Introducing DropOff - A Brief History

In the creation of PostLab, the team at Hedge developed PostLab Drive in collaboration with LucidLink.  This allowed for a cloud filespace to be mounted by users and utilised LucidLink’s Filespace technology to edit from the cloud as if the drive was locally connected to the users machine.

Those using PostLab will be familiar with its file sharing features which allowed its users to collaborate and stay in sync via PostLab Drive which included:

• DropOff - the ability to create a secure link to share with others to allow them to simply drag and drop files that are tunnelled into the PostLab Drive without the user needing to be part of your PostLab team.
• PickUp - the functionality that allows you to select a file or files to then create a shareable link where users outside of the PostLab environment pick up files without needing to be part of your team.

PostLab Drive also provided enhancements for LucidLink’s Filespaces by providing the ability to create Workspaces. These are sub-mounts on a user’s system allowing you to create a virtual partition to only share certain files with users in a select group, allowing for further control over which of a team’s files are going where and to whom.

As part of the evolution of PostLab we discovered that many users were leveraging the organisation, team creation and task management as well as the external files sharing systems of PickUp or DropOff.

This has proven to be an essential feature for many post teams that utilize PostLab for their workflows. However, not everyone who needs to share files with external collaborators also needs all of the additional features provided by PostLab.

We realized that the helpful functions that DropOff and PickUp have provided our PostLab users could prove helpful to anyone and any workflow, regardless of project scope, team size or bandwidth needs.

Look, we’re sure they’re all very nice people, but sometimes you need to keep your external collaborators, clients and otherwise nosy individuals outside of your Filespace’s beautiful walled garden while also rapidly sharing files and media with one another.

This catch-22 of a task can prove to be a little cumbersome if you don’t have the right tools for the job.

We noticed, and we devised a solution.

DropOff and PickUp under one standalone roof

We combined PickUp with DropOff to create one platform that we are simply calling:

DropOff.

We took the robust collaborative sharing functionality we built for PostLab Drive and re-architected it from the ground up as a standalone web-app for all of your file sharing needs.

DropOff allows you to send file transfer links to external collaborators that do not have access to your LucidLink Filespaces. These links allow them to either upload files directly onto your Filespace, or create a space where they can securely download files you’ve selected from them.

Sharing and receiving large files within creative workflows always comes with a unique set of challenges: storage, security and speed. When you add the need for simplicity and seamless integration with secure storage solutions like LucidLink, things get even trickier.

DropOff does all of the heavy lifting behind the scenes. It has a front-end that’s easy on the eyes, and a back-end that's capable of fully integrating with LucidLink’s security measures. This allows for receiving files directly into your secure Filespace and sending files via a secure DropOff location for external users to pick up.

With DropOff - it all boils down to these key features:

• Send Files:
  Create shareable links that allows users to send or deliver files from their either Filespace or any other storage via a shareable link for external collaborators or clients to pick up without having direct access to the user’s LucidLink Filespace itself, using email or other subscription based file sharing services.
• Receive Files:
  Create shareable links for external collaborators to send files that are then uploaded and received into the user’s LucidLink Filespace set up in DropOff. Again, without the external collaborator having direct access to the user’s Filespace itself.
• No Monthly Fees:
  There are no standing fees or monthly subscription costs. Along with that, there are no file type or size limits and importantly no expiration dates for your purchased data. Instead, users pay as they go with a Pay Per GB model that is as expansive or condensed as they need it to be based on their exact needs.

These three key components make DropOff a perfect file sharing solution for creatives who have simple workflows and complex projects alike who need to maintain their secure Filespace walled gardens.

Our Partnership with LucidLink and DropOff’s future flexibility

Since the partnership between Hedge and LucidLink during the creation of PostLab Drive, we have worked together to continue further developments and advancements in creating cloud storage solutions for creative workflows.

Based on this partnership, DropOff’s functionality currently works exclusively with LucidLink in order to receive files into Filespaces or share them via a secure DropOff location. This requires new users who sign up for DropOff to either also sign up for a LucidLink account, or attach their existing LucidLink credentials before starting.

If you don’t already have an account we’ve created a link here for you to set up a trial.

Though it has been built with LucidLink in mind, DropOff’s robust architecture will allow you to set up your location to optimize transfer speeds, and in the future add your own S3 cloud storage solution and beyond.

Wrapping Up

We know, uploading and downloading files might not be on your list when it comes to exhilarating activities (but we’ve come to understand how much friction it can cause!).

Personally, we can’t help but get butterflies in our stomachs when we think about how helpful DropOff is going to enhance your collaborative workflows.

With the app only just now releasing, there are many more features and functionalities planned for DropOff down the road that we look forward to sharing as our quests continue.

For now, you can sign up for a free trial that comes preloaded with 20GB of credits.

Just connect your LucidLink Filespace, create a link and off you go! As confetti rains down your screen after your upload completes, you’ll soon see our passion for seamless file sharing knows no bounds 🎉