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Columbia University
The ability for Paul to share a link with six or seven different people and to have them comment and get their point across is invaluable.
Liam
WEBSITE
HEADQUARTERS
New York, NY
STRUCTURE
Hybrid / Multi-location
INDUSTRY
Education
SWITCHED FROM
External SSDs, NAS/HDD backups
1
About Columbia Video Network
A global online engineering education program producing multimedia course content at scale
Columbia Video Network (CVN) offers online master’s degrees in engineering across nine to ten different tracks, serving students around the world. The production team supports these programs by creating and maintaining course content, handling shoots, and ensuring professors and contributors look and sound great on camera.
On the post-production side, the workload is handled by a small editing team (two editors) responsible for turning raw footage into polished course content and deliverables.
2
The Challenge
A clunky handoff process built on physical drives and in-person swaps
Before Shade, CVN’s post-production workflow relied heavily on a rotation of four-terabyte SSDs that were physically carried around and swapped between editors depending on who was working on a project. Footage was backed up to office storage (NAS drives or external HDDs), but day-to-day editing still depended on managing multiple physical drives.
This made handoffs slow and created friction across locations. When editors worked from different places (in the office, at home, or elsewhere), collaboration was constrained by whichever person physically had the drive.
Learn why top agencies, global brands, and high-growth enterprises use Shade.
3
Introduction to Shade
Editing and sharing from anywhere, without sacrificing speed or control
CVN came to Shade because they needed a simple way to mount storage and work from different locations, while still making it easy to share files for review. Shade provided a single place where the team could access media for editing and share links to stakeholders, without the overhead of physical drive swaps.
4
The New Workflow
One shared hub for editing, review, and collaboration across a wide set of stakeholders
With Shade in place, CVN’s workflow has become significantly more efficient and convenient. The team can edit from anywhere, and 4K editing works smoothly (especially with a proxy workflow).
Shade also supports the broader collaboration required in higher education production. CVN regularly collaborates with many contributors and reviewers: producers, editors, directors, professors, faculty, course assistants, TAs, instructional designers, and marketing leadership. Having a single link that can be shared with six or seven people at a time, where everyone can leave feedback and comments, helps keep projects moving.
For team editing, Shade pairs well with the tools already in their studio. In combination with Blackmagic Cloud, CVN can have multiple editors working on the same project at the same time.
5
Present Outcome
A new normal: flexible editing, smoother collaboration, and faster reviews
Shade has become core to how CVN works. The flexibility to access media for editing and review from anywhere, and to share projects across editors and other team members, has made collaboration feel natural and scalable.
As CVN continues to produce content across multiple engineering tracks and a global audience, the team has a workflow that supports speed, consistency, and broad stakeholder input—without the clunkiness of physical drive handoffs.
“The ability for Paul to share a link with six or seven different people and to have them comment and get their point across is invaluable.”
Liam Maserjian
Assistant Director of Production
