International broadcasters and media professionals such as Fox and BBC are
looking to advancing cloud technologies as a way to conveniently and efficiently
address storage issues, in the air.
While cloud-based broadcast workflows are already being implemented to
accelerate, upload, consume and deliver media, the potential for storage
utilisation in this already established global digital network is being investigated
by a number of organisations.
Prime Focus Technologies in Bangalore, India, recently launched True Nort, a
digital media cloud-based operation which includes a digital lab for cinema, a
production centre for television and potential storage possibilities for studio and
on location storage requirements. The project is planned to serve as a digital
support structure for over 200 television channels.
Mark Overington is president of Aframe in North America, a company which offers
substantial cloud solutions and storage options, and believes that this
technology could reduce the need for on-premise storage devices and
equipment.
“In many cases, [a videographer] may shoot and then automatically make a
back-up copy, which in effect, doubles your storage requirements right there. To
be able to shoot and put it up to Aframe, we’re now you’re back-up,’ remarks
Overington.
4k technology continues to search for higher storage solutions, as equipment
becomes advanced and mobile enough to use in the field. Players in the industry
such as AJA Video, Blackmagic Design, Sony and Sonnet continue to develop
products which can address this need.
Designed to handle lens-to-post workflow for 4K projects, AJA Video’s Ki Pro
Quad has both file-based recording and playback capability.
Blackmagic Design’s HyperDeck Shuttle 2 is a portable field recorder for live
production switchers offering ProRes, DNxHD or uncompressed recording direct
to SSDs with 10-bit video quality.
The new line of 256 GB solid-state drives and two hard disk models from Sony
address high-speed data transfer requirements in the field which allow users to
transfer about 30 GB of video to an SDD drive in less than 90 seconds.
The Sonnet Fusion F3, intended for on-location work, features a 6TB, two-drive
hardware RAID storage system with a half-RU-wide enclosure with front-panel
controls.
