A deep dive: streamlining workflows at Light Iron with Nara

About Light Iron

Light Iron is the post-production creative services division of the Panavision group – home to a renowned creative team of colourists, online editors, visual-effects artists, software engineers, and more.

They share a passion for empowering filmmakers through technical innovation and artistic collaboration backed up by the highest level of personalised support, which they offer to all levels of feature films and episodic series.

Challenge

Light Iron has facilities across North America and remote services available globally. The filmmakers and studios behind feature films, television and streaming series turn to Light Iron for the company’s advanced tools, innovative workflows, and bespoke solutions which enhance creative collaboration throughout the imaging chain.

To be able to deliver this effectively, Light Iron needs efficient workflows between departments, and their producers need real-time viewing of the storage area network (SAN), so they can quickly and accurately create work orders and distribute files.

Before implementing Nara, Light Iron relied on two separate applications – one for navigating file structures and another for securely viewing playable content. But, switching between two applications was losing the team precious time.

Light Iron’s previous solution also lacked the depth of key metadata, and was unable to index new files immediately, potentially leading to time delays when searching for media. The playback tool also had limitations, as it was often not in real-time and missed critical burn-in information.

Finally, the Light Iron team wanted to ensure they remained at the forefront of the industry’s trend towards increased remote collaboration in post-production, enabling producers to securely and efficiently view what they needed from anywhere.

Solution

It was these challenges that led Light Iron to invest in Nara, a new media tool from FilmLight, which provides integrated media indexing, access and streaming in one simplified solution.

Nara allows previously complicated and time-consuming production and post-production tasks to take place with speed and ease – saving facilities valuable time and money in the creative process. From editors, colourists, VFX artists, cinematographers, producers and directors, to clients and marketing managers, Nara enhances and speeds up creative collaboration.

The Light Iron team is currently utilising Nara from the dailies verification process through final finishing with the DI team. The installation process took place in the autumn of 2024.

“Installation was a straightforward process,” comments Andy Kaplan, SVP of Operations at Light Iron. “It seamlessly connects to our existing network, giving it secure access to the same media and data. This is unique because Nara has unprecedented integration into the working environment. Nara users see the exact same environment as the artists, including view-only access of folder structure and secure playback of source media and ancillary files and data.”

Now, instead of relying on two separate systems, the team has one streamlined solution in a single interface.

“The ability to browse the file structure and playback media within a single platform has been a significant advantage,” says Amy Redfern, Head of Production for Light Iron. “Our producers now have a unified solution that combines file navigation, secure content viewing, and information sharing.”

A standout feature for Light Iron is Nara’s ability to play back files stored on their SANs in real-time. This has significantly reduced the time the team spends searching for and accessing media, and – with Nara’s accurate colour representation, relevant burn-ins, and detailed metadata for thorough content verification – it has improved accuracy by allowing users to verify the correct media before sending.

Nara has also helped streamline the team’s processes when restoring media for conform or VFX, allowing them to easily locate the correct storage volumes and verify that each clip and its resolution matches the project’s requirements.

Files are only accessible within the protected Nara environment – providing accurate, up-to-date information while maintaining the strict security protocols they need. “Nara enables us to safely share file paths, distribution information, and media content across departments without compromising security,” comments Kaplan.

With Nara, Light Iron’s users can also create custom bookmarks to specific locations in their SANs – allowing each producer to quickly navigate to the most relevant files for their projects.

Nara also supports Light Iron with its goal to shift with the increasing demand for remote collaboration in post-production.

“With Nara, producers no longer have to go to a specific computer to locate files,” explains Redfern. “Instead, they can securely access everything they need from anywhere. This capability greatly enhances flexibility and keeps us ahead of the industry’s continuing shift toward remote workflows.”

Results

Currently, Nara is used by Light Iron’s DI producers and coordinators in the colour finishing production department, as well as data IO technicians and the operations team – a significant proportion of the company’s workforce.

Andrew Dale, Senior DI Producer

Andrew Dale is Senior DI Producer at Light Iron, responsible for shepherding individual projects through the DI process. He helps to ensure that the team is providing the highest quality service and technical expertise to clients – starting with turnover from the editorial team, through conform, colour, and ingest of VFX and sound assets, all the way through to delivery to distributors.

