As a Senior Production Support Specialist at Frame.io, I’ve spent lots of time working with creatives to assist streamline their workflows—particularly in terms of Camera to Cloud (C2C). Recently, I had the prospect to assist The Outbound Life (Kyler and Kody McCormick) on a vibrant, nostalgia-packed music video shoot in Nashville for Ben Rector’s “Praying for Me” that includes Mat Kearney.
Nashville felt like the proper backdrop for this mission—a metropolis the place music historical past lives on each nook, from the legendary studios of Music Row to the honky-tonks of Broadway. It’s solely becoming {that a} tune celebrating friendship and life’s journey could be filmed in Music City, the place numerous artists have come to chase their goals and inform their tales.
This shoot excited me as a result of it marked my first time supporting a manufacturing utilizing Canon’s new native Camera to Cloud integration with the EOS C400 and C80. The mission’s tight manufacturing and publish schedule was achievable as a result of C2C allow them to work with a distant publish workforce in real-time, which stored them collaborative and creatively current.
The imaginative and prescient behind the shoot
The workforce constructed the idea for “Praying for Me” round a stylized highway journey between pals was shot totally on a white cyc stage at Studio 615 in Nashville. To create the phantasm of motion, the workforce used immersive projector backdrops like mountains, cities, and seashores, paired with sensible props, set items, and a Chevy S10 parked middle stage. The McCormick brothers deliberately broke the fourth wall with huge pictures that uncovered the stagecraft, embracing the appeal of in-camera visuals and bodily props over digital polish.
The tune has a private connection for Mat Kearney. “When I moved to Nashville, I put the Chevy in the lyric there because that’s the truck we moved in.”
You can see their inventive course of in motion on this improbable behind-the-scenes video they captured through the shoot.
Camera builds
- A Cam: Canon C400 (studio construct)
- B Cam: Canon C80 (studio/handheld construct)
- C Cam: Canon C80 (gimbal construct)
Lenses
Network and add technique
One of the largest keys to success when utilizing C2C is having quick and dependable web connectivity. This isn’t nearly obtain speeds. Upload speeds are essential for getting pictures uploaded in a well timed method. As the McCormick brothers famous of their planning, connectivity was really “a deciding factor” on which location they selected for the shoot.
The location had glorious Wi-Fi protection with a number of ceiling-mounted entry factors. There have been additionally Ethernet drops out there, and I introduced a Sclera cellular modem as backup. Having these redundancies is all the time good whenever you’re betting the workflow on connectivity.
When working with Camera to Cloud, constant Wi-Fi protection can really be extra essential than uncooked pace—particularly when importing light-weight proxies. A digital camera transferring round set with an intermittent sign will battle to keep up uploads, even on a quick community. But with stable, constant protection all through the taking pictures space, even a extra modest connection can reliably deal with 9 Mbps proxy uploads with out interruption.
The workforce examined all out there bitrates from 6 Mbps as much as 35 Mbps. They landed on 9 Mbps as their candy spot for balancing picture high quality with add pace, as demonstrated of their technical walkthrough video. Each digital camera recorded these proxy recordsdata (light-weight variations of the complete decision footage) to the second SD card slot whereas persevering with to seize full decision to the hero media.
A workflow years within the making
Like many administrators, Kody and Kyler have skilled the challenges of disorganized units. As Kody defined, “Like many directors, we’ve been on our fair share of sets where we wish it were more organized. We implement tricks here or there, but I feel like utilizing Camera to Cloud functionality was a major leap forward. This is the workflow we’ve been looking for for years, but didn’t think was possible.”
The peace of thoughts issue was transformative. “First, it felt really good knowing we had a remote editor combing through our proxies as we were shooting them. Sure, small tweaks were found, but the value of knowing the footage was canned and shot right really brought peace of mind,” Kody famous.
This is the workflow we’ve been searching for for years, however didn’t assume was potential.”
Remote editorial collaboration with Frame.io
Barrett Kaufman, the assistant editor working remotely from Chicago, was built-in into the method from the very first take. The BTS video reveals him making a Collection known as “Need Review” and offering real-time suggestions on particular technical parts like shadow element whereas the crew was nonetheless on set. Collections are Frame.io’s smart organizational tool that robotically teams property based mostly on metadata, rankings, or customized standards you outline. Unlike conventional folders, collections replace in actual time as new content material matching your standards will get uploaded to the mission.
This form of on the spot technical suggestions was invaluable. Barrett might begin organizing selects, create Collections, and even share preliminary coloration grades through the shoot. This gave the administrators confidence they have been capturing what they wanted—and gave publish a useful head begin.
Transforming director-talent collaboration
What actually excited me was listening to how C2C modified the McCormick brothers’ method to working with expertise. The real-time evaluation capabilities have been sport altering.
As Kody McCormick defined, “I underestimated how much it would enhance our ability to collaborate with the artists. When Ben or Mat asked about a shot or a take, instead of trying to explain it, I’d get my iPhone out and show them exactly how something played on screen. It brought many light bulb moments instantaneously. It eliminated guesswork. It allowed us to approach each take with greater precision, and everyone was able to stay on the same page every step of the way.”
