MASV is a file transfer solution for media professionals to quickly share videos, high-res images, production files, and other heavy digital media assets with team members, collaborators, and clients anywhere in the world, over the cloud.
SourceForge sat down with Greg Wood, CEO of MASV, to discuss the state of media production today, the industry’s shift to remote work, and why file transfer is critical to the efficiency of modern media workflows.
Why does MASV cater to media and entertainment specifically?
MASV is a file transfer service for anyone, in any industry but media and entertainment (M&E) is our sweet spot. There are many reasons why (which we will get into) but it can be boiled down to three things: remote work, file size, and speed.
First off, media and entertainment has embraced remote work. The pandemic only sped up what was already happening. It’s not uncommon for a film shoot to take place in Los Angeles but the post-production team is in New York. The only difference now is, individual team members are scattered. The Editor is in New York, the Colorist is in Toronto and the VFX team is overseas in India.
And often, one team isn’t waiting for the other to finish to begin their work. Files are free-flowing based on production schedules which makes the need for fast, reliable file transfer over the cloud a must. Can you imagine priority-shipping hard drives with footage to multiple locations? The shipping fees would be astronomical and delivery time would be days opposed to hours.
Next, file sizes are getting bigger. There was a time when 1080p was considered revolutionary. Now, with 4-8K footage floating around, file sizes are being measured in terabytes (1 TB = 1000 GB). Increased file sizes also apply to high-resolution images that offer better pixel resolution and color density. Audio too. Every form of media out there is getting better in quality—which means file sizes are growing and the need for reliable cloud file transfer that can keep up is more apparent.
And lastly, not only do these large files need to travel far distances to multiple locations, they need to do so quickly. There’s no shortage of media content out there. The industry is very competitive and turnaround times aren’t as long as they used to be.
What are media professionals looking for in a file transfer solution?
It ranges depending on the project but generally:
- Simple UX
- No data caps
- Fast speeds
- Reliable transfers
- Security
- Integrations & flexibility
- Affordable prices
Why do clients choose MASV over other file transfer solutions?
Following the same structure above, MASV hits all the file transfer needs for media professionals and solves many pain points:
Simple UX
MASV has a simple, drag-and-drop interface and it only takes a few seconds to sign up and start sending right away.
No data caps
Users have virtually unlimited transfer capabilities with MASV. Each individual file has a cap of 5 TB. A package can have multiple individual files.
Fast speeds
All files sent through MASV are sent at max speed, with no throttling, along a secure network of 150 global servers.
Reliable transfers
Users can send and receive entire folder structures without zipping or compressing files. Compression is usually the main cause of data corruption—something you don’t need to worry about with MASV.
Security
All MASV transfers are encrypted at rest and in-flight; they can be password-protected and are backed by a Trusted Partner Network assessment; a recognized content protection security initiative spearheaded by the Motion Picture Association.
Integrations & flexibility
MASV connects with most major cloud providers to easily move files into storage. We also have a powerful API that developers can use to create custom workflows with their preferred tools.
Affordable prices
MASV operates on a pay-as-you-go model. Users can send as much data as they want. They only pay for the amount of gigabytes that get downloaded. Perfect for budgeting and planning for slower seasons (e.g. Wedding photography and other seasonal businesses).
What are some MASV features that make you stand out?
MASV Portals
There are two components to file transfer. Sending and receiving. MASV Portals is for receiving files from multiple contributors.
A MASV Portal is essentially a landing page with an upload window.
As a project owner, you can create a Portal, brand it to your liking, and share its URL with collaborators—who then upload assets into the Portal by simply dragging and dropping files over. The best part is, you don’t need a MASV account to upload files which makes submission a breeze.
Cloud Connect
A frequent pain when backing up files is the time spent downloading a file to a machine, only to re-upload it to a cloud storage solution.
With Cloud Connect, MASV users can select popular cloud providers like Google Drive, Amazon S3, Backblaze, and Frame.io (among others), and link it to their MASV account. Any files they receive can be transferred to their cloud account, either manually through the “Send to Cloud” button—or, automatically by connecting the cloud account to a MASV Portal. Any file delivered to the Portal will automatically route to the cloud storage.
Automation
MASV offers three types of automations through our desktop app which drastically improves workflows. Our automations are designed for those users who have repeatable file transfer tasks as part of their workflow.
- Watch Folder Upload – designate a folder on your desktop to automatically trigger an upload once files are added to said folder. Great for VFX artists who need to ship a finished render to their Creative Director.
- Watch Folder Download – designate a folder on your desktop to automatically download files received through MASV. Great for Editors waiting on a set of dailies to arrive overnight.
- Send to Portal – designate a folder on your desktop to automatically send files it receives to a MASV Portal.
How can people try MASV?
Anyone interested in MASV can sign up for our free 7-day trial and get 100 GB to use towards their transfers.
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