This November marks the launch of Sohonet’s highly-anticipated real-time remote attendance service, ClearView Flex. This combination of hardware, software and connected cloud service was designed to enable creatives to stream live video sessions in real-time to multiple parties from anywhere using just a browser.
What is Flex?
Imagine being in an edit suite and needing your boss’s opinion to move forward. But she’s on the road at Sundance and can’t get to a location equipped with ClearView HD. Normally, you would have to wait for her to return. Or instruct your team to make a file that can be sent or streamed. With ClearView Flex, you just need to create a session and add an email address to immediately stream to anyone with an internet connection and a web browser.
STEP 1 – Create Session
STEP 2 – Invite Viewers
STEP 3 – Stream Session
While Flex won’t replace the original ClearView when it comes to–say–digging into the details in a hyper precise colour-grading session, it’s a unique tool that provides an easy and convenient means for staying connected during production or post. Not only do you get the speed and security needed to support the momentum of blockbuster shows and global advertising shoots, but enables that capability at a scale and price for any budget.
Directors, editors, executives, creatives, and others now can all stay in sync and provide meaningful review and approval that normally would have required them all to be in the same room. No longer will you have the scenario where your production and post-production efforts need to shut down entirely and inefficiently burn money whilst waiting for Director A or Executive B to fly halfway around the world–or wait for a slow–and possibly insecure 12-hour video file transfer that might fail or degrade on transfer, just to come to consensus.
How do we Flex?
By means of a FlexBox connected to the edit server or other real-time video source, a specially-encoded stream is sent securely to the Sohonet Cloud, where unique sessions can be streamed to authorised users. Each stream is encrypted from the server to the client and a customised stream identifier is burned into the picture to help link that session to the users watching it.
Most important of all, the stream is delayed by only 2 frames (that’s 8 milliseconds) from the original playback, so the viewer can request stop, start, jog, or scrub and see their picture instantly respond.*
Security is also top-of-mind, so each invite URL can only be used once and will expire after a few minutes if not used. As we mentioned, the stream is end-to-end encrypted, and we add a burn-in. Other features, such as second factor PIN-verification will come later this year.
How will you Flex?
When we say this can work from anywhere, we really mean anywhere. On a train commute? Sure. Hot tub at home? No problem (but keep the splashing to a minimum). Ski chalet in the Swiss Alps? If you have a good mobile connection or WiFi, then it’s no problem. Seriously: consider the possibilities of how your production schedules could be rescued with such a tool.
So the question waiting to be asked is: with the liberating capabilities of ClearView Flex, where will you begin to collaborate?
If you would like to learn more about ClearView Flex, then
request a demo today or download the ClearView Flex Datasheet
*At distance, the delay will be 2 frames, plus the speed of light. For an extreme case, such as LA to Sydney, we expect about 8 frames of delay (330 ms).
