CASE STUDY
Facilis TerraBlock Scores High Marks for NISS
Students and faculty at the Nordic Institute for Stage and Studio (NISS) kicked off the fall semester this year with a revamped post production pipeline boasting a brand new Facilis TerraBlock 24D. Connected to 45 Mac-based workstations running applications like Avid® Media Composer®, Apple® Final Cut Pro® X, Adobe® Premiere Pro® and Blackmagic Design da Vinci Resolve, the TerraBlock will act as a central storage hub for all student projects created in the film and television department.
NISS Technical Manager Steinar Stalsberg opted to adopt the TerraBlock into the department’s workflow after completing extensive research of available shared storage solutions on the market. He shared, “Affordability, space and ease-of-use were huge factors in our decision. We knew TerraBlock would give us the most storage for the best price; it’s also so easy to learn and use, which made it an ideal fit for our students.”
In preparation for the arrival of more than 120 students in August 2013, NISS enlisted Norwegian DistributorVideoutstyr AS (supported by Facilis’ offices at Polar Graphics in the UK) to install the TerraBlock earlier this year. Program participants will leverage the system extensively as they learn basic production and post skills including editing, color grading, final delivery and more.
Collaboration will play a key role in the process as students assume the roles of producers, directors, cinematographers and editors working together to create original short films. “With more than 100 students sharing media across 45 different workstations, having TerraBlock in place provides our students with the flexibility to easily share projects with one another, as well as move from one suite to the next as needed,” Stalsberg added.
As part of the program, NISS students will learn how create and manage volumes on TerraBlock like they would in a traditional studio environment – without the hassle of implementing a complex folder structure. “TerraBlock makes managing volumes and directories a breeze; it gives us an effective way to organize and keep track of all projects,” Stalsberg explained. “Our students and staff look forward to spending less time managing media and devoting more time to the creative.”
With the program’s popularity continuing to increase, storage space has become highly valuable to Stalsberg, and the addition of TerraBlock to the department’s workflow provides 96 terabytes of storage – an ample amount of space to house several forthcoming projects. “Gone are the days that we have to constantly remind students to delete files. TerraBlock gives us so much space that it won’t be a concern anymore,” Stalsberg shared.
Having only scratched the surface of the TerraBlock thus far, Stalsberg is enthused about leveraging the TerraBlock to its full potential in the coming years. He concluded, “Even though we’ve only had the system up and running for a month, we’re already starting to see a tremendous difference. It’s a high performance solution that is sure to continue benefiting both faculty members and students here at NISS.”
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