debates about what is considered legitimate and what is not. The film also had to be shared online without any advertising. The process of creating the film involved various stages including writing, directing, editing, and coordinating with remote staff. The challenge also included the need for a tool that could enhance the ability of the team to deliver the story quickly and enable richer collaboration.

The case study revolves around the challenges faced by David Fisher, a renowned editor in the science-fiction and fantasy genres. Fisher's work involves managing complex workflows, collaborating with team members of varying experience levels, and ensuring effective communication across all stages of post-production. The editing process is a critical part of visual storytelling, and Fisher needed tools that would allow him to create stories quickly for sharing and communicating with directors and producers. The challenge was to find a solution that would streamline the editing process, facilitate collaboration, and enhance the overall efficiency of post-production.

David Pritchard-Blunt, a renowned musical director and arranger in the Australian live performance TV industry, faced the challenge of arranging and delivering compositions based on abbreviated versions of songs for popular TV shows like The Voice. The task involved translating existing material into a live situation for the band to play, often for clients located interstate or overseas. The process required seamless file sharing and collaboration with clients and colleagues. Furthermore, the nature of live television demanded speed and accuracy, as arrangement changes often needed to be made at very short notice. The challenge was to find a reliable, intuitive, and efficient solution that could facilitate these requirements.

Directors Cut, a premier long-form post-production house in London, was faced with the challenge of providing its clients with new and remote working capabilities to meet their evolving needs and increase the facility’s revenue potential. The company needed to improve access to its catalog of assets for staff and clients working both on-premise and remotely. They were also looking to repurpose and monetize content more effectively. The management team was keen on embracing innovative technology to improve its client offering and streamline its operations. However, the remote viewing tools they had seen were not advanced enough to integrate into their Avid workflow.

The music industry is a highly competitive field that requires songwriters and producers to have powerful and user-friendly audio recording, editing, and mixing software. This software should facilitate collaboration and sharing of work among music creators, thereby driving creativity. The challenge lies in finding a tool that is not only easy to use but also allows songwriters and producers to listen, edit, and mix their recorded projects effectively. This is crucial in enabling them to collaborate with musicians and create high-quality music.

The post-production team for the American Race documentary, led by supervisor Tim Cunningham, faced a significant challenge. They needed a workflow with ample storage and collaborative capabilities to manage the post-production needs of a fast-paced episodic documentary. The documentary, hosted by Charles Barkley, was a four-part series exploring race in America, with each episode examining different contemporary race issues. The production involved extensive live footage, requiring hours in the editing room and significant storage requirements. This put immense pressure on the post-production team to ensure all technical and artistic components came together for a compelling story. The team also faced a tight production schedule due to the show’s airdate, adding to the challenge.

The challenge was to provide an easy way for audio professionals to integrate Dolby Atmos into their projects without changing their existing workflows. Dolby Atmos, a new sound format, needed to be introduced in a manner that would allow sound experts to creatively place and move sound anywhere. The integration had to be seamless and compatible with Pro Tools and Apple products, which are widely used by content creators globally. The solution had to be simple enough to enable rapid adoption among stakeholders in the cinema industry.

Elijah Ray, a solo acoustic guitarist, faced the challenge of creating a natural feel in his recordings while capturing an improvisational vibe with his music. He often uses a looper, a device that records segments of music and plays it back, to enhance his live performances. However, this introduced a new challenge, requiring an improvisational spirit and a high level of skill to master. Furthermore, his performances tend to be very different from what normally happens when touring groups take the stage, as he prefers to live on the edge, making his performances vulnerable and edgy.

ENVY, a leading post-production provider for the British broadcasting and advertising industries, was facing a series of challenges due to its rapid expansion and increasing workload. The company was dealing with tighter production schedules, a growing 4K workload, and expansion across multiple locations. ENVY's workload had expanded at an astronomical rate, with growing client demand for tighter turnaround times, disruptive ideas, and state-of-the-art media technology. The company had also added a new production facility for its advertising clients. To manage these challenges, ENVY needed to upgrade and expand its storage capabilities. However, it was crucial that the integration of a new storage system wouldn’t affect its high standards of work and client relations.

