1st Edition
Film and Video Production in the Cloud Concepts, Workflows, and Best Practices
With cloud applications and services now widely available, film and video professionals have all the tools they need to work together on centralized platforms and effectively collaborate across separate desktop, web, and mobile devices. In Film and Video Production in the Cloud, veteran video production consultant Jack James provides a practical guide to cloud processes, concepts, and workflows as they relate to the most widely used cloud applications in the industry. Topics discussed include the benefits of cloud storage, cloud-based production and postproduction pipelines, project and asset management, distribution and archiving, budget and security considerations, and crowdsourcing.
This book will allow readers to:
• Harness cloud-based tools and processes to enhance your film and video production pipeline and help your creative team collaborate effectively across separate desktop, web, and mobile devices;
• Discover the benefits of cloud-based film and video production, as well as key approaches to budgeting and planning, project and asset management, distribution and archiving, security considerations, and crowdsourcing in the cloud;
• Learn how to apply fundamental cloud methodologies and best practices to the most widely used cloud services and applications in the industry, including Adobe Creative Cloud, Autodesk A360, Avid Media Composer Cloud, Asana, Basecamp, and Shotgun.
- Chapter 1 Silver screens and silver linings
Introduction
- Chapter 2 What is "The Cloud"?
Origin of the term; different types of "clouds"
- Chapter 3 Film & video production in the cloud
Practical and theoretical benefits of cloud computing in a production context: efficiency,
connectedness, access, going mobile
- Chapter 4 Cloud storage
Benefits vs local storage: encryption, cost-effective, easy, robust, sync. Drawbacks: transmission speeds, internet connection required, security concerns, lack of immediacy. Dropbox, box, google drive,
iCloud, Amazon S3.
- Chapter 5 Cloud computing
Rendering; heavy number-crunching. Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud
- Chapter 6 Production & Collaboration
Software as a service; online project management solutions; cloud-based video-conferencing. Google docs & spreadsheets, Asana, Basecamp, Shotgun, Adobe Creative Cloud, Autodesk A360, Avid Media Composer Cloud
- Chapter 7 Budgeting & planning
Outlining; scheduling
- Chapter 8 Tracking
Importing data into a single place; logging metadata; synchronisation; logging information as it occurs; best practices for structuring metadata; being prepared for data to transform; versioning
- Chapter 9 Asset management
Sending & receiving digital assets; best practices for organising digital assets
- Chapter 10 Analysis
Progress reporting; dashboarding (summarising large amounts of data); benchmarking (comparing one production to others)
- Chapter 11 Review & approval
Streaming playback; review sessions; annotation; getting feedback to the right people
- Chapter 12 Distribution & archive
Sharing metadata with third-parties & vendors; long-term storage benefits; reusable assets for episodic content; Amazon Glacier, Vimeo, YouTube, Pix
- Chapter 13 Security considerations
Watermarking; access restriction; trusting the cloud providers
- Chapter 14 Crowdsourcing
Crowd-voting; crowdfunding; crowdsourcing labour. Ethical considerations. Kickstarter, Amazon Mechanical Turk.
- Chapter 15 Potential
Access to better tools; more ubiquitous access; faster speeds; reduced costs
- Appendices
Biography
Jack James currently works for Autodesk, helping UK film productions work with the cloud-based production tracking software Shotgun, and has worked widely in cloud production for film and video. He has previously published two books with Focal Press, Digital Intermediates for Film & Video (2005) and Fix it in Post (2009).
"As always, Jack has a three dimensional understanding of a subject that, until he explains it, you are left thinking ‘Why didn’t I see it like that?’ He makes an extraordinary complex subject seem so simple with an understanding of how networked remote systems or the Cloud has become known and how it can work for you on your production. Jack’s expertise is a great filter for the myths a lot of people talk on this subject, separating fact from fiction, telling you how it is and how it will work. A prefect read if you ever wondered how the Cloud could help your project."
- Jon Thompson, FBKS Producer Post Production, Disney, BBC, Earth (2007)
"It offers a decent and current introduction to what ‘the Cloud’ is, how it works and how it can help productions in very practical ways."
- Jonny Elwyn
