Quantum StorNext and Apple Xsan Beta Sight

CEO Ramy Katrib and his team at DigitalFilm Tree built a workflow solution including Quantum's StorNext file system and Apple's Xsan file system to handle the facility's multiple projects using various file formats and editing software.

In today's postproduction workflows, common tasks such as rough-cut editing and visual-effects generation are performed using applications running on industry-standard operating systems such as Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows. The end result is a workflow built around applications running on a mixture of server platforms. These diverse workflow implementations cost a fraction of what proprietary systems cost and enable shops to create high-quality masters for much less. However, diverse workflows require glue to bind them together, or issues can arise.

Foremost among these issues is the problem of content organization and management. Sharing content requires careful tracking of versions to prevent working on older cuts and potentially losing hours of work if a critical scene or effect is dropped. At the same time, tracking the physical and digital intermediaries among different systems adds significantly to the overhead of producing a master. Additionally, there is a problem of actually transferring content. Dropping files onto a FireWire drive and sneakernetting the drive to the next system is slow and inefficient. However, LAN transfers are
not necessarily better because copying large files over the LAN is slow and can potentially destabilize applications, resulting in lost productivity and difficulty meeting deadlines.

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Solving the transfer problem requires a large, common pool of shared disk storage, but even this isn't sufficient. What's needed is a system that is fast enough to simultaneously ingest and edit HD, 2K, and 4K files and platform independent to provide a cost-effective balance between performance and capacity growth.

So how do you overcome all these challenges in today's postproduction environment? As a leading innovator in digital workflow solutions, DigitalFilm Tree has a great deal of experience addressing this question, as illustrated by the work we do weekly on NCIS: Los Angeles (CBS), The Sarah Silverman Program (Comedy Central), Cougar Town (ABC), Scrubs (ABC), and Dinosaur Train (PBS.)

For these high-profile shows, we needed a solution that allowed us to work smarter, save time and money, and avoid the management headaches of tracking content versions between systems. To churn through the constant barrage of network deliveries—including editorial, visual effects, color grading and design to meet deadlines—we also had to have high-speed data sharing between different server platforms. To achieve these goals, we built a solution that pooled content on a centralized repository using Fibre Channel storage area network (SAN) storage, Quantum's StorNext file system, and Apple's Xsan file system. A shared file system for Windows, Linux, and Unix, StorNext runs on each server and allows us to access a common disk volume. Xsan is running on every Mac in our facility, and every workstation has shared access through the StorNext file system.

StorNext and Xsan enhanced our processes without drastically altering the workflow we were familiar with. Footage acquired on various camera systems—such as Red Digital Cinema Red One, Panavision Genesis, and Sony's HDCAM-SR-format cameras—is ingested along with other content through the "video village," a collection of tape-input devices, or directly though disk-based systems.

For visual effects, we use a combination of Autodesk Maya, Adobe After Effects, Apple Shake, and Autodesk Combustion (running on Mac and Windows clients) to generate and composite 2D and 3D animatics into stunning effects. As effects are finished, they are stored on the central content pool and immediately accessible to the rest of our crew. As a result, everyone has rapid access to content and decisions on pacing, scene placement, and more can be made faster. Once the final online version is complete, a render farm running StorNext is used to take the high-res footage along with the effects and generate a final product.

Reflecting on the success of our TV projects, it has became apparent to us that StorNext and Xsan give us distinct advantages that we cannot get anywhere else. Given the new projects in our pipeline, we continue to examine ways to improve our storage infrastructure and simplify workflow operations in a multiplatform environment. Change happens fast in our business, so we are always looking for the next thing to give us an edge.

Ramy Katrib is Founder and CEO of the award-winning production and post house DigitalFilm Tree (DFT). DFT has played a leadership role in defining and applying emerging technologies while creating a data-centric creative and technical studio in Hollywood. Beyond DFT, Katrib served as a senior colorist and postproduction consultant, and he has produced two award-winning documentaries.