Case Studies and User Stories
Find out how customers use SNS products
Over 90 years ago when Technicolor brought color to motion pictures, the company set the bar for technology innovations within the entertainment industry. Since then, the company has established itself as a pioneer and preeminent world leader in developing or deploying advanced methods of visual entertainment to millions of people through film, digital cinema, video, and optical technologies. Now, after nine decades of forward thinking, Technicolor serves an international base of entertainment, software, game manufacturing, independent rights holders, and corporate customers around the world — and, in turn, their operations span the globe from facilities across North America, Asia, Latin America, Europe, Australia and the United Kingdom.
“Ultimately, the A/V SAN PRO offers us a higher level of flexibility and performance for our on-line, near-line and off-line storage, which is critical in a post production environment like ours where multiple projects are worked on concurrently. With over a dozen Pro Tools and Sonic Solutions systems operating 24/7 — we need a system that is as reliable as it is powerful.”
When Technicolor decided to choose Studio Network Solutions’ A/V SAN PRO to link sixteen of its audio production areas, including two Foley/ADR stages, two pre-lay/sound design suites, two mix stages and a central machine room, at its sprawling headquarters in California, they made another forward thinking choice — they opted for the best Fibre Channel networking technology available.
“A/V SAN PRO represents a significant step forward for the way digital audio is stored and accessed. Studio Network Solutions products work particularly well for us because we need an end-to-end storage solution that is powerful and scalable. The A/V SAN PRO also integrates seamlessly with our Pro Tools and Sonic Solutions platforms.”
– Bruce Graham of Technicolor
The demanding requirements of Technicolor’s wide spectrum of audio projects, from audio restoration to full-scale theatrical mixing, prompted the company’s initial interest in Studio Network Solutions. The technology was a critical consideration because it serves as the disk drive-to-workstation link for post-production work at Technicolor.
“Ultimately, the A/V SAN PRO offers us a higher level of flexibility and performance for our on-line, near-line and off-line storage, which is critical in a post production environment like ours where multiple projects are worked on concurrently. With over a dozen Pro Tools and Sonic Solutions systems operating 24/7— we need a system that is as reliable as it is powerful.” – Chief Audio Engineer, Rick Austin
Some of Technicolor’s major Hollywood studio clients include DreamWorks SKG, New Line Cinema, Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment Universal, Twentieth Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company, and Warner Bros. Pictures, among others.
About SNS
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) specializes in the development of shared storage hardware and software solutions for the Media and Entertainment industry. Since day one we’ve applied unmatched ingenuity and experience to create outstanding products that exceed industry expectations while providing outstanding support to our customers.
Our customers range in size from individual freelance engineers to multinational media powerhouses. Our solutions are used to produce everything from books on tape to full track scoring for major Hollywood films. Our products have been at the technical core of the music you listen to, the games you play, the shows you watch and the movies you see.
We have a valued network of resellers located throughout the United States… and the world. Whether you have a product question or you’re ready to place an order, we encourage you to contact us today.
Pat McMakin, Sony Tree Studio’s manager, producer and engineer needed a solution for sharing access and storage for the recording studio’s very large, multi-track audio files. Several years ago he finally found exactly what he needed from the industry’s storage and workflow technology specialist, Studio Network Solutions.
“I have served as manager of Sony Tree Studios in Nashville for 25 years and during that time I have worked with numerous suppliers, manufacturers, and technical entities. In finding Studio Network Solutions, I have discovered a rare jewel.”
– Pat McMakin, Sony Tree Studios
It was just over five years ago that Pat discovered Studio Network Solutions and began using the company’s A/V SAN PRO shared storage system together with its SANmp software for the Nashville studio’s audio files and post-production work. Ever since then, Studio Network Solutions has made a huge difference in this growing studio’s entire workflow system. Not only did SNS offer both high-speed and centralized storage, but their technologies also provided multi-user access and ultra-reliability in addition to hands on support.
“Their products have truly revolutionized our workflow. They have worked flawlessly for over 5 years and the SNS technical support has been tremendous.”
Prior to deploying Studio Network Solutions’ technology, assistant engineers spent hours shuffling FW drives around, backing them up and trying to keep up with which projects were on what drives. The combination of A/V SAN PRO and SANmp software allowed the studio complete centralized and shared data management and backup.
