.png)
Getting started
Reference
Guides
Your node has a massive amount of storage. Carve it into spaces, share it with your team, and upload your content. Toss out the closet full of hard drives.
Every node has a web app with a management interface that lets you:
The web app has four pages: System, Team, Spaces, and Monitor.
creative.space lets you share content with everyone you work with. All you need to do is add them to your team. Your team consists of user accounts, which are assigned a role and can be put into groups.
Your user account is your passport to the node. It determines what content can access, and what kinds of changes you can make to the node. Your account is a system administrator account. You can access everything on the node, from the content stored in it, to the management interface. Most notably, you have the power to grant others access to the node, by creating user accounts for them.
As the system administrator, you decide which spaces each user can access, and what each user can do in the management interface.
<aside> đ˘ TIP
Create a separate account for everyone you work with. Do not share a single user account among different team members.
</aside>
To create a user account:
super-embed:
<div style="position: relative; padding-bottom: calc(55.78947368421052% + 41px); height: 0;"><iframe src="<https://demo.arcade.software/eTiNsygNV9x25fmvFjqo?embed>" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;color-scheme: light;"></iframe></div>
If you have a large team, you can organize each team member into one or more groups. A group is a set of user accounts. A user account can be included in as many or as few groups as you want. Groups make it easy to grant all the user accounts included within them access to the same space.
To create a group:
super-embed:
<div style="position: relative; padding-bottom: calc(55.78947368421052% + 41px); height: 0;"><iframe src="<https://demo.arcade.software/CQyJ1NQsQrYi27axfJe4?embed>" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;color-scheme: light;"></iframe></div>
<aside> đ˘ TIP
Create groups that match your organization's structure. For example, if your organization has a group of editors, a group of animators, a group of VFX artists, and a group of production managers, make one group for each of these roles.
</aside>
<aside> đ˘ TIP
You can put a user in more than one group. For example, if your organization has someone who edits and animates, you can add their user account to both the editor and animator groups.
</aside>
<aside> â ď¸ WARNING
If you delete a group, you will not delete any of the users within that group. However, you will revoke all of the access that the group conferred upon the included users.
</aside>
A space is a portion of the node's storage. It is a versatile way to organize, protect and restrict access to your content.
By default, spaces stretch to fit the content you place within them. However, you can limit how large a space can grow, and you can also limit how small a space can shrink.
Each space can have its own set of access restrictions. By default, no one can access a space except for the person who created it. However, you can always grant users and groups permission to access a space.
super-embed:
<div style="position: relative; padding-bottom: calc(55.78947368421052% + 41px); height: 0;"><iframe src="<https://demo.arcade.software/9HfwbnAgEKuAuu81YnQ8?embed>" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;color-scheme: light;"></iframe></div>
Each space can be shared over your network. This means that you can access it from any workstation on your network. While the desktop app makes connecting to spaces much easier, as a manager it is helpful to know how to access the storage without it.
How you connect to a space varies depending on your workstation's operating system:
Under routine post-production workflows, remote access to shared storage was challenging. However the pandemic pushed the industry to require twenty-four-hour access and collaboration from any location. VPN, WAN, and Internet access to shared projects and files present technical challenges that can be difficult to overcome, especially for small production teams. creative.space has integrated ZeroTierâs VPN and SD-WAN technology on its easy, reliable, and secure storage platform to empower the creative process. Collaborative storage is the main hub connecting remote locations.
<aside> đ˘ TIP
Download our creative.space Zerotier Integration whitepaper for even more information on remote workflows with creative.space and Zerotier.
</aside>
Now, effortlessly control team and device access to your creative.space storage from anywhere and anytime. Create secure networks between on-premise, cloud, desktop, and mobile devices. Easily provision and de-provision remote access authorization for users, freelancers, and clients. We simplify your network stack by unifying VPNs, VLANs, and SD-WANs into one solution. The creative.space storage seamlessly interacts with ZeroTierâs zero-trust networking software to provide scalable security, peer-to-peer (P2P) connections, and 256-bit end-to-end encryption.
What does this mean for your workflow? The bottom line is that you can quickly provide secure SMB (Network Share) and FTP remote access to folders and files on your shared storage. As an example, the SMB connection smb://192.168.1.33/dailies, works the same as if you were onsite. Just be aware that you may need to adapt your projects to account for bandwidth speed and latency. We can assist you in implementing a proxy-based workflow.
FTP is excellent for transferring multiple directories and files to and from your creative.space storage. Another advantage of FTP is the ability to continue transferring files even if the connection is lost. In case you accidentally lose your connection or have to reboot your computer, you donât have to worry about starting from the beginning again. You can pick up right from where you left off.
<aside> âšď¸ What is a Virtual Private Network? Should I enable it?
</aside>
Securely authorize users and devices, and configure networks all within the creative.space web app. This integration saves multiple manual steps and needed IT security knowledge if only using the ZeroTier administration website. There are two levels of authorization for users to access the creative.space storage. The first is ZeroTier for encrypted network access. The second is the creative.space LDAP server to control user rights and folder/file permissions. Think of it as a locked gate and front door. You must have the right keys to both before you can get inside. ZeroTier offers a free Basic account for up to 50 network members and 1 admin. Their Professional account increases the numbers to 500 network members and 10 admins for $49 per month. You can always start with their free account and then upgrade as your requirements change.
Before you can set up zerotier, you will need to make sure this port is open on your gateway:
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
<aside> âšď¸ What is a port? How do I know if it is open?
</aside>
We also recommend that you open the following ports. While you do not have to open them, it helps us help you if you do:
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
super-embed:
<div style="position: relative; padding-bottom: calc(55.78947368421052% + 41px); height: 0;"><iframe src="<https://demo.arcade.software/0fIas8ehVq7Ax9gpkcRJ?embed>" frameborder="0" loading="lazy" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;color-scheme: light;"></iframe></div>
The ZeroTier configuration panel lets you
The configuration panel is divided by Active Networks, Disabled Networks, and Available Networks. This is based upon the current status of your creative.space storage within each network. It also displays the number of nodes authorized for each network. A âNodeâ is a device on the network. A userâs name is automatically added to the node description field. A user can have multiple devices such as a desktop, laptop, and iPad authorized on multiple networks, each with a separate âNode IDâ.
Use âChange ZeroTier API Tokenâ to update the token you use to connect to your ZeroTier account. This token allows the creative.space management interface to communicate with ZeroTier.
Use âFilter Networksâ to search among the ZeroTier networks associated with your account.
The Active networks section lists the networks that your node is connected to. If your node is connected to a network, it can connect to the other nodes on the network. In this case, a node can be another creative.space node, or a workstation.
The Disabled networks section lists the networks on your ZeroTier account that nothing can connect to. To use these networks, you must first enable them.
The Available networks section lists the networks on your ZeroTier account that you can connect your creative.space node to. Once you connect your node to an available network, the network will move to the active networks section.
Use âName for Your ZeroTier Networkâ and âAssign an IPâ to create a new ZeroTier network with a name and IP address range of your choice. The network will show up in the Available Networks section as soon as you create it.