Our DIT Kit

From Wikipedia:

"The DIT is the camera department crew member who works in collaboration with the Director of Photography on workflow, systemization, camera settings, signal integrity and image manipulation to achieve the highest image quality and creative goals of cinematography in the digital realm."

Digital imaging technician

A digital imaging technician (DIT) was created for the motion picture industry in response to the transition from the long established film movie camera medium into the current digital cinema era. The DIT is the camera department crew member who works in collaboration with the cinematographer on workflow, systemization, camera settings, signal integrity and image manipulation to achieve the highest image quality and creative goals of cinematography in the digital realm.

This was originally posted on our company blog but we'll expand here.

We admit, this is boring but it is critical.

We treat the day's footage with the upmost respect to make sure our client's data is always there. We've set this mess of a kit up from Mexico to Tokyo back to Argentina and everywhere in between - our investment here is making sure our client's footage always makes it home.

Other than ALL of the card readers AND cables (we like to have extra in case anything weird shows up), here's some notable features of this kit:

Customized Case

First, we used TrekPak to organize and securely hold all the below. We love customizing a pelican case and our case is able to hold the laptop while you're working on it. It's perfect for setting up anywhere and everywhere.

HDD's

Some folks will balk at this, but we just use regular HDD's as our main storage space, generally at 5TB a pop. This is for a couple reasons:

We know these drives will fail, we're counting on it. So, because they're relatively cheap we carry about 30 TB's with us at all times. The investment here is in quantity.

These kind of drives are available everywhere, I've bought one in Japan, Argentina and BC without skipping a beat. This is critical if a drive goes down - a quick jaunt into town usually has it replaced.

Also, because we know they're going to fail, and we also know 30TB's is a good amount of available space, we backup all shoots to 3 drives. 1 drive is carried on to a plane, one drive is put in checked luggage and the last is kept in the case.

Seagate 5TB Portable USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 External Storage Drive

Store and backup your data with the Seagate 5TB Portable USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 External Storage Drive. Featuring a lightweight and compact design, this portable hard drive can be easily stored away or taken with you during long trips. Thanks to its Windows and macOS compatibility and plug and play design, this drive can be easily used on a multitude of systems without the need for additional software. The USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 interface gives you up to 5 Gb/s data transfer speeds, suitable for moving your essential data from one device to another quickly. This external storage drive is also backwards compatible with USB 2.0 interfaces, providing you with limited data transfer rates up to 480 Mb/s, allowing you to move files in a pinch.

SSD's

We also always have 2x 2TB SSD's that we use to help make the day's footage manageable. Instead of waiting for the above, slow HDD's to dump, we use these 2x SSD's to hurry that process up. First, very quickly, we can turn one set of data into two and second, it all happens fast - allowing someone to get a proper nights sleep. I use the SSD's to transfer to the HDD's overnight. Hedge.video did some great blog posts about this.

Samsung 2TB T7 Portable SSD (Titan Gray)

The titan gray Samsung 2TB T7 Portable SSD is a compact and secure storage solution that fits in the palm of your hand. Roughly the size of a few stacked credit cards, the T7 is equipped with 256-bit AES encryption and password protection, so users can rest assured knowing their data is safe. Moreover, with PCIe NVMe technology, the T7 offers users quick performance and little downtime with read and write speeds of up to 1050 MB/s and 1000 MB/s respectively. With a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C port, it's also backward compatible with USB 3.0 and Type-A devices with an appropriate cable.

2017 15" Intel Macbook Pro

This is actually a pretty fast Intel Macbook Pro that sounds like a jet engine when it gets warm. This computer is basically a conduit - it just transfers data to one place to the next so it's specs aren't a big deal. What I like about this rig is it has 4x USB-C ports, plenty of I/O for what we're doing.

Anker Surge Protector

Compact and quality surge protector, fits perfectly in the case - pretty cool!

Anker 332 USB Power Strip

Fast USB-C Charging: Charge your phone at high speed via the 20W USB-C port. Power Up to 9 Devices: 6 AC outlets, 2 USB ports, and 1 USB-C port power every

OWC USB-C Hub & Startech USB Hub

Hedge.video did a few blog posts about powered hubs and how it can maximize your transfer speeds. I use the OWC Hub to connect my cards and then I use the USB hub to connect 3 USB-A HDD's all at once.

OWC Thunderbolt Hub

Expand the utility of your desktop or notebook with the Thunderbolt Hub from OWC. Ideal for the professional who needs quick data transfers and the ability to manage multiple devices simultaneously, this hub gives you three additional Thunderbolt 4 ports and a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port. The Thunderbolt Hub provides transfer speeds up to 40 Gb/s, output support for multiple high-definition displays, and allows up to five additional daisy-chained Thunderbolt enabled devices for greater flexibility. Conveniently, Thunderbolt 3, USB Type-C, and USB4 devices are also compatible with this hub, allowing you to use a variety of past accessories.

Software

We use Offshoot (from hedge.video), a Netflix approved offload software that is 100% built for filmmakers. It creates transfer logs, easily replicates and organizes footage and much more. Highly recommended.

There is method to this madness. On the left are "dirty" cards and their readers, i.e. the footage from our shoot day. On the right is our storage. Once a card is confirmed to be dumped, it's moved to the right where I put "clean" cards.

Next Steps for this kit / improvements:

Eventually, probably sooner than later, we'll update the Intel Macbook Pro to a used M1 series. Again, I don't need a ton of processing power here, just a dependable computer.

I do not own a CFast reader and probably should.

If productions get better, 4tb SSD's will come in handy.

Other than that, this kit has stood and should still stand the test of time!

Hit us with questions on Bluesky or in the comments.