How Cloud Gaming Can Work for Motion Designers - Parsec

Cloud gaming software has made working in creative fields even easier. AFK takes on a whole new meaning with Parsec

Motion Designers have always struggled with portability. For freelancers, a tower with four GPU’s isn’t coffee shop friendly. For studios with projects that require comprehensive computing power, the remote freelancer with a Macbook Pro might not be able to cut it. With the emergence of cloud computing, there’s a cloud gaming app that may have solved your problems for you.

Having a desktop doesn't mean that you need to be planted by it at all times. Sure, remote software isn’t anything new, but it’s never really been that great: Input lag, choppy framerates, terrible picture quality.  Parsec has solved that problem. With a decent internet connection, your remote opportunities are expanded.

Here’s what I’ll break down to help you get a better understanding:

• What Is Parsec?
• How Parsec Helps Freelancers.
• How Parsec Helps Studios

Let’s take a look!

What Is Parsec?

Parsec is an app designed for gamers to connect to your computer, or a friend's computer, in low latency and a high frame rate to play some games. "Low latency" is an industry standard term for anything marketed to gamers. A click of the mouse should make chopping the head off of a demon from the underworld an instantaneous event, with no delay, with gaming-standard frame rates. And Parsec works across all devices.

Since Parsec is designed for games — graphical powerhouses — it can also handle motion design applications. Utilizing this technology allows you to log into your computer remotely through any device, and work as though you’re sitting in front of it. Whether you’re in another room, or another country, with the help of a solid internet connection you’ll be slaying your keyframes with little to no delay at 60 frames-per-second.

The pricing structure provides a free option, with a more advanced option available for a monthly subscription, depending on team size.

Parsec is giving you the connection, not the device, so you’ll need a computer to remote into. There is a community of Parsec users that have installed it on cloud desktop services, such as Amazon Web Services, but the pricing for AWS could make it a barrier when you’re renting by the hour for a full time job.

PARSEC SETUP

The setup is fairly simple. Make an account, install the app on your desktop, and again on where you’ll be remoting in from. Simple. It works on Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android, and iPads.

I know what you’re thinking: FINALLY! I can use Redshift on my Pixel 4! Yes, my Android-loving friend. Yes, you can. Or redshift on a macbook air, if you’re into that sort of thing.

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How Parsec Helps Freelancers Life

You’ve got this computer sitting at home, but how can it help you?

Are you sharing a one bedroom apartment in San Francisco, but only one desk? Since your significant other isn’t working from the couch, Parsec is here to help. Just plug in your laptop into the TV and enjoy the 4k monitor that wouldn’t fit on your desk. Now you’re on the couch, remoting into another room to keep plugging away.

Are you stuck inside working, but it’s a beautiful day, and editing materials in Redshift would be so much easier in the backyard by the pool drinking mai-tai’s ice-tea? With a quick setup, you can just bring your laptop/iPad/iPhone/Android/Microsoft Surface outside and crush that workflow.

Parsec is also great for on-site work. Maybe you're at a conference and you need to make quick changes to a presentation. Simply access your desktop using the available internet connection, use the power of your home computer, and become the hero that conference deserves.

How Parsec Helps Studio Life

Studios often have a whole suite of powerful computers on site, but there aren't always enough for the new in-house freelancer. And now, with a number of studios remaining remote-only, those workhorses are stuck in the stable and work is piling up.

Parsec was a solution many places came to rely on. Companies such as Ubisoft are using Parsec for entire teams to work remotely for development, design, and testing.

They’ve also used it to deliver remote demos for conferences that were forced to switch to virtual. This allows more employees to work remotely, and lowers the threat to exposure for essential employees.

When we’re allowed back into our offices, Parsec will give you an opportunity to work with a freelancer on the other side of the world, while still being "in-house." For collaborative projects, file transfers and plugins make the whole process messy. With the power of Parsec, they can plug right into your network drives, letting them swap files in and out without complications.

Conclusion

Parsec allows us to open up our workspace. We can work on location at a conference, or even in a coffee shop. For studios, it allows you to hire the freelancer on the other side of the world, or get a night shift team to work on that late project. So get outside and enjoy the sunny skies with the power of the fake cloud.

Time to Level Up

Are you looking to take control of your career, but you're not sure which direction to go? That's why we put together a new, free course just for you. It's time to Level Up!

In Level Up, you’ll explore the ever-expanding field of Motion Design, discovering where you fit in and where you’re going next. By the end of this course, you’ll have a roadmap to help you get to the next level of your Motion Design career.

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