Blog
Articles on filmmaking technique, production planning, and industry knowledge.
Showing 9 of 9 posts
What Happens If You Run Out of Cards on Set?
Use this recovery protocol when camera media fills mid-shoot. Compare relay recording, verified offloads, schedule changes, and emergency media options.
How to Calculate How Many Cards You Need for a Shoot Day
A practical card-count formula for film sets. Calculate how many SD, CFexpress, or SSD cards you need based on bitrate, shoot hours, and offload strategy.
Why Your Storage Estimate Was Wrong: The Variables Most Calculators Ignore
Basic storage calculators return acquisition data only - camera originals at a given codec and bitrate. The real number a producer needs includes proxy files, dual-system audio, backup copies, overcranked takes, and edit media. Here is how to build the estimate that actually holds up.
Time Lapse on a Budget: Calculating Intervals, Battery Life, and Card Space Before You Leave the House
A complete pre-production calculation guide for time lapse photography - covering interval calculation for any desired playback duration, battery life estimation, card capacity planning, and the gear decisions that prevent arriving at a location without enough resources to complete the shot.
How Many SSDs Do You Need for a Feature Film? A Pre-Production Calculation Guide
A step-by-step pre-production calculation guide for determining exactly how many SSDs or hard drives a feature film production needs, covering acquisition volume, backup redundancy, proxy storage, and the timing of drive purchases versus rentals.
RAW vs. ProRes vs. H.265: The Storage Cost of Each Codec in Real Numbers
A line-item storage cost comparison for RAW, ProRes, and H.265 acquisition across a full feature film production, with real bitrate figures, drive counts, hardware costs, and the workflow implications that make cheaper codecs not always cheaper in total.
How Much Data Does a Documentary Actually Generate? A Real-World Breakdown by Shoot Day
A data-driven breakdown of how much storage a documentary generates per shoot day, organized by camera format and shooting style - from solo BMPCC to multicam observational with Sony FX9 - covering raw acquisition, proxy, and backup overhead.
Building a Data Management Workflow for a Small Crew: Who Backs Up What and When
A practical data management framework for productions without a dedicated DIT - covering card offload sequences, checksumming, drive labelling, proxy creation, and how to structure responsibilities across a 2-3 person crew so nothing gets missed.
How Much Storage Does a Film Production Actually Need? A Data-Driven Guide
Uses real codec bitrates to calculate storage requirements for a range of shoot configurations - from BRAW on BMPCC to ARRIRAW on ALEXA 35. Includes camera card backup strategy and RAID configuration recommendations.