It’s September, and that means we’re playing our home game: IBC 🎉

With the last couple of trade shows being so busy, this year we’re bringing over almost everyone from the Hedge team to be able to give you as many demos and workflow advice as possible.

We will be showcasing our latest product releases and demonstrating how they can be combined to best support your production. Yadda, yadda, yadda, I hear you think - isn’t that what a trade show is all about anyway?

Well, yes. Very much so. But it’s more than that; our range of software has never been this comprehensive and tightly integrated across various stages of the creative workflow. Because of that, each show floor conversation tends to have at least one “wow, I didn’t know that” in the mix; not just by you, but by us too - your input really shapes both our futures 🙏

From copying original camera files (our original bread-and-butter), to collaborating on edits and managing LTO archives, we have a solution for you. So, bring us your workflow and we’ll help you take it to the next level.

Ready, Set, Go

Following the announcement of our transition from Hedge, the application, to OffShoot earlier this year, the Hedge team has been fully immersed in a customer-engaged beta track. The feedback we have received from the testers has been phenomenal and helped further refine this release. At IBC, we will be showcasing OffShoot ahead of its official launch in October. To our beta tester group, thank you very much - your help has been invaluable 🙏

To support a wider range of customers, we are making the software available in three versions: OffShoot Solo (for iPadOS), OffShoot and OffShoot Pro.

OffShoot Solo, is tailor made for iPads with USB-C and iPadOS 17. It supports offloading to both internal storage as to external drives, at the same time, and of course with full verification, transfer logs, and MHLs. Battle-tested in the Arctic, it’s the only solution that allows you to offload media with speed whilst traveling light.

The all-new OffShoot, for macOS and Windows, features an updated user interface, and marks the debut of both our new floating license model and Connect 3, the next instalment of our universal push notification system.

Instead of using separate iOS and Android apps, we have created a cloud-based notification system: Connect 3. You can use the web interface available at connect.hedge.video to monitor transfers on every instance of OffShoot you manage, wherever it is located. For large organizations this means tracking footage across numerous locations and computers enables better coordination and planning of resources.

Right Here, Right Now

Part of the change from Hedge to OffShoot is replacing seats with activations. What we used to call seats, is from now on referred to as activations: if your license had one seat, you were allowed to use OffShoot on one machine at a time.

With floating licenses, there’s a key difference: a single-seat Hedge license becomes an OffShoot license with one activation, whilst allowing you to register your license on as many machines as you want. OffShoot will pull your single activation to the machine you are currently at, saving you from having to dabble with license keys and remote deactivations in the online License Manager. This way, you’re never left in the dark; you can always use OffShoot right where you are, when you need it.

Everyone with a multi-seat license: we’ll bring floating to you in a coming release. We also have something else for you, keep an eye out for that email ✉️

To Pro or not to Pro

OffShoot comes with all the commonly used features and functionality already available in Hedge. It’s meant for those users who want to experience accelerated data transfers with full verification to ensure each copy is secure, together with options to organize your footage like renaming, presets, filters, and more. OffShoot Pro has been designed to support specialized tools and advanced workflows; it features S3 transfers, scripting, an API, advanced presets, support for Alexa 35 via Codex 7, ASC MHL. Some of our integrations come with additional Pro functionality, and so does Connect 3.

As announced, OffShoot Pro supports transferring to generic S3 cloud storage, and is qualified for Amazon S3. For the first time you’ll be able to transfer OCF media directly to cloud storage, with full verification. Not only does this new feature offer you a great and affordable alternative for sending out hard drives, but also opens up a slew of workflows within AWS (Amazon Web Services). Already a significant amount of editing happens on AWS VMs running NLEs like Resolve and Premiere Pro for remote post-production. Our native S3 support, built in tandem with Amazon, is a big step forward and further cements our ability to support production workflows across every level of the industry.

