Friday, August 28, 2020

Role of Digital Imaging Technician


A Digital Imaging Technician (D.I.T) bridges the gap between principal photography and editorial. 
 
 
What does a D.I.T do?

Designing secure workflow for smooth picture and sound post.
Backup of original camera file from the cards with md5/hashxx64 checksum verification &
spot checking that includes production audio in organised manner.
Onset technical problem solving of issues that may arise, primarily during principal
photography and post-production.
Generate dailies with base grading from the raw rushes for edit with metadata with transcodes.
Create data reports and keep the key members of the unit informed.
On set color management & leveling.

You can look at it as "Chief Technical Officer" (C.T.O) for camera department.

The challenges of D.I.T in Indian scenario.
 
"Most of us are not yet doing live grades but we are getting there. It's the cost."


You plan for outdoor location shoot may be abroad that's when the editor or DOP mentions to hire Digital Imaging Technician to organize, structure and transcode with on set looks on clips if you are using log and flag QC issues on set. Be a second pair of eyes checking for issues that may be bottleneck during post production stage or before leaving the expensive location.

But mostly data wrangler is hired by junior production member or due to budgetary decisions. At the end majorly a data wrangler with an laptop comes to set to primarily copy and paste data with no checksum and QC to verify the copy from capture media cards to hard drive or SSD with only screenshot copied on the drive. At times, I hear one hard drive copy is made and second copy is made later. Resulting data corruption and errors and QC issues being copied onto to the second backup without even visual QC by the time the cards are formatted for reuse. 
 
It's too late but things are changing at snail pace in India for non OTT shoots. The reason camera attendants who also double up as data wangler have another shoot next day so they kind of choose to ignore the process which causes heavy budgetary loss and the content suffers may be because now you have to use alternate take available.

Let's continue with our scenario. In the ninth moment it's now decided that the editor will be joining for the two month schedule. So finally D.I.T is hired because you need some one to add luts and transcode and not "convert!" as I hear in lay persons terms you mean "transcode" right. Hopefully the right person will be hired on the project who uses checksum for the transfer and legal tools for transcodes with right color science and calibrated monitor and configuration with applications and knowledge of post workflow pipeline.

The shoot begins and finally shift ends with key members of the team meeting for the first time on set floors and that's again things may go for toss. When production decides to make the DIT wait after long day end or after night shoot, post pack up till remaining cars are full after two hours three hours wait post pack up is called. Finally a transport cars or grip, light team car arrives and the DIT is finally taken to the far away hotel not without the production running some errands in between while data is still lying with the D.I.T to make the matters worst the hotel is in middle of no where and the DIT has to double up as security. The D.I.T has seen the cattle grazing and a single railway line who is staying outskirts with camera, sound in a hotel filled with cobwebs and bed bugs, home for next few weeks before location shift on most of the projects since it's a series to save few shillings that may have drastic consequences if luck runs out.

Why such a long story well the editor is 3-4 hours away from D.I.T. The editor needs days transcoded proxies including the D.O.P and Director also wanting to see the rushes at highest quality with RAW. May be there are some remaining transcodes that will take time and you have another days of shoot next day. So again you travel back to the "HOD and cast" hotel, reconnecting the drives and the setup for viewing with few hours left to rest. You may not have assistants for upload on review platform even a platform to securely share on cloud based drive. If you are a small fish on a indie project with minimal setup. There is competitive bidding wars that takes place to secure a project going below the minimum market rates which keeps on depreciating. The LTO backup is required if you are following 3-2-1 backup method which means three backups in different mediums and copy offsite. It's risky if it happens later on at the lab many days later of principal photography.
 
You ask, why is this D.I.T working in such conditions may be the person is the assistant and due to competition he has to accept the low pay he is tolerating the fatigue which could be dangerous. Many in India are still unaware of the vital role of the D.I.T who are the custodian of the original camera files till it's handed over to lab as per insurance clauses. When the drive is full it's handed back to the studio or a offsite facility for safe keeping. It only happens if it's mentioned as a requirement on the spec sheets thanks to OTT and big studios. 
 
There is a wrong assumption that the D.I.T only copies and pastes files for backup so why do we have to pay so much? 
There are many who understand the importance these days and get the value of extra pairs of eyes looking out for the unit but still unaware the real purpose which I hope to cover. You will hear, "Even I can do it it's just like copying files from pen drive or phone memory chips (SD)." or "why make the person stay at the fancy hotel? It's only a copy and paste job hitting buttons on the computer to "convert" (transcode) or why should I pay this amount because you are using legal software comparing, apples to oranges.