The challenge was to bring to life the complex, intertwined personal stories behind the fast-paced, emotionally charged film Everest, while dealing with huge volumes of footage and recreating the sounds of one of the world’s most hostile environments. The film depicts the catastrophic events of the 1996 mountain disaster, following two doomed expeditions to the summit of the world’s highest mountain. The climbers face near-impossible obstacles to survive, trapped in the ‘Death Zone’ of Everest—25,000 feet up in the highest altitudes of the mountain—by one of the most ferocious snowstorms ever known to man. The film features an all-star cast, including Emily Watson, Keira Knightley, Josh Brolin and John Hawkes. Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty) tackles the role of the infamous expedition leader, Rob Hall, while Oscar-nominated Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, Jarhead, Brokeback Mountain) plays rival mountaineer and expedition leader, Scott Fischer.

The challenge faced by the Face Vocal Band was to create music that transcends genres and styles, specifically transforming rock hits into vocal rock performances. This required the band to identify rock hits and then use their vocal abilities to turn them into something completely new. The process involved arranging a time-honored standard into five-part harmony, which required powerful software solutions. The band also needed to figure out how to translate songs from their original electronic-infused drum patches, pulsing bass, synth pads and vocal samples into a sonic experience that would engage audiences in live settings and in recorded media.

Films at 59, a leading UK post house, was faced with the challenge of needing a flexible, expandable storage platform to support increasing frame rates, more complex formats, and a growing roster of activity. The company, which has grown organically alongside clients whose work spans all genres, from feature films to drama, natural history, daytime, and VR, needed a system that could accommodate increasingly more complex requirements and technically demanding productions. This included greater frame sizes and rates, as well as the capacity to expand to handle more projects while storing and managing ever higher volumes of media. The chosen storage platform needed to complement Films at 59’s existing workflow and third-party editing tools, and also support innovative new technologies like VR.

The challenge was to deliver an eight-part documentary for HBO under a tight deadline while managing a vast amount of footage. The documentary, Foo Fighters Sonic Highways, was a recording odyssey around iconic US music studios, directed by Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl. The series saw the band travel to legendary studios in cities across the USA to write and record their latest album, Sonic Highways. Each episode featured interviews with influential artists, producers, and studio owners. The production team had to handle 400 hours of footage per episode and cope with increasingly tight timescales. The team comprised of six video editors, a sound mixer, a dialog editor, a sound effects editor, and a team of post assistants.

Food Network, a popular channel for food enthusiasts worldwide, was facing a significant challenge in managing and producing an increasing volume of original content. The network was experiencing rapid growth and change, launching many new shows each month to cater to its expanding audience of almost 100 million U.S. households. However, the production process was hampered by an aging tape-based workflow, which was inefficient and costly. The network faced media management and storage challenges, with material sometimes coming in late or early, requiring extended online storage or immediate availability. The production was also geographically dispersed, with field-based shows shot across the country, production hub in New York, and broadcast operations in Knoxville, Tennessee. The production team, though small, needed to improve efficiency and enhance collaboration across multiple locations.

Fort Hays State University (FHSU) in Hays, Kansas, was faced with the challenge of providing its students with the hands-on training they needed to secure top jobs in the rapidly evolving media industry. Unlike most media education institutions where students start creating in their sophomore year, FHSU wanted to offer a hands-on approach from day one. The university aimed to reflect the media industry’s rapidly changing workflows, techniques, and technology in its curriculum. To best prepare students for successful careers after graduation, FHSU needed to equip its new $10M media-production building with industry-standard equipment and workflows. The university also wanted to provide unique combinations of hands-on training and industry-recognized certifications to help students stand out in the crowded and competitive job market.

