From Offload to Upload: How Silverstack Lab Extends the Connection to Cloud Platforms

As productions increasingly focus on speeding up turnaround times, from shooting a scene to its final implementation in a movie or series, there’s a growing need for collaborative workflow solutions. Simply put: For a fast transition into subsequent production steps, people need to be able to work with proxy clips as soon as possible after a scene was shot. 

The ability to directly upload clips to connected cloud platforms extends Silverstack Lab’s feature set to provide a managed process from offload through to the upload of proxy clips. Thus, the previously available feature of delivering metadata to cloud platforms gets combined with the ability to make the actual clip available too. 

This development is part of an ongoing effort to bring the set and post-production closer together by uniting the best of two worlds: An established, local on-set workflow for camera clips and the possibility of connecting to cloud platforms directly through a managed process.

We already implemented two platforms for the initial release of this feature – but that’s only the beginning! Given the rising importance of collaborative workflows, we are committed to collaborating with further partners to offer direct clip uploads to their platforms. 

In the following, we will first look at the benefits of uploading dailies directly from within Silverstack Lab. We’ll then briefly outline the technical details before concluding with a quick look into the future.

The Benefits of a Direct Clips Upload from Silverstack Lab

The ability to upload clips directly from Silverstack Lab does not only have benefits for the DIT (who is responsible for the upload on an operational level) but also positively impacts the extended team, including members involved in the post-production process. 

For the DIT, there are multiple direct benefits of executing the upload directly in Silverstack Lab, for example:

• The direct upload possibility extends the already widespread functionality (offload, QC, audio sync, transcoding, etc.) and also includes the upload process and the resulting online resources for clips in the managed process.

• Uploads are manageable and traceable in the known Silverstack Lab job infrastructure. Hence, there’s no need for leaving the application and performing a manually managed upload process through Finder, for example.

In short: Being able to perform an additional step within one application makes the necessary process more convenient, faster, and less error-prone for the DIT.

For the extended team, there are multiple indirect benefits coming from the direct upload in Silverstack Lab, for example:

• Faster dailies uploads create numerous benefits on the receiving end: For example, the post-production team can start working with the clips earlier than usual. Moreover, DPs get the opportunity to review clips sooner and more conveniently as they become remotely accessible online. 

• Links to the clips’ remote locations on the cloud platforms can be included in all existing report templates. Thus, the reporting workflow facilitated by Silverstack Lab provides even more detailed and transparent information to others. No adjustments to the reporting chain are required. 

• Where possible, core metadata from the Silverstack Lab library is automatically included in the upload and, consequently, directly available on the cloud platforms.

As the set grows closer to post-production, both worlds become increasingly interconnected, which can only be of help when working towards the shared goal of successfully completing a production.

Technical Details About the Extended Process

Now that you’ve heard all the great benefits of incorporating direct uploads into your workflow, you might ask yourself: How do I do it? So let’s quickly outline the technical details of the upload process. 

Silverstack Lab established itself as a valuable on-set companion for DITs as it reliably facilitates essential tasks. Hence, all steps that precede the upload process can be conveniently performed within the application. These include offload and backup of camera cards, on-set QC, preparation of metadata, transcoding, and more. If you’re not familiar with the software yet, we recommend watching this tutorial for a comprehensive introduction to the main features and processes involved in dailies creation.

The direct upload of clips extends the possibilities mentioned above by offering an immediate connection to cloud platforms. Furthermore, you can manage all events that relate to the upload (e.g., upload locations and links as well as the upload jobs themselves) in the Silverstack Lab library.

As for now, you can select from two supported platforms (Webgate.io and Frame.io), which we’ll use as examples to explain the process. However, as mentioned before, we’re planning to support further platforms in the future. 

In short, the following three technical details are relevant for uploading clips from within Silverstack Lab:

1. Connect Silverstack Lab to the cloud platform account you want to use.

• Accounts are managed in the “Accounts” tab of the application preferences.

2. Choose the upload location on the cloud platform for the selected clips of the library.

• Each cloud platform has a different organizational structure, so this part is individual for each platform.

3. The clip upload runs in the background in the jobs panel; when it finishes, remote locations of clips on the cloud platform are registered.

• You can then include links to the location of remote clips in clips reports.

For more details and technical insights, we recommend checking out our corresponding Knowledge Base article.

As discussed in this article, getting camera originals to the cloud as fast as possible has various positive impacts on film production processes and involved departments. Silverstack Lab offers you an opportunity to advance the connection between the set and post-production without having to sacrifice known workflows and established standards. 

The application has proven itself a valuable partner for working with clips on-set, close to the camera. By extending its capabilities with an integrated direct dailies upload, Silverstack Lab becomes a vital link between the set and post-production.