Interview with the Hongli Animation Studios | Focusing on the Digital Transformation of the Media Content Production Industry

The development in visual effects, CGI, and animation vividly showcases the creativity of talented individuals. Simultaneously, there has been an explosive growth in demand for such content. For the film and television industry, this entails a continuous increase in requirements for data transfer, management, and storage. The entire creative processes, production, and distribution infrastructure has become a critical resource.

As a major data transfer partner of Hongli Animation Studios, Raysync is pleased to invite Mr. Chen, the Director of Information Technology at Hongli Animation Studios, to share insights into the digital transformation experienced by the media content production industry.

Introduction to Shanghai Hongli Animation Studios

Shanghai Hongli Animation Studios, was established in 2017. It is a professional animation company specializing in the production of animated films, film Previs, animated series, animated shorts, VR films, television planning and production, as well as original IP, and comic development.

COLOROOM, a well-known domestic animation conglomerate under ENLIGHT MEDIA, funds Hongli Animation Studios. Together with ENLIGHT MEDIA and COLOROOM, Hongli Animation Studios is committed to creating a strategic closed-loop for animated films that integrates development, production, and promotion.

Meanwhile, as an independent entity, Hongli Animation Studios undertakes various animation projects in the market. It serves as a practitioner in developing high-end domestic animation, tirelessly striving to propel Chinese animation onto the global stage.

 

The interview brought by Raysync

Raysync: Hello, Mr. Chen! Could you please briefly introduce yourself?

Mr. Chen: My name is Chen Chong, and I am the Director of Information Technology at Hongli Animation Studios. I am primarily responsible for overseeing all IT-related matters within the company.

 

Raysync: Nowadays, the film and television production industry is experiencing a surge in media content, resulting in a considerable increase in data volume. Could you please share the reasons behind this?

Mr. Chen: Currently, the production requirements in the animation industry are becoming increasingly demanding, whether it is the pursuit of detail or image quality, the image quality has risen from the original 2K to 4K, 8K, and even 16K. As the production requirements increase, so does the amount of data. Earlier projects may have only required a few dozen terabytes of space for the final product, but now they basically all need hundreds of terabytes of space.

Raysync: Many animations are not produced independently; the production of animation may involve collaboration among multiple departments and partners worldwide. How does Hongli Animation Studios ensure quick and efficient handovers during the content production process, as well as seamless integration of data security?

Mr. Chen: We ensure quick and efficient handovers during the content production process and seamless integration of data security by utilizing our internally developed pipeline tool to package and organize the data that requires collaboration. Leveraging Raysync’s synchronization feature, we can automatically synchronize the data with our suppliers. Thanks to Raysync’s high-speed transfer mechanism, suppliers can complete data synchronization in a very short time, allowing them to commence their work quickly.

Raysync: Does Hongli Animation Studios have any international cooperation involving data transfer? Could you please share a specific project and the details of the large data transfer scenarios?

Ne Zha (2019) © Hongli Animation Studios

Jiang Zi Ya (2020) © Hongli Animation Studios

Mr. Chen: During the production of the projects "Jiang Zi Ya" and "Ne Zha", we collaborated closely with overseas suppliers. Through Raysync, we achieved the most efficient and stable cross-border data transfer.

Raysync: Have there been any challenges or issues with large data transfer among teams? How has Raysync helped to address these issues?

Mr. Chen: Each project involves collaboration with numerous suppliers, and file transfer is a core issue. There are large numbers of files, with individual file sizes reaching up to 200-300GB. The transfer methods that we used previously lacked stability and speed. However, after using Raysync, the overall efficiency of file transfer has significantly improved.

Raysync: Currently, which project has the largest data transfer needs? What is the highest transfer volume? What are the transfer frequency and volume like? How large is each transmitted file?

Jiang Zi Ya (2020) © Hongli Animation Studios

Mr. Chen: The project with the largest data transfer volume is likely the 'Jiang Zi Ya' project, with each supplier transferring approximately 100 terabytes of data. The daily transfer volume typically fluctuates around 1 terabyte. Our external bandwidth is 200 Mbps, and it is almost constantly at full capacity.

Raysync: Did you use any other transfer solutions before using Raysync?

Mr. Chen: We have tried various solutions such as FTP, private cloud, and public cloud.

Raysync: Thank you for choosing and using Raysync. Could you please evaluate the service provided by Raysync?

Mr. Chen: We have been collaborating with Raysync for about three years now, and overall, we are very satisfied with the service. It has helped us solve many problems.

About Raysync Raysync provides a one-stop file transfer acceleration solution, aiming to deliver high-performance, secure, and stable data transfer acceleration services for clients in various industries such as IT, film and television, biotechnology, and manufacturing. Traditional file transfer methods (such as FTP/HTTP/CIFS) have issues in terms of transfer speed, security, and system control. However, the Raysync file transfer solution, through independent research and development, and technological innovation, can meet clients' comprehensive needs for file transfer acceleration, transfer security, and management control. For more information, please visit Raysync’s official website: https://www.raysync.io/

Raysync: What are the future development plans for Hongli Animation Studios in the film and television production industry?

The Wind of Guardians (2018) © Hongli Animation Studios

Mr. Chen: Apart from focusing on the production and development of animated films, we are also dedicated to the production and development of CG games, anime, and other content. Additionally, we are actively developing original projects.

Ne Zha (2019) © Hongli Animation Studios

Raysync: In your opinion, what kind of cooperation is needed for the multimedia (animation) content production industry to achieve new heights in the future? In which areas is there still room for improvement?

Mr. Chen: As digital technology transforms the industry and collaborative workflows gain heightened importance, the future of production is trending toward cloud-based production environments. Fully leveraging the integration of public and private clouds will take the production of animated films to another new level. There is a need for continuous optimization and progress in aspects such as production processes and technological innovation.