Manage
Your Studio Studio Suite and Studio Files are two software options
to help get your studio more organized and profitable.
by Keith Hatschek
As most recording facilities
become centered on digital audio/video assets, organizing the growing
bank of various media files is a serious challenge. A studio management
software solution helps in that it enables quick access to files you
may have worked on weeks or months ago, long after a client has paid
his bill and headed out the door.
A second, equally important function is managing the business end
of your studio. Just keeping up with the many forms of contact a client
employs (email, cell phone, web site, land line, mailing address,
label contact info, manager’s cell phone, FTP site, MySpace,
etc.) becomes a data management exercise on its own. A software solution
can also keep track of your blank media inventory, dub orders, and
the all-important billing and payment functions that keep commercial
studios healthy.
Studio
Suite
It has been 10 years since AlterMedia’s Joel Stoner first got
hooked on using Filemaker Pro to help him stay organized as a freelance
recording engineer based in Los Angeles.
Studio
Suite's developer, engineer Joel Stoner.
How did Studio
Suite get its start?
I had a friend who introduced me to Filemaker Pro and I started playing
with the program to see what it could do in the downtime between recording
projects. I just dove in and created some new fields, starting with
what became a simple contact manager to keep track of my clients.
As I played with the program, I got to understand how relational databases
work, and see how various bits of information can be tied to each
other. Pretty soon, I had a module for creating invoices. After a
long string of all-nighters, I had the program working well enough
to where I felt other engineers or studios might find it useful. So
in early 1997, I decided to take the plunge and hired a couple of
people to help me get the product finished and out to market.
The ‘Ah ha!’ moment came when I took out an ad in Mix
magazine in September 1997 announcing the first version of Studio
Suite and I was soon flooded with phone calls. I got so busy answering
the calls, I wasn’t able to finish and ship the first version
until February 1998!
Since then we’ve gone through constant upgrades and revisions,
using customer feedback to make the program more efficient in managing
the many processes and functions that every studio needs to run smoothly.
I’m proud of the fact that we now have studios in 40 countries
using the product and that the clients range from home and hobby studios
to Fortune 100 multi-room corporate facilities.
Studio
Suite's Main Menu is the starting point for the various modules.
What Does Studio
Suite Do?
Studio Suite allows you to tie together everything involved in the
process of recording – clients, projects, invoices, equipment,
media assets, correspondence, budgets – so that you can look
at all the activity going on at your studio and sort and filter data
to keep information flowing smoothly at all times. It runs equally
well on either the Mac or PC platform (including mixed platform networks).
Each workstation requires a version of Filemaker Pro 8.5 to be running.
An example of how Studio Suite can be a help is that you can link
all the communications relating to a specific project or client in
the database. For instance, let’s say you’re working with
a client who has a lot of changes or instructions relating to the
project and those instructions may be coming in by emails attached
to MP3s of rough mixes, plus phone messages and faxes from the label.
Studio
Suite's Contact screen allows for easy input and recall of client
info including any balances due.
You can link all these
communications together to instantly pull up a continuous chronological
log so that you stay on top of the project, no matter how complicated
it might get. This includes attaching WMV or WMA, Word files with
scripts, or even Pro Tools session files for reference. Those can
be shared among your staff, which is especially helpful if more than
one engineer is working on a big job, or if a long term project may
be an on-again, off-again affair.”
I’ve been hearing from users that their clients are impressed
that the studio is doing a good job taking care of business, and this
gives the client confidence to do even more business with the studio.
Eric Janko - Triad Studios
Eric Janko is Studio Manager and Chief Engineer at Redmond, Washington’s
Triad Studios. He has been using Studio Suite since 2000.
What do you think of Studio Suite?
I’m using Studio Suite 8 now to manage the studio and it’s
a great tool. It runs on a single workstation that I use to handle
all our scheduling, invoicing, and contact management. I especially
like the features that put up a red flag if a conflict is going to
arise in your schedule, whenever an engineer, room or other gear is
double-booked. Also, you can go straight to invoicing and it will
pull up the sessions, materials, or any other items related to a project
and drop them into the invoice instantly.
A studio nearby invested in another, more expensive studio management
system. Some of the staff dropped by to check out Studio Suite here.
The system they had purchased did not allow them to look across multiple
rooms simultaneously to avoid conflicts. They made the switch to Studio
Suite shortly thereafter. Another feature I especially like is that
it will instantly tell me if a guy owes me $300 from a few years back.
