Nara shows new features at MPTS including analytics tools, real-time transcoding capabilities, a smart project management feature, plus tools for notes and comments to aid collaboration.
New features are coming to Nara, FilmLight’s software support for post production teams who need to work with large media files. The updates include new analytics tools, real-time transcoding capabilities, a smart project management feature, as well as tools for notes and comments to aid collaboration across teams and departments.
Nara helps creatives working with large files to handle the media more efficiently. It has instant search tools, and the ability to accurately stream any media file without monopolising bandwidth, irrespective of encoding or format. Users can share and collaborate on the media at hand, without having to add steps and put resources into transforming or compressing it first, saving facilities time and money in the creative process.
“Nara is a relatively young solution and we are committed to working closely with our customers to add new features that improve daily operations and efficiency,” said Sam Lempp, Nara’s Head of Business Development. “These recent tools and features have been developed in response to feedback and requests from the Nara user base.”
Analytics
Through a new Analytics feature, Nara gives users a more natural, direct way to understand and manage storage devices. It visualises a detailed overview of its users’ systems, revealing directory size, file age, volume capacity and storage distribution by file type, and other insights. Whether users are trying to locate large files, clear out unused data, or keep track of disk usage over a time period, Nara equips them with the relevant information. The details are displayed in a visual interface that adapts to browsing location and displays dynamic graphs and contextual data in real time.
Client Review
Nara now has Secure Client Review, a feature that can be used to stream media directly to clients, secured and guaranteed to be accurate. It includes enterprise-grade encryption and access controls to protect sensitive content. Security aside, Nara’s streaming technology focusses on colour reproduction and frame-accurate playback, so clients can see exactly what is intended. To facilitate review feedback and communication, clients can leave time-coded notes and comments directly on the media.
The update’s Project Management feature gives a unified view across all storage locations. Media instantly becomes accessible and searchable from a single interface, and the platform's organisation system makes files straightforward to locate and manage, regardless of where they're stored.
Team Permissions
Admin users have comprehensive control over team permissions that allow them to set granular project access levels for team members, and enable or disable specific features based on user roles. They can configure custom workflows and permissions for different teams, and set custom colour pipelines on a project level with media rules – ACES, ARRI, RED and T-CAM v3.
Flexibility in Deliverables
One of Nara’s most powerful new features is Consolidate and Transcode. Nara can now transcode any of its supported media files into the users’ desired format, and has a render engine supporting exporting to over 130 codecs and formats. The aim is to give users ample flexibility in deliverables. Although these may range from web-optimised files to broadcast-ready formats or specialised codecs, the system handles conversion efficiently while maintaining image quality standards.
Timestamped Notes for Technical and Creative Feedback
Nara has also added a Notes and Comments feature that supports robust team collaboration through detailed timecode and shot-based commenting. Users can add timestamped notes, technical feedback and creative suggestions directly on shots within their projects. It also includes integration features specifically for Baselight users, enabling team members to interact with their colourists within Baselight projects in real-time
All of the notes and comments are automatically organised into playlists, leaving a record of tracked feedback that prevents important notes and decisions from getting lost. Any project user can instantly access these playlists.
The new Nara features will be rolled out worldwide shortly. It will be on display at MPTS 2025, held in London 14-15 May. Nara’s Sam Lempp and Molinare’s CTO Darren Woolfson will give a talk in the post production theatre on 14 May discussing the importance of efficiency in post workflows. nara.stream