Now a days you have solutions like transporting the shuttle drives to the editor, cloud services with password protection and apps such as post lab, silverstack lab that could be handy in such situations but the production team needs to provide a separate WIFI connection and not the "hotel WIFI or mobile data" which needs to be recharged due to data cap by Internet service providers (ISP) because of Fair Usage policy (FUP) to share media and sound with the editorial team, in some cases even VFX for temp VFX work to begin.
 
Please take care of your crew. Everyone is important. If you take care of the crew they will take care of your project. Do not class divide with A - B - C crew give the respect and value that they bring to the table.

(Disclaimer - The scenario I am describing is a worst case scenario. It's more or less still the reality to an extent.)

Also take a look into film to digital cinema & workflow. (Link below)
Cinema workflow resources

Monday, June 1, 2020

Editorial work showcase on Zoom

You can use ‘Adobe Premiere Pro CC’ with ‘teams’ on a legal version of Windows 10 Pro (PC/Virtual Machine) to share on Zoom via OBS through Virtual Cam.

You can also use other apps like Resolve Studio, Avid to work on group projects in locked way.

(Unfortunately, mac has its limitations.)

Apps Required:
Open Broadcaster Software®️ (OBS)

OBS - Virtual Cam

Zoom (Paid Plan)

Saturday, May 2, 2020

How to customise Facebook news feed

Facebook News feed by default gives 'Top Stories'. 

If you want to prioritise friends updates on Facebook News feed.

You can set your preferences as follows:

On the left of your Facebook Home page.

Click on the three dots besides 'News feed'. 
You can set to see top stories or most recent updates. 

You can customise your news feed with 'Edit Preferences' which gives you more control.

Some Facebook users may have to switch to Facebook classic to set the feature.

On top right click on down arrow - Switch to Classic Facebook.

Easy way is to click on 'Most Recent' on left of Facebook News Feed. May have to click on 'See More' down arrow if you don't want to switch to classic Facebook.


Democracy on screen


Nowadays, movies and shows have become more metadata driven. It has replaced decision making from hands of few studio executives, agents, powerful reps, hedge fund managers and brands even independent studios which was based on genre, marketing data of what worked.

The meta data has given the studios a look into user data for emotion graph and devices to give user a better cinematic experience at home and cinema with survey forms.

A good story, always has it’s merits but audience is the decider. What's good on screen and sounds good with the moving images.

The star system is still seems to prosper. Times are slowly changing, who knows what post Covid19 will be like? Since people are now watching alternate cinema around the world. The tastes are changing. It's democracy on screen. You can watch movies in studio quality at your preferred time of day and night.

The biggest blockbusters are releasing in theaters but most of the content is being sold on streaming service. The films cans of movies, documentaries in some vault is now getting digital release.

There were only few handful streaming services but since the numbers are increasing the streaming service or Over the top, "OTT" platforms have become the new cable providers around the world with internet connectivity. 

The OTT's are now the studios, distributors and exhibitors of content. Revenue earned by subscriptions. There is also community driven models where creators are given small cut of the pie if the creators qualify for partners program criteria.

Monday, March 16, 2020

Dear landlords of India give an artist a space.

 🏡 🏢

Dear landlords of India,

This why you should give an artist a place to stay and not judge.

In times of a lock down an artist will entertain you with their talent. One time the appreciation will be enough with claps and cheer. An artist will not worry about the money for sharing joy till things get back to the new normal.


Video Courtesy - Various sources from Italy
Edited post by LADbible on Facebook - "Italians Sing From Their Balconies".

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Making Love Alarm like app for Covid 19 to maintain safe distance

Disclaimer  
The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please consult medical professional or community health care center. The article and links posted on utsabnov.blogspot.in or .com is informational purposes only and should not be used as the basis of patient treatment.
The Covid 19 also known as Corona virus is slowly spreading from China to different parts of the world. Yes, there has been deaths but also recoveries of patients affected by the virus. Thanks to the efforts of health workers. Meanwhile as we try to understand the virus. It's spreading and it's affecting the world economy. The pharmaceutical companies and government agencies are working with WHO to treat Covid 19 and stop the spread.

People have been subject to lock down. In some cases the entire cities have been put in lock down and restrictions. There has been travel ban issued by certain countries to stop the spread of the virus.

The news on the televiosn, papers and social media has led to the demand for N95 masks and sanitizers.

