Configuration

When exporting or importing scenes between Harmony and remote users, two modes are available:

These are configured in Producer General Settings > Harmony Integration.

Using a shared Exchange Folder

In this configuration, all scenes export and import packages are saved to a folder (the “Exchange” folder) which is synchronized between Harmony server and the remote users.

This exchange folder can be a shared network drive (using a standard network protocol such as smb, preferably over a Virtual Private Network), or using a Cloud storage and synchronization solution (such as Google Drive, DropBox…).

NOTE In this configuration, the responsibility of transferring / synchronizing the files is delegated to an external service.

Harmony Server Exchange Folder: This folder contains all files being exported from or imported into Harmony Database. It contains subfolders with the Harmony usernames of the people exporting and importing scenes (username/exported/ and username/importing). These subfolders will need to be shared and mounted locally for each remote user.

This folder exists by default in /USA_DB/exchange, but can be changed to any other folder by setting the -exchange option in WebCC. It may be shared directly with the remote users, or synchronized to a Cloud storage.

Cloud Exchange Folder: When working with an external Cloud storage, this folder contains all imported and exported scenes. It is mounted by both the studio and the remote users (any user need only mount their own dedicated folder).

Local Offline Folder: This is where exported database scenes are decompressed and stored on the remote user’s machine.

To use this configuration set Offline Scenes to Shared Exchange in General Settings > Harmony Integration.

Direct File Sharing

In this configuration, folders are shared directly from the Studio’s filesystem, using standard file sharing mechanisms (such as smb).

  • The Scene Exchange folder for exported/imported scenes is by default located under /USA_DB/exchange. You may consider changing it to a location outside of the /USA_DB folder. Remote users shall then mount this remote folder on their machine.

  • Harmony assets library is located by default under /USA_DB/library/assets. Likewise, you may consider creating an alternate assets library folder in order to share it with remote users. A workspace shall be added in WebCC’s workspaces.json file. Remote users shall mount that folder on their machine and add a workspace pointing to that folder in Producer Link Settings. This is only necessary when working with Asset Snapshot Scripts.

Cloud File Sharing

Shared cloud storage solutions can be leveraged to implement the exchange mechanism between the studio and the remote users. This setup is suitable for organizations which cannot share their internal filesystems, or who are already using a Cloud storage solution as part of their pipeline.

We use Google Drive as an example of how Cloud File sharing may be configured. Other Cloud solutions such as Dropbox or Microsoft suite may be used.

A Google Drive application is installed on both WebCC’s side and remote users.

The Harmony server exchange folder needs to be prepared and configured so that remote users can synchronize their exported scenes and files via a cloud service. By default, this exchange folder is located on the Harmony file system under /USA_DB/exchange. This is where all exported and imported scenes will be temporarily stored for every Harmony user.

The default location of the exchange folder can be customized when launching the WebCC service with the option -exchange “/path/to/exchange folder”.

Once the Harmony server and WebCC are up and running, it is now time to synchronize the content of the exchange folder with a cloud service.

Once the above is completed, you should look into configuring Producer Link to work remotely on a Harmony Database .

  • Exchange Cloud Folder/ for exchanging scene contents

  • Cloud Assets folder for asset templates upload

Using Direct WebCC Connection

In this configuration, scenes are exported and imported by downloading or uploading directly from or to WebCC.

To use this configuration set Offline Scenes to Direct WebCC Connection along WebCC Url in General Settings > Harmony Integration.

Offline Scenes Direct WebCC Connection
WebCC Url Specify the url address of WebCC. This address must be accessible to the users working remotely, and it is highly recommended that it is used through a Virtual Private Network.

WebCC must be accessible to the remote users through a secure channel (VPN).

As the responsibility of transferring the files is WebCC’s, it may require a more robust configuration to handle the additional load.