The Creators’ Cloud is Sony’s Answer to Adobe Frame.io Camera to Cloud

Sony Creators' Cloud

Sony’s Creators’ Cloud platform — originally designed for professional and enterprise users — is now open to individuals and includes cloud storage, the ability to connect with peers, and will soon support a “camera to cloud” application.

Creators’ Cloud is billed as a platform designed to support creative work from the point of capture through production. Sony says that it melds its camera technology with cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) and while it will eventually support camera-to-cloud workflows, it also already serves as a place for users to discover peers and collaborate with other creators.

“With Creators’ Cloud, we are building a unique space where content creators can blur the lines between hardware and software, online and offline,” Yang Cheng, Vice President of Imaging Solutions at Sony, says.

“We know that content creators are looking for a one-stop shop, a place that integrates their content and creative tools, allows them to share and learn from other professionals and offers business opportunities and the expansion of Creators’ Cloud is the first step in Sony’s answer to this.”

A Network of Apps

Sony positions Creators’ Cloud (not to be confused with Adobe Creative Cloud) as a suite of apps designed to make workflows easier.

But the system is not easy to digest, since it is quite disjointed and not all of the advertised services are yet available.

At present, the Creators’ Cloud platform says it includes multiple app options including cloud storage — through the Ci Media Cloud app — and Discover, a platform designed to connect creators with peers. Some tools aren’t yet available though.

As mentioned, even though the system is described as one network, each app is treated separately and has its own associated costs. For example, Ci Media Cloud does have a free version, but there are two paid tiers that cost either $15 or $49 per month.

Camera to Cloud

While Sony is advertising a suite of apps that perform various tasks, one that stands out is the promise of a camera-to-cloud system similar to the one Adobe’s Frame.io announced last year.

This camera-to-cloud interface will exist in a new app called the Creators’ App, which is the successor to the Imaging Edge Mobile Plus app. Soy says it will act as an extension of the camera and will be able to upload, view, and manage both photo and video content shot on select Sony cameras and then store those files in the cloud.

In full, the Creators’ App will allow photographers to transfer content from select Sony camera to a smartphone, allow them to upload content from the smartphone to Creators’ Cloud, view content on the smartphone and in the cloud, allow them to connect to and control select Sony cameras remotely, and give the ability to update camera and settings.

Sony clarifies that the cloud storage feature can be used with or without the upcoming Creators’ App.

“All users can upload photo and video to Creators’ Cloud via Creators’ Cloud website. While camera control and file transfer to Creators’ App will be available to limited compatible models at time of release, Alpha 7 IV and ZV-1F, all users will also be able to upload via Creators’ App upon application,” the company explains.

“Other compatibility options will be available in Spring 2023. Direct upload from select cameras to cloud will be available at a future date. With the launch of Creators’ App for individuals, ‘C3Portal App,’ a cloud gateway application currently being provided for enterprises, will be renamed as “Creators’ App for enterprise.”

Sony is targeting a launch sometime this spring. Details of all the apps and services being offered can be found on Sony’s website.


Image credits: Sony

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