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Instead of monitoring traditional I/O patterns for caching, Atlas uses an algorithm that considers frequent and recent data sets for faster response times, in a process the vendor calls in-line caching.
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#OPENDRIVE OFFICE SOFTWARE#
OpenDrives' Atlas software was also used to boost performance. The hardware was located at the OpenDrives office in Culver City, Calif., as well as three high-performance HP Z workstations for editing, which were equipped with Teradici remote software to boost virtual desktop performance. Dave Grohl explains van touring in the documentary 'What Drives Us,' made with OpenDrives and DaVinci Resolve. The spinning disks are used for data that editors no longer need quick access to but may need later in the process. All requests go into RAM before getting staged to NVMe when needed, data is pulled back from the NVMe instead of the HDDs, Lee said. In Rota's and Gonzalez's case, the vendor recommended its Optimum platform, which is a hybrid NAS system combining NVMe flash storage and HDDs, according to Sean Lee, chief strategy and operations officer at OpenDrives. OpenDrives works with the customer to determine performance metrics and the I/O profile of the workflow, according to James DiVito, director of solutions services at the company. With OpenDrives, a user can edit and finish a film in high-resolution formats, removing steps from the process such as compression to shrink files for transfer or transcoding to change the file format for the storage. The vendor manufactures high-performance NAS, which uses Ethernet and standard open protocols, making it compatible with operating systems via network file system (NFS) and server message block (SMB) file protocols, according to OpenDrives. OpenDrives was born out of the movie-making industry to solve complex high-resolution video problems, specifically uncompressed media manipulation. Rota had a partner who completed post-production for a sports drama film using OpenDrives, which prompted him to reach out to the company. But the editing team found AWS FSx to have too many variables to contend with at that point in the filmmaking process, although Gonzalez noted that the AWS FSx performance felt similar to OpenDrives. Rota and Gonzalez first looked at AWS FSx, the hyperscaler's high-performance file system, as they were already using AWS for another project, Rota said. The right tools at the right time, or the wrong time
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The ease of use and ease of access were a boon for editing, but the software presented a storage challenge because it had to be able to "keep up with Dean's fingers and eyeballs," Rota said. OpenDrives provided everything needed to edit the 'What Drives Us' documentary.
#OPENDRIVE OFFICE PRO#
Gonzalez said he used his MacBook Pro to edit the film using Resolve, as the editing platform doesn't require extensive compute power and he was working from home due to COVID-19 restrictions. Unlike other post-production programs, video files can be transferred straight from the camera storage card to a workstation to a Resolve editing interface without having to change the video format, he added. Resolve enables editors to use the same platform for all post-production processes, including editing, compositing multiple images into a single image, adding visual effects, mixing sound and correcting color for consistency, Rota said.
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The decision, partially motivated by Rota's position at Blackmagic Design, runs counter to how the post-production process traditionally operates, according to Rota. Rota and Gonzalez decided to use the same editing software for the entire post-production process, using Blackmagic Design's DaVinci Resolve 17, generally released February 2021.
#OPENDRIVE OFFICE SERIES#
Rota, senior director of film and series workflow at Blackmagic Design, and Gonzalez eventually turned to OpenDrives, an enterprise-grade NAS storage vendor with a specific focus on filmmaking. Due to COVID-19 pandemic mandates, teams had to work from home, and so the storage used to edit the documentary needed to be easily accessed remotely as well. But the post-production team didn't have storage with high enough throughput to handle parts of the editing process, such as playback and review, scene editing and sequencing. Once filming wrapped, Gonzalez, film editor, had 54 TB of data to work through, which included video interviews, B-roll and roughly 1,000 photographs documenting the van-touring lifestyle of rock stars.
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