"What we wanted to do was to build a file system that would support any resolution at any number of streams"
Author:
ContributorPublish date:
Aug 16, 2018
The M&E industry is one of the fastest evolving sectors. The rapid progression of frame rates and video revolution has a considerable impact on production and post-production teams, and their storage and capacity requirements. Throughout the production process, a film increases from approximately 10 TB to roughly 350 TB and the number of workstreams with users working on the same dataset grows rapidly.
To solve this data storage challenge, Technicolor created a scalable and future-proof storage infrastructure using Excelero NVMesh to provide workstations with access to high bandwidth and low latency performance that accommodates streaming, editing and reel presentation at any time.
Future-proofing post-production storage
Like many data centre and infrastructure teams at production and post-production houses, Technicolors IT department along with engineering director Amir Bemanian, were struggling to keep up with the rapid evolution from one resolution to the other.
4K is becoming the default resolution and 8K is on the horizon, and frame rates are increasing from 24 and 30 frames per second to 48fps and even 60fps. The additional storage capacity and thus also bandwidth that is needed for higher frame rates increases linearly: doubling the frame rate from 30fps to 60fps also doubles the storage needs. And increasing the resolution from 2K to 4K quadruples the storage requirements. When a studio switches from 2K 30fps to 4K 60fps, the post-production house also needs to be prepared to store and stream eight times the volume of data, which is a substantial increase.
On top of this, there are also possible investments in extra cameras, additional visual effects, High Dynamic Range (HDR), colour depth, and more. Yet another challenge for post-production workflows is avoiding dropped frames, caused by insufficient performance and high latencies, which impacts the technical quality of an asset and results in on-screen motion.
A common problem is that many companies in the M&E industry such as Technicolor, retain infrastructures which are typically based on a Fibre Channel network with storage arrays serving tens of workstations. This means that the speed to ingest data to the workstations from the Fibre Channel storage arrays is simply too slow and does not scale. At Technicolor, workstreams had to be duplicated in order for multiple people to work on the dataset at the same time.
In order to be better prepared for current and future storage and streaming needs, Amir Bemanian and his team at Technicolor began exploring new "future-proof" storage and network architectures. "What we wanted to do was to build a file system that would support any resolution at any number of streams," explains Bemanian. "And that was essentially impossible until 2017 where we saw an alignment of technologies: the networking, the PCIE slot, the NVMe drives and also the software - from Excelero - that glued it all together. This combination of technologies enabled us to do storage in a very different way to traditional methods.
The IT infrastructure required to feed dozens of workstations of 4K files at 24 fps is mind-boggling and that doesn't even consider what storage demands we'll face with 8K or even 16K formats, Bemanian continues. It's imperative that we can scale to future film standards today. Now, with innovations like the shared NVMe storage that Excelero provides, Technicolor can enjoy a hardware-agnostic approach, enabling flexibility for tomorrow while not sacrificing performance.
Excelero's NVMesh for Any-K workflows
NVMesh software-defined block storage features Elastic NVMe, a distributed block layer that allows any application to utilise pooled NVMe storage devices across a network at local speeds and latencies. Distributed NVMe storage resources are pooled with the ability to create arbitrary, dynamic block volumes that can be utilised by any host running the NVMesh block client. These virtual volumes can be striped, mirrored or both while enjoying centralised management, monitoring and administration. In short, applications can enjoy the latency, throughput and IOPS of a local NVMe device while at the same time getting the benefits of centralised, redundant storage. NVMesh is deployed as a virtual, distributed non-volatile array and supports both converged and disaggregated architectures, giving customers full freedom in their architectural design.
By deploying Excelero NVMesh and six standard NVMe servers powered by Intel 3D NAND flash, Technicolor achieved 4K streaming at 60fps to over 50 workstations concurrently. Delivering 99.8 per cent of local NVMe storage server performance across the network, the solution offers twice the performance of competing solutions at 50 per cent of the cost and requires a much lower data centre footprint.
After an initial proof of concept, the storage solution was brought into production within four weeks for use with a major Hollywood feature film. So far, three projects have been run successfully on the software-defined system.
A major benefit is that the architecture has created an optimal environment where multiple members of the post-production team can simultaneously view and work on the same data set. Bemanian concludes: "It has generated a positive and productive end user experience.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
29/05/2026
Experimental HIV vaccine achieves a long-sought goal In a first for the field, all non-human primates given a new series of vaccines generated antibodies capabl...
28/05/2026
Thomsons Climate Crisis Toolkit is already being put to work, helping journalist...
28/05/2026
FOX Sports' MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy ...
28/05/2026
One of the most memorable postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...
"What we wanted to do was to build a file system that would support any resolution at any number of streams"
