Creative Think Tank Prettybird Editing Team Uses 32TB Small Tree Shared Storage

Prettybird, a creative think tank whose production team has worked on a variety of music videos and commercials – including Rihanna’s We Found Love and Kia’s Optima commercials featuring NBA Star Blake Griffin – recently installed a GraniteSTOR TITANIUM16 shared storage system with 32TB from Small Tree Communications, LLC. to improve its workflow and project management as the company’s business continues to grow.

Previously relying on copying files from one workstation to the next, Prettybird’s team needed a shared storage solution to accommodate their expansion to handling larger projects. The company put Small Tree’s Ethernet-based system to the test upon installation to assist with a documentary that had a tight turnaround deadline for Vice Magazine featuring Red camera HD footage from around the world.

"Being able to collaborate on projects while accessing the same media without having to bring a drive over to another workstation has made life easier for everyone," said Quinn Alvarez, media coordinator at Prettybird. "The Small Tree system was easy to install, the performance was exactly what we needed given the additional projects we’re taking on and the price point was ideal."

TITANIUM16 is a 3U rack-mount solution configurable up to 20 GbE or 12 10GbE ports and storage capacity from 32TB to 320TB, while delivering up to 72 streams of ProRes 422. TITANIUM works seamlessly with editing software such as Final Cut Pro, Adobe Creative Suite and Avid – providing Prettybird the flexibility they required.

To maximize TITANIUM16’s performance, Prettybird also installed from Small Tree an Intel based GbE PCIe six port copper GbE server adapter, a dual port Intel PCIe 10GbE network adapter and a single port Intel PCIe 10Gbn network adapter.

"The speed at which footage moves over since introducing the TITANIUM16 has been the most surprising thing to me," Alvarez continued. "I knew we would see an improvement in loading times, but it’s exceeded my expectations."