Aspera Files Setup: Production-Side

Please be aware that some information in this article may be inaccurate or out of date as we work to update it to be in line with our tools' latest functionality. Thank you for your patience as we update our documentation portal.

Introduction

This document will walk through what is necessary to set up Aspera Files for the [RE]DESIGN ShotGrid Studio Workflow. 

Here is what is needed to prepare:

• Set up Aspera on Cloud Files
• Set up Users in AoC
• Configure the Create Delivery / Create Submission Aspera Files tab

Cloud Directory Setup

Aspera on Cloud's Files setup treats the cloud storage as a standard file structure, and our tools will upload and download to a predefined folder structure. This should not be the same directories which are used for any manual AoC Files storage.

We ask that the production create a vendor setup for [RE]DESIGN to test the automated tools. See below for user details.

Here are two structures which we have found successful. Note that the non-"sg" folders are entirely optional - if Aspera's Files setup isn't being used for the production then you only need the "sg" setup.

Option 1

• MyProject_Workspace
  • Vendors [optional]
    • VendorOne [shared directory]
      • from_VendorOne
      • to_VendorOne
  • sg_Deliveries
    • sg_MYP_VendorOne [shared directory]

This structure allows the manual and automated directories to live side-by-side at the top of the Workspace. Neither the production nor the vendors will generally go into the sg_Deliveries folders as all uploads and downloads happen automatically.

This setup supports using a system like Aspera Drive which can be synced to the Vendors directory but not the sg_Deliveries directory.

Note: we recommend having the shared directory for our tools be unique for the entire Aspera node across all projects, so including the project code in the name of the directory.

Option 2

• MyProject_Workspace
  • Vendors
    • VendorOne [shared directory]
      • from_VendorOne
      • sg_MYP_VendorOne [shared directory]
      • to_VendorOne

This allows the [RE]DESIGN ShotGrid directories to live inside an existing structure. This has the advantage of being more organized, but the disadvantage of being a little less clear which folders to use manually and is not compatible with Aspera's syncing tools like Drive or Cargo as our directories would get double-downloaded.

Note: we recommend having the shared directory for our tools be unique for the entire Aspera node across all projects, so including the project code in the name of the directory.

Aspera on Cloud Users

Note that this is directly tied to each Studio's Aspera on Cloud setup. Every Studio does it differently, and please reach out to your Aspera team to determine how best to add users. Some will require Groups, some will configure Groups for you; some will only require Users; some will let you configure your own Users.

In addition, some productions will have users be Workspace Members; others will have them be Collaborators only. Please speak to your Studio's Aspera management team for specifics for your show.

Our tools require that we know whether users are added as Workspace Members or only as Collaborators with only shared folder access. Please let us know how you are setting up users.

[RE]DESIGN users

We ask that productions add two users to the Aspera setup for testing and maintenance purposes:

• ReDesign ShotGrid - [e-mail] - this user should be configured as a vendor, with access granted to the shared vendor folder created for [RE]DESIGN testing above.
• [RE]DESIGN lead - please add the lead from [RE]DESIGN who is working with you as the equivalent of a production user.

With the two accounts, [RE]DESIGN can test both the sending and downloading of files through Aspera on Cloud.

Users must be given access to the shared sg_ folder which stores the files. This can be done by directly in the shared folder settings in the Files itself; many seem to prefer to add users to Groups and add the Group itself to the folder.

Aspera User Setup

Files are transferred through the Vendor Submission and Upload Submission Apps. These tools are launched through SG Desktop. For the Vendor Submission app, please look here. 

Production users will be asked to log in to Aspera in the Ingest Queue the first time they receive a delivery. Please fill out the form with all the requested information. The values can be changed later by clicking the gear icon in the Ingest Queue app. 

See the Aspera Files section of Vendor Submission Transfer Methods for details.

Studio-Side Setup

This section is for REFERENCE ONLY and is not configured by production users, only for Aspera Admins. It is generally done as part of the standard Studio setup and does not need to be requested by production users. For those studios, [RE]DESIGN already has the keys and will provide them to the production.

The API setup is used by our tools to connect to Aspera.

Some administrators prefer to set up one API client for all [RE]DESIGN projects, while others prefer to set up one for every production. 

The Client ID and Client Secret need to be given to [RE]DESIGN, the production's asset team, and to any vendors using the [RE]DESIGN tools.

In addition, users need to be added as Client Users to the JSON Web Token Auth section fo the Integration.

Note The Enable AoC administrators to retrieve... section is optional.