blog.frame.io Open in urlscan Pro
34.132.124.45  Public Scan

Form analysis
2 forms found in the DOM

GET https://blog.frame.io/

<form role="search" method="get" class="search-form" action="https://blog.frame.io/">
  <span class="label"></span>
  <label class="search-label"> Type your search and press enter... </label>
  <input type="search" autofocus="" class="field s search-input" name="s" value="">
</form>

GET https://blog.frame.io/

<form role="search" method="get" class="search-form" action="https://blog.frame.io/">
  <span class="label"></span>
  <label class="search-label"> Type your search and press enter... </label>
  <input type="search" autofocus="" class="field s search-input" name="s" value="">
</form>

Text Content

 * Products
   * Enterprise
   * Features
   * iPhone
   * Pricing
   * Customers
 * Premiere Pro
   * Intergrations
   * After Effects
   * Final Cut Pro
   * Slack
 * Company
   * Careers
   * Blog
 * Support
   * Support

© Frame.io, Inc. Terms Privacy
Explore Frame.io
Explore Frame.io
Toggle navigation
 * Post-Production
   * All
   * Tips & Technique
   * NLEs
     * Avid
     * Final Cut Pro
     * Premiere Pro
     * DaVinci Resolve
   * Audio
   * VFX and MoGraph
 * Workflow
   * All
   * Process
   * Color
   * Conform
   * Workflow Guide
 * Behind the Scenes
   * All
   * Art of the Cut
   * Made in Frame
   * Interviews
 * Production
   * All
   * Directing
   * Cinematography
   * Design
   * Technology
   * Storytelling
 * Business
   * All
   * Career
   * General Business
   * Sales & Marketing
 * Enterprise
   * All
   * Frame.io Enterprise
   * Enterprise Solutions
 * Frame.io News
   * All
   * Announcements
   * Op-Ed
   * Support



Type your search and press enter...
 * Products
   * Enterprise
   * Features
   * iPhone
   * Pricing
   * Customers
 * Premiere Pro
   * Intergrations
   * After Effects
   * Final Cut Pro
   * Slack
 * Company
   * Careers
   * Blog
 * Support
   * Support

© Frame.io, Inc. Terms Privacy
Explore Frame.io
Explore Frame.io
Type your search and press enter...

Made in Frame 9 MIN READ
January 16, 2023


MADE IN FRAME: THE VIDEO TEAM THAT KEEPS THIS GLOBAL SOFTWARE COMPANY MOVING

Laurence Grayson

Disclaimer: The author of this article previously worked at WiseTech Global, but
has no current affiliation with or investment in the company.

While it’s becoming more common to bring video production in-house, back in 2010
you wouldn’t expect to find a studio tucked inside a software company. But it’s
fair to say that Australian software company WiseTech Global has built its
success on breaking expectations.

Founded in 1994 by Richard White and Maree Isaacs, WiseTech Global builds
software solutions for the global logistics industry, and its primary
product—CargoWise—is used in over 170 countries and available in 30 languages.
Since going public in 2016, it has grown into an $AU18B company (at time of
writing). In-house video production has been a significant contributor to this
success and shows no sign of slowing down.

WiseTech video lead Nathan Schill (right) offers direction to business
development analyst and presenter Mike Grabs.

We caught up with video production lead Nathan Schill to learn more about the
company’s colossal growth, and how the WiseTech production crew has grown and
adapted to meet the changing demands of this global enterprise.


WHY VIDEO?

As he explains, video plays a supporting role in four key areas of the business;
marketing communications, e-learning, global sales, and the WiseTech Academy—a
registered training organization that prepares logistics professionals for all
aspects of the freight forwarding industry.

To keep up with this constant demand, production is split into specialist teams
dedicated to each area. Nathan and his team of motion designers and video
producers are responsible for marcom video content—spanning corporate, brand,
and product—developing them from storyboard to stream.

A workflow that video teams love - finally
EXPLORE FRAME.IO




As he puts it, “It’s pretty rare for a software company to have full-on,
in-house video production teams, but it happened organically as the company grew
and evolved.”

“Originally, we were sending specialist trainers around the globe to implement
and train companies in our software,” he explains. “But it quickly became
apparent that this wasn’t scalable, so we pivoted to creating a very deep
library of training videos as a replacement.”

