NAB Show 2025 Preview – Professional Essentials Guide

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NEWSCASTSTUDIO.COM

Historically, the post-production world

has focused on pushing individual files

to where they need to be. But for true ef-

ficiency, workflows must be designed

around the project as a whole. When the

project becomes the atomic unit of work-

flow management, everything else — file

organization, collaboration, and archiving

— begins to fall into place.

What are the benefits?

1. THE GREAT ROUND-UP: FILE

ORGANIZATION AND ACCESSIBILITY

A collaboration framework centraliz-

es content, preventing media from being

scattered across cameras, desktops, and

external drives. A structured system au-

tomatically directs all project files to a

shared workspace. A solution that can find

unmanaged assets quickly identifies mis-

placed files and automatically brings them

into the designated project structure,

eliminating those dreaded “media offline”

errors.

2. THE TRAIL DRIVE: COLLABORATION

WITHOUT SILOS

With a project framework in place,

teams and freelancers can collaborate

seamlessly from anywhere without the

need for separate upload or download

processes. Project-based access control

ensures everyone has access to exactly

what they need — no more, no less — elim-

inating silos while safeguarding sensitive

client content.

3. THE TOWN CLOCK:

FASTER TURNAROUNDS

Automation is a game-changer in reduc-

ing the legwork of setting up workspac-

es or assigning access. A collaboration

framework can automatically set up proj-

ect structures based on templates, saving

media managers hours of redundant work

and giving editors more time to focus on

creative tasks. Furthermore, this frame-

work can be integrated with upstream re-

source management tools for automation,

or downstream playout or orchestration

tools. Thus the value to the organization is

dramatically increased.

4. THE BANK VAULT:

COST CONTROL

Cloud storage is a fantastic resource,

but when left unchecked, costs can spiral

out of control. A collaboration framework

provides visibility into storage usage and

tools to easily archive or delete projects

no longer in use. By streamlining how me-

dia is stored and accessed, organizations

avoid paying for waste.

5. THE NEW FRONTIER: NO MORE

DUPLICATES

Editors are known for making dozens

of copies of a piece of content so that they

can work across multiple projects, leading

to wasted storage space and, you guessed

it, more chaos! With a proactive collabo-

ration framework that seamlessly detects

duplicates without interrupting creative

workflows, significant savings in both stor-

age and costs can be achieved. Arsenal

Football Club successfully recovered 90

TB of storage space — equivalent to near-

ly ten months of their average usage — by

adopting innovative post-production man-

agement technology.

6. NO OUTLAWS ALLOWED: CONTENT

SECURITY

You can’t protect what you can’t

track. By consolidating media into a

centralized, secure environment, col-

laboration frameworks reduce the risk

of unauthorized access. This is espe-

cially critical when working with ex-

ternal

collaborators

or

freelancers.

The road ahead

In today’s competitive industry land-

scape, conversations at major trade shows

have increasingly focused on the impor-

tance of enhancing efficiency and stream-

lining workflows to maintain an edge. This

year’s NAB Show will be no exception.

Yes, the future of post-production will

likely be tied to the inevitable AI/ML/Ge-

nAI-driven processes, but even the smart-

est tools won’t solve the chaos of post-pro-

duction without a foundational framework.

If we can encourage organizations to think

less about the tech-driven part of “how to

do post-production” and more about “how

to organize post-production,” the benefits

will be staggering.

For teams stuck in chaos and operating

with a “Wild West” mentality, it may be

time to adopt a collaboration framework.

This could be the key to bringing struc-

ture and order to your post-production

process. After all, with efficiency comes

better creativity — and ultimately, better

content.

Derek Barrilleaux is the CEO of Projective

and a thought leader in post-production

innovation. Derek’s work focuses on

driving more streamlined, collaborative

workflows in media and entertainment.

Continued from previous page

When the project becomes the atomic unit

of workflow management, everything else —

file organization, collaboration and archiving —

begins to fall into place.