Australian Video Agency New McPherson Taps Small Tree and Digistor

Delivering stunning video content for corporate, agency and government clients, New McPherson grew tired of its cumbersome workflow system.

To accelerate its post-production process, the Melbourne-based agency turned to Digistor, digital media solution specialists and a trademark of Sunland International, LLC, for expert counsel. After a review of New McPherson’s setup, which included a range of direct connect external drives moving data from one workstation to another, Digistor prescribed a robust, scalable and ROI-friendly TitaniumZ-16 Ethernet-based shared storage system from Small Tree Communications LLC.

“It was obvious after a brief call then a site visit with Pete Brownstein and Phill Gorini with Digistor that they had our backs and were looking at solutions that would not only perform as we required, but also give us the support we need to keeping growing with the business,” said James McPherson, MD, New McPherson. “There was no point buying a solution that was not going to grow with us.“

Featuring seven Dell, Windows-based workstations running Adobe Video applications, including Adobe Premiere Pro, AE and PS, there was a lot of duplication between suites to complete projects at New McPherson prior to installing the TitaniumZ-16 unit with 10x10GbE adapters. This meant longer lead times to complete client work and more hours wasted in file transfers across the network. In addition to wasting time, using portable drives to duplicate content between suites meant there was no safe, automated way for the agency’s video editors to backup their data.

“We were keen to get a solution that would make us more efficient in our production pipeline and, more importantly, protect our clients’ projects,” McPherson said regarding the decision to select TitaniumZ-16.

Capable of supporting numerous multimedia content creation workstations with a flexible mix of 1GbE and 10GbE configuration options featuring storage capacities (raw) from 10TB to 1PB, TitaniumZ is designed and tested to provide performance for real-time video-editing workflows. The shared storage system works with the Adobe Creative cloud applications in addition to Apple Final Cut Pro X and Avid Media Composer, offering creative facilities optimal flexibility.

“We loved the fact that the TitaniumZ-16 allows for direct connection for all of our suites,” McPherson stated. “Going with 10GbE was great as it meant we didn’t have to invest in expensive fibre optic cabling or a 10Gb switch infrastructure. We just plugged our suites directly into the Small Tree appliance and had exceptional speed for our design team to use with 10Gb cards.“

Because Small Tree builds 10GbE ports directly into the TitaniumZ, there’s often no need for a switch. New McPherson was able to connect all of their workstations directly to the TitaniumZ, providing lower latency, reduced complexity and reduced cost of ownership (no support or software licensing concerns for a switch). The result is a workflow that’s less expensive and more performant than a similar FC setup. New McPherson also used the 10GbE to connect an Infortrend EonNAS to use as a backup solution with RSync, which was preinstalled in Small Tree’s system.

Available in a variety of drive configurations, from 5 to 144 supporting 16 to 144 concurrent ProRes 422 streams, with multiple network scalability options, and easy to install, TitaniumZ line of shared storage solutions can meet the demands of any facility, large or small.