The various Apple QuickKeys give me instant shortcuts to my calendar,
a recent project, or a new invoice with one click.”
Was it easy to use right out of the box?
It does have a learning curve, but it’s not too steep. You need
to be aware of your file management, just like in Pro Tools, but once
you learn the basics of any operation, it becomes very fast to use.
I wouldn’t recommend any other studio management software.
Dave Wright - Spitfire Media
We next checked in with Studio Suite user Dave Wright, President of
Spitfire Media in Santa Monica, CA, a six studio facility that specializes
in post production for music videos. Spitfire boasts a star-studded
roster of clients such as Sheryl Crow, the Pussycat Dolls, the Nirvana
family (who just wrapped the new Nirvana Live DVD), and Eminem, whose
acclaimed Curtain Call video was edited at the facility.
What do you think of Studio Suite?
We’ve been using it now for three years and our staff has come
to rely on the program as an important part of how we operate. We
actually started off hiring a software developer to write a program
to help us manage the studio functions, but part way through that
process, we heard about Studio Suite and dropped the development project
like a hot potato.
Studio Suite offered all that we had hoped to develop in our own software
and then some. For instance, I use it for tax planning purposes, to
keep up with where we are at financially, and for profit and loss
tracking. I can quickly check where we stand with our inventory, too.
It does a fabulous job of giving me the information I need with just
a few clicks.
Once we’ve input the basic information for a new client, we’ll
use the program to schedule all their work, and to track their elements
in and out of the studio. That’s critical for us as we normally
have about 3,000 client masters in house, so it would be tough to
track them on paper. We use the bar coding feature and that allows
us to very quickly identify a tape and to determine if we have it
in house. It’s been a life saver. For instance, we do spot TV
campaigns where there are very subtle differences between various
versions of a commercial. The bar coding system instantly identifies
the proper version, so it gives my staff a built in safety net.
Studio Suite is networked across the entire facility. We have eight
users on the system daily. I had used a custom studio management program
at another company before we started Spitfire, and to me Studio Suite
is much more intuitive and easy to understand.
Would you recommend Studio Suite?
Absolutely. The program pays for itself in the first year of operations
or less. Even if you are a one- or two-man operation, trying to keep
things going without a system like Studio Suite is not an option,
in my opinion. An application like File Maker is very robust and has
a well-established pool of developers using it, which gives me a lot
more peace of mind as a facility owner, rather than relying on custom
code that may have been written by one person.
Studio
Files
Multi-talented
software developer, engineer, producer, and bassist Itai Shimron.
Itai Shimron is the developer
of Studio Files, a PC-based application for studio management. Itai
had his own studio in Israel for many years, where he produced and
arranged for a variety of clients. When he moved to the US, he got
involved in software development, and remembering his experience managing
his own studio, wondered why there wasn’t a simple, affordable
studio management program. So in 2001, he set to work developing what
has grown into Studio Files. Studio Files requires no other program
besides the Windows OS (9.x, 200, 2003 and XP) to run.
How did Studio Files get its start?
When I started to think about the program I would have liked for my
own studio, I wanted it to be very simple, with most functions available
with one click. As home recording has gotten more and more affordable,
you don’t need a lot of money to start a studio, but it still
helps to be organized. In late 2002, Studio Files 1.06 was released.
Since that time, its users have provided me with lots of feedback
on what they like in the program and what they would like to see improved
or added. Good software is always evolving, especially if you are
listening to the people who are using it every day! That has led to
two more major revisions including today’s version 3.
Studio
Files Booking page.
I decided that my program
would have an internal database engine because when I looked at other
studio management systems that used programs such a Filemaker, I felt
the user interface was cumbersome with so many pop ups. I also felt
that there were too many routines to learn for some of the basic functions.
For a one-person studio operation, I thought this might be a little
intimidating.
How does Studio
Files work?
There are three main parts to Studio Files: the booking tool, a contact
manager, and the invoice module. The goal is to provide project management
in terms of overall data and general information on clients and their
projects. You can easily document all sessions and the musicians,
engineers, producer, gear used, etc. This data can then be converted
into invoices. I wanted that process to be like using a software wizard,
where you could search by client or project by clicking once and get
an invoice. I kept telling myself that this program had to be quick
and intuitive, that it could be operated on the fly, even during a
session.
