A Look at the Present and Future of frame.io Camera to Cloud

by Francesco AndreolaJune 23^rd, 2022

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At Cine Gear 2022, we stopped by the frame.io booth where Michael Cioni taught us more about the present and future of their Camera to Cloud technology. According to him, 10 years from now “cameras will not have media cards” anymore. If you think this is a bold statement, then read on.

frame.io‘s Camera to Cloud (C2C) technology promises to cut any waiting time between production and post. It allows proxy files to get instantly uploaded from the camera to the cloud, so that editors and remote collaborators can start working on-the-fly without having to wait for hard drives to be shipped.

This technology has been around for over a year now. However, it was only during NAB 2022 back in April that it really got a boost. Indeed, on that occasion many manufacturers launched their first ever cloud-connected devices with C2C integration. At Cine Gear 2022, Michael Cioni from frame.io gave us some very interesting insights on the path that this technology will take. Let’s take a look.

frame.io Camera to Cloud: current status

A large number of devices already supports the company’s Camera to Cloud technology. The list includes the new Teradek Serv 4K wireless video transmitter as well as the Atomos Connect module for NINJA V/V+ and Shogun Connect monitor/recorder, just to name a few. Also, frame.io offers democratic access to their cloud-based workflows, since these are supported even by a few smartphone apps, such as FiLMiC Pro .

All these tools share the ability to instantly upload a high-quality proxy version of what the camera is capturing directly to the cloud. Hence, clients and producers can monitor the image remotely, while video editors can immediately start cutting and assembling footage. The only requirement is a working internet connection.

Future development

And here’s where things get interesting. Indeed, bandwidth is the current bottleneck and the reason why we’ll probably need to stick to proxy files for a while. However, there will soon be a time when original, high-resolution media will be transferred from set to post in the blink of an eye.

According to Michael, the future he’s depicting is only a few years away. Indeed, the latest advancements in network technology are rapidly leading to a world where every corner of the planet will be covered by internet connection. Thus, Camera to Cloud technology will be accessible to everyone, everywhere, and with support to even higher-quality files.

Have you ever used frame.io Camera to Cloud workflows? Do you agree with Michael’s perspective? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!