Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx Turn To Scale Logic For Storage and Workflow Enhancements
Story Highlights
Scale Logic is now working with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx to transform their file storage and media workflows.
Media-centric workflows are more demanding than ever, as video professionals need to manage multiple challenges. Nowhere is this more evident than in professional sports, where teams like the Timberwolves and Lynx record and archive thousands of hours of video footage each year to use in in-game promotions, advertising, social media and b-roll packages for national networks airing games.
When the Timberwolves and Lynx transitioned from tape to digital, the file-transfer process had left many assets disorganized and hard to access. Files were being stored on individual editors’ computers, with some on shared servers.
Erik Nelson, director of broadcast and video technology for the Timberwolves and Lynx, tried transitioning the files to shared 10TB servers, but with so much content being generated, these servers ended up full after just one season. What’s worse, much of this data was not secured or backed up, and multiple servers had to be swapped out as the teams moved from season to season.
“To put it simply, we needed help,” Nelson says. “And, with another season upcoming, we needed it fast.”
The Solution: Scale Logic Genesis Unlimited
The Genesis Unlimited is a media-centric shared storage application platform that has been developed specifically for dealing with high-performance workflows. Genesis Unlimited allows a simple integration into editing applications from Avid, Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Resolve and many other content creation and distribution applications.
With its massive SAN, Genesis Unlimited allows the Timberwolves and Lynx to collect and store thousands of hours of footage without expunging or transferring data for up to five seasons. The teams also installed a media asset manager (MAM) from Cantemo, which runs alongside the file system as a part of the overall workflow. The MAM helps the teams manage their archives and their workflows, including editorial workflows, enabling them to begin archiving past seasons and have a more searchable, tag-able way to store footage on the Scale Logic SAN.
Today, the Genesis platform has outperformed expectations, allowing up to six editors to work simultaneously without lag or delay. Going from a new server each season to Genesis has allowed the teams to easily access past footage and work toward a more searchable future with its MAM.
“From consultation to implementation to ongoing support, having a technology partner like Scale Logic is an incredible value for the Timberwolves and Lynx,” says Nelson.
“Their expertise makes it easier for me to focus my attention on creating and distributing content, not managing storage and workflows. Working with Scale Logic has been a tremendous success.”