The Finish Line Takes a Cloud First Approach

The Finish Line Takes a Cloud First Approach

Brie Clayton January 24, 2025

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Rethinking how post production teams collaborate using Blackmagic Cloud and DaVinci Resolve Studio.

The post production landscape is undergoing a seismic shift. With increasing pressure to do more within ever tighter budgets, while maintaining healthy working conditions and delivering top quality results, production companies are rethinking how they approach their workflows. The answer increasingly lies in cloud solutions, which offer not only cost savings but also new levels of creative flexibility. This evolution isn't just about upgrading technology; it's about fundamentally reimagining how post production can operate.

The Finish Line, led by Zeb Chadfield, is at the forefront of this change, pioneering cloud workflows that challenge outdated practices. Widely respected for his technical flair, Chadfield has championed a more collaborative and flexible approach to post production. Using DaVinci Resolve Studio's cloud based tools with production company Filmworks, The Finish Line has demonstrated how seamless collaboration, regardless of location, can transform traditional workflows.

The conventional approach to post production follows a linear, rigid structure: editing first, then picture lock, followed by grading and other finishing tasks. This model made sense in an era when timelines were less demanding and tools were more limited. Today, however, tighter budgets, deadlines and heightened expectations expose its inefficiencies, often leading to compressed schedules, rushed decisions, and financial strains.

Pete Wilson, a finishing artist at The Finish Line, captures the frustration. We need to push back final post; we haven't picture locked yet!' This dreaded phrase has become all too familiar in post production, often triggering a chorus of dismay from post producers as they frantically revise schedule version 56 while the picture finishing team grapples with the pressure of condensing three days of work into just half that time. Inevitably, this all leads to late nights and a grimace from line producers watching final post budgets unravel, Wilson explains.

Breaking Free

The Finish Line redefined the post production process with Filmworks on Acts of the Apostles by adopting DaVinci Resolve Studio's cloud collaboration tools. The results were transformative. Editors, colorists and directors worked simultaneously on the same timeline, with proxies stored in the cloud, enabling realtime updates and eliminating inefficiencies.

One of the things that stood out was just how seamless the collaboration was, Wilson notes. We had people spread across three continents; one in Australia, one in the UK and another in the US. Normally, that would mean endless back and forth, mismatched versions and a lot of late night emails. But this time, it was like we were all sitting in the same edit suite. Realtime updates meant that when the editors adjusted a shot, I could see it immediately. It saved us so many headaches-an incredible improvement in efficiency that's almost unheard of in post.

By embracing this workflow, The Finish Line and Filmworks were able to start grading early, even while rough cuts were still being made. Starting early allowed us to focus on the creative aspects. After all, that's why we're in this industry, reflects Wilson. We were free to experiment with the look, knowing we had time to play around. It also meant that sections where the edit might affect our grading decisions remained flexible. The director could adjust the edit to align with ideas we developed during grading, and vice versa. This fostered a more collaborative experience, ultimately leading to a far more interesting and improved final product.

Striking a balance

For Filmworks' Ben Hilton, the director behind a few recent projects with The Finish Line, the efficiency of completing picture post in DaVinci Resolve Studio has been game changing. As a filmmaker, I'm always striving to use the best and most efficient tools available, so our move to an end to end Resolve pipeline has proven essential for us. We all want as much time as possible to be creative, so any workflow that streamlines the process and allows more creative freedom is invaluable, Hilton explains.

Hilton reflects on the collaborative process, Working with The Finish Line has been brilliant. They're not only forward thinking, but genuinely open to every idea we bring to the table. On Apostles,' we had editors collaborating in the cloud from three different continents, seamlessly integrated into the post process.

This approach meant we could add collaborators from anywhere in the world at any stage, making the whole process truly nonlinear. It's not just editing; every part of the post production process can take place exactly when it makes the most sense. For instance, we can start grading interviews during rough cuts, keeping them consistent all the way through to final post, while still having the flexibility to refine them as needed, notes Hilton.

He adds, It's the perfect blend of creative freedom and efficiency, with infrastructure savings that translate directly into more creative time and a higher quality output.

Using DaVinci Resolve Studio's remote monitoring system, Hilton was able to attend grading sessions from home, reviewing looks on a calibrated iPad while keeping an eye on the offline edit. This approach enabled thorough reviews long before the team gathered in person, reducing time spent on technical logistics and maximising creative refinement.

A new dawn for post

For Chadfield, cloud workflows represent more than just a technical evolution, they signal a necessary shift in the industry. We're at a turning point, he reflects. Clou

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