Open-source storage leader 45Drives has announced the beta launch of a remote collaboration platform using on-premise storage for video professionals, developed by its creative technology division, 45Studio. Currently in active beta testing, this new platform serves as a powerful, self-hosted alternative to Frame.io and other cloud-based collaboration tools, designed to give post-production teams a faster, more secure, and more cost-effective way to work together on video projects.
Through this beta, 45Drives is inviting professional editors, colorists, and production teams to test the platform in real-world workflows and provide feedback that will directly guide product development. Dr. Doug Milburn, President of 45Drives, stated that this approach reflects the company's philosophy of building tools in partnership with the professionals who rely on them daily, ensuring the platform evolves into something truly built for creative professionals rather than just market demands.
The platform addresses significant pain points that modern production teams face with proprietary cloud collaboration platforms, including cloud dependency that introduces latency, long upload times, and bandwidth challenges. Security risks from third-party exposure represent another critical concern, as cloud tools place mission-critical creative content in the hands of entities beyond the team's control. Cost scalability issues also plague current solutions, with pricing that tends to scale steeply with storage, usage, and sharing activity, including pay-per-share limitations that require costly higher-tier plans or paid seats when inviting clients or collaborators.
This yet-to-be-named platform, built by 45Studio, takes a fundamentally different approach by being on-premise, allowing teams to collaborate directly over their own infrastructure. This delivers the same seamless review and approval experience professionals expect but without the delays, ongoing fees, or data control tradeoffs associated with cloud-based alternatives. 45Drives and 45Studio are partnering with Nicholas Wiczynski, Founder of NGW Post, an award-winning boutique post production company specializing in offline editing, re-recording mixing, color grading, and network delivery. Wiczynski is working directly with the 45Studio team to ensure the platform fits the real-world workflows of professional editors and post facilities.
Wiczynski noted that what excites him about this project is how much 45Drives values feedback from people working directly in post-production, where professionals live and die by speed, collaboration, and reliability. The platform is shaping up to solve real pain points that every professional editor knows too well. The beta launch exemplifies 45Drives' open, community-driven philosophy, whether in enterprise storage, homelabs, or now media production workflows, consistently working side by side with users to refine and advance technology through collaboration and transparency. Professionals interested in joining the beta program and helping shape the future of video collaboration can sign up at https://45drivesstudio.com/beta.
