The post production editing industry has historically relied on on-premise workstations to edit high-quality content. Artists and editors would come into a brick & mortar location to collaborate on high-powered, expensive physical workstations. However, the advance of cloud computing capabilities has rendered this workflow obsolete. Rather than having to physically be with the machines on premise, artists and editors can now rent the same computing power in the cloud and utilize the same high-powered creative Apps, on their cheap laptop from their couch at home.

This is a nascent industry that bloomed as a result of Covid-19 Stay-at-home restrictions that made on-premise collaboration un-feasible. With work-from-home now a normality, post production professionals are no longer required to live or commute to the major (and expensive) entertainment cities like LA or New York City. They can provide their services anywhere, at any time. This represents opportunity for both content companies and their employees. Post houses now have a wider pool of talent from across the world that they can employ, enabling new companies to enter the industry with lower overhead and salary costs. For example, A VFX artist can edit a major motion picture scene on Houdini from his 2015 Macbook on his couch in Nebraska, rather than having to live in Los Angeles and commute into the post-production facility in order to sit & edit on the physical workstation.

Michael Kammes does an excellent job breaking down the benefits of cloud for post-production, focusing on 5 Things;
1. Why use the cloud for Post Production?
2. Transfer and Storage
3. Rendering and Transcoding and VFX
4. Video and Audio Editing and Finishing
5. Review and Approve