The Latest Tool for DIY Automotive Repair? YouTube.

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][mk_dropcaps style=”simple-style”]M[/mk_dropcaps]y teenage son is a bit of a car nut – clearly I should have been reading Goodnight Moon to him at bed time instead of Road & Track. He got his driver’s license as soon as humanly possible, and when he finally had a car of his own – a gently used 2010 VW Golf – he quickly began modifying it to make it uniquely his. He installed a cold air intake, a cat back exhaust, lowered the suspension with sport shocks and coils, and made some cosmetic changes to create a more sporting ride. He did all the work himself, with the help of a couple of buddies, a few tools rented from an auto supply shop, and his iPhone. Every single DIY modification he made had a video available online to guide him with step-by-step instructions.

Millennials who grew up with YouTube are naturally looking to it as a first resource when they begin researching any topic of interest, and their parents are following suit. Automotive aftermarket giant Motorcar Parts of America (MPA) was one of the first companies to recognize this trend, and they saw video training as an opportunity to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Their initially modest approach to video production evolved into a sophisticated four-camera recording studio in a two-bay garage supported by high-performance data sharing and archiving storage capabilities suited to a global enterprise.

When MPA’s production system required a full-featured production storage and archive solution, they installed Quantum’s Xcellis Scale-out workflow storage and CatDV media asset management from Square Box Systems. The StorNext®-powered Xcellis storage appliance is a scalable solution designed to give media production teams high-speed shared access to critical data for improved collaboration and simplified management to meet tight production timelines.

MPA’s new video production capabilities enabled them to launch their own YouTube channel. The production challenge before MPA is staggering when you consider the number of parts in an average car, the number of car models available, and the proliferation of options for modifying cars to improve their performance. That’s a lot of potential YouTube videos, and a lot of video storage.

You can read the complete story of how MPA created a world-class video production facility here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]