Kyler McCormick was stunned by the collaborative impression:
“Typically, there’s a degree of separation between what is captured and what is understood. Talent will give take after take, but there’s usually a level of mystery about how things are panning out. This eliminated that mystery. We were able to direct and communicate with a higher level of precision in real time. They say ‘show, don’t tell.’ That absolutely applies to directing, as well. We could immediately show talent how a shot was framed, and they might ask to be framed slightly tighter, or to move the camera to capture their ‘good side.’ When directing, our first priority is to make talent feel a sense of ease, allowing them to put forth their best work. I’ve honestly never come across another tool that allowed us to do that so easily.“
We were able to direct and communicate with a higher level of precision in real-time…I’ve honestly never come across another tool that allowed us to do that so easily.“
Technical setup
For readers interested in replicating this workflow, the McCormick brothers created an excellent technical walkthrough video.
The key steps include:
Step 1: Update Your Firmware
The C400 and C80 cameras need the latest firmware to unlock native C2C support.
Step 2: Test Upload Speeds
Test your location’s upload speeds, not just download. This was actually a deciding factor for choosing the location on this shoot. You can also run Ethernet directly to the camera for the fastest, most reliable connection if needed.
Step 3: Set Proxy Bitrate Based on Network
The C400 & C80 C2C cameras can record from 6 Mbps to 35 Mbps. Higher bitrates give more detail but upload more slowly. The video demonstrates how upload time correlates directly with bitrate and available bandwidth.
Step 4: Pairing to Frame.io
Set the proxy record, choose your codec and resolution, then run the connection wizard to pair with Frame.io using a six-digit code.
Step 5: Enable Real-Time Collaboration
Set auto upload to “on” and pause importing to “off” until you wish to queue uploads for later. This ensures fast availability for distant evaluation.
Common errors to keep away from
Based on this shoot and my expertise supporting productions throughout the nation, listed here are some key issues to be careful for:
- Powering down the digital camera earlier than uploads end. Let them full earlier than shutting off.
- Using places with poor web or unreliable Wi-Fi. Always take a look at your connection beforehand.
- Not testing add speeds forward of time. Know your bandwidth limitations.
- Failing to pick the right file varieties or proxy bitrates on your workflow. Test completely different settings throughout prep.
- Forgetting to allow auto-upload or verify uploads are working firstly of the shoot. Make this a part of your digital camera verify routine.
Key takeaways for filmmakers
From a technical standpoint, Canon’s native C2C integration carried out flawlessly. Native proxy uploads, dependable metadata switch, and resumable uploads on reduce all labored precisely as anticipated. But the actual revelation was the inventive impression.
For filmmakers contemplating C2C for the primary time, Kyler McCormick’s recommendation is evident: “Time is money. If you want a tool that can instantly put your cast and crew on the same page, eliminate guesswork, and save time on set, good news. That tool has arrived. And it’s called Camera to Cloud.”
And relating to the technical barrier to entry, Kody McCormick supplied reassurance: “For anyone curious about trying the workflow, it’s really not that complicated. As long as you have decent Wi-Fi, it’s plug-and-play.”
“Time is money. If you want a tool that can instantly put your cast and crew on the same page, eliminate guesswork, and save time on set, good news. That tool has arrived. And it’s called Camera to Cloud.”
The greater image
Camera to Cloud isn’t nearly pace—it’s about entry, visibility, and confidence. On smaller shoots like this one, that entry helps everybody keep aligned. Talent can evaluation takes, editors can begin working remotely, and administrators could make quicker choices directly.
Breaking down conventional obstacles
What we witnessed with The Outbound Life represents a shift that’s occurring throughout the trade. Camera to Cloud eliminates the normal bottlenecks between manufacturing and post-production which have existed for over a century. No extra ready for drives to ship, no extra runners carrying playing cards throughout city, no extra questioning for those who bought the shot till hours or days later.
On main movement footage, multi-unit productions are utilizing Camera to Cloud for real-time collaboration between groups taking pictures in utterly completely different places. On smaller indie shoots, it’s appearing like a distributed video village the place everybody from script supervisors to hair and make-up can entry footage on their telephones as a substitute of crowding round a video village.
For stay occasions and sports activities, the transformation is much more dramatic. Production groups can publish totally packaged, branded content material to social media inside minutes of an occasion occurring. The pace of contemporary storytelling calls for this type of real-time functionality.
Beyond video, Frame.io turns into a central hub for the manufacturing. The BTS video reveals how the workforce used Frame.io early within the course of to gather enter on driving plates and projector property, and all through the shoot to speed up evaluation and supply real-time suggestions. Call sheets, digital camera studies, BTS images, and even pre-vis can all stay alongside your footage in a single safe place.
When instruments like Camera to Cloud simply work, they fade into the background. That’s when the magic occurs. You transfer quicker, collaborate extra simply, and spend much less time ready round.
Getting began is less complicated than you assume
Many creators hesitate as a result of Camera to Cloud appears advanced or requires networking data they don’t have. But the barrier to entry has by no means been decrease. You can expertise this workflow in the present day with simply your iPhone or iPad utilizing the Mavis Camera app, which connects on to Frame.io for simply $14.99. Using built-in mobile or Wi-Fi makes for fast and easy connectivity.
From there, you’ll be able to scale as much as skilled cameras with native integrations, exterior encoders, or full manufacturing workflows. But all of it begins with that first second whenever you see your footage seem within the cloud seconds after you hit “cut,” and notice you’ll by no means wish to return to the previous manner of working.
Links and additional studying
Closing ideas
If you already use Frame.io however haven’t tried Camera to Cloud but, this shoot is a superb instance of why it’s value it. When every thing’s arrange proper, the tech fades into the background and also you’re simply left with a linked, fast-moving crew that may keep inventive below strain.
Not utilizing Frame.io but? It’s free to start →
Oh, and I positively made positive to seize some correct Nashville scorching rooster earlier than my flight again to Los Angeles.
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