Azimuth Post Production Implements EditShare

EditShare LLC announced that London-based Azimuth Post Production has implemented the range of EditShare Complete Collaboration products – EditShare Flow for production asset management; EditShare XStream for shared storage of HD and DI media; and EditShare Ark for media backup and archives.

Known for developing high-impact documentaries, Azimuth is part of a prominent Middle Eastern-owned media group that includes London-based production company ORTV International. Their postproduction services include off-line and on-line editing of short and long form films for broadcast, corporate and commercial genres. Azimuth’s purchasing decision was driven by the increased amount of tapeless production within their facility.

"As clients usually recycle their XDCAM EX cards almost immediately, we were finding ourselves holding the only copy of their rushes. We needed to protect ourselves against all possibilities of data loss, so purchasing an archive and backup system like EditShare Ark was vital," says Neil Hatton, Director of Postproduction, Azimuth. "The integration of Flow and Ark with XStream’s storage capabilities means that the location and metadata of all files is tracked throughout the production cycle, right through to permanent archive."

The new EditShare installation provides an end-to-end HD production infrastructure, facilitating media ingest, asset tracking, and enterprise tiered shared storage management across the facility’s postproduction operations, which includes a mix of Avid and Final Cut Pro editing systems and a Nucoda HD color grading solution.

Azimuth replaced the existing Avid Unity and LANshare systems with a 32 TB EditShare XStream Series shared storage solution. The facility’s 10 editing suites and color grading system are connected to XStream via 10 Gigabit Ethernet. XStream’s workflow engineered features facilitate project sharing among Avid and Final Cut Pro editors, enhancing creative collaboration.  

Media ingest and asset logging are done using the new 2-channel EditShare Flow solution. Content is recorded straight to the EditShare XStream shared storage server with full metadata intact. The Flow Browse module incorporates key search tools for browsing and retrieving assets from EditShare Media Spaces. Completing the HD production infrastructure is EditShare Ark for backups and archives.

"EditShare’s extreme flexibility and cross-platform capabilities are a perfect fit for the high-performance, full-service Soho postproduction house," says Tara Montford, Managing Director, EditShare. "Our seamless storage collaboration and tapeless workflow capabilities offer industry-leading performance and unmatched scalability. The installation of our full-range of systems, from Flow to XStream and Ark, will provide Azimuth with shared workflows from ingest to archive, and reliable media sharing across all platforms for increased productivity. We are thrilled to add Azimuth to our esteemed list of clients and see another high-end Soho shop go for EditShare."

About EditShare Complete Collaboration Products
EditShare shared storage solutions, EditShare Storage Series and EditShare XStream Series enable editors and compositors to easily and economically share media and work collaboratively, regardless the platform or application. Users connected to an EditShare network can seamlessly access in real-time a common pool of media files. Source material, work in progress and finished packages are shared and instantly available to all users on the EditShare network. The rules-driven workflow ensures that no data is ever overwritten or accidentally destroyed.

EditShare Flow and EditShare Ark bookend the shared production storage workflows with advanced multi-channel ingest/browse and archiving/back up capabilities. The integrated solutions provide a highly scalable, end-to-end media management workflow.

About Azimuth Post Production
Azimuth Post Production was set up in June 2008 in the heart of Soho. It is part of a well-established Middle-Eastern owned media group that also includes London-based production company ORTV International. Azimuth has been set up as a full-service facility with the high standards of customer service necessary to attract clients not just in the competitive UK market but also from right across the world.

Its facilities were recently refurbished to feature state-of-the-art high definition equipment and infrastructure. The suites have Avid and Final Cut Pro linked to centralized shared storage. Picture finishing is available on Symphony, DS Nitris and Smoke. Azimuth has developed innovative tapeless workflows through its Digital Vision Nucoda color grading system and its audio department has three studios equipped with Pro Tools and can mix in 5.1 surround sound.