Windmill Lane future-proofs colour department with FilmLight

One of Ireland’s leading post-production studios, Windmill Lane, has installed a new FLUX Store 360 and upgraded its existing pair of Baselight TWO systems.

The studio, which has been operating on Baselight for 14 years, has been looking to future-proof the colour department and update its network for some time. The Baselight TWO upgrade and new FLUX Store have provided immediate workflow benefits as well as the option to further expand in the future.

FLUX Store is FilmLight’s post-production storage server which utilises the high-bandwidth internal disk system and cloud network infrastructure developed for Baselight and is an industry-proven solution for streaming high-resolution media.

“In order to keep up with new technology and maximise workflows, we needed a better solution,” commented Matt Branton, colourist at Windmill Lane. “FLUX Store ticked every box for us in terms of performance and connectivity and it allows us to simplify our work in the colour department. Being able to share jobs, deal with growing data demands, access more media and formats all in one place, were things we were not previously able to achieve, and this has made a huge difference to us.”

“The FLUX Store definitely brings raw power, but also allows us to assign render tasks without interrupting the grade,” added Branton. “There are countless times we get asked to do a specific output of a TV episode while we’re in the middle of a grade session. Previously we would have to down tools to do it, but the FLUX Store handles this task, rather than Baselight itself, so we’re able to continue doing what we do best – focus on creativity!”

For Windmill Lane, another benefit of FLUX Store is its position in the company workflow. Primarily, they plan to use it as storage for grading projects, but it will evolve over time to act as central storage for specific jobs – especially those that require high performance, such as 4K HDR shows – allowing other users to access the media.

“The online editor will be able to finish shows directly from our exports, or our delivery department can create IMFs, DCPs or other deliverables, without the need to copy media to another server,” said Branton.

The FLUX Store network capabilities will also allow Windmill Lane to upgrade their storage options in the future. “As we all know, too much storage is never enough, so it’s good to know FLUX Store is easily expandable with an expansion chassis,” Branton added.

FLUX Store now operates as Windmill Lane’s main storage so they no longer require local disk storage and have also switched to using the Baselight TWO system’s NVMe cache, for extra speed and security.

“Head of colour, Dave Hughes, and I have been using Baselight for over 14 years now. It was important to us that we utilised these systems for as long as possible and it’s a testament to the product that they have such longevity,” commented Branton. “Having the new systems has really unlocked a lot of speed, allowing us to take full advantage of the tools available. The latest operating system also helps our workflow, as well as enhancing our system security.”

This latest addition means Windmill Lane is now running two Baselight TWO systems, a FLUX Store 360, Baselight CONFORM and Daylight.

“Baselight is simply the best system out there,” concluded Branton. “All grading systems or software do the same thing up to a certain point, but when you need to find the extra gear – be that speed, workflow, flexibility – Baselight is the most suitable option. Personally, I find the colour space handling is far superior to anything else out there, and the Base Grade tool is unparalleled.”

Recent projects for Windmill Lane include episodic series for Disney+ and RTE/AMC+, alongside two feature films and various commercial projects.