Ever since the launch of the first generation of their storage system, the Pegasus Thunderbolt™ Direct Attached RAID Storage System, we have relied on PROMISE, a leading provider and developer of data storage solutions. That is why we were so excited and eager to be among the first to adopt the new line, the PROMISE Pegasus Pro R16 when it hit the market.
As a film production company , reliable storage solutions are essential to our work, allowing us to secure and process the large volumes of data generated during our productions. The first line of the PROMISE Pegasus already provided us with this type of storage.
With PROMISE, we are happy to have a reliable partner on our side, supporting us in every aspect, which is fantastic.
- Patrick Trageser
However, collaborative workflows are increasingly becoming a part of production and post-productionin film. Consequently, our systems are required to do more than just store data. With our old system, we encountered difficulties maintaining speed and performance whenever more than one person worked on the same project. This gap in the market was filled by PROMISE with their new system. The PROMISE Pegasus Pro R16 it succeeds in combining efficiency, collaboration, and speed in a single system.
With a total storage capacity of 128TB, the system not only enables the storage of media currently in production but also simplifies the archiving of finished material. The PROMISE Pegasus R16 can be divided into two basic partitions: the DAS and the NAS.
When it comes to Post Production, the Promise Pegasus Pro R16 is the perfect addition to a multi-collaboration workflow, elevating our editing infrastructure to the next level.
- Patrick Trageser
The NAS (Network Attached Storage) partition is available to all editing suites, both remote and on-site, and serves as the central hub for our collaborative post-production workflow. This means all workstations have full access to the entire storage capacity and, consequently, to all projects. Beyond data backup, the major advantage of the new Pegasus Pro R16 is that it enables simultaneous access for multiple editing suites—and thus multiple editors—to our NAS with read and write speeds of nearly 10G.
During the editing of current projects, data is generally stored on our NAS. This allows for a particularly fluid post-production workflow, as input from various team members can be incorporated simultaneously. Once completed, projects are transferred from the NAS to the DAS partition using modern Fileboost technology.
The special feature: the copying process takes place entirely within the Pegasus Pro. This means that during active post-production processes, none of the network lines are overloaded, ensuring consistent performance at the editing suites. From here, projects are stored locally and can be immediately archived to LTO tape via Thunderbolt to free up space in the system. All of this is achieved without lengthy processes or any loss of speed.
What does this look like in practice?
Multiple editors can work on a single project simultaneously on our NAS. This capability for parallel work allows the entire post-production of a project to be executed efficiently and collaboratively. This includes not only the post-production team but all departments that require access to current projects. For example, while a colorist is working on color grading, an editor can—in coordination with production—review, sort, and cut the remaining footage, while another person from the post-production team handles the film's sound design.
All of this is possible simultaneously without losing bandwidth during the editing process or risking data loss. The NAS thus takes on the role of enabling the "technical" collaboration between editing suites, while DaVinci Resolve allows for "creative" collaboration. The fact that all departments can work hand-in-hand benefits not only the finished film but also the exchange of ideas and the overall teamwork within our company.
To give you a little look behind the scenes and tell you more about the advantages of the new system, we have produced a film that introduces the system and shows how we use the Pegasus Pro R16. Feel free to visit the PROMISE website if you are interested in learning more about the system.