Studio Suite Xi - all-in-one studio management tool

Altermedia’s Studio Suite has been a standard in studio management software for the better part of two decades, and the experience shows in their latest release, Studio Suite Xi. Designed to be the go-to platform to simplify workflows in pretty much any production environment, how does the current generation compete in an increasingly competitive space?

In a word, well.

Studio Suite Xi is definitely a case where the sum of the parts combine for a strong product overall. Designed as a complete solution for project management, scheduling, contact management, inventory tracking & equipment rental, budgeting and invoicing as well as media asset management, Studio Suite works well as a totally integrated set of applications for Windows or Mac, all under one roof.

A quick look at each of the platform’s modules should help give an idea of what Studio Suite Xi does so very well.

Project Management

This is where all of the information relating to a project is tracked, including budgeting, profit and loss, talent, set-up information and media asset management.

Scheduling

Staying organized is easy when it’s possible to view scheduled projects, studio rooms, equipment, people, and media relating to a project. Information can be viewed by month, week, or day in color-coded, traditional and linear calendar views.

Contact Management

With all of these projects so brilliantly organized, it’s going to be important to have contacts and their info ready at a moment’s notice for work. Some of the information that is stored for contacts is their past and current projects, invoices, financial history, reels, titles and a history of their communication.

Inventory Tracking/Equipment Rental

Whether just keeping track of equipment, or renting it to projects internally or externally, the inventory tracking and rental module will help keep equipment, maintenance and parts organized. Equipment cost, repair history and costs, and an integrated multi-vendor new equipment pricing tool are just a few of the abilities of the tracking and rental module.

Budgeting/Invoicing

All of this work would be for not if getting paid wasn’t part of the equation. Fortunately, the budgeting and invoicing module allows users to create, track and edit financial information, invoices, rates and work orders related to each project which exists in the projects, rates and invoices modules. It also integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks, MYOB and AccountEdge.

Media Asset Management

The media asset management module works to keep track of physical and digital media assets, and reconciles automatically based on usage in other modules, alerting users when stock is low.

All in all, Studio Suite Xi is an all-encompassing tool for studio management with a totally integrated solution for tracking, organizing, pricing and delivering projects on time and using real world budgets. With small studios racing to the bottom in terms of pricing, companies looking to be around in another five years will appreciate Altermedia’s thoughtful approach to all of the facets of project management for production encapsulated in Studio Suite Xi.

 

As a bonus, Studio Suite now has an optional web feature to allow for anywhere-access to the Studio Suite Xi tools. Current users will already have this feature, and those looking to upgrade older versions can add web access for free. Those who choose to wait until the New Year to upgrade will have to purchase web access as a $1,200 add-on.

 

Pricing for Studio Suite starts at $400 for a single user installation, $720 per year for a pro plan, and $2,160 for the large network plan.

What tools work for you and your company? Has proper budgeting and pricing allowed your small business to scale? We want to hear about it! Hit us up in the comments section, or visit us on Twitter @Videomaker