CASE STUDY

Substation K

Substation K, one of the Midwest's leading post-production facilities, has been editing commercials for
major consumer brands for years. Regional restaurants and the nation's top retailers have relied on the
expertise of Substation K's video designers and editors to reach consumers nationwide.

Early adopters, but skeptical nonetheless More than 95% of Substation K's work is spot work. Because they are so specialized, the team of industry veterans has been on the leading edge of technology and ahead of the curve - they have consulted with technology manufacturers and have even served as beta sites for various editing systems. "When we realized that we needed to upgrade our storage solution which included media sharing, we knew what we wanted," said Greg Light, an Avid editor with Substation K for 8 years. "We just didn't think we could justify the cost."

Light was familiar with many file-sharing systems, but he wanted the extra capacity for full media sharing
and a server-direct type of architecture. In addition, Light also needed something that would integrate his legacy Unity product. "Knowing how expensive a new box could be, I decided that what we needed was a band aid," explained Light. "A band aid would temporarily fix the problem until the cost of shared media storage came down."

A band aid- plus

When Light turned to Facilis Technology, he found a start-up team composed of storage veterans who understood Substation K's engineering and workflow issues. The technical experience of founder Francis Albert lent credibility to what would have otherwise been a gamble for Substation K, and the cost of the TerraBlock was extremely appealing. "It was the only media sharing solution on the market that was dramatically less than anything I'd seen from Avid
or other competitors," said Light. "I really was just looking for a temporary fix, but I found something altogether different. I found a low-cost system that addressed all our needs: high bandwidth, ease of use, and reliability."

In just a short time, Substation K realized that the media sharing and speed of the new TerraBlock gave them a big jump in productivity and made them more competitive in the industry. "Our investment has paid off, and then some," said Light. "From all perspectives: cost, bandwidth, management and customer support, we've been very pleased with the TerraBlock." Substation K continues to rely on its Avid Unity for mission-critical file sharing, and the team is a strong supporter of Avid products. But for media storage, the TerraBlock's server direct architecture is the go-to
system.

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