Invoices
can be created with minimal clicks.
That’s what led
me to develop another module that I call the Media Scanner, because
in real time during a session, things can change and you have to be
able to react quickly. For instance, let’s say you have an internal
library, say of sound effects or loops that you like to use. This
could include any media resources such as MP3, WAV, AVI, MPEG files,
etc. Once they are in your computer and named, you can specify a location
such as a folder to be scanned and with one click all media files
that fit the specified filter are located (including those in subfolders)
and added to your currently selected library. It really speeds up
locating and accessing specific files that you need ongoing access
to, for instance a loop library. You can audition any of them via
the internal player, then grab and use them.
Is there anything
new in the works?
A network-capable version of Studio Files is in the works, based on
interest from a number of larger, multi-room studio operations. It
will have much more sophisticated functions and operation and carry
a proportionally larger price, since it will be directed at larger
studios that have greater needs. But it will cost less than developing
custom software on their own.
Mark Tomlinson - One Love Productions
Mark Tomlinson of One Love Productions in Oviedo, Florida has been
using Studio Files for six months.
The
Media Scanner provides an easy way to link and create custom
media libraries for whatever project you are doing.
What do you find
most useful using Studio Files?
The tools for managing projects, keeping track of my clients, the
booking diary module, and the ability to organize media resources
into structured libraries. I’m so much more organized now than
I was before.
In the past, trying to remember which files went with which client
was a challenge, but Studio Files allows me to link session files
directly to each client, so that problem has been eliminated completely.
The program competes very handily with other, more expensive software.
It’s been a very good investment.
Dennis Grell - Gardenhouse
Studio
Over in Germany, Dennis Grell of Gardenhouse Studio has been managing
his business for two years with Studio Files. Dennis and his associate
Christian Haselbauer operate two studios, one in Hamburg, the other
in Lubeck. Dennis runs Studio Files on a notebook computer, allowing
his studio data to travel with him wherever he goes.
What do you like about Studio Files?
One of the features I like is the integration between the various
modules. It’s very easy to understand and link clients, data,
and projects together.
For instance, a while back, I did a series of demo recordings with
a German rock band to prepare for the upcoming album sessions, which
were about six months away. We liked some of the sounds and set ups
we had, so when it came time to do the album, I was able to recall
each detail of the set up, including the microphones I selected, amps,
instruments, outboard gear, etc. And all this without the need for
paper or pencil! I use Studio Files every day and I have to say that
it’s the ultimate tool to organize your studio work.
Hal Singer - Singers Production
Music Lab
Hal has been running Studio Files in his Las Vegas studio for nine
months.
What do you think of Studio Files?
At the outset, it seemed difficult to figure out just how to use the
cross indexing of clients and projects, so that all the data inputs
such as client, engineer, producer, director, session notes, etc.,
would be reflected within the corresponding files. But as we used
it more, we got to understand it better and it became much easier
to use. We’re running it on one workstation now mostly for record
keeping and invoicing. Being able to quickly see every client’s
payment history is handy, whether it’s at the end of a session,
or when someone calls to book another date. We can quickly check if
they have a balance due.
One of the most useful things is the way we can track our equipment
and our supplies inventory. It makes figuring out when we need to
order more supplies very simple. We haven’t started to use the
Library module to track the client session files, but I’m sure
it will be very useful when we do. For a small recording studio like
ours, it’s proven to be a good investment. I would recommend
it to any other studio owner who wants to start keeping proper records
of what you are doing.
Studio
Suite – www.studiosuite.com Studio Suite 8 retails for $499 if you already have Filemaker
Pro 8.5, or for $749, you can get a bundle with both Studio Suite
and Filemaker Pro. Additional seats are $199 each (each requires its
own Filemaker app running on that workstation) and there is now a
plug-in allowing you to import invoices directly into QuickBooks for
$199. That plug in is only available for the PC version. You can download
a free demo or view a video that walks you through the various features
and options (and there are a lot of them!) at www.studiosuite.com.
Studio Files – www.studiofiles.com Since Itai’s target market is the DIY home studio, he decided
to price his program at $98, making it easy for any studio to afford.
The program is available for a free 30-day trial period as shareware
at the Studio Files web site. After you have demoed it, if you like
Studio Files, you register the software by paying $98.
