Remote File Sync for Editing workflows on Remote Systems

 Since I have been looking at work from home solutions for remote video editing, I have been looking at some solutions for file syncing. This would require media and files at remote and local to start, so that you aren’t eating all of your bandwidth copying files, and would of course be easiest with a large single storage solution that you have set to fully sync.

With Premiere Pro I would also recommend using Digital Rebellions Post Haste to set up a file structure that you follow for all projects that so that it is the same on all systems.

Once you have the project setup on a single system, you should duplicate that onto remote hard drives and then you can use a program to sync the files. Now I wouldn’t expect collaboration with the same project files, but this could mean that you sync to a remote file share, and keep your graphics and project files updating not only for backup, but for remote access if necessary.

For Mac Backup there is ChronoSync for $49.99 per license. For Mac or Windows (or FreeBSD) you can use Resilio for $59.90 for a single license, $99.90 for a 5 family member license or $30 a month for Business. Or for Windows you could use ViceVersa for $59.95 for one license, going down for 2 or more licenses.

Now this would be basic solutions, without file remote project management, and if you made changes to projects on both systems it would cause issues, but could easily help for simple setup and even work with assistants using different project files to transfer things back and forth.

Frame.io’s Lisa McNamara and Zack Arnold ACE on Adopting a Post-Production Workflow from March 2020 is well worth a read

Lisa McNamara has written an article with the help of Zack Arnold ACE on the Best practices for Adopting a Remote Post-Production Workflow at Frame.io, and it is well worth a read. It goes into the challenges and security concerns, managing media, communication, collaboration, and even morale, well being and sanity. It is of course also selling Frame.io, but it is an article by them, and the article is great and very in depth including other companies solutions.

Every post supervisor or producer overseeing a team working from home should read this article.

Allan Tépper at ProVideoCoalition does an in depth review of the Blackmagic Web Presenter

 Allan T�épper at the ProVideoCoalition has done a very in depth review of the Blackmagic Web Presenter, and since this is one of the real-time remote streaming solutions and the way Sofi Marshall did her streaming, I thought I would link to this awesome review.

I still think that Atem Mini might be the better solution with it’s build in picture in picture, but I haven’t actually tested it, so I don’t know for sure.

Cinemontage from the editors guild has a great article on Parenting, Post-Production and the Pandemic

 Su Fang Tham’s article on Parenting, Post Production and the Pandemic is a must read. It really goes into some of the pitfalls of parenting and working in post from home. 

I hope it also brings up issues that could be very important in the future of editing. Will work from home be more allowed, what about commute time, because personally I think it should be counted in your work day especially when we are talking 10+ hour workdays, and we are talking hour+ commutes each way.

Now we don’t have any children as of yet, but i love working from home and being able to see my wife and dogs. I wouldn’t mind some in person meetings (with proper safety protocols), but am hoping that the future will be much more inclined for work at home, with more ability to write off the expenses that come with it, like broadband, computers and software that is so much harder to write off thanks to bills like AB5.

Sofi Marshall’s Ultimate Real Time Remote Editing Workflow and how I am considering adapting it to my workflow

 

Sofi Marshall, Editor, Writer and Workflow Expert has an awesome post on the Ultimate Real Time Remote Editing Worklflow. You can check out her IMDB page to see her experience, which is extensive.

Now I talked a bit about this in my recent post on Work from Home thanks to the Covid-19 Pandemic. And I have been thinking about getting a workflow working because I would like to be able to work from home as much as possible.

And I too loved iChat theater in Final Cut Pro 7. It was amazing technology that worked really well when the entire Internet was so much slower.

As for the Workflow, obviously the BlackMagic Web Presenter has been updated to the Web Presenter HD to include the front panel, but there is another option as well that is either the ATEM Mini or the ATEM Mini Pro which are switchers and include picture in picture abilities.

Now the Mini Pro includes the ability to stream directly to YouTube, FaceBook or Twitch (or I guess you program some others like Vimeo but it isn’t easy, nor is that going to be all that secure) but the Mini for $295 seems like a viable alternative as it has the USB port to act as a web cam and it has multiple sources possible, so if you have a camera with an HDMI port and I have an old GoPro Hero 2 which has mini USB out and a usb for power.

Personally since I have an BlackMagic Ultrastudio 4k, I would hook this up to the ATEM Mini as my main source, and the GoPro as my personal camera, and then I would hook up the ATEM Mini to my Windows Surface and run Zoom on there to save resources on my editing Mac.

The one issue is the single HDMI out on my Ultrastudio 4k, so to get it to my monitor, I would have to take the HDMi out of the switcher which will likely put it on more of a delay from what I am editing, but this would only be necessary when live streaming.

And because of the Ultrastudio I would not be streaming any of my desktop, but the direct output from my editing system, though I would still uncheck disable video output when I background, so the output signal remains as a source.

Now with using my Windows Tablet as the zoom machine, I will have to use it as the audio monitor as well (though that precludes all the setup with Rouge Amoeba’s LOOPBACK which makes things easier) though not sure how great it will sound through the headphone port and have to check audio levels using the ATEM Software Control (which should work fine on Windows).

Best would be to cut off audio to the gopro and use a good mic through the switcher’s microphone ports, but that is of course an extra expense.

