Do DITs Have A Future?

[Dan Kanes]

Like the Lab analogy.

 

[Quentin Brown]

Very interesting thread this. Some great contributions from many.

Lowering the tone a bit, I have had it open as a tab in my browser for a while and keep mis-reading it as: Do DITs Have Fun?

hehehe. Another good question eh?

 

[joe hedge]

I also think our mechanical form-factor is simply not there yet, in 5 years we'll look back when we were pushing a 200+ pound cart around, and wondering how we ever got anything done

 

[Chris Ratledge]

This is a great thread. I've been swamped with work lately and have been away from the board. Wish I could say that the money was good, but anyway...

I am asking this more and more of myself lately. I'm not in the 'league' of some of the heavier hitters here. I went out and got a Rocket card last year after research and conversations with local production personnel pointed me to a void in the marketplace that I would befit. Having the card and for the first gig going out for a lower price than I probably should have taken has helped me meet more DP's, let me do some features, at least one if not two more before the end of this year alone in fact, but it wasn't THE reason I kept getting these gigs. It was the relationships I'm building that have led to more and more work. But ALL my feature work has been on low-budget independent films. Like I'm lucky to get more than $2k bucks for my gear for the run of the feature kind of low, not to mention Burger King Ast. Mgr. day rates.

I don't know how some of the statements touting KILLER KIT can be expected when you're making this kind of money, and these are the only types of jobs that are coming your way. I travel quite a bit for work from the midwest and have worked primarily in the south on features in the last year, including GA, NC, and FL, but also in OH. I had to really FIGHT to get $600/week for my MacPro cart with Rocket and RAID for the next feature I start in a couple of weeks. I'm already in the hole for the Rocket and other gear, and at these rates it'll be obsolete by the time I pay it off, and I don't see how in the world I could even at this point afford a backup system, let alone a duplicate to divide the data duties from the lab duties. It's financially unattainable for some is what I'm saying.

I'm not one of these 'kids' with a macbook pro and an eSata adapter calling themselves a DIT. Lately I'm doing more and more coloring and assisting the DP, but with the pay I'm getting, it's hard to sink money into more gear when the productions just view me as a Xerox operator. Most of the help I'm giving to the DP on set is probably going mostly unseen by the producers and I should probably make a bigger stink about it. It's been far more rewarding lately to help dial in the looks scene to scene and feel that creative spark again. It takes at least a little bit of the sting out of the low pay and long days.

Oh, and since I don't recall anyone else mentioning it in the thread, (I could be wrong or misread or just plain don't remember it) DIT and film work isn't my LIFE. It's work. My family is my life, the reason I work, the reason I always try my best, and perhaps most relevant to this reply, they are my No. 1 FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. But I can't devote every other moment not on set working to learning and experimentation and being a completely submerged gear head, and with a toddler, I don't have the disposable income for the pursuit either. When I'm not working my family comes first. I realize this won't let me become the next Brook Willard. I'm fine with that. I have no desire for that honestly. I just want to earn a respectable wage doing the best work I can, helping the production get what they want and need.

But honestly, with my viewpoint, I may be investigating a move more towards post production in the end. If I could end up a full-time colorist, it might suit me just fine. Post is probably where the DIT position is heading anyway. I know of TV productions now that have no DIT, just digi-loaders and the material goes straight to editorial.

 

[Steve Sherrick]

Chris, you mentioned a key point there, relationships. They can lead to interesting places. One day you feel like you're hitting the wall, next day something big comes up and it's because of someone you have worked with, someone perhaps you've made an impression on and then suddenly you are in that world where you want to be. But, there's another side of it you touched on - family. I have a huge amount of respect for your thoughts on that subject. They are the 1st priority. I've had to make choices recently about what projects I can take on because my wife is pregnant and based on her last pregnancy, I want to be here with her during the final months. It means I'm passing up some very nice gigs. But at the end of the day, I'd rather be here to support my family if I have to make the choice.

In terms of keeping up with technology, that too takes a hit when you have family but fortunately they have also been very supportive and know there are times when I may just have to lock myself in a room and figure something out. As long as there is balance it works out fine.

Keep meeting people, and keep active and I'm sure things will take a good turn for you. The economy is weird, the industry is evolving, but ultimately there is some work out there and you should be paid what you are worth.

 

[Thomas Mathai]

I think it all depends on the budget and complexity of the production. The bigger budget vfx heavy productions already have an army of onset post people because of the complexity of what's being done and they can afford to pay for it.

As productions become more data centric, it's not possible to be so territorial about what position stays in production or post. It's all blending together, and certain responsibilities will move from one area to the next.

