Shared Workspace for Distributed Creative Teams: Your Questions Answered

Editors, colorists, and VFX artists increasingly work from home offices, boutique facilities, and locations around the world. The infrastructure holding them back hasn't kept up. VPNs, cloud drives, manual syncing - none of it was built for large media workflows at scale. Artists wait. Versions diverge. IT teams spend their days firefighting instead of supporting the show.

Resilio Active Everywhere on Sohonet fixes this. Here's what teams ask us most.

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What is a shared workspace for distributed creative teams and how does it work?

A shared workspace that gives every artist always-hot access to the same project data, regardless of location. Files stream on demand with local-speed responsiveness, and every change propagates automatically to all connected contributors, on the storage you already own, fully managed by Sohonet around the clock. No download-and-wait. No staging delays. No older-era workflows.

And it's completely transparent to your artists. No new app, no new interface, no change to how they open or save files. They keep working exactly as they do today, in the same tools, on the same paths. Resilio runs underneath.

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How does real-time media sync work across distributed locations?

Resilio runs as a sync engine across every site, workstation, and storage location in your pipeline. When an artist saves a file, that change propagates automatically to every connected contributor in near real time - no manual triggers, no transfer windows, no queuing. Crucially, only the changed parts of a file are synced, not the whole thing. So a small tweak to a large media file moves in seconds, not minutes.

Policy-driven caching keeps active project data instantly accessible at every location. Completed work tiers to cost-effective storage automatically. The whole thing runs continuously in the background, at line rate, while your team gets on with the work.

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Can artists open large media files without waiting for them to download?

Yes. Artists can open and start playing large media files instantly, while the file continues downloading in the background, on the storage you already own. No staging delay, no dead time at the start of every session. For edits to propagate back to all connected artists and devices the file does need to fully download and save, but the difference is artists can get straight to work rather than waiting before they even begin.

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How does it handle version conflicts?

You won't lose either version. File locking is available on Windows today, with Mac and NAS support rolling out in July. On all other platforms, conflicting saves are automatically archived, the most recent save becomes the hero file, and all other versions are stored and accessible. Nothing gets lost.

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How does intelligent file caching work for inactive project data?

Resilio's intelligent caching handles this automatically. Active project data stays hot and instantly accessible at every location. As work completes, files tier down to cost-effective storage without any manual intervention. Your team always has what they need, without storage costs spiralling as projects accumulate.

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Does it work with our existing storage?

Yes. On-premises, cloud, hybrid, Resilio works on top of whatever you're already running. No data migration, no proprietary filesystem, no lock-in. If you ever want to switch providers or move data on, it's yours to move.

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Do I need to be a Sohonet network customer?

No, and this surprises a lot of people. Resilio via Sohonet Managed Service works completely standalone. No Sohonet network connection, no other Sohonet products required. You get the full managed service on its own terms.

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How secure is a shared workspace for media production teams?

AES-256 encryption on all data in transit, with forward secrecy and airgap-ready protection. Sohonet is a CDSA member and aligns with studio and TPN security requirements. Data sovereignty is preserved by design, content stays in the territories and on the infrastructure you choose, which matters for productions with content residency obligations, regional tax incentive requirements, or studio mandates on where master assets can live.

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How long does it take to set up a shared workspace for a production team?

Engagement starts with a technical assessment of your existing storage, remote access patterns, and artist workflows. From there, Sohonet runs a phased pilot with a selected creative team before full rollout. Your team defines the workflows -- Sohonet handles everything else.

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How does it compare to cloud drive tools like LucidLink?

Cloud-first tools work well until your artists aren't sitting next to the storage. Performance degrades with distance, large media files and heavy VFX workflows push them to their limits, and your data ends up locked inside a proprietary filesystem you don't control. Resilio keeps data local at every site, continuously in sync, on the storage you already own. No lock-in. No latency surprises. And if connectivity drops, files are physically there -- work continues uninterrupted.

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What if our internet goes down?

Because Resilio syncs files to local storage at every site, your team isn't dependent on a live connection to access their work. Files are physically there. If connectivity drops temporarily, work continues uninterrupted. When the connection comes back, Resilio is self-healing - interrupted syncs resume automatically from where they stopped, no manual restart, no re-transferring data already moved.

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Who manages the infrastructure day to day?

Sohonet does. Fully. Deployment, configuration, monitoring, and 24/7 NOC support. One point of contact, defined SLAs, engineers who understand M&E inside out. Your team focuses on the show - Sohonet handles the infrastructure.

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How is shared media workspace pricing structured?

Throughput-based, flat monthly fee. No per-seat costs, no egress fees, no invoice surprises when you scale up for a big production. You know what you're paying before the project starts.

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Which studios and production companies use shared media workspaces?

Studios and facilities including Netflix, Universal, Warner Bros, Skywalker Sound, and Apple TV teams rely on Resilio via Sohonet for distributed creative workflows. Over 500 M&E companies and 100,000 creative professionals are connected across the Sohonet network.

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Ready to see it in action?

Talk to our team about how Resilio via Sohonet Managed Service can support your distributed creative teams -- on current productions and upcoming ones.

Book a meeting now