“For security reasons, we do not have direct access to the media on our storage volumes, so we typically use Nara as a tool to preview materials as well as a way of navigating our SAN structure remotely,” comments Dale. “With Nara, we can gather information about materials stored on our SAN, preview shots or deliverables before they go out to the client or the distributor and collect file paths to distribute to the rest of our team quickly and efficiently.”

For Dale, one of Nara’s key benefits is the ability to view materials remotely without needing direct access to the files or a suite in the facility.

“If a client or studio sends us a QC note about a file we have delivered, I am able to load that file remotely from my desktop and review it without having to engage other departments,” explains Dale. “This lets them focus on using their resources for more important tasks. The fact that I can put eyes on a file immediately allows me to better understand any notes from the client, which lets me be more efficient in my communication with my team members.”

And, since Nara does not provide direct access to the file in question, there are no security concerns like there would be if he had to physically transfer a file offsite to review.

“I find Nara generally very effective on most of my projects,” says Dale. “It’s a very broadly useful tool for previewing material and locating media. Whenever I have a client note or some question about a file we’ve delivered, I tend to go to Nara first to see if I can understand what is being called out.”

Matthew Leib, Data & Archive Verification Lead

Matthew Leib is Data & Archive Verification Lead at Light Iron. His role focuses on managing all archival tasks, which includes verifying checksums for ongoing dailies, creating and verifying archives for completed projects, and supporting the conform and VFX teams by restoring original camera negatives.

“We use Nara throughout each project for everything from verifying dailies to final archiving,” says Leib. “It’s invaluable for quickly locating files and accessing essential metadata like file size and resolution, which helps confirm files are archived correctly. Nara is also key when restoring media for conform or VFX; it allows us to easily locate the right storage volumes and confirm each clip and resolution match the project’s needs.”

“Nara has been a major asset to our verification workflows,” adds Leib. “For active projects, it helps us verify restored media promptly, which reduces the risk of workflow disruptions and ensures accuracy when passing files to the conform team. For final archiving, it lets us quickly check file paths, sizes and metadata, helping us maintain the attention to detail that is critical in archival work.”

In a recent project, the team needed to restore clips from multiple camera formats for VFX.

“Using Nara, I could confirm each clip’s resolution and metadata quickly, ensuring we delivered the correct material for the next stages of production,” explains Leib. “This level of detail allowed us to streamline the workflow and reduce any potential handoff issues, which was a big advantage.”

Casey Odell, Senior DI Producer

Casey Odell is Senior DI Producer at Light Iron. For him, Nara has two major uses: tracking file paths and verifying content.

“Nara’s biggest benefit is as a time saver,” comments Odell. “It allows me to verify paths and check files myself rather than booking and waiting for other teams to get back to me with the necessary information.”

Before Nara, if Odell’s team received QC notes on a delivery file, they’d need to book a session with an operator to review the file and provide feedback.

“With Nara, I’m able to navigate to the file path, load the file, and jump to the specified timecode to verify the issue myself – all in just a few minutes. This quick access saves time and keeps the workflow moving efficiently.”

Thinking ahead

Light Iron is currently utilising Nara from their LA facility and is in the process of integrating the solution in their New York location.

“Once the full integration is complete, we’ll be able to access media from multiple project databases and see all the media that is involved in any of our projects across the country,” says Kaplan. “This will be a huge advantage with bi-coastal projects, which are becoming more and more prevalent.”

Light Iron also anticipates utilising Nara’s most recent toolset for increased collaboration with remote teams and expansion into new facilities.

“Features like client-view playback, which will allow us to share files with clients without scheduling a session, would save significant time and create efficiencies,” says Redfern. “The ability for cross-facility sharing will also help us manage media seamlessly between locations, enhancing both team and client collaboration.”

The latest version of Nara addresses this, as it can now stream media directly to clients’ external devices, while guaranteeing full colour accuracy – ideal for clients requiring an impromptu review session, instant client feedback, or for those struggling to book a professional suite.

“We’ve had great collaboration with the Nara team,” concludes Kaplan. “They’ve been responsive to our feedback, incorporating specific requests that have enhanced our overall experience. We appreciate their commitment to refining the platform, and we look forward to seeing additional capabilities, such as improved data and metadata tracking and features like path copying for EDLs (Edit Decision Lists) as well as transcoding and custom tagging. These enhancements would bring even greater value to our workflows.”