Full Sail University, a leading institution in multimedia and entertainment education, faced the challenge of providing its students with hands-on experience in audio, video, and music technology. The goal was to prepare students for successful careers in the digital media and entertainment industry. The university needed to maintain state-of-the-art technology for audio and video editing, live sound, and music notation. The challenge was to ensure that the technology used in the university's labs and studios mirrored the production and recording environments in the music, film, gaming, and television industries. Furthermore, the university aimed to provide each incoming student with a 'Launch Box' containing all the necessary hardware and software for their specific degree program.

The Fury film editing team faced a significant challenge: they needed to unite editing teams split across Los Angeles and London to cut 1.3 million feet of film for the blockbuster film Fury. Initially, the editing for Fury was planned to take place solely in Los Angeles, across four Avid Media Composer | Ultimate systems. However, six days into the shoot on location in Oxfordshire, England, the producer decided to bring the lead editor, Dody Dorn, to London. This sudden change in plans required a quick and efficient solution to enable seamless collaboration and management of the massive volume of media across the transatlantic. The team also faced the challenge of time constraints, with the need for a fluid, collaborative, and informational flow across the board to keep the entire global team up to date with the latest amendments or notes.

Gigantic Studios, a renowned post-production house in New York City, faced the challenge of providing a comprehensive range of post-production services, from offline edit suites to sound design, final mix, color grading, and DCP creation to New York’s most respected filmmakers. The studio aimed to create a state-of-the-art facility that could accommodate both sound mixing and color correction in a single room. The challenge was to design a room that could seamlessly transition between these two functions without obstructing the view of the screen for both editors and clients. Furthermore, the studio wanted to incorporate a unique feature that would allow a re-recording mixer to stand up at the console without impacting the sight lines of the producer’s desk.

The challenge was to reframe a traditional work, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, and expose a completely unique vision of the song for Bobby Mcferrin’s spirtyouall CD, which earned Goldstein a Grammy® Award. This required a solution that could provide the flexibility and creative capabilities to arrange songs from various recording artists in wide-ranging styles. Goldstein, a noted pianist, accordionist, arranger, and composer, had to overcome the challenges of arranging for a wide range of musical styles—pop, big band and orchestral among them.

Goldcrest Post, a leading supplier of post-production services for film and broadcast projects, faced the challenge of maintaining its technical edge in a highly competitive market. The company needed to ensure a steady stream of post-production work in both film and broadcast projects by maintaining a cutting-edge, technical specification. The increasing desire of movie-audio engineers to mix within Pro Tools, entirely 'in the box', was another challenge that the company had to address. The company's goal was to build the best possible rooms for their clients to work in, and this required a major facility upgrade.

Acclaimed music producer Greg Wells was tasked with recording a song under a tight deadline using a combination of analog and state-of-the-art digital equipment at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. The challenge was to seamlessly integrate the vintage analog recording gear that Abbey Road is famous for with the latest digital audio workstations. The project required a system that offered incredible speed, powerful performance, and workflow flexibility. The task was further complicated by the fact that Wells was working with the London-based band Strangefruit for the first time, and he had only three days to record and mix the song. The pressure was on to deliver a high-quality track within the given time constraints.

Griffin Communications, a leading broadcaster in the United States, faced significant challenges in sharing content between its production teams located in different parts of Oklahoma. The disconnected and disparate workflows made it difficult for the teams to share content, resulting in wasted time and resources. The lack of a method for streaming or previewing stored media meant that teams had to describe footage over the phone. If a team wanted to preview the footage, a 30-second clip had to be cut and sent to a playout server while the other team recorded the clip. This inefficient process often led to teams from the Oklahoma City and Tulsa stations covering the same events, further wasting valuable resources.

Ha-Mitcham, a budding post-production venture in Israel, aimed to compete with the major players in the country's TV and post industry. The company required a flexible, collaborative solution that could provide high-end editing facilities and cloud-based technology for remote editing. The challenge was to find a solution that was versatile, easy-to-use, and future-proofed, with a stable cloud deployment component. The company wanted to offer a unique environment for TV production in the Middle East, making remote editing and technology accessible to every production company in the region, regardless of their size. The emerging company needed to invest in a workflow that could handle large projects and work straight out of the box.