“I have served as manager of Sony Tree Studios in Nashville for 25 years and during that time I have worked with numerous suppliers, manufacturers, and technical entities. In finding Studio Network Solutions, I have discovered a rare jewel.”
“SANmp is a real problem-solver that has allowed us to unify our entire production workflow. Prior to the installation of the system my assistant engineers spent most of their time moving and managing hard drives throughout the entire facility. Now that we can access any drive from any room — my assistant engineers can go back to being an assistant engineers.”
Sony Tree Studios uses Macintosh G5 workstations loaded with ProTools 7.3 specifically for audio and midi applications, and eight drives are shared among three workstations that back up to a Quantum LTO carousel. With the SNS shared storage system, virtually all data is either live on the network or on an LTO tape until it is needed, and then restored to a network drive. It is then manipulated and backed up to the project LTO and all of the drives are backed up daily to the LTO carousel. The improved workflow at the studio has cut labor costs, increased productivity and reliability, and has provided ‘peace of mind’ for Pat knowing everything gets backed up daily.
Studio Network Solutions technology is the backbone for any audio/visual studio facility by employing Fibre Channel technology to connect multiple systems such as Pro Tools™, Final Cut Pro™ and Avid™ to one shared storage/access location. Studio Network Solutions systems are designed to remain stable under the most extreme conditions and their scalable technologies have earned respect among industry leaders as being nothing less than bulletproof.
Company: Sony Tree Studios
Industry: Audio post production
Working Environment: Pro Tools
About SNS
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) specializes in the development of shared storage hardware and software solutions for the Media and Entertainment industry. Since day one we’ve applied unmatched ingenuity and experience to create outstanding products that exceed industry expectations while providing outstanding support to our customers.
Our customers range in size from individual freelance engineers to multinational media powerhouses. Our solutions are used to produce everything from books on tape to full track scoring for major Hollywood films. Our products have been at the technical core of the music you listen to, the games you play, the shows you watch and the movies you see.
We have a valued network of resellers located throughout the United States… and the world. Whether you have a product question or you’re ready to place an order, we encourage you to contact us today.
An Academy Award®-winning computer animation studio with the technical, creative and production capabilities to create a new generation of animated feature films, merchandise and other related products.
The studio’s objective is to combine proprietary technology and world-class creative talent to develop computer-animated feature films with memorable characters and heartwarming stories that appeal to audiences of all ages.
The studio has 5 Pro Tools HD systems and 2 archiving systems spanning different buildings. They needed to be able to share the storage throughout both facilities in a redundant, RAID-protected environment. They also wanted to integrate pre-existing Xserve RAID systems as direct-attached, near-line storage on the archiving systems.
Studio Network Solutions provided a 12.8 TB A/V SAN PRO™ Fibre Channel system utilizing two storage enclosures each equipped with dual RAID controllers and active/active fail over providing robust performance and reliability.
Using seven seats of SANmp, five Pro Tools HD systems and two Archival/Admin computers can now connect through a Fibre Channel switch to the shared storage. Full redundancy across both enclosures provides the most uptime and data integrity.
Sharing the storage with SANmp software allows users to easily move with their projects from foley room to sound effects editing, and from music selection to stem mixes. Two Mac OS X servers provide central administration, archival and network shares to non-SANmp low-bandwidth clients.
Company: A Major Animation Studio
Industry: Animation, film production and foley
About SNS
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) specializes in the development of shared storage hardware and software solutions for the Media and Entertainment industry. Since day one we’ve applied unmatched ingenuity and experience to create outstanding products that exceed industry expectations while providing outstanding support to our customers.
Our customers range in size from individual freelance engineers to multinational media powerhouses. Our solutions are used to produce everything from books on tape to full track scoring for major Hollywood films. Our products have been at the technical core of the music you listen to, the games you play, the shows you watch and the movies you see.
We have a valued network of resellers located throughout the United States… and the world. Whether you have a product question or you’re ready to place an order, we encourage you to contact us today.
This customer is a division of a popular religious organization that was formed to produce training and dissemination films. Their facility contains film and sound studios as well as editing suites and even a film laboratory.
Because of their extensive facility they are able to produce videotaped programs, radio and television messages, as well as restore thousands of lectures and translate them into many languages around the world.
