MADRID, SPAIN — SimpleCloud (simplecloud.io) is a cloud-based platform that provides management and setup of a virtual studio. Based in Madrid, with representation in Los Angeles, the company’s platform allows users to be connected to a virtual workstation from anywhere, through any thin client or HTML 5 supported browser.
As the COVID-19 crisis began, SimpleCloud worked with its integration partner CineSys-Oceana to help companies that had closed their offices quickly transition to working remotely. When ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, CA, decided to close its campus, they needed a solution to help students work remotely, and to have it in place within a few days. Their entertainment design program required access to workstations with powerful GPUs, given the software used for their classes. Professor Christophe Gomez was already familiar with SimpleCloud, and the school ended up choosing the solution after testing various options. By using SimpleCloud, the ArtCenter was able to transition within a few days, and the students could keep working on their projects from home, with only a thin client and Internet connection.
Lucky Post, the full-service post production studio - with locations in Dallas and Austin - offers creative editorial, color, VFX, finishing, motion graphics and sound design. With the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down most of the nation, the studio was looking for a way to keep its employees working. Media systems integrator CineSys-Oceana (www.cinesysinc.com) introduced them to SimpleCloud.
The studio needed a collaboration solution that would offer speed and efficiency with the tools while also connecting 16 remote locations.
“We found that SimpleCloud, combined with our Evercast streaming solution, was the most efficient way to move forward with active projects and spin up new projects in a virtual environment,” explains Lucky Post’s senior Flame artist Tim Nagle. “We have had a long relationship with CineSys-Oceana and we know and trust them to jump in and help us find a solution whenever we need one.”
SimpleCloud has been helping customers work remotely well before the pandemic began. GTB in Dearborn, MI, had an offshore initiative that was two months behind. Post production operations director Dean Dolce was introduced to SimpleCloud and had one week to prove it capable. In one day, CineSys had helped them create their account and virtual studio. GTB called their team in South America, helped them download the app and launch a virtual machine. The editor uploaded the media, installed the software and was editing that same day.