Molinare
Molinare's Digital Renaissance Optimizes Post-Production Workflows with Pixitmedia
Since setting up shop in 1973, Molinare has become the largest independent post-production house in the UK. The company built its reputation on creative excellence, handling everything from sound and grading to localization for major clients like Netflix, Disney, and the BBC.
Known for recruiting top creative talent, Molinare works with leading studios to deliver long-form content of exceptional quality. Clients love working with the company that delivers end-to-end finishing services. Especially for large projects, Molinare’s comprehensive offering minimizes complexity. Their clients like Netflix and the BBC understand that Molinare has the tech and talent to deliver high-quality work quickly.
"Ngenea has so massively improved how our systems work together. It improved reliability and gave us back control of our workflows."
A Crescendo of Complexity
The company’s 10 AutoDesk Flame and 5 BaseLight systems, which underpinned their high-end grading and finishing suites, operated independently from one another. As a result, passing media from one station to the next led to the proliferation of copies throughout the workflow. With clients like Netflix working with high framerate 4K projects, those multiple copies of large project datasets put major strain on their infrastructure. And as the company took on more business, it became clear that the current storage solution lacked the size and speed to accommodate Molinare’s growth. The gradual decline in system performance frustrated operators and impacted client satisfaction. CTO Darren Woolfson noticed the strain: “There were more workarounds than standard operating procedures. It’s good to be busy, but it shows the cracks in your systems.”
Solution: Unified Storage
In 2021, with the pandemic reshaping work dynamics, Molinare saw an opportunity to overhaul its core infrastructure to continue to support the industry’s top talent in fast timeframes and remain at the competitive forefront of the industry. Woolfson tackled networking first. After exploring networking technology vendors, they selected NVIDIA Mellanox as their core network. With this faster, modern network in place, storage was the next hurdle.
While several vendors offered high performance storage, very few could match Pixitmedia’s industry knowledge. Woolfson felt more comfortable working with a vendor that understood the nuances of post-production workflows. While fast storage can provide the level of raw performance for video to play back, Molinare needed a solution that would deliver all levels of performance required to underpin their end-to-end operation. In Woolfson’s words: “Storage must get a frame off a disk and onto the screen at the right time. After all, if it’s not real time, It’s not video.”
"Pixitmedia is a magic pipe between grade and online allowing for fast turnaround of media between the creatives giving clients a smooth and effortless approach to making changes when required."
A Solution Purpose-Built for Efficiency
Pixitmedia took a solution design approach to help Molinare precisely configure each element of the solution to meet the exact business needs of performance, capacity and data accessibility. At the same time, Pixitmedia’s product roadmap aligned with Molinare’s plans for the future.
Together, Pixitmedia and Molinare designed and delivered a unified central storage solution that included:
- Lightning-fast NVMe storage for Flame and high-speed online work
- Seagate NL-SAS storage for additional capacity
- NVIDIA Mellanox backend networking for seamless data flow
- Ngenea’s intelligent tiering system for optimized media placement
From Efficiency to Expansion
Woolfson noticed a difference immediately. As a result of using Pixitmedia to implement their own high-end production namespace, Molinare consolidated its storage islands and created a cohesive ecosystem where media was readily available. Ngenea’s single namespace provided transparency and file access across storage tiers and remote locations, enhancing flexibility for global expansion. As they moved more projects to the new system, the team noticed the benefits too, like when their longstanding scheduling conflicts “evaporated.”
Unified storage eliminated the need to book specific Flame suites, as media became accessible from anywhere. This allowed the team to handle a higher volume of work with fewer conflicts, leading to improved client delivery and satisfaction. These benefits persisted even during Molinare’s period of rapid growth and increased project volumes.
With Ngenea’s automated tiering system, creative teams went back to focusing on their projects rather than wrestling with technology. And by automatically optimizing media placement based on both workflow rules and usage patterns, Molinare could take a more strategic view of their storage spend; focus on underpinning growth and giving the operation performance where it was needed while being sensitive to costs.
"Pixitmedia has made drastic improvements to how we manage our projects. We have more confidence in meeting tight delivery deadlines, knowing how efficiently we can move media from A to B. As a post production manager, we are constantly spinning 100s of plates, so having a reliable system, which leads to smooth creative sessions and overall client satisfaction is a dream."
With Ngenea’s automated tiering system, creative teams went back to focusing on their projects rather than wrestling with technology. And by automatically optimizing media placement based on both workflow rules and usage patterns, Molinare could take a more strategic view of their storage spend; focus on underpinning growth and giving the operation performance where it was needed while being sensitive to costs.
The efficiency gains were palpable. As Woolfson noted, “Pixitmedia has so massively improved how our systems work together. It improved reliability and gave us back control of our workflows.” The new system’s ability to handle complex, high-resolution projects without bottlenecks or delays significantly enhanced Molinare’s capability to meet tight deadlines and continue to exceed client expectations.
Looking Ahead: A Masterpiece in the Making
With technical hurdles cleared, Molinare found new time to innovate and push creative boundaries. The company launched Molinare Creative Group, a collective of 5 specialized brands, and is expanding into new markets with facilities planned in Malta and Liverpool. They’re also exploring short-form digital content to reach wider audiences.
Molinare’s partnership with Pixitmedia has not only solved present challenges but set the stage for future success. By embracing this technology, Molinare has reinforced its position as an industry innovator, ready to meet the demands of next-generation digital storytelling.
Molinare exemplifies how embracing the right technology can solve current problems while also unlocking new realms of creative possibility. The transformation goes beyond mere technological upgrade; it represents a shift in how Molinare approaches its work. With the underlying infrastructure now a source of strength rather than stress, the company can pour its energy into what it does best: creating stunning, innovative content that pushes the boundaries of post-production.
