A Customer Success
from the Experts in
Business-Critical ContinuityTM.
Avocent® Success Story: MTI Film
Serving Up Higher Post-Production Customer Service
and Maximizing Efficiency
Since 1997, MTI Film has provided award-winning software applications to the
post-production industry with a focus on technology for digital film restoration and
digital dailies. MTI Film also provides post-production services for television, film
and commercial projects, as well as film restoration services. Some of the most
recent projects it has worked on include Dallas, Hell on Wheels, Ringer, The Closer
and Rizzoli and Isles. Powered by MTI Film’s own software applications as well as
applications from other leading manufacturers in the industry, the MTI Film facility
has been designed from the ground up to provide efficient, file-based workflows
from end to end. Playing a key role in the facility’s design is the Avocent® HMX High
Performance KVM system.
Delivering Dynamic Anywhere Access
Company
MTI Film
Location
Hollywood, CA
Type of Business
Video post-production
Business Needs
Build a file-based post-production infrastructure
that provides dynamic access to all resources
from any bay in the facility
Solution
Avocent® HMX High Performance KVM
Business Benefits
• Provides operators and artists with dynamic,
flexible and reliable access to any resource
they need from any bay in the facility
• Increases productivity, efficiency and cost
savings
• Optimizes usage of space and post-production
resources to enhance the ability of small
facilities to compete with larger providers
• Facilitates fast-paced growth and
infrastructure expansion with its ability to
seamlessly add new equipment without
disrupting operations
• Provides a quality image that is as good as a
direct connection over DVI
• Delivers a return on invest in just a few months
• Builds customer confidence and enables the
business to meet the high expectations of its
clients
About three years ago, MTI Film decided to start leveraging its award-winning postproduction solutions to launch its own post-production service facility. MTI Film’s
director of engineering, John Stevens, had the opportunity to design the facility’s
infrastructure from the ground up. One of the main objectives was to create a highly
digital environment with file-based workflows. Another main objective was to create
a user environment that would allow its artists and clients to access dynamically any
authorized post-production system from within any of MTI Film’s production bays.
“The Avocent HMX High Performance KVM system is
reliable, flexible and at a great overall price. I love it. If I
didn’t, I wouldn’t have bought it.”
– John Stevens, Director of Engineering, MTI Film
“When I designed our infrastructure, I didn’t want to have to exclusively dedicate
any of our systems to a particular bay,” Stevens says. “No matter how well you plan,
people always have different tastes and preferences. I wanted to give our artists
the flexibility to not only access whatever resources they need but also to arrange
them on their displays the way they want. The Avocent HMX High Performance KVM
system gives us that access and flexibility.”
Stevens adds, “When you build a post facility, you need to design it from the
operator and client standpoint. None of the technology should get in the way. They
should just be able to do whatever they need to do in the most efficient manner and
that’s exactly what Avocent delivers.”
A Customer Success
from the Experts in
Business-Critical ContinuityTM.
Escalating the Competitive Edge
That access and flexibility add up to enabling MTI Film to compete with
much bigger facilities, delivering high-quality services and resources
that wouldn’t seem possible for an operation of its size. “Increased
productivity, greater efficiency and cost savings were all part of our
reasons for going with the Avocent® HMX High Performance KVM
system,” Stevens says. “We’re a small post facility, so we need to be as
efficient as we can. We wanted to be able to offer everything that a large
facility could, which required some rethinking of how we do things and
how we use our space. The Avocent HMX High Performance KVM system
has been the key to that with its efficiency gains and ability to easily move
resources from bay to bay.”
“There would be no way I would build a post facility without the
Avocent HMX High Performance KVM systems,” Stevens adds. “It has
made it really easy for us to build our infrastructure. I liken it to a big
Storage Area Network (SAN) that lets us share all of our back-end data.
The Avocent HMX High Performance KVM system lets us share all of
our front-end post-production resources, making them visible and
accessible across our entire facility.”
Facilitating Growth and Seamless Expansion
According to MTI Film, one of the big selling points for the Avocent HMX
High Performance KVM system is simply how it makes life easier for its
engineering team. When troubleshooting a problem, engineers don’t
have to go to a client bay or the machine room. They can sit at their
desks and watch what is going on, see what the problem is and address
it. Also, the Avocent solution greatly simplifies the installation of new
post-production equipment, which was a major benefit as MTI Film
experienced extraordinarily fast-paced growth over the past year.
“A year into the business, we needed to add additional bays, more
user stations and more computers,” Stevens says. “The Avocent HMX
High Performance KVM system made it totally non-disruptive to our
operations as we expanded. We just plugged in the computers and
user stations we needed and it had no negative impact on the existing
infrastructure whatsoever. Everything just kept on working.”
During its expansion period, MTI Film also appreciated the fact that the
Avocent HMX High Performance KVM system doesn’t have matrix limits
like competing solutions have. “If I need more user stations or more
computers, I don’t want to be bound by some pre-set matrix,” Stevens
says. “In most post-production facilities, you usually need more user
stations, per computers than other solutions give you. So, once you hit
the limit on user stations, you have to get another matrix. With Avocent,
now my only limitation is the size of my Ethernet switch.”
Building Customer Confidence
With the Avocent HMX High Performance KVM system, MTI Film was
able to get a return on its investment in just a few months. It credits that
fast ROI to the productivity and efficiency that comes from the Avocent
HMX High Performance KVM system’s dynamically putting any needed
resource at the fingertips of the facility’s users and operators. But it’s
quick to point out that you can’t measure the worth of some things.
“How a client perceives your operation is invaluable,” Stevens says. “A
client is buying faith that you can do what they need you to do. The
Avocent HMX High Performance KVM system helps us build that faith
in a variety of ways. First, it lets us create pristine looking bays that
aren’t overcrowded with equipment. And it lets our clients run anything
they need from any one of those bays, allowing them to call up any
piece of equipment that we own. Additionally, the Avocent HMX High
Performance KVM system delivers a quality image that literally looks as
good as a direct connection over DVI. Being able to present a pristine
picture like that is critical to how our clients perceive us. Lastly, the
Avocent systems simply have an amazing track record for reliability.”
Stevens adds, “When you’re doing network level shows, your clients
have a certain level of expectations. Even though we’re a small company,
Avocent enables us to meet those expectations. I can’t imagine trying to
do this without the Avocent HMX High Performance KVM system.”
MTI Film’s Stevens considers himself a tough customer, the kind who
moans and screams about every little thing. But when it comes to the
Avocent solution he only has positive things to say. “The Avocent HMX
High Performance KVM system is reliable, flexible and at a great overall
price. I love it. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have bought it.”
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