Hedge has now released Postlab full support for Media Composer, a cloud-native solution to enable collaborative remote editing workflows for Avid editors.

Postlab serves as an extension to an on-premise Nexis or other Avid-compatible NAS/SAN storage and removes access gateways and high latency associated with cloud-media workflows.

“Media companies need a way to collaborate remotely right now. Given the uncertainty around the pandemic, many do not want to make significant investments or sweeping infrastructure changes,” states Paul Matthijs, co-founder and CEO of Hedge. “Postlab for Media Composer extends facilities’ on-premise storage investment by providing much-needed secure remote editing for a small incremental cost. It’s fast, secure remote editing that delivers the same great experience of being in the facility.”

Postlab for Media Composer is “intrinsically secure” and doesn’t rely on VPNs, allowing editors to work from anywhere, with no minimum requirement for an internet connection. Postlab keeps existing workspaces in sync and makes Avid’s Bin Locking feature work in the cloud so users can collaborate on projects without overwriting each other’s work.

“Postlab for Media Composer is an Avid Nexis in the cloud with the benefits of a local station,” states Rich Camp, assistant editor at Jax Media, a production company that has worked on shows like “Russian Doll,” “Search Party,” and “Emily in Paris.” “Someone in Los Angeles can work on a show with someone in New York seamlessly. On a recent production, we were working in bins back and forth across the Atlantic, in real-time. It’s a great workflow.”

Here’s Hedge’s list of Postlab benefits

• Postlab has no middleware, storage restrictions or other limiting factors. It’s a seamless transition from on-premise to cloud, with essential features and characteristics of your Nexis (or Avid compatible NAS/SAN) workflow intact.

• Postlab works with both fast and slow connections and where bandwidth is insufficient for real-time cloud operation, media files are prefetched and intelligently cached, so they’re available for immediate editing. Postlab’s Workspace feature also allows editors to cache a complete folder and its content locally, so only metadata and lock files require syncing, which is instantaneous.

• Postlab for Media Composer extends Nexis and traditional Avid NAS/SAN storage workflows into the cloud, providing editors a familiar workspace, and capabilities like Bin Locking ensure that editors can collaborate without overwriting important work – just as they’re used to.

• Moving media files in and out of the cloud is often time-consuming and costly due to egress fees. Postlab for Media Composer cuts the costs along with the complexity of using the cloud through metadata and a “zero egress” policy; no hidden costs related to cloud storage – a rarity in a world dominated by Azure and AWS.

• Pay-as-you-go based model allows facilities to pay a basic monthly fee and then add additional Postlab users for as little as one day, increasing or decreasing both storage and users on an as-needed basis – essential for facilities working on dynamic productions and employing varying numbers of freelancers.

Postlab for Media Composer works for all Avid Media Composer Ultimate editors, whether they’re working on-premise or from home, and supports all types of storage—an on-prem Nexis system, NAS or SAN—or no on-prem storage at all. There’s a 15-day fully functional trial

Hedge says moving to Postlab is an easy step for facilities with an Avid Nexis, with no training required and no change to the existing workflow. Media Composer editors will see their familiar workspaces and workflows.

Avid Bin Locking is built natively into Postlab and works alongside Avid-compatible local shared storage whether it’s a NAS or SAN.

Media Composer Ultimate customers who do not have a centralized NAS/SAN storage solution can use Drive, Postlab’s shared storage in the cloud.