Shotgun Software announced the release of Shotgun 5.3, featuring a new integrated Shotgun Client Review Site. This toolset enables creative companies to share media with clients or anyone outside the studio securely through free, unlimited client accounts. All client feedback is automatically tracked and recorded in Shotgun.
“Shotgun with the Client Review Site is the best of both worlds. We have exactly what we want with shot tracking and exactly what we want with client review,” said VFX producer Mike Gaines, who beta tested the Shotgun Client Review Site in production on multiple episodic TV shows. ”Being able to have both in the same workflow, so that the client can give us a note, [the information] goes automatically into the Shotgun database, is the perfect synergy of those two things.”
The Shotgun browser allows the user to add media to a playlist and share it using the Shotgun Media tool. The playlist is published directly to a secure page of the studio’s site designed specifically for client presentations.
The client gets an email featuring the studios branding and a link to access the playlist, which they can view from their desktop or mobile device. They see a simple layout and can comment with notes or even draw directly on the frames. Work can be shared to as many clients as needed via unlimited free client accounts.
The studio is notified as soon as the client makes a comment. Client notes and annotated frames come right back into Shotgun automatically, linked and addressed to the right people, with permission options in place for who can see them so feedback can be clarified before it hits the production floor.
“Our focus is to remove the friction that keeps production from moving as fast as possible and it was clear that studios reviewing work with their clients was a labor intensive and frustrating bottleneck,” said Shotgun CEO Don Parker. “The Shotgun Client Review Site turns that time-consuming process into a single click, helping studios speed up their iteration cycles with their clients.”
In addition to the Client Review Site, Shotgun 5.3 delivers Playlist Locking to help prevent unexpected changes to the playlist, as well as UI and performance enhancements to the Screening Room web player. An updated frame/time remaining counter and audio mute button, and re-orientation of action menus to the timeline provide more fluid usability while progressive media loading and enhanced buffering deliver faster playback in the browser.