This customer has 28 workstations throughout their impressive production facility running SADiE on Windows XP. Due to their size and massive workload they needed to be able to share files from a central location. And because they had so much data they needed enough storage to handle that many files.
Studio Network Solutions provided a globalSAN X-24 and 28 seats of SANmp® to network all SADiE workstations. The customer can now directly connect, and efficiently share data through a globalSAN GbE 24 port managed switch.
This customer also took advantage of 28 seats of SNS Q:COMPLETE™ Premium support services as well as a scheduled on-site installation.
Industry: House of Worship
Working Environment: SADiE
About SNS
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) specializes in the development of shared storage hardware and software solutions for the Media and Entertainment industry. Since day one we’ve applied unmatched ingenuity and experience to create outstanding products that exceed industry expectations while providing outstanding support to our customers.
Our customers range in size from individual freelance engineers to multinational media powerhouses. Our solutions are used to produce everything from books on tape to full track scoring for major Hollywood films. Our products have been at the technical core of the music you listen to, the games you play, the shows you watch and the movies you see.
We have a valued network of resellers located throughout the United States… and the world. Whether you have a product question or you’re ready to place an order, we encourage you to contact us today.
Wise Buddah is a well-established name in the audio sector, specializing in radio program production, audio post-production facilities, talent management, jingles and station imaging. The company produces radio shows for BBC radio and global commercial stations, and counts international companies such as Universal, Warner Bros., Sony BMG, O2 and MTV as clients.
Approximately a year ago Wise Buddah recognized a requirement for a robust storage solution that would allow it to create an interim archive between working storage and back-up storage. The company also wanted to centralize its working data areas shared across five studios to provide more flexibility.
After extensive research, Wise Buddah decided to purchase a Studio Network Solutions globalSAN X-16 Ethernet-based SAN system with six SANmp seats.
“We chose SNS because it was the only cost-effective option that could achieve what we needed,” says Dave Holt, Technical Manager & Senior Engineer, Wise Buddah. “Running fiber cables through our building was not possible without structural changes and the iSCSI system provided the best solution, allowing us to move away from using multiple external drives. SNS also impressed us with the way they approached design features to best suit Pro Tools, and backed it up with practical industry knowledge.”
Wise Buddah has five studios and a transfer suite, each running Digidesign Pro Tools with a SANmp client on a Mac workstation. Each engineer has a small volume on the globalSAN X-16 that they use to work from, and a larger RAID 10 divided into archive volumes organized by client type. When jobs are finished they are copied from Eng drives to the archive. The archives are then auto synced and backed up to LTO3 every night.
The Studio Network Solutions system has been installed for approximately six months, and has already made a huge difference to the efficiency of Wise Buddah’s workflow. “It’s allowed us to do away with carrying drives around and creating lengthy network copies, and enables anyone to access any drive to retrieve files via the SANmp interface. Also, as everything is stored to RAID 10 it creates a safe archive storage area where we can have very fast access to jobs up to 12 months old before having to resort to tape backups.”
While the system is now used on all projects, the area where it has been most useful is on advertising projects. Before, keeping track of individual projects that need to be continually reversioned at short notice by multiple engineers was very difficult to manage, but these can now be accessed by anyone in any studio – which makes life much easier.
The Wise Buddah team is very happy with its new workflow, which Holt feels couldn’t have been achieved without the support from Studio Network Solutions. “The set-up we wanted hadn’t really been achieved before without using much more expensive equipment,” he states. “SNS spent a lot of time working out with me how it could be done and then how we could configure it to work best for our environment. After the installation the support guys were always on hand to help fine-tune it. Since then I haven’t really had to think about it as it’s all worked exactly as they said it would!”
Wise Buddah is now looking to the future, with the integration of Postmap planned, and will add to the current system as it expands.
Company: Wise Buddah
Working Environment: Pro Tools HD
About SNS
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) specializes in the development of shared storage hardware and software solutions for the Media and Entertainment industry. Since day one we’ve applied unmatched ingenuity and experience to create outstanding products that exceed industry expectations while providing outstanding support to our customers.
Our customers range in size from individual freelance engineers to multinational media powerhouses. Our solutions are used to produce everything from books on tape to full track scoring for major Hollywood films. Our products have been at the technical core of the music you listen to, the games you play, the shows you watch and the movies you see.