There has been cruise ship with people and crew onboard. Many have pointed that having people locked in ships is more dangerous. Making healthy people infected.

You can watch interesting video by JeffHK on YouTube titled - Coronavirus: Why its Unstoppable on Ships & How We Deal With it on Our Ship. COVID-19 at Sea Vlog.

Link: https://youtu.be/C4ro4jd5RjY 

 

Making Love Alarm like app for Covid-19 to maintain safe distance.

Netflix show - Love Alarm
The story of a young girl caught between two guys and technology. This love triangle was created thanks to an app she downloaded, which lets a person know if someone loves them within a 10 meter radius. While this advanced technology certainly comes in handy for people too shy to make their feelings known, it also causes a few problems
Based on the popular webtoon Love Alarm by Kye Young Chan, the author first came up with the premise when pondering the question: “How would humans adapt to a world where romantic feelings are made visible, and how would that change the way we love? 
 
LoveAlarm Inc.
Since most of the people have a location enabled smartphone these days. Should we create an app that warns users if someone is within 1 meter (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone to warn the users to maintain distance and also add exceptions for family members to decrease unnecessary notification and alerts.

Interestingly I was able to find real life app 'Love Alarm' app on Google play store based on the series.

What if? we have a similar app to stop spread of  Covid 19.

Update - We understand there could be data privacy concern. But it could be a optional 'opt in' app to to share pings anonymously.

WHO has given protective measures against the new corona virus:

 

Wash your hands frequently

Regularly and thoroughly clean your hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water.

Why? Washing your hands with soap and water or using alcohol-based hand rub kills viruses that may be on your hands.

Maintain social distancing

Maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing.

Why? When someone coughs or sneezes they spray small liquid droplets from their nose or mouth which may contain virus. If you are too close, you can breathe in the droplets, including the COVID-19 virus if the person coughing has the disease.

Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth

Why? Hands touch many surfaces and can pick up viruses. Once contaminated, hands can transfer the virus to your eyes, nose or mouth. From there, the virus can enter your body and can make you sick.


You can visit WHO advice page to protect from coronavirus for detailed information.

Here is a look of interactive map from Johns Hopkins shows corona virus in real time.

Screenshot (23-02-2020)
Click on link below to view the interactive map:

[Update - 23-03-2020]

Singapore government launches new app for contact tracing to combat spread of COVID-19

















Link: https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/asia-pacific/singapore-government-launches-new-app-contact-tracing-combat-spread-covid-19

Update:


It started with Singapore government. Now Indian government also made an app. Please check your phone OS for more details.

Aarogya Setu app to fight against COVID19. 

Please download and share it using this link Android :
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nic.goi.aarogyasetu
 

iOS :
itms-apps://itunes.apple.com/app/id1505825357


Quick Video: (14/04/2020)

Update:
Apple and Google come together to make tracking app for Android and IOS.
(Source - News Media)

Reference links:
WHO - https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public

Caught in a Love Triangle! Who Does Jojo Ultimately Choose in Netflix's 'Love Alarm'?
By Gabrielle Bernardini
https://www.distractify.com/p/who-does-jojo-end-up-with-love-alarm
 

Difference Between an Epidemic and a Pandemic 
https://www.verywellhealth.com/difference-between-epidemic-and-pandemic-2615168

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Planned obsolescence

What is Planned obsolescence ?

When companies have a strategy to kill their products over period of time so that the consumers will buy the product again.

Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_obsolescence

 CASE 1:

I was unable to fix the Wifi issue of WD My Passport Wireless - 1TB even after resetting by holding wps and power button as instructed by the WD forum and phone support.

I am only able to connect through USB to my Mac/PC post update. I have already backed up my content.

This problem started after I tried to reset my password. I later on tried updating with the latest firmware from WD support page via SD card.

It's now only showing two flashing red blinking.

There has been no rough usage of hard drive. I have been using it to playback movies and music via my cloud.

Normally it should rollback.





This is the proof that the hard drive is working perfectly but WiFi can be fixed but it has been made impossible to fix via firmware through usb.




CASE 2:

My Sony Smart band SWR10 strap got torn and I was unable to secure the strap so I had to buy a FitBit.

I contacted Sony India via twitter. They said go to the nearest service center which I had already visited. Who said they don't have the parts.


 
Even mobile phone companies take up space by offering new updates to the consumers but it does make it slow as it takes up enough space to make one buy a new mobile phone or same goes with computers and printer cartridges and the drivers.

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