Digital transformation, much like in many other industries, is taking place at an incredible pace in the media and entertainment business. From watching movies on TV to now streaming them on a device of choice has been one of the most remarkable changes that the industry has ever undergone. If we look closely at the history of the film industry, it has been on an almost constant evolution curve; for example, just a few decades ago, films were edited by physically cutting and splicing together pieces of the film, until digital editing took the industry by storm in the mid-nineties. With digital editing came digital storage requirements, and the importance of storage has grown from there, but really accelerated in recent years.
A New Dawn
Digital tools and technologies have hailed a new age of immeasurable improvements in many industries and jobs. Likewise, it has helped creators wield massive power along with unrestrained creativity. Creators are not shackled by the lack of tools to capture their vision, which was pretty common before the digital era. Today, with the blue or green screens even the most inconceivable imaginations of creators can be fully conceptualised.
Using powerful digital editing tools and skills these creative visions can be transformed into breathtaking results. Just look at behind-the-scene videos of any visually appealing superhero or sci-fi movie-with the green screens in comparison to the final movie, the difference will simply take your breath away. These digital advantages have changed filmmaking, of course, and have also meant a massive growth in the amount of data created while shooting movies and TV shows.
From a Molehill to a Mountain
Data growth is thriving with advancements in digital technology. As more content is shot on 4K — and possibly in the near future in 8K or even in 12K —the data growth will only become steeper which will further exacerbate the challenges of managing data. It’s been reported that some movies shot in 4K can even generate over 2PB (petabytes) of data. Today, a single large Hollywood production may shoot 100 hours or more of footage. Larger productions are coming and future workflows managing hundreds of petabytes of content are expected in the next ten years. While megabytes and gigabytes are manageable, once raw video files start reaching terabytes or even petabytes, data management becomes extremely important.
Conquering Data Challenges
It is not just about data storage but also tracking content and data as different parts are shot at different locations, and in different settings. Moreover, a scene could be shot at intervals, even days apart. It becomes crucial to keep a track of not just the obvious things like actors and shot designation, but camera position, costumes, lighting environment, and more. This helps the editors and others involved, such as VFX artists, to stitch together a cohesive product.
Creators, whether in the studio creating the next big picture or out in the field capturing footage for a project, need specialised high-performance, scalable, and reliable storage solutions that enable them to actualize their aspirations. SanDisk Professional has introduced a range of products to alleviate the data challenges faced by filmmakers today. For example, the G-RAIDTM SHUTTLE 8 is a premium solution for demanding workflows on location or in the studio and comes in up to 160TB2 of high-powered RAID storage in an easy-to-transport design. The PRO-DOCK 4 docking station can simultaneously offload multiple memory cards in the four dedicated reader bays that support a range of PRO-READER devices and connect the computer to the displays, drives, and A/V devices through one master dock simplifying the workflow.
Creativity shouldn’t be beset by the inability to manage data. Therefore, data management can no longer be an afterthought in the film industry or the content business.
— The author is Senior Director of India sales for Western Digital. Views expressed herein are personal.
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