Sony Music Entertainment UK Expands Facilis TerraBlock System

At Sony Music Entertainment UK, the Digital Video Production Suite provides post production for several in-house projects – from music videos for Sony-represented artists to behind-the-scenes interviews, promotional content and more.

Under the supervision of digital production manager Joe Wylie, a prolific team collaborates on 10-20 projects at any given time – ensuring that all materials are in tip-top shape before hitting the web, television or any consumer device. The capture, review and management of these assets are integral to the entire process, and the department has come to depend on its Facilis Technology, Inc.‘s TerraBlock shared storage system to handle these tasks.

“While shared storage may be invisible to the outside world; it’s absolutely essential for us to keep track of all incoming and outgoing video materials. We use our TerraBlock everyday, and we’ve had a really great experience with it,” shared Wylie. “We can easily turn on the system, use it and edit – even with massive files. It’s reliable, stable and just works really well.”

Since originally installing the system in 2009, TerraBlock has become the bedrock of the department’s post production pipeline. Offering the team a hybrid setting for post, the system is connected via FC to three Mac clients and one PC client that run a variety of programs including Apple Final Cut Pro 7 and X, Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere Pro and the Adobe Creative Suite.

“In our line of work, a hybrid environment is a must, because we need to keep our work up to date with the latest software. TerraBlock gives us a truly open, extensible platform that we’re able to organize and manage as we see fit,” noted Wylie.

Earlier this year, the department tapped the expertise of UK reseller Tyrell CCT to upgrade and expand its TerraBlock – garnering 68 additional terabytes of space. Tyrell was on site to ensure that the transition ran smoothly. “The upgrade proved seamless and as a result, we’ve now got added flexibility. I don’t need to worry about managing, deleting or storing things elsewhere, because we have the extra space.”

The team’s day-to-day collaboration has improved since the upgrade.

Wylie explained: “The extra speed and space enables easy and quick collaboration among team members and freelancers on our projects. When edits are in progress on a volume, we can still access that volume, which makes life a lot easier.”

With exceedingly tight project deadlines becoming the norm in today’s average post setting, the speed of the TerraBlock has also helped Wylie’s team turn around content quicker.

“The nature of our job is so fast-paced that near-line access to our masters like we have with TerraBlock is a necessity. The sheer sizes of the files we work with also make easy access and speed vital – which TerraBlock provides,” he said.

The biggest benefit of TerraBlock in Wylie’s opinion is its steadfast reliability.

He concluded: “Even though the system is constantly working hard, it continues to remain stable, which gives us an added comfort. It’s why we continue to invest in the Facilis brand.”