Hedge Postlab for Media Composer Announced

Software News

by Dave KratzNovember 4^th, 2021

Postlab now officially supports Avid Media Composer, unlocking collaborative, cloud-based remote editing for professional editors. The system serves as a scalable extension to an existing on-premise Avid-compatible server, and promises easy integration without a huge upfront commitment.

We previously covered Hedge’s acquisition of Postlab several years ago, their subsequent relaunch, and Postlab for Premiere Pro. Now, we’re incredibly excited to share the news that Postlab finally supports Avid Media Composer!

Based in the Netherlands, Hedge is most notably the company behind the backup and verification software of the same name. Their super fast applications assist digital ingest technicians in the field, and post facilities across the globe. They specialize in handling data, and Postlab is a natural extension of that, in the cloud.

Without getting into too much detail, the method Avid uses to store footage is fantastic when working with a team off of a centralized server. However, it poses several drawbacks when working remotely.

Keeping track of local media on a remote editor’s system can be a massive, time consuming headache.  RGS (remote graphics software) systems are the current main method, but this requires the remote editor to have a strong internet connection and it isn’t without lag.

Postlab for Media Composer solves the problem of remote Avid editing by functioning like an Avid Nexis server in the cloud. It eliminates the clunky access gateways, and the high latency associated with RGS.

Remote editors can work with slower connection speeds, and files can even sync locally.

“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.”

Paul Matthijs, co-founder and CEO of Hedge.

“Postlab for Media Composer is an Avid Nexis in the cloud with the benefits of a local station,”

Rich Camp, assistant editor at Jax Media

Benefits of Postlab for Media Composer

• Immediate onboarding
  • A seamless transition from on-premise to the cloud.
• Edit on a lightweight connection
  • Media files are prefetched, cached, and available for immediate editing.
  • Postlab allows editors to cache media locally
• Familiar workspace and collaboration
  • Postlab is an extension of Nexis and traditional Avid NAS/SAN storage workflows.
  • Retains Bin Locking functions so editors are never overwriting each other’s work.
• Low Cloud Costs
  • Postlab cuts cloud costs with a “zero egress” fee policy.
• Scalablability
  • Facilities pay a basic monthly fee, then add additional users for as little as one day.
  • Increase and decrease storage and users as needed.

Postlab for Media Composer works for all Avid Media Composer Ultimate editors. Facilities without an existing Avid Nexis or NAS/SAN can use Drive, Postlab’s shared cloud storage, instead.

I’m an Avid Editor, myself, who has been working remotely for the better part of the last decade. During that time, I’ve used every method imaginable to handle media. Whether it’s RGS, shipping drives, DropBox, or BitTorrent Sync, man-hours, internet connections, and human error have always been a factor. 

Postlab for Media Composer looks to be a huge step forward in eliminating the bottlenecks of remote Avid editing. By working seamlessly with my client’s servers, it eliminates any extra, time-consuming steps in getting footage my way. I can just edit without getting 3 a.m. calls from assistants searching for offline media.

Postlab comes with a commitment-free, 15 day, fully functional trial from Hedge.

Visit Hedge’s website to learn more about Postlab for Media Composer.

How are you handling remote editing? Have you used Postlab or any other application from Hedge? Let us know in the comments below.