We have a valued network of resellers located throughout the United States… and the world. Whether you have a product question or you’re ready to place an order, we encourage you to contact us today.
The BRIT (British Record Industry Trust) School is Britain’s only free Performing Arts and Technology School, dedicated to the education and vocational training of 14-19 year olds with a passion for the performing arts, art and design and media. With past students such as Amy Winehouse, Katie Melua and Leona Lewis the BRIT school has an impressive list of former graduates. While clearly devoted to the arts, the BRIT school prides itself on its formidable technology resources offering students a sophisticated learning environment, featuring state of the art equipment typically only found in the most advanced of workplaces.
“The system that we are now using is not only reliable, but because of the current trend in Apple as a brand, the students are no longer finding the conversion from PCs to Macs difficult. The fact that students now have the freedom to use any computer in the room, allows us and our students to be much more flexible. We are able to have more projects happening at the same time as our globalSAN can now handle the volume of work.”
Video production is a prominent and increasingly popular element of the school’s curriculum. In keeping with its reputation for investing in state of the art technology, the school recently revamped its edit centre and purchased a multi-user Final Cut Pro editing suite. Anticipating the increased demand for content creation, sharing and storage, the BRIT school knew it needed to find a solid and reliable storage solution.
“Our needs were demanding: we wanted a shared storage system that would allow any student or group of students to simultaneously access, edit and share media files from any of the seven available FCP workstations in the editing suite,” explains Alison Pemberton of the Broadcast and Digital Communication Department at the BRIT School.
Working with Apple Reseller Jigsaw and specialist audio / video distributor NewMedia AV, Studio Network Solutions created a customized shared storage system, featuring two globalSAN X-16s with SANmp able to handle multiple, simultaneous streams of HDV over Gigabit Ethernet using iSCSI.
The SAN was connected via one of two Mac Pros 2 Gigabit Ethernet ports with the other network port being used for a separate LAN connection. This gave students the ability to open up their projects from any of the seven suites.
An archive server was also installed, to access the globalSAN volumes with Read Only access for backing up and the server was configured so it can mount volumes with Write access should a restore ever need to occur on the system. The server archives from SAN to an LTO 4 Tape Library using a local SCSI connection and Backbone NetVault workgroup software.
“globalSAN has helped the BRIT School teach essential content creation and editing skills in a far more effective way than a room full of isolated workstations could. Centralising their storage needs brings them not only archival security but a huge increase in flexibility. Studio Network Solutions’ iSCSI product range, offers greater access to this level of technology for educators at a far lower cost than fibre channel based shared storage,” comments Jeremy Strootman, Director of Worldwide Sales for Studio Network Solutions.
The globalSAN X-16s were installed during the beginning of October 2007 and have been in constant use ever since. The solution that SNS provided for the BRIT school has already made a vast improvement within the Broadcast and Digital Communication Department of the school.
“The system that we are now using is not only reliable, but because of the current trend in Apple as a brand, the students are no longer finding the conversion from PCs to Macs difficult. The fact that students now have the freedom to use any computer in the room, allows us and our students to be much more flexible. We are able to have more projects happening at the same time as our globalSAN can now handle the volume of work,” says Pemberton.
The number of projects produced so far is a great example of how successful SNS’s globalSAN system has been since it’s been installed. At present, the BTEC National Diploma Media Production students in year 12 are completing the editing of television adverts. The BTEC National Diploma Media Production year 13 students are also editing film trailers that they have produced.
AS Media Studies students have also been completing their practical coursework projects, comprised of the opening two minutes of a thriller film, and upcoming projects for A2 Media Studies students will include the editing of music videos.
“Our new edit suite is fantastic. Our students now have access to the same technology as the leading universities and post production businesses!” says Alison Pemberton. “This is currently our busiest time in the edit suite and our globalSAN solution is working like a dream, providing us with the freedom and security we have desperately needed.”
School: The British Record Industry Trust School
Industry: Education
About SNS
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) specializes in the development of shared storage hardware and software solutions for the Media and Entertainment industry. Since day one we’ve applied unmatched ingenuity and experience to create outstanding products that exceed industry expectations while providing outstanding support to our customers.
Our customers range in size from individual freelance engineers to multinational media powerhouses. Our solutions are used to produce everything from books on tape to full track scoring for major Hollywood films. Our products have been at the technical core of the music you listen to, the games you play, the shows you watch and the movies you see.
