One of the overlooked features of Interplay is the ability to bring all sorts of "non-Avid" files under your control and make them available for all your users (or a select few) to collaborate on. That's right...the Interplay Access application can track any kind of file, in addition to all those Avid masterclips, subclips, sequences, effects, etc. Beyond that there is also native support for Adode Photoshop and the entire Microsoft Office Suite of products: you can actually check in and out files from these products, into Interplay, from their file menus.
Microsoft Word with the Interplay Plugin
The workflow for using these assets is simple:
- Create the file on your local system.
- Import the file into your Interplay database using Access or Avid Interplay plug-in for Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop.
- When you want to edit the file, check it out of Interplay using Access, Office or Photoshop.
- When you are done editing the file, check it back in to the database using Access, Office or Photoshop
At this point, other users on Interplay who have been granted the proper "roles" or permissions could view and edit the files. There are somewhat different rules for file assets as opposed to Avid assets in Interplay. For example, with file assets, a user can do an 'exclusive checkout' meaning no one else can open the file for editing. There are also features with allow for version control of the assets where you can look at the history and differences between different versions of a file, for example some color correction to a Photoshop file. There is actually one use of this versioning aspect which you could use for Avid assets. Different versions of Avid sequences get checked into Interplay and you can use this version control to view and rollback to previous version of a sequence.
For system administrators, there are some consideration for implementing use of this non-Avid assets workflow. First, you must get an idea of just how popular it will become once your users catch on. I've already mentioned Office and Photoshop files, which are supported natively, however MP3s and other audio files, QuickTime movies, Windows Media files, JPGs, GIFs, etc. can all be imported and tracked in Interplay. So, if you are going adopt Interplay for a 'graphics' workflow which may entail large files...where are these files going to be stored? By default, they go to Interplay Engine server and depending on whether you are on a single or clustered Interplay system and using an SR2400 or SR2500, the available space will range from 70GB up to a little over 900GB on the raid array that comes with a cluster. My recommendation for anyone who thinks they may want to use this workflow is go with the 'split database' method. It's easier to do this before your system has been installed and in use for awhile. So if you are just getting an Interplay system be sure to tell your Avid installer or reseller this is something you want to do. They will create a separate workspace on your shared storage system where these 'non-Avid' assets will get stored.
Administrators will also want to know how to configure certain types of assets to open up when launched from Interplay Access. You can do this from the Tools->Options->Asset Types in Access. For a .JPG for example, while you can view head frames in Access, you may want to have it open in a specific external application. That's configurable with Access. You can even chose different applications for viewing and editing.
You can play non-Avid Video directly in the Access window and play audio files there as well:
To use file assets, there are no special bits to run at install time. The Office and Photoshop plugins come standard as well with all Interplay systems. However, you do have to install the plugin. Not all sites and installers are aware of this. Make sure you do a custom install for Access from Interplay installation DVD and choose the plugins you want. After that, any future upgrades should automatically pickup the plugin from the local machine's registry and upgrade it accordingly.
Post by Stacy Saveall, Avid Training Services Instructor and Curriculum Developer