Cloud Pod Setup on Mac

Hello everyone,

I recently got a Cloud Pod from one of my client to set up in my home and plug few drives in it.
I'm not particularly knowledgeable of IT and overall network connection and I thought this was going to be a bit more 'plug & play' (which it isn't) and the manual itself not very clear - I'm surprised none did a Youtube tutorial...anyway...

How do I set up the Cloud Pod in a way that I can access the drives remotely? I'm pretty sure it should be possible right? Let's say I have the Pod setup in New York, can I access it from London?

Or you MUST be into the same network (ethernet or wifi) in order to access?

THANK YOU!

I think you are expecting something it's not made for.
- A Cloud Pod is not needed for long distance collaboration, even if it can be useful.
- Setting up the Cloud Pod should be as plug-in-n-play as it gets.

The Pod is basically made to distribute camera footage over a local network, both for PC or Mac. A computer could do the same, but the Pod is cheaper, smaller and needs less energy.
It needs to be connected to your local network by Ethernet, since it has no WiFi. Once connected, it should be accessible from computers by Ethernet or WiFi if it is connected to a router that bridges between Ethernet and WiFi (which is normally the case).

So, just connect it to a free Ethernet port on your router and then look for it under the "Go To…" menu by "Connect to Server". It should show up there.

It will not by itself distribute footage over long distances if you don't have an extremely fast connection on both sides. For that you'll need a DropBox or Google Drive account, a BM project server account, generate proxies, and get into collaboration mode in DR. That's explained pretty well in the manual.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask.

This article of mine might be helpful (use DeepL for translation):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/st3uoqcpj04y4 ... r.pdf?dl=0

Thank you for clarifying!

I thought it was going to be very hand to be possible to access the pod remotely (to grab some assets, or clips, or anything manageable over wifi) I don't know why I thought it would be possible.
Maybe something it can be achieved with some third-party app?

As I already wrote, you can connect the Cloud Pod to a router that is bridging between Ethernet and WiFi and then access clips by WLAN.
But that still applies to a local network, not WAN (like between New York and London).

Not quite correct Uli. The cloud pod is designed to also sync with cloud storage, to provide access across “other geographic locations”.
The Cloud pod file access just not as direct as a dedicated VNC server.

To be sure BMD marketing could have been a little more explicit about the limitations, and intended use case scenarios, for those editors whose focus to date has been one man bands lacking the support of a skilled IT department.

Personally, I think BMD missed a golden opportunity to provide a more useful solution to all the new Mac users on m1 pro/Mac. A cloud pod, with thunderbolt direct connection to MacBook Pros providing 10G networking and usb-c breakout, and local network project management as a package would be far more useful. Especially if it also provided a free NVMe slot.
All of which are entirely doable at the price point of the cloud pod.
This unrealised alternative would solve one of the most glaring shortcomings of the present market, the dearth of available (in stock) thunderbolt NVMe and 10G devices post covid.


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Not quite correct Uli. The cloud pod is designed to also sync with cloud storage, to provide access across “other geographic locations”.

You are right, I was not precise enough. It can sync full quality originals to a cloud storage too, but as I wrote in my first post, you'd need very fast connections (and a huge cloud).

Yep, exactly, and those fast Wan connections (beyond 1GB/s) are harder to achieve than one might imagine given all the hype.


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I am late to the party on this one. I think that Blackmagic's original goal was to make this easy, so that you did not need anyone with technical knowledge to use it. You plug in the Cloud Pod, you plug in your thunderbolt drive, it just mounts on your computer, and you have it sync to DropBox (and now Google Drive). But the assumptions of those not familiar with this product (nor have any interest in actually reading about this product, or studying the manuals) - simply make assumptions. Like "the internet is fast" and "I can edit directly over the internet using a Cloud Pod". Because I deal with shared storage system for video editors all day long, I am always amazed at the surprise of countless editors, that they can't edit from any shared storage solution directly over the internet using full res media. They don't know about Lucid Link or Hedge PostLab Drive, they don't know about proxy workflow, they don't know the difference between a WiFi and a 10G connection - nor do they want to know. They just want it to work, and be easy.

Maybe one day, we will all have true dedicated 10G lines to our homes and businesses, and maybe one day, Blackmagic (and others) will host a server repository that can hold all of our full res 8K - 12K media, so we can edit directly from this on line storage (and of course, these users want free unlimited storage !) - but the reality is, is that just like with Davinci Resolve, just like a large ATEM switcher, just like with the Ultimate, or Fusion, or countless other products - from both Blackmagic and every other company that competes with them - NONE OF THIS IS EASY. There will always be an education process, and there will always be those who will complain, because they are simply not willing to learn. (Why can't I just push the "edit" button, and have Resolve edit my entire show for me".

Bob

Amen, bro.

For me it is pretty simple. If you see the words "Dropbox" or "Google Drive" in a description, that should tell you right away how this works. If you have either of those, you should know, that you have to sync the files (upload and download them) to all the boxes you want to work with. And if you think uploading and downloading TBs of footage is going to happen quickly just because you plugged some other device into your network, then you aren't thinking about the process very well.

I can see a Cloud Pod Pro being released in a few months with TB4 interfaces both for direct access as well as for external drives.

I can see a Cloud Pod Pro being released in a few months with TB4 interfaces both for direct access as well as for external drives.

If you meant external drives to be remote drives then keep in mind your weakest link is your connectivity to the internet.

I meant that with todays 5Gb/s usb-c for drives is slow in comparison with the 10Gbit/s network connectivity. It’s ok for remote syncing etc.
But if BMD was to add a faster drive interface like TB4 with USB-4 with a TB4 hub functionality to also enable direct connection for local editing.
The performance would increase, over LAN as well as during syncing. But the Cloud pod would also enable a wicked fast connection for a main editor locally.

I’m just looking at what is within BMDs reach for the device and extrapolate on how they have iterated their products with added Pro-models.

I can see a Cloud Pod Pro being released in a few months with TB4 interfaces both for direct access as well as for external drives.

If you meant external drives to be remote drives then keep in mind your weakest link is your connectivity to the internet.