“Since then, we’ve broadened the scope for our in-house video to include the
WiseTech Academy and marcom content that would normally be outsourced.”


SMALL TEAM, BIG NUMBERS

To give you an idea of how wide this scope is—and how hard the WiseTech teams
work—here are some numbers for scale. Since reporting started back in 2015,
WiseTech Global has created over 7,500 discrete videos which have garnered
nearly 9 million views. (And remember, this is content for a niche audience of
logistics providers and freight forwarders.)

> Since reporting started back in 2015, WiseTech Global has created over 7,500
> discrete videos which have garnered nearly 9 million views.

According to Nathan, one of the company mantras is “lead with content” and this
approach is clearly effective, with an impressive 74 percent average
play-through rate for their videos and nearly 30 million minutes streamed.

“For educational content, it’s a no-brainer,” he says. “Giving our customers a
guided walkthrough of the sometimes complex processes and concepts of logistics
is incredibly helpful.”

One business area that benefits directly from this approach is customer support,
with video content frequently used to guide customers. It’s a two-way street.
When support staff identify common requests, video content is created to further
streamline the process. And Nathan confirms that the desire to streamline and
optimize the process is the primary reason to bring video operations in-house.



“With an external vendor you’ll likely be spending a fair amount of time up
front trying to communicate what you’re trying to achieve and providing
context,” he explains. “An internal video team understands not just the product,
but the wider industry and the particular struggles that our clients experience.
We’re familiar with the jargon as well as the marketing messages and narrative,
while our customers provide the context.”

“Additionally, an agile in-house video team can identify opportunities and areas
where different videos or projects may overlap, and working with the same people
and teams means we’re all aligned with the business objectives.”


RUN AND GUN

Speaking of agility, Nathan’s crew takes a highly mobile approach to off-site
shoots, with a pared-down kitbag that takes its cue from ENG setups. The company
runs a small fleet of Sony FS5’s with Metabones Speedbooster ULTRA adapters.

This pairing allows them to use Canon glass—usually an f/2.8 24-70mm USM L
lens—without losing too much of the frame to the Sony camera’s 1.6x crop factor.
It also adds an extra stop, turning the f/2.8 into an f/2 lens, which can be
extremely useful when you’re shooting in a wide range of less than ideal
lighting conditions.

In order to get the best out of the FS5’s dynamic range—which, along with its
internal rotary ND filter, was one of the reasons this camera was chosen—Nathan
and the team shoot to dual SDXC cards using the camera’s S-Log 2 profile, which
requires heavy grading in post. It’s for this reason that there’s one piece of
kit that goes everywhere with them.

“The one item that goes on every shoot, regardless of size and scope, is the
Color Checker Passport,” he advises. “It’s just one of those tools that pays off
later in the editing room.” (It’s a pocket-sized color reference that lets you
quickly color correct in post, which is ideal when you’ve had to choose between
changing the camera settings or getting the shot.)

WiseTech video producers Clara Marri (right) and Charlie Loughlin run a color
check prior to shooting.

This might seem like a small detail, but it’s indicative of Nathan’s approach,
which is to give his team the support they need to do the job effectively when
they’re out in the field. “Our preference is to have two people on a shoot. We
find that it generally yields better results. But it’s not always possible and
whether it’s one or two people, it’s always a very small crew that goes out to
film.”

“It makes for a long day both physically and mentally and you have to keep your
head about you all of the time. It requires anticipating as much of the shoot as
you can, planning for anything to go wrong and rolling with whatever the day
throws at you.”

Being small can also work to their advantage, with a more agile crew being able
to move through locations and pivot to new situations, without disrupting the
operations of the clients and partners—is an important consideration when you’re
shooting in secure or dangerous operations like docks, airports, or busy
warehouses.


FIX IT IN POST

WiseTech has long been an Adobe shop, relying on all of Creative Cloud
applications to create content across the board, and Frame.io was brought in
early on to help with video production and approval across this global
organization.

WiseTech Global uses Adobe Creative Cloud to produce a wide range of video
content. Click here to view the full-size image.