Harley Zinker, a seasoned live show mixer with over 20 years of experience, was tasked with delivering high-quality mixes for a range of international artists, including Interpol, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Young the Giant, The Strokes, The Killers, and more. The challenge was to consistently deliver uncompromising mixes night after night, while also ensuring the sound quality was pristine and the processing powerful. Zinker had been using digital consoles for a long time, but he was looking for a solution that could replicate the sound quality and functionality of his outboard gear, while also offering more advanced features and capabilities.

High Noon Entertainment, a full-service production company, was grappling with the challenge of shortening the overall turnaround time for delivering HD content. With 10 to 20 pilots in production at any given time, and as many as 95 people working on various shows, the company needed a solution that could provide speed, flexibility, and ample storage. The traditional post-production workflow involved bringing in files from the field, transcoding them to a lower resolution, and then editing offline. Once editing was complete, the files had to be re-linked back to the high-res files for finishing. This process was time-consuming and inefficient, and the company was also dealing with aging equipment.

Industrial Media and its Emmy-winning television production company, The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC), were looking to expand their collaborative workflows by adding a new production hub in New York City. The goal was to collaborate remotely with directors, producers, and editors throughout the country. Until then, their editors worked mostly on-site in Los Angeles and Atlanta. The challenge was to create an environment where someone working 3,000 miles away could be treated as though they were just down the hall. Industrial Media needed a solution that would allow them to work wherever they found talented editors, filmmakers, and story producers. Additionally, they had a tight six-week schedule to open their new production facility.

The post-production team behind the horror film IT, based on Stephen King's novel, faced the challenge of delivering a nuanced film with the right balance of horror, humor, and suspense within a tight schedule. The team needed seamless film editing and sound mixing workflows to deliver the right tone and feel to the updated horror classic. The film required a delicate balance between picture and sound, particularly in the horror genre where music and sound are crucial components used to build anticipation or evoke an emotional response. The team had to ensure that the film was as funny in parts as it was terrifying, and as sensitive as it was suspenseful.

Jay Terrien, a professional musician and orchestrator, was faced with the challenge of working on tight deadlines to create, arrange, and perform music for a variety of situations including live performances, television, film scores, tours, and albums. The music industry demands high levels of professionalism and efficiency, requiring him to do a lot of things quickly and well. When he receives music for performance or production, the first step he takes is to get the notation files. However, he often encounters music that needs significant work before it can be performed, and there is rarely ample time to arrange and make it playable. He also faces issues with music scores that are in different keys, adapted for other instruments, or orchestrated incorrectly for his instrument.

Jesper Eriksson, an audio production engineer, operates a one-man studio, JE-Digital, in Värmdö, Sweden. His clientele includes major Nordic broadcast clients like HBO-Nordic, Ericsson, C More Entertainment, TV4, Kanal 5, SBS Discovery, and more. He also produces Blu-ray and DVD masters for brands such as Sony DADC, Dicentia Nordisk Undertext. The challenge was to stay competitive and take on large post-production projects for TV, film, and commercial clients that required more I/O and processing power. Working in the Nordics and in the 4K/UHD broadcast domain, Eriksson had to deal with a complexity of output formats on a daily basis. Moreover, working with audio in the 4K/UHD broadcast domain, with big surround formats, required a lot of I/O. His existing setup was running at 95 percent of the native system, which limited power for large-scale projects.

In the modern music industry, composers are required to be highly adaptable, creating music for a variety of ensembles and performers with varying skills. They often need to repurpose their music for different situations, which can be a challenging task. Dr. Jessica Rudman, a modern composer, faced this challenge as she created music for choral, opera, chamber, band, and orchestral ensembles. She needed to adapt her unique approach to melody, harmony, and color to suit different types of ensembles and players. Additionally, she had to work closely with the directors of the ensembles, understanding the skill level of the players, their preferences, and their strengths. This required a music notation software that could easily adapt to changes mid-composing, ensuring that the score and parts match perfectly.