I think there's going to be positions that don't exist yet. I wouldn't be surprised if there are more IT centric positions on set because of how much data will be generated. I believe DIT will evolve into one of those positions.

Even now, the current high end digital cinema cameras have metadata that's unused. That will change. In fact I think productions have tons of data mining possibilities. There is a lot of information that isn't passed along that would be helpful down the chain.

Jim Cameron plans to make Avatar 2 and 3 without rendering the virtual environments. He wants those environments to exist in realtime. That moves a good amount of visual effects and animation work into production. While he can afford to do it, it becomes the R&D test bed for future productions as the tools become available to allow other productions to do the same.

Check out the virtual sets video from Douglas Trumbull's site. He's been working on integrating virtual sets into a production long before Jim Cameron it seems.
http://douglastrumbull.com/videos

Someone was mentioning how editing could be outsourced to India. I don't see directors wanting to be that far removed from the editor, but its possible.

What I do see is jobs being cut down because of automation. THere will be tools that bring high levels of automation to the certain processes and less people will be needed to manage those processes.

 

[Blair S. Paulsen]

Meta-morphosis

Meta-morphosis

IMO more holistic approaches to managing information are on our industry's doorstep. Smart slates worthy of the name, the ability to add/edit meta data on image/sound/VFX assets and integration of information from various departments into linked databases, etc... There is simply too much to gain in terms of efficiency.

What is the next evolutionary step? Will the I.T. in DIT become information technologist instead of imaging technician? Assuming having a server and network on/near set will become the norm, who manages that? More and more people on set are finding creative ways to use mobile devices to do their jobs. Expanding how that information is shared and potentially attached as metadata could further streamline production methods.

I think of it like how PCs changed office work - copiers/envelopes/stamps became fax machines became email became Google Docs, etc.

Shout out to Micheal Cioni for his pioneering work in this area and due credit for any of his concepts I have woven into my post.

Cheers - #19

 

[Frank Cueto]

What I have been pushing for is to have the DIT hired by the post vendor. The takeaway for producers is that as soon as the mag comes off the camera its "in post". My pitch is that this is a win-win. The UPM only has to work out meals and logistics for the DIT so their life just got easier - win. The post facility has the greatest opportunity to take advantage of all the things a DIT can do to organize and manage the material to maximize efficiency.


Cheers - #19

EXACTLY our approach

 

[Gavin Greenwalt]

Personally I think if the DIT position is going to survive as one of any significance it's going to be as an onset colorist. In 3 years sensors are going to have so much latitude that you won't need to accommodate digital in any special way. And then 3 years after that clipping data (except maybe for detail on the surface of the sun) will be a historical relic. So it's safe to assume that within 5 years getting a "nice rich negative" isn't going to require any technical input or education regardless of camera system.

The other highly technical aspect of DITing at this point, backup and transcode, is still a relic of the fact that there exist no products to explicitly support a DIT. VFX used to be the same way, if you wanted something done you had to write it--so you needed very technical people on hand to consult. That's becoming less and less of an issue as commodity solutions come to market and just the principles start to filter down into common knowledge of all positions. VFX supervision now focuses far more on creative problem solving and cost analysis imo than just getting acceptable plates. You can already see the DIT checksum/backup/archive/transcode position getting the attention of developers (http://codexdigital.com/products/vault.php). Insert SxS or Red Flash, insert 2 LTO tapes and an external HDD and hit "Go". The wild west of computer systems with a hodgepodge of hand selected dongles and a workflow equally as personalized is going to succumb to automation--as it should. We were just asked by a post house for our camera preference and they wanted to shoot Alexa so that the editors would have ProRes when they left the set. My first thought was "if their Red DIT isn't giving them Pro-Res or DNxHD by EOD they need to find a new DIT." Pretty soon it'll just be a black box with a glorified "DO" button.

The DIT is still a very valuable asset to help legacy production companies and creatives navigate the new digital world, but the complexities that the digital world have brought are going to be rapidly erased through digital solutions that hide all of that complexity. If anything is left it's going to be a creative solution that helps people leverage the new capabilities that digital offers. And I don't think that transition is going to take very long. 2c

 

[jake blackstone]

Personally I think if the DIT position is going to survive as one of any significance it's going to be as an onset colorist.

I can see data being wirelessly transmitted to the post house with the colorist performing remote grading, if needed, from there. Frankly, if Resolve allowed use of proxy material for remote grading, it could be done today.
But the look creation by the finishing colorist can be done remotely right now.
So, here comes indian outsourcing

 

[David Kruta]

I love digging up this thread.

