Get Into Post Faster with GNARBOX's New Frame.io Integration

Transferring footage from production to post is one of the key steps most filmmakers want to speed up. GNARBOX is a handy little box that makes on-set downloads easy, and now with a newly added integration with Frame.io, the process of getting footage from an SD card into an editor's hands is faster than ever. There's even the potential for an editor back in the office or at home to start working while you are still downloading footage on set.

GNARBOX has had integration with Dropbox for live backups for a while, but Frame.io is an improvement as Dropbox is generally slower than dedicated media transfer platforms. In our testing, sometimes as much as 5x slower. Frame.io is a media platform first and foremost and you will see more speed from this functionality than you would with Dropbox uploads. But it's more than just speed, it's also software integration on the post side that matters.

This box could be uploading to footage to set and we wouldn't even know it.

Frame.io is working hard on its integrations with non-linear editors to make the process of working with media on their platform easier. For instance, with DaVinci Resolve you can integrate directly with Frame.io such that Frame.io appears as a hard drive in your source tab and you can start cutting straight from media that lives on its cloud. This is only going to work on faster connections and with smaller media.

Generally, 8K RAW files will likely choke your internet unless you have superfast speeds. However, it's a great integration that shows the power of this workflow. Stick the SD card on set in the GNARBOX and set it to backup to Frame.io, and while you are still out shooting the next card's worth of material, clips automatically start appearing back at the office where the editor can start making edits.

GNARBOX has a built-in SD card slot but can be connected via USB-C to a wide variety of card readers, so this isn't just a workflow for DSLR shooters. This Frame.io workflow, however, currently feels like a workflow really targeted at productions that want to run light and without a laptop and are shooting smaller file formats like H.265. 8K RAW files are going to be a slow upload even over fast internet, but H.265 4K files are small enough they can go over Wi-Fi and up to the cloud relatively quickly.

For more speed and stability, you can even use a USB-C to ethernet adapter to plug straight into a router. By default, GNARBOX uses Wi-Fi or even the cellular network of your phone, though that is likely to run up some data charges. It might be worth it if you have particularly time-sensitive footage that needs to get into an editor's hands right away.

In our testing, the new firmware was exceptionally easy to use. It's just another button in the interface to upload clips or folders to Frame.io, and it happens pretty quickly. GNARBOX also allows for automated workflows, such that as soon as you insert an SD card, it scans the card for clips it hasn't downloaded and automatically downloads them to wherever you program. Currently that doesn't support automated cloud backup, however, and putting files or folders on Frame.io requires selecting them and deliberatly putting them there. Best of all, you get an upload report when you are done that confirms what clips made it and when.

This software update is vailable now for all GNABOX users. This tutorial will walk you through updating to the current GNARBOX to the current software version, and this one will tell you everything you need to know about using GNARBOX's Frame.io integration. You can explore different GNARBOX options here.