Creator Spotlights

Lola VFX: Safeguarding High-Profile IP While Slashing Offload Times

In high-volume, high-stakes visual effects workflows, Lola Visual Effects found a way to dramatically reduce data wrangling hours while ensuring their sensitive footage stays safe from ingest to vfx. With iodyne Pro Data, they’ve cut offload times by a third, secured all assets with hardware encryption, and left the stacks of old hard drives behind—finally getting peace of mind and a few more hours of sleep.

Pioneers in On-Screen Transformation

Lola Visual Effects is no stranger to Hollywood magic. Known for seamlessly altering the on-screen appearance of actors, they’ve been the go-to team for groundbreaking de-aging work and facial performance projection. Their patented system, nicknamed “the Egg,” lets them map hero performances onto body doubles, with precision that holds up on the biggest screens. If you’ve seen a Marvel movie in the past decade, chances are you’ve seen Lola’s work.

The Challenge: Massive Data and Tight Turnarounds

On a typical shoot day, Lola operates a fleet of eight RED cameras capturing 6K footageand six Sony cameras shooting in 4K—all at 48 frames per second. That’s twice the standard frame rate, and a mountain of uncompressed high-res footage. A single day can easily generate 14 to 18 terabytesof raw data.

The Solution: Speed + Form Factor + Security in One Sleek Device

With iodyne Pro Data, the team now completes offloads in 1–2 hours—a 3x speed improvement, thanks to sustained 5GB/s throughput. 
Three times faster, third of the footprint.

And size matters. Instead of hauling around bulky Pelican cases packed with spinning drives, the team can rely on compact, silent, encrypted Pro Data units that look more like laptops than servers.

It’s small. It’s sleek. It’s encrypted. As soon as we’re done shooting and I put the data on here, no one else is going to get to it,” says Lola VFX’s Edson Williams.

That peace of mind didn’t exist with legacy systems. A “stack of hard drives” offers no security—and plenty of stress. With Pro Data, Lola knows their work is protected by end-to-end hardware encryption, without adding complexity or slowing down transfer speeds.

The Result: Less Time Wrangling, More Time Creating

Since switching to iodyne, Lola’s data pipeline is faster, simpler, and more secure. Long offload nights are now handled in a fraction of the time, reducing post-shoot downtime.
 
In an industry where lost footage or delays can cost studios millions, iodyne Pro Data gives Lola the performance edge and reliability they need—without compromise.
“We save time, we get sleep, and it goes into an encrypted system that we trust.”

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Frequently Asked Questions

How does Lola VFX protect high-profile intellectual property on productions?

Lola VFX uses Iodyne Pro Data as part of a secure, controlled data workflow that ensures sensitive footage and assets never leave an auditable chain of custody. Fast offloads and RAID protection mean IP is secured quickly without compromising the pace of production.

Why is data security important for VFX studios working on major films?

VFX studios working on high-profile productions handle unreleased footage and confidential IP that studios must protect from leaks. Secure, fast storage solutions that keep data within a controlled workflow are essential for maintaining the trust of major studio clients.

How did Iodyne Pro Data reduce offload times for Lola VFX?

Lola VFX significantly reduced offload times by adopting Iodyne Pro Data’s high-speed transfer capabilities. Faster offloads meant less time waiting for data to move and more time available for the actual VFX work, improving overall studio efficiency.

What is Lola VFX known for?

Lola VFX is known for high-end visual effects work including de-aging, digital cosmetic work, and other image manipulation for major Hollywood productions. Their work requires handling extremely large, high-resolution image sequences securely and efficiently.

Can Iodyne Pro Data be used in a VFX studio environment?

Yes. Iodyne Pro Data is used in VFX and post-production environments to provide fast, reliable storage for large image sequences and media assets. Its multi-platform support and multi-reader sharing features make it flexible for studio-based collaborative workflows.