Case Study: Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, Concordia University achieves accelerated 2K/4K ingest and editing workflows with DataDirect Networks

Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, Concordia University - Customer Case Study

Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema at Concordia University, Canada’s largest university-based film center, needed to modernize aging, film-focused workflows into a nearly all-digital 2K/4K environment. With limited technical staff, multiple buildings and mixed client OSes, the school required centralized, scalable storage that could support the equivalent of more than ten concurrent feature-length student projects and integrate with third-party tools.

A Rohde & Schwarz turnkey video processing solution powered by a DDN SFA12K SAN and Clipster was deployed, integrating with DaVinci Resolve and Avid to provide high-performance, centralized media access and real-time RAW handling. The upgrade delivered a 99% digital environment, cut file-copy times from ten hours to minutes, sustained bandwidth above 10 GB/s, 2K/4K playback without dropped frames, 70–80 fps rendering, no downtime or data loss, and reduced storage footprint, power and cooling—enabling students to work at industry speeds and standards.

Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, Concordia University

Marcus von Holtzendorff

Post Production Coordinator