This article originally appeared in “The Future of Post-Production,” an editorial supplement in the February 2023 issue of Broadcast magazine.
ENVY Post has stood on the cutting edge of innovation since opening its doors in 2006. Today the company operates five facilities around London, all using next-generation technology to satisfy the creative and technical requirements of leading content creators. The long-time Avid customer recently acquired visual effects studio Absolute and its sister animation studio Blind Pig, adding even more firepower to its arsenal of end-to-end post-production services.
ENVY technical operations director Jai Cave knows that keeping pace with the technical curve demands that the company stays abreast of developing trends. His sights are focused on the ability to provide customers with a complete menu of traditional and cloud-based services, from on-set video capture through editing to visual effects creation and distribution.
“Clients want true hybrid,” says Cave. “That’s the message we’re getting loud and clear, and I think that’s where we’re all heading. The future is about the flexibility to work any way a client wants, whether locally or remotely, whenever they want, without restriction. That’s become the expectation.”
ENVY recently purchased all-new Avid NEXIS F-series storage engines to support its ability to offer on-prem and remote services, a direction the company had embarked on before Covid. Customers can now seamlessly access ENVY’s existing array of Avid Media Composer non-linear editing systems in a facility suite or from their home or office.
Clients want true hybrid. That’s the message we’re getting JAI CAVE, TECHNICAL OPERATIONS DIRECTOR, ENVY POST |
 |
With its deployment flexibility, Avid NEXIS F-series storage plays a crucial role in ENVY’s current plans. “As projects get ever more complex, having that reliability and agility is really important,” says Cave. “It’s helped us a lot, both on the offline side and the finishing side.”
The opportunity to work from remote locations is changing more than post- production workflows. Post houses like ENVY are expanding their role to include the entire content lifecycle, from on-set production right through to delivery. “On-set capture is something that post rarely got involved with, but that’s now changing,” Cave explains.
Efficient workflows
From a visual effects perspective, having on-set supervision from a post house pays significant dividends. “Small mistakes on set, like not lighting something correctly or not putting markers where they should be, can have huge time implications in post,” Cave says. “So we’re now able to take the idea of ‘let’s fix it in post’ and turn it on its head, because if you’re responsible for both the capture and the edit, you can push these two things together seamlessly. That ability opens up things creatively for the client and helps them turn around projects quicker.”
Ultimately, what content creators desire is greater efficiency throughout production and post. ENVY has invested heavily in on-set services through its Capture division, as well as with its recent acquisition of Absolute and Blind Pig, to bring real measurable efficiency and flexibility to clients’ projects.
Cave concludes that Avid will continue to play a crucial role for ENVY as the industry marches forward. Customers trust the Avid name, and the company’s innovative products are reliable and deliver on their promises – essential qualities in the professional video market.
“It’s great to be involved with Avid, because they listen to customers really well,” Cave says. “In the ever-changing post industry, that level of communication among innovators can’t be underestimated.”
Discover more about Avid’s innovative solutions for meeting the future of post-production