OffShoot will be available as a free upgrade for all customers with active support for the current Hedge application. We will be reaching out to all our customers directly ahead of the release with a great Pro upgrade offer, so keep an eye out for that email ✉️

New Storage Vendor Partnerships for Mimiq

The latest release of Mimiq continues our quest to liberate Avid editors from proprietary storage. With Mimiq, you can use your preferred vendor and build out a storage system suited to your needs and budget. Mimiq supports SMB, NFS and AFP connections, as well as LucidLink, an innovative next generation cloud storage solution. To that, Mimiq Pro adds Workspaces, which allows you to create discrete volumes from any folder on local or networked storage, enabling bin locking no matter your storage.

The latest version of Mimiq also introduces Project Licences. This is an alternative to our perpetual licenses tailored for productions with a predefined project length. This allows you to maintain rolling costs from month-to-month, in sync with your monthly Media Composer cost - without being tied to a yearly contract. Simply put it’s bin locking, without the shackles of a subscription.

At IBC2023 you will be able to see Mimiq in action with Quantum (7.C41), Qumulo (7.C05) and iodyne (7.A32). Each vendor has a unique story and use case; we’re looking forward to demonstrating the support for Quantum StorNext on the Quantum booth (7.C41) at 10:30am on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and the Qumulo booth (7.C05).

In partnership with iodyne, we are also announcing the first instance of the Open Workflow Bundle. Designed as a scalable solution for small workgroups, the bundle provides direct attached Thunderbolt networking that is blistering fast, easily scalable for increased capacity and able to support copper based expansion to fit into your existing network fabric.

PostLab Technology Preview

As promised at NAB, we will also be showing a technology preview of the new PostLab - our collaboration and sharing application for Apple Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere Pro users. This next generation release sports a completely rebuilt app, new UI, and the paradigm breaking technology Event Locking for Final Cut Pro.

The original version of PostLab was designed to facilitate collaboration between editors working with Final Cut Pro. Now with Event Locking, we are able to offer an unprecedented degree of granular control - work in an event while someone else works in another event, in the same library. The new PostLab allows editors to work in parallel with a new degree of confidence.

We're also showing a completely new DropOff; previously a feature of PostLab, we've spun it out and made it a standalone service. Dubbed a "WeTransfer, but for LucidLink", DropOff allows you to have external users and collaborators sending you files directly into your LucidLink Filespaces. We'll be starting a DropOff Beta Track after IBC, so if you're already a LucidLink user and find this useful, drop by our booth or sign up to our Beta Program here.

Canister Modernises LTO

LTO continues to provide an affordable backup and archive option to many of our customers. We are increasingly seeing on-premise tape drives used in conjunction with cloud storage, and we have designed Canister to be fast, secure and exceptionally easy to use. The new version of Canister includes support for our Connect 3 notification system, Unitex LTO drives, and yes, we will be releasing Canister for Windows in October.

A Fresh Look for ScopeBox

The original ScopeBox succeeded in providing portable, accurate and affordable colour-critical monitoring and image analysis tools. At IBC2023, we will be introducing a new look for ScopeBox, which has been designed to modernize the UI and bring it into alignment with other Hedge applications. The update will be available shortly after the show and will be free for all existing customers with an active support account.

Automated Workflows

As part of our IBC2023 demos, we will be showing how straightforward it is to use scripting to create advanced workflows. You will be able to experience first hand how our software can be used to create an automated proxy workflow using OffShoot Pro, FoolCat, EditReady and the new Amazon S3 integration. You can see this in action both at the Hedge booth (7.A32) and also on the AWS booth (5.C90).

Special Guest

Jordan Maltby from Shadow Magic Studios will be at our booth on Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 10:30am - 11:30am. He will be discussing how he uses Hedge products including OffShoot, FoolCat, Mimiq and Canister to provide digital dailies and digital lab work for independent productions around the world. Be sure to drop by, as Jordan has a wealth of knowledge that he loves sharing.

See you in Amsterdam! 👉 7.A32 🇳🇱