Transforming narrative: Managing editorial processes in Long Way Home's journey
In an epic motorcycle adventure spanning nine weeks and 15 countries, Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman embarked on a journey for Apple TV+'s Long Way Home. This 10-episode series, filmed in Scotland, Scandinavia, the Arctic Circle, the Baltics, and continental Europe, presented unique challenges for post-production.
To tackle these challenges, Molinare, part of the Molinare Creative Group, employed the services of Notorious DIT. They handled mobile digital imaging and data management on location, ensuring smooth workflows despite the series' vast geographical scope.
The key to maintaining this editorial workflow was the use of IBM Aspera's DataSprint solution, deployed by Molinare to maximise efficiency. This innovative technology optimises data transfer in complex, location-based productions with limited bandwidth.
Approximately 200GB per day of proxy transfers were made, with up to 30 hours of editorial media transferred daily from multiple remote locations across the 15 countries. A 24-hour turnaround for real-time editorial review and client approval was achieved, demonstrating DataSprint's effectiveness in balancing editorial needs and remote location connectivity.
DataSprint's scalable performance adapts to connection quality without affecting other operations. A 1Gbps Transfer Server, Aspera on Cloud, Aspera Console, and API automation for streamlined client approvals in visual effects pipelines were all part of the solution.
The success of Long Way Home has positioned Molinare to take on increasingly ambitious projects with their global client base, requiring constant, reliable data transfers regardless of location constraints. Ross Baker and Carlotta Rio handled final grading for the series, while Tristan Powell and Helen Miles managed audio post-production.
The solution offers secure transfers to protect valuable pre-release content throughout the process. Aspera's ability to extract maximum performance from limited bandwidth ensured reliable transfer of proxy files and editorial media, allowing post-production work to proceed seamlessly through Molinare's post-production pipeline.
Darren Woolfson, CTO at Molinare, believes DataSprint's ability to squeeze maximum performance from limited bandwidth allows them to take on ambitious projects without compromising editorial timelines. The success of Long Way Home has reinforced Molinare's confidence in DataSprint for handling complex, location-based productions with limited bandwidth.
In conclusion, DataSprint powered by IBM Aspera efficiently addresses the challenges of geographically dispersed, bandwidth-constrained productions through advanced protocol innovations and integrated, user-friendly management tools. This results in significant operational efficiency, maximising transfer speeds, maintaining reliable data transfer, and offering support to creative teams so they can focus on content while data movement is handled competently.
Technology played a crucial role in the production of Long Way Home through the employment of data-and-cloud computing solutions. IBM Aspera's DataSprint technology was instrumental in managing and transferring large amounts of data across multiple remote locations, ensuring smooth workflows and efficient post-production despite the series' vast geographical scope.
