Dallas Audio Post Deploys Signiant Media Shuttle for File Sharing

Signiant, a leader in intelligent file movement software for media and entertainment, said that Dallas Audio Post has deployed Signiant’s Media Shuttle file sharing solution to allow customers and partners a faster, easier way to exchange full-resolution audio and video files. According to the company, within four weeks time, Media Shuttle displaced the use of numerous other file delivery options including FTP, YouSendIt, and WeTransfer.

As enterprise file sharing and delivery solutions clamor for a berth in the market, Dallas Audio Post’s experience provides lessons on the limits of cloud-based file transfer applications – and the benefits of Signiant’s hybrid-SaaS approach.

Dallas Audio Post had recently introduced several different file transfer options to replace a legacy audio transfer product that had become unworkable; and by late 2012 the team found that each option had significant drawbacks, especially with the end user experience. Most clients wanted to click a button and send their file, without having to adjust numerous detailed transfer settings or continuously monitoring the file transfer to make sure it was not interrupted. And because the firm’s team was constantly exchanging large video files with clients – like the HGTV show “Home Strange Home” where episodes were 7 GB and above – production schedules were too tight for “round-tripping” files as required by fully cloud-based options, where the sender must upload content into the cloud, and the recipient must then download the file from the cloud.

With Media Shuttle’s patent-pending hybrid SaaS architecture, the user interface is delivered from the cloud but the storage cache resides within the post production facility’s own network – enabling their customers to upload and download files directly and eliminating the “round-tripping” problem. Signiant’s acceleration technology, with transfer speeds up to 200 times faster than FTP, further reduces the time it takes to move files.

The firm deployed Signiant’s Media Shuttle in April 2013 and received positive feedback from clients from day one. “The user interface is what sold us on Media Shuttle, and the ability to eliminate the additional time it takes to both upload and download files is what sets it apart,” said Roy Machado, owner of Dallas Audio Post. “We did a highly rushed project for a major British broadcaster that, because of the time required to send us two full-resolution TV show files, we never could have completed it if we had to both upload then download each file with a fully cloud hosted solution. Media Shuttle made the impossible possible.”

“Media Shuttle is as intuitive as it looks. There’s no need for me to send out emailed instructions on how to use it – I send a link, the client clicks on it, they retrieve the file from our branded portal, and the transfer is done. With one client, the very first time we used Media Shuttle to deliver a file, they phoned to ask what this product was and how they might be able to use it in their own operations,” Machado continued. “Although there are rare instances where we offer other options to serve our clients, just about everything we send now is done with Media Shuttle. I’m thrilled it only took four weeks’ time to get up and running, and its pricing model far and away makes more sense for a postproduction facility like ours.”

Media Shuttle offers the flexibility of customizable portals that can be branded and quickly configured in one of three modes – Send, Share or Submit – to support the needs of any project, team, or media enterprise. With subscription-based pricing and functionality optimized for media professionals, Media Shuttle is in a class of its own for the movement of large, high-value digital assets.