We have a valued network of resellers located throughout the United States… and the world. Whether you have a product question or you’re ready to place an order, we encourage you to contact us today.
This customer started off as a film editing company and quickly became one of the leading creative post-production companies in Ireland, specializing in TV commercials. Their facilities include sound and picture post-production suites for both television and the digital intermediate stages of film post-production.
This customer wanted high performance RAID protection in a shared storage environment for Pro Tools. They also wanted a system that would grow with them and their needs. They were interested in Gigabit Ethernet in order to lower their cost of ownership of their SAN so they wouldn’t have to worry about HBA upgrades in the future.
Studio Network Solutions provided a globalSAN X-16 system.
Utilizing on-board GigE connections from each Pro Tools client lowered their overall cost of ownership. Not requiring additional HBAs enables their Pro Tools systems to grow and upgrade without having to re-invest in new SAN hardware. Using SANmp®, all of their Pro Tools HD systems were now able to connect directly to the X-16, without the use of a switch.
Industry: Audio/Video Post-Production, Sound for Picture
Working Environment: Pro Tools HD
About SNS
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) specializes in the development of shared storage hardware and software solutions for the Media and Entertainment industry. Since day one we’ve applied unmatched ingenuity and experience to create outstanding products that exceed industry expectations while providing outstanding support to our customers.
Our customers range in size from individual freelance engineers to multinational media powerhouses. Our solutions are used to produce everything from books on tape to full track scoring for major Hollywood films. Our products have been at the technical core of the music you listen to, the games you play, the shows you watch and the movies you see.
We have a valued network of resellers located throughout the United States… and the world. Whether you have a product question or you’re ready to place an order, we encourage you to contact us today.
This top gaming company has two facilities that are both equipped with multiple Pro Tools audio workstations. Each facility was in need of an upgrade to their respective and outdated Fibre Channel SANs.
“Using iSCSI technology and the globalSAN™ family of products, Studio Network Solutions provided each facility with a stand-alone solution. One facility is equipped with multiple globalSAN X-4s to meet the performance needs of their Pro Tools workstations. The other facility is equipped with a single globalSAN X-8 to provide networked RAID protected storage for those Pro Tools systems.
Industry: Gaming
Working Environment: Pro Tools
About SNS
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) specializes in the development of shared storage hardware and software solutions for the Media and Entertainment industry. Since day one we’ve applied unmatched ingenuity and experience to create outstanding products that exceed industry expectations while providing outstanding support to our customers.
Our customers range in size from individual freelance engineers to multinational media powerhouses. Our solutions are used to produce everything from books on tape to full track scoring for major Hollywood films. Our products have been at the technical core of the music you listen to, the games you play, the shows you watch and the movies you see.
We have a valued network of resellers located throughout the United States… and the world. Whether you have a product question or you’re ready to place an order, we encourage you to contact us today.
This highly diverse video production/post production company specializes in corporate sales/training videos, interactive CD-ROMs, DVD authoring, corporate image/promotion, sales/marketing presentations, commercial spots and advertising media.
With 2 AVIDs already in place, this video production company desperately needed a proven shared storage solution for DVC Pro25/DVC Pro HD. The other critical requirement was that the cost had to fit within their budget.
Studio Network Solutions provided the perfect solution with the globalSAN™ X-4 to handle all their shared storage requirements.
SNS also backed this unique solution with a support package and extended warranty – all for the price that worked perfectly with their budget requirements.
Location: Westlake Village, California
Industry: Video Production/Post Production
Working Environment: AVID Express on Windows XP.
About SNS
Studio Network Solutions (SNS) specializes in the development of shared storage hardware and software solutions for the Media and Entertainment industry. Since day one we’ve applied unmatched ingenuity and experience to create outstanding products that exceed industry expectations while providing outstanding support to our customers.
Our customers range in size from individual freelance engineers to multinational media powerhouses. Our solutions are used to produce everything from books on tape to full track scoring for major Hollywood films. Our products have been at the technical core of the music you listen to, the games you play, the shows you watch and the movies you see.
We have a valued network of resellers located throughout the United States… and the world. Whether you have a product question or you’re ready to place an order, we encourage you to contact us today.