M+E Connections

AlterMedia made several enhancements to its Studio Suite production and post-production studio management software solution that’s used for scheduling, inventory, and media asset tracking, budgeting and invoicing, according to company founder and owner Joel Stoner.

The soon-to-be-released Studio Suite 12 is a “ground-up rebuild” of the software with an entirely new streamlined database structure and a re-conceived user interface that was modeled after Google’s “Material Design” philosophy, Stoner said on a recent webinar. The new version is just a single file rather than the 9 files used previously, and “that makes the code a lot simpler for us to do,” he said, adding that also makes it faster.

“By re-building the database and all of the business rules, we’ve removed a ton of legacy code that was weighing down the system,” he said in a statement, adding: “We’ve dramatically reduced the screen clutter to only show the user what they need to see, when they need to see it. Both improvements combined have made for a significantly faster, lighter, and more intuitive interface that has been a long time coming.”

AlterMedia removed “a ton of redundant and ancient code,” some of which was 20 years old, he said on the webinar. The company was also able to remove several plugins, he said.
Studio Suite 12 can also now optionally be hosted on Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure, and that adds a new deployment option for those users who don’t want to manage a server in-house, AlterMedia said.

Other new features include major improvements to the two methods of Web access: WebDirect, and WebGlancer. WebDirect can now function as the main method of access for power users, and includes the ability to print and email documents from the browser (removing the requirement for FileMaker Pro on the client machine), AlterMedia said. Studio Suite 12’s WebGlancer now offers lower- level staffers the ability to log in via any device (desktop and tablet/mobile), and do what they need to do, such as log work-time, mark tasks as complete, and view calendars quickly and easily, the company said.

AlterMedia also added Box, Dropbox, Slack and Google Drive integration, alongside the software’s existing integrations (QuickBooks, QuickBooks Online, Google Calendar, Outlook Exchange Calendar and iCal).

The new database structure will allow the company to develop new features and third-party integrations with newer technologies far more quickly than ever before, it said.
AlterMedia is accepting pre-orders for Studio Suite 12, with installs and upgrades being scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis, Stoner said on the webinar. The expected release of Studio Suite 12 is “sometime early next month,” but it is “subject to change,” the company said.

Over the past 20 years, Studio Suite has built a user base of more than 1,500 “high-profile, profit-focused and deadline-critical” production and post facilities in over 55 countries, AlterMedia said.