File delivery...

Hey all!

The place I work has started doing a fair bit of digital delivery for clients, things like mixes/roughs/this-is-what-you-got done-today files. We find it easier than handing out CDs, and means all the band can get access to it nice and quickly.

However, uploading and file managing is a pain in the neck! Just now we're using our isp's backend systems to handle all this, and it only allows one file to be uploaded at a time... Im just wondering what other people are using if they're doing things like this?

Thanks,

Mo

You could set up a ftp server, you need a pc that is always connected to the internet and some basic ftp server software, so your clients can login and download stuff.

http://www.crushftp.com/

Great Product and affordable.  Your clients won't need to use client software to access it.  They just use a login page via their usual web browser. However, if half of your clients are as goddamn stupid as mine, they'll find a way to screw up their respective folders. 

https://www.dropbox.com/ could perhaps work

I use yousendit pro. It's $10 per month. I find it's the easiest for clients. Just click on the link in the automated email notification to download. You can send a dropbox link for them to upload files in a browser. I've never had anyone say they were confused.

I'm not very computer savy so maintaining a server is about the last thing I want to do, or hire someone to do it.

eskimo said:

https://www.dropbox.com/ could perhaps work

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I despise Dropbox for a whole host of reasons, it's really badly implemented IMHO.  I was forced to use it by a couple of clients.

Gold said:

I use yousendit pro. It's $10 per month. I find it's the easiest for clients.

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I find the same.  Yousendit is my choice too, works well and never had any hassle from clients.

Cheers,
Ruairi

Hi!

Yeah, I've had a look at both Dropbox and Yousendit... Dropbox looks useful, but miles off what Im looking for for this! Yousendit is closer though... FTPing is less automated than I would like, although Im working on something to get that where I'd like it to be...

Mo

ruairioflaherty said:

I despise Dropbox for a whole host of reasons, it's really badly implemented IMHO.  I was forced to use it by a couple of clients.

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Very much so... cute site, good idea, BAD implementation.. reuploads gigabytes of files everytime it can, for simple operations like "move"...

Wetransfer.com, free and just as good or better than yousendit

benlindell said:

Wetransfer.com, free and just as good or better than yousendit

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+1! Faster upload than any other file delivery service I ever used.

/Dave

I use yousend it to send files to our producer while we were working on our first album.

Rafael

+1 for yousendit pro, but it's a bit    S  L  O  W  .....

MM

I use sendspace, they have a free app to upload stuff which make things really easy. (no need to use a browser)

for over 500mb wav files I use soundcloud and make it private.

I just dump everything on my site at godaddy and give links. It is very fast.

John

If you have a server you can look into this software: http://www.ppsd2.com/index.php

Its a password protection software that secures folders on your server.  Passwords are issued and you can control who gets access to what folders where their digital content is placed.  It also has other functions like management tools.  At 500 bucks you might find it too expensive for your needs.  The set up takes a couple of hours but its quite functional from there.  Also there are other options like payment gateways to paypal and merchant services so you can also except credit cards if you dont already.

Like I said it may be a bit expensive but there are no monthly payments and you only limited to the space you have on your server.

BTW I usually forgo the PPSD2 system and use yousendit free version for the majority of my submissions.

craptical said:

benlindell said:

Wetransfer.com, free and just as good or better than yousendit

Click to expand...

+1! Faster upload than any other file delivery service I ever used.

/Dave

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up guys, gonna try this tonight on a project.

Cheers,
Ruairi

Cool, that looks ideal for my purposes! Not sure I have $500 to spare on it, but It seems to point me in a direction for working with my current FTP stuff, and the backend of the new website (my colleage is a bit of a digital wizard, and is looking for good ways to implement our upload and distribution of files...)

unfortunately yousendit etc don't seen to be very integratable...

I think a local linux file server is ideal. You can access it (quickly) from your LAN via NFS or SMB so that you mount the remote drive and just transfer files across.

Remote access via ftp (or even better, SSH) is easy or you can go a step further with one of the popular CMS systems and setup users and groups for email notifications and easy download.

It may be a hassle to dive in and learn but it's pretty DIY friendly if you don't mind. There are many ways to customize a linux server for your needs. I have also considered using subversion to sync projects across various workstations.

It's on my project list to work on this and repurpose an older desktop machine with several TB of storage. In the meantime I have been using box.net for a couple projects.

Cheers,
jonathan

ruairioflaherty said:

craptical said:

benlindell said:

Wetransfer.com, free and just as good or better than yousendit

Click to expand...

+1! Faster upload than any other file delivery service I ever used.

/Dave

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up guys, gonna try this tonight on a project.

Cheers,
Ruairi

Click to expand...

I tried Wetransfer last night, worked well.  Nice quick upload even on my glacial connection.  Yousendit are doing a special offer on Pro at the moment but if not I'd be tempted.

Cheers,
Ruairi