But, as Nathan points out, being split between the northern and southern
hemispheres isn’t always a disadvantage, as long your lines of communication are
clearly drawn. “We put a heavy emphasis on our daily handover,” he says. “This
is the end of the US workday and the beginning of the AU workday when our time
zones overlap. It’s critical for everyone to be online, present, and
communicative, and the entire team does it fabulously.”

“We use this time to check in on project status, share opinions and feedback,
discuss any issues, adjust delivery priorities, and generally set each other up
for success. It does require some forethought and preparation, though. If your
teammate is expecting you to complete something and hand it off because their
work that day is contingent on it being completed, it’s important that it’s
ready and waiting at handover.”

The WiseTech Global video team during a handover meeting.

With miscommunication potentially leading to a day’s delay, having the right
tools to keep the workflows moving is crucial. So the team places a heavy
emphasis on the collaboration enabled by Frame.io throughout their production
workflows.


FINDING THE FLOW

Storyboards are mocked up in Illustrator, with the output uploaded to Frame.io
where the markup tools and comments are used to move the project forward.
Additionally, the video team will share narrative cuts internally for flow and
edit review before they’re passed through the final rounds of stakeholder
review.

“I think the whole team would agree that it makes the review not only possible
but painless,” Nathan enthuses. “Because we work across different time zones,
having an opportunity to sit down and go through every video together to review
isn’t feasible. Frame.io gives us a place to store all that feedback and keep
track of changes across all of our projects. If you looked at all of the
inter-team communication around projects I would say the majority of it takes
place there.”

Frame.io plays a central role in keeping WiseTech Global’s video projects
moving.

This remote-first approach also meant that the team was well-equipped to deal
with the sudden onset of Covid-19, and Nathan is particularly proud of how they
pivoted when lockdowns hit. Suddenly cut off from customers, clients, and
off-site shoots, the team switched strategy to keep the content pipeline moving.

Using a combination of smartphone and webcam footage with motion graphics—and a
very patient hand with clients and customers—the team continued to serve their
audience without compromises to message or value. And now, with the concept
proven, this approach has been folded in the team’s toolkit.

Motion graphics are created in After Effects for engaging visual concepts. Click
here for the full-size version.


CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT

While it might not compare with the team’s regular 4K production, it’s become
another option when approaching a new project. With a process that’s been
largely refined, this “low-fi” approach is still in play, particularly as it
allows them to record with anyone in the world on short notice.

That’s not to say that there isn’t always room for improvement. As the WiseTech
customer journey changes and evolves, Nathan is always looking to add automation
and process optimization—the team is currently looking at incorporating Camera
to Cloud for this very reason. The result is a constantly moving, always current
set of workflows that serve the business objectives of this
Australian-headquartered powerhouse.


FULFILLMENT

But ultimately, for Nathan, the most rewarding part of his role is seeing the
team working well together, and the element he relies on the most is simple.
“Trust is the most important component,” he reveals. “I know that the team is
bringing their all, every day, and that we’re all working to the best of our
abilities.”

And if we’re helping to keep their team connected, then that’s the most
important component for us, too.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
Enjoy the article? You'll love Frame.io, the leading collaboration and feedback
platform for professional video creators. Try it out free for your next project!



Laurence Grayson




THANK YOU TO LAURENCE GRAYSON FOR CONTRIBUTING THIS ARTICLE.

After a career spanning [mumble] years and roles that include creative lead,
video producer, tech journalist, designer, and envelope stuffer, Laurence is now
an editor for Adobe/Frame.io. This entirely unexpected turn of events has made
him extremely happy but, being British, he finds it hard to express this
emotion.
See more posts from Laurence


INTERESTED IN CONTRIBUTING?

This blog relies on people like you to step in and add your voice. Send us an
email: blog at frame.io if you have an idea for a post or want to write one
yourself.


« Editor vs. Director: What Can Editors Learn From Directors?
RED In-Camera Integrations: The Next Step in Cloud-First Productions »




Our mission is to create tactical, actionable articles that teach valuable
skills. We want to highlight the amazing work that’s being done every day in our
industry, but instead of conducting armchair interviews, we dive into the messy
details and show you how it actually works.

Want to join us?

Explore Frame.io




© 2023 Adobe. All Rights Reserved.

Made with In New York city.








Sumo
Shares