Post Time Studios Invests in 288TB Archion Storage System

Archion Technologies, Inc., in shared storage solutions for content creation, has announced a new relationship with Post Time Studios, based in Lexington, KY.

Post Time has invested in a large Archion 288TB EditStor Omni storage system to accelerate and expand the post-production of the company’s diverse range of entertainment industry and corporate clients and projects.

Citing itself as a “full throttle media innovation company,” Post Time Studios specializes in content creation from ideation all the way through to production, post-production and final completion. Currently experiencing a growth spurt, it moved into a new space with a new studio – the company has 30 plus people on staff. As a mostly Avid-based facility, Post Time Studios had been an Archion customer when it used the Synergy storage to expand its Avid Unity SAN.

Regarding the company’s long relationship with Archion, Darren Platt, senior editor and VP, Post Time Studios, says: “The original Archion Synergy system helped us seamlessly expand our Avid Unity’s storage. Recently, our company has evolved dramatically with our increased production and post for both corporate AND now entertainment industry clients and projects. We’ve reached the point where the majority of our content is acquired at 6K, creating a demand for higher bandwidth throughout post. The Unity simply wasn’t keeping up. We looked at our options, and decided performance and reliability were the deciding factors. The Archion Omni stood out on both, and with a competitive price. In addition, Archion’s customer support has always set them apart. They are very responsive, and work with you to develop the kind of one-on-one relationship we didn’t have with Avid’s tech support.“

With the new 288TB of capacity and 8,000MB/sec of bandwidth, as well as EditStor’s transparent Avid project sharing, Post Time Studios has the ability to tie in all seven of their Avid Media Composer editing stations with room for growth. The Omni enables an efficient overall workflow throughout the facility.

In regard to Post Time Studios’ workflow, Platt adds: “People ask us why are we editing in 6K? Well, it gives us an immense amount of flexibility – you can get Cam A and Cam B type options out of the same frame, and the additional data creates a noticeable difference in quality. We can do high quality color correction with Resolve or Red Cine and Avid will automatically update the final sequence grading.  Through our workflow, everything we shoot with RED goes into the Omni then goes straight to editing in Avid. I believe most other houses take the time to transcode. But Archion’s Omni allows us to skip the transcoding step entirely – we can be more flexible to ensure we meet our clients’ deadlines. While the RED is not traditionally as editable as a point and shoot camera, the Omni has allowed us to work with the Red in real-time. Due to Omni’s speed, we can shave days off the final delivery timelines.“

“Archion’s Omni has allowed us to leverage Avid Media Composer’s rock solid editing platform to its fullest capabilities. I have nothing but respect for both companies.  We appreciate Archion Omni’s performance and the company’s reliability. We know everything we do for our clients will be protected thanks to the Omni advanced Raid protection – and that’s so important to us,” Platt concludes.

Jake Adams, digital marketing coordinator, Post Time Studios, adds: “With our mix of projects, ranging from long-form documentaries and episodics to corporate projects of all kinds, our Omni is working 24/7. When acquiring the Omni, we decided that we needed a system that had the speed, the performance, and the reliability our clients demand. The Omni has definitely and consistently met those requirements. Plus Archion’s support team is terrific – they took the time to help us customize the system here to our specific work flow.“

Jayne Hancock, Post Time Studios’ CEO, said: “Historically, our company has been producing corporate videos, training videos, commercials, corporate support for HR and trade shows, documentaries and more. Our clients had been brands and corporations. We are now venturing into original content and broader entertainment industry projects, including feature films an upcoming television series. We also just began a new six-month campaign for Jefferson’s Bourbon.“

Hancock concludes: “Archion really stood out to us for our storage needs after our due diligence to find out best solution for our future. It was very important to ensure that we would have stability and that our storage system partner would support our growth. My confidence, and the confidence of our whole team, was that Archion would be the best partner for our future.“

Dan Stern, VP, business development, Archion, adds: “It’s been such a pleasure working with Post Time over the years. They eventually had to move away from the Avid Unity and I was grateful that Darren and his executive team took the time to review the advantages of the EditStor system over others, including Avid. They clearly understood the benefits. And now with the EditStor all-flash systems we have just introduced, Archion is ready to support Post Time’s future needs with even more bandwidth and performance.“

Recognizing that editorial facilities and media departments such as Post Time Studios have a desire for ‘future-proofing’ and investment protection, Archion announced two ‘All SSD’ EditStor products: Omni Flash and Velo Flash. EditStor’s HDD to SDD upgrade is a process: a preconfigured All-Flash array is delivered and ready for a quick and simple deployment. Internal replication features enable a rapid transfer between volume groups for desired media management and file organization.

“When we originally designed the Editstor Velo and Omni systems, we integrated our patented technology roadmap across the board. Every EditStor system features that technology, thus enabling our products to consistently and intuitively adapt. Our new all-Flash systems are a prime example of our forward-thinking design in action,” adds James Tucci, Archion’s CTO.