Aframe's Media Management Platform Enables Quick Turnaround of Web-Friendly Proxies

When it comes to content creation, do cloud-based services amount to more than just big digital storage lockers? For some users, innovative applications are starting to suggest themselves. Production company MarVista Entertainment, for example, recently started using Aframe's cloud-based media asset management platform as a review-and-approval system for digital dailies.

"Dedicated digital dailies solutions are out there, but Aframe is more budget-friendly," said MarVista Post Production Supervisor Rich Carroll in a prepared statement. "Aframe rivals major digital dailies solutions feature for feature, and its use costs us a fraction of dedicated solutions — an amazing savings that lets us deploy Aframe throughout our operations."

Without the need to author, burn, and distribute 10 sets of DVDs on a daily basis, Aframe says, MarVista is delivering dailies for review an average of 24 hours earlier than before. MarVista recently put the Aframe system to the test during crunch time, as five different independent features were shooting simultaneously. Recent MarVista projects include the Lifetime drama Gone Missing, starring Daphne Zuniga (pictured at the top of this page), and the independent features Off Season directed by John Stimpson, and The Compound, directed by Rachel Goldenberg.

Carroll told StudioDaily that MarVista acquires footage using the Sony XDCAM-EX3, the ARRI Alexa, and the Red Epic. "Native files (Red excepted) can be copied directly to Aframe, but we usually make and upload proxy files, as the raw files are too large to upload in a timely manner," he explained. Once the files are uploaded, the processing time is fairly short — Carroll said it typically takes just 10 to 30 minutes for a web-friendly H.264 proxy to be available for viewing. Weblinks to the files can be emailed around after each day's shoot. That quick turnaround comes in handy — on one recent project, an editor discovered a problem with the production audio from day one of a shoot, which allowed adjustments to be made immediately on day two.

While MarVista is using Aframe for dailies review and for reviewing and commenting on rough cuts, Carroll noted that it's still impractical for MarVista to use Aframe as a storage platform for the full-quality files that editorial works with. However, he says MarVista is looking at expanding its use further into post-production processes like captioning, dubbing, and scoring. "We've begun to use a proxy file of the locked cut with timecode burn-in for the closed-caption houses and dubbing studios," Carroll said. "As we progress, we intend to work with composers using Aframe as the intermediary, rather than shuttle drives."