How to Transfer Large Media Files Globally

Having the ability to transfer large files over the internet is an essential tool for all video, audio, and graphic designers who wish to build their business and literally work with clients on a global scale. Being able to deliver gig sized files and folers across continents and oceans via the internet saves time and money and makes geography a non-issue, allowing me personally to work with producers in the UK, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Egypt, and Dubai as easily as folks in my own neighborhood. While transferring large files is certainly not a novel idea, it seems that there are different methods used by producers/editors and a quick run down of the best methods is in order.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol): A surprising number of producers I work with do not use FTP, thinking it is some sort of difficult skill or mysterious method of transferring files. FTP, simply put, is a method for transferring data between computers via the Internet. Every website has a dedicated server which stores the data used for that website. Using a FTP software, such as SimpleFTP (my preferred software due to ease of use) or Fetch, users provide a host name, user name, and password which gives them access to a specific server. Once access is gained, with the click of a button one can upload or download files to the client. If a client wants to know if you use FTP just say that you can even if you don't quite yet. Its simply a matter of downloading free or cheap FTP software such as SimpleFTP ($15 last time I checked), getting their FTP info, and logging in. This method is the best for transferring files because the only limit to file size is the allowed gigs on the website's server.

URL Links: If you have the above mentioned access to an FTP server, you can upload a .mov file, for example, onto your server and provide a URL which your client can then right click and download. For example, a file named "movie.mov" placed on your FTP folder in a folder named "clients" would have the URL of "http:// www.yourwebsite.com/clients/movie.mov"

Pando: Though you may not have heard of Pando, you should check it out as an easy method for "emailing" files up to one Gig in size to clients. Pando is a peer to peer (P2P ) software that allows the transfer and downloading of large media files. This software takes less than a minute to install, is free, and can be found at www.pando.com. Both you and the recipient need the software installed and this allows you to essentially "email" large files. There are no links to click on, one simply opens the Pando notification and the file begins downloading. Ease of use and consistency makes Pando the easiest method aside from FTP that I've found to quickly transfer large files.

YouSendIt: This free service allows users to upload single files up to 100 MB and then provides a link for downloading. Service plans allowing the uploading of larger files, multiple files, and folders run from $9 a month to $99 per month.

If you use any of the above methods then clearly geography is no longer a matter for your business. If you don't yet, any of these methods work well and I highly suggest becoming skilled at most, if not all, of them.

Music composer and sound designer Adam A. Johnson owns music company Architect of Sound at www.architectofsound.com, online sound effect and production music library www.sfxsource.com, and offers free sfx and music loops at www.freesoundeffectsandloops.com