And honestly I should probably run the audio out headphone port into my Emotiva-XDA-1 and it’s connected heaphone amp, just so I can control the volume better.

Of course I have to hook it up and try it to see how it works, and if it didn’t I could do it all from my iMac, but that shouldn’t be necessary.

 

EDIT: Awesome, so Sofi Marshall has done a small update to the post to add the ATEM Mini as an option. Basically it works the same, with the ability to do picture in picture form multiple sources, but it has one downside. The ATEM Mini can only accept 1080 inputs, while the web presenter can accept 4K inputs, and the ATEM Mini is a bit larger as well. Good to know.

EDIT: OK so maybe the Web Presenter is the better solution. It has SDI, and I have SDI to spare on my Ultrastudio 4k, and it accepts up to 2160 60p video  and exports up to 1080 60p. The ATEM mini and Mini pro accept up to 1080 60p video, so it wouldn’t accept a UHD sequence direct from Premiere, but I would also lose the ability to have a camera on me via the switcher. Hmmm.

 

 

Should post continue it’s work at home policies put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic or return to edit bays?

 

OK this post is a little different, and not directly about using Premiere, instead I want to talk a little about work at home. Most editors have switched to working at home during the covid-19 pandemic because it just isn’t safe to work in an office.

Personally, I have absolutely loved it. I am married and I own a house, and have dogs, so I love being home as I can see my wife and dogs, I can start laundry at lunch, and most off no commute.

The commute in Los Angeles is always brutal, I would say it averages an hour each way a day, but can be much worse. I worked a job in Long Beach and it was 2 hours each way, every day, and the day it started there were fires and my drive took 4 and a half hours to get there and 3 and a half to get home. I don’t mind never commuting again. Hell on The Hobbit behind the scenes, where we forced into 12 hour days, I started at 5 am so at least my morning commute was better.

I hate the commute, but also getting ready for work. Now I can just wear sweatpants, which is so much more comfortable, but it is also the time getting my ice and water bottles and ice tea. And even more so it is being able to spend that time with my wife and my dogs and sit on my couch. And when work is done, to be able to go right to making dinner. Or even starting some dinner early so you can eat bot longer after finishing dinner. Maybe some of it comes down to being married and having a house and loving being home.

What I was surprised about, was a thread on a post production Facebook group about the topic, where I would say 2/3 of people hate work at home or would prefer to return to an edit bay (at least half), while the rest loved work at home. This blew my mind as if I had a choice I would never return to an office.

Most said social interaction was what they missed, others thought editing went better in real time in a bay, less versions, others wanted to get out if their home as there were too many distractions, and people also said not having a powerful enough machine or fast enough internet at home.

OK so I have loved worked at home forever, my first real editing job was on the Lord of the Rings behind the scenes and I did all those from home and it was wonderful, just went in tor screenings.

Honestly when at home, I get more work done, I don’t get distracted by people at work, and I spend less time surfing the net, and can focus better without being distracted.

And my home computer is better than most computers I have run into at work, and even if the machine was more powerful, it is not as customized as mine, and it isn’t just keyboard shortcuts. Never has as many plug-ins, other pieces of software, nor pieces of hardware, like my Tangent Wave, Ergo keyboard, Elgato Streamdeck or my trackball. And software like LaunchBar speeds up everything I do on the computer. So everything I do is more efficient on my own computer.

And I do get working on secure things for studios is harder being at home, but certainly not impossible or more expensive than maintaining edit bays. 

And the argument that the investment for new post people is ridiculous. First off most assistants will at least have to start in an office. And they can save up for a system. I had to have a system or I would not have been able to get my first edit job. And honestly all editors should be learning new things or at least new features on their home machines.

And the social thing. Sure I get making relationships with people, but when editing, personally I would rather have the least distractions possible. And when I am eating lunch (when I diet I fast and don’t eat till dinner) I would rather bring lunch and eat while working, because it means leaving for home 30 minutes early, and I would always rather be home.

As for it taking longer, and not being in person, well something should be worked out for that. I have heard of people using blackmagic boxes to live stream, and being able to switch to a camera at the press of a button. Need a secure method to do this that is studio approved. I am going to research a solution to this more, from Blackmagic ATEM Mini or I was also thinking about streaming boxes from Elgato. Screenings in person do always make you see issues you didn’t see before.

And speaking of tech, I have seen posts on the same facebook forums on local raids with custom cloud syncing software, with built in encryption. This way you are given most files and keep them organized the same, then just syncing new graphics. This would be amazing with a solution like Adobe Teams for project management.

As for notes, I like e-mailed and time-coded notes, written down so I know what they want. I hate taking notes because you always miss stuff (or things don’t get said). I am good at taking notes, but I would rather have e-mailed notes or Frame.io markers. 

I really do hope work at home is an option after the pandemic, because for me it is how I would always like to work. I have loved it since I first got to do it.

Now the biggest problem with working at home in California is the AB5 legislation which has made 1099 and Schedule C work basically illegal. So to write off your home computer and software, in California you have to incorporate and then be double taxed, as the corporation and then paying yourself, which negates at least some of the money you would save in write offs. And to work at home you need a smoking fast rig and screaming fast internet connection, that got much harder to write off.