Stone Switched

Autodesk® Stone® Switched is a robust, scaleable, high-performance collaborative storage environment. It has been designed so any Discreet® Advanced System in your environment obtains immediate access to media from another system, while maintaining similar bandwidth and performance capabilities to high-performance Autodesk Stone Direct arrays.

Overview

The adoption of new high definition formats from HDTV to 2K and digital film is happening at an increasingly rapid rate. At the same time, project complexity is growing just as rapidly as clients demand more for their production budgets. These trends are set to continue well into the future, placing significant new stresses on facility infrastructures and requiring post-production businesses to look for ever more compelling ways to improve productivity and efficiency. Autodesk® Stone® Switched has been designed to help provide the performance, productivity and flexibility required for these emerging workflows.

Stone Switched is a robust, scaleable, high-performance collaborative storage environment. It has been designed especially so that any Autodesk® Advanced System in your environment obtains immediate access to media from another system, while maintaining similar bandwidth and performance capabilities to high-performance Autodesk Stone Direct arrays.

Stone Switched offers centralized access to metadata so that any system on the storage hub can easily share any project at any time. Storage is allocated based on the project selected, and the software interface automatically configures the Fibre Channel switch, connecting media directly to the suite where it is required. Data access is switched between systems within seconds allowing multiple suites to work on the same project and media without time-consuming media transfers.

Stone Switched delivers an excellent return on investment by reducing the bottlenecks of traditional network transfers inherent to many shared storage or networked storage environments. This allows your money-making, creative suites to keep buzzing with interactive sessions.

Summary

Advanced storage solution for Autodesk® Inferno®, Autodesk® Flame®, Autodesk® Flint®, Autodesk® Fire®, Autodesk® Smoke® and Autodesk® Backdraft® systems software
High-performance environment for real-time collaborative work from SD through to 2K film resolutions
Scaleable storage capacity of up to 120 terabytes (200 hours HDTV (720P))
Centralized metadata storage for efficient project sharing
New, cost-effective 300 GB disk configurations
Compatible with the new 4Gb/s Fibre Channel based Stone Direct storage configuration

Features

Autodesk® Stone® Switched significantly improves the productivity and workflow of any facility by minimizing the limitations associated with moving media across a network or physically reconnecting storage between rooms. Autodesk Stone Direct disk arrays can be switched instantly between applications without ever leaving the suite. This immediate access allows for projects to be finished faster, or provides the artist with more time to focus on the creative aspects of a job.

Key Features

Share Media Among Autodesk Advanced Systems
Media can be shared among Autodesk® Inferno®, Autodesk® Flame®, Autodesk® Flint®, Autodesk® Fire®, Autodesk® Smoke®, or Autodesk® Backdraft® systems software.
Instant Transfer of Media
Media is instantly connected from one Discreet Advanced System to another – without time-consuming re-digitizing or copying of files from one array to another.
Simple, Yet Powerful
An intuitive software interface provides fast switching of storage arrays between systems. Within seconds, you can switch your Flame framestore to a Smoke suite, or vice-versa.
Improved Workflow with Centralized I/O
Stone Switched combined with Autodesk Backdraft Conform can significantly increase productivity and speed workflow. Large amounts of media can be captured by Backdraft Conform to Autodesk Stone Direct and then switched immediately to a creative system, such as Flame. Conversely, media can be switched immediately to Backdraft Conform for archiving and output.
Centralized Project Management
The Central Clip Library allows any system instant sharing of all metadata for a project.
Increased Storage Capacity
A Stone Switched configuration can access up to 15 Stone Direct storage subsystems connected to a single visual effects or editing Discreet Advanced System. This provides the potential of providing up to 120 terabytes of switchable disk space to a single system.
Superior Performance
Stone Switched is designed to provide sustained high-bandwidth data pipes to multiple online suites ensuring consistent uncompressed RGB (4:4:4) playback with frame-accuracy and at all supported resolutions: SD, ATSC HDTV (including 1080/24p and 1080/30i) and 2K film.

Configuration
Stone Switched supports up to 16 available devices (host machines or Stone Direct arrays) and is available on 1 Gb, 2 Gb or 4Gb fibre channel systems. The system includes a fibre channel patch panel that physically connects the storage to the system. Stone Switched requires the services of Backdraft 5.3 and Stone+Wire® 2.2 or later in addition to the latest versions of the creative applications (Inferno, Flame, Flint, Fire, or Smoke) that will be in the environment. All components must also be connected over a TCP/IP Network.