It's my belief that cameras will continue to improve to the point where they are foolproof and creativity enablers. Already we are seeing a lot of look controls, especially with the ability to color the image in camera on the Epic, or load LUTs onto the Alexa. This will only become more feature-rich and easier. Imagine a curve editor right on-screen, or an Alchemy slider in your EVF. Tip of the iceberg.

I see the DIT position disappearing within the next generation, when the DPs of the future came up using digital everywhere. I've personally only ever even been on 1 film shoot. Data management will remain for much longer than the overall DIT duties, but as previous comments suggested, sending data wirelessly to post with a reference look already sitting on top of the RAW data is not hard to imagine. Can't say it'll make the unions happy, but it's hard to ignore the impact of technology. All I can say is that the more efficient we can be and the more creative options that come along, the better off we are as story tellers.

 

[Sid Idris]

It funny how DITs are getting carved out of productions these days while at the sametime the teamsters manage to put backup drivers on the payroll...

 

[Dustin Cross]

Productions are getting more and more technical. That means DITs are needed more. There is lots of work for properly qualified DITs.

The problem is producers want Loaders to do all the technical stuff so they can save money, then DPs get mad because their DIT (really a loader) doesn't know what he is doing.


Dusty

 

[Nick Morrison]

Someone has to manage the media. That's the DIT guy. The world may be getting "easier" and "flatter" but I find that what happens is that as it gets easier to shoot, it gets easier to ADD CAMERAS. I know of many DP's who regularly shoot with MULTIPLE Red's/Epic's, etc. Why not? As more cameras are used, more media, more to manage, more to backup and store SAFELY.

I see DIT's being needed more and more as our creative options multiply and clients expect more and more for the same buck.

 

[PatrickFaith]

I don't know about feature film DIT. but from a 30,000 foot industry view, I see a lot of work moving into reality tv , global shoots, and high end corporate ... all of which do no't use standard DIT processes. DIT as a Networked Service is I think is growing; requires a business & mental shift though to global network connections with services(4g uploads), firewalls & VPN's, and signal processing pipelines, and setting up wireless networks for collection. All my RED/camera stuff I do is for charity, and someone asked me to send a disk drive ... I'm like what ... that's how u guys do it ? I've been spoiled by 10g networks, and sending disk drives around reminds me like how we use to send boxes of tapes in the 80's/90's ... which was horrible.

 

[Random Vaughn]

DIT is all about the KIT - Invest all your pay in your KIT and you will never stop working.

DIT WITH KIT IS GOLDEN - We preach/teach our clients to WORSHIP DIT. For DIT is all powerful and
"one day lost is worth the cost"

$@DIT=KIT

Would you be willing to do a break down of your Kit, building a new one and would love everyones specific gear & software they love.

I'm starting with two major battery packs, to get me over 140 minutes of power while Mac Pro & MBP are running multiple raids. From there, I'm all ears!!
Thanks!

 

[Curtis Abbott]

Hybrid Digital Soldiers is what DIT should change their names to!

I like this a lot!

I am a Local 600 DIT as well. I think the trouble with the position is it has never been defined properly. So many producers think DIT is the Digital Loader. There hasn't really been a certification or verification of DIT skills which has led to people that are just Digital Loaders calling themselves DITs or getting into the union as DITs. This has caused many problems with the position.

But now a days I see more and more cameras providing "instant dailies" when the Meizler module comes out you will be able to adjust all the meta data with an iPad and immediately provide an offline file and the RAW data and most edit programs now can edit the R3Ds. There are a few post houses in town here that now only edit with the R3Ds.

I really enjoy working in the position when it is used properly on set. Most of the time I run into DPs that have this attitute for the position and don't really want to be around the DIT. Other times I work with DPs that enjoy the collaboration. There have been many jobs that I have been on and brought IMAGE issues to the DPs or Operators and saved shots. The DIT is really the only person on set looking at the image technically and critically. Director is looking at acting, DP is looking at lighting, Operator is looking at framing. The DIT is looking at all the technical aspects. I have saved various shots from the little things like production equipment being in the shot, the camera or crew being in the reflection of something. On commercials there have been hairs or threads. We are really the only ones that can see these because we are in a blacked out tent looking at a good quality monitor. Now some people may argue that things like that should be caught by someone else (DP or Operator) but today we shoot longer days and cram more pages in so people can take the time and look at every little thing. So having a person hidden away in a tent watching the monitor may see something no one else does.

I hope the position stays around but if producers don't understand the benefits I don't think it will, it may already be to late.