02.20.2020
Hello friends,
This will be a quick one a bit off the cuff, but it's on my mind this week after some chatter with pros during award season. Filming with RED, Arri, Kodak, Canon, or Sony? This is for all of you.
I get asked a lot of questions about cameras, but this stuff is real fundamental and the general mindset has carried over a bit from my film days into the digital realm, not shocking considering when that overlap actually occurred for me in the 2000s. These are tips for recording media that costs $$ through $$,$$$ really. Yep, not a sexy YouTube click bait thing (I nearly included a shot of a camera in a blender though while comparing phones to cinema cameras, next time), but this is some advice that will keep you out of trouble and keep you rolling smoothly on set and abroad.
Quick things. Most "reviews" on media don't fully test media. Not by a long shot. A lot is not revealed from a quick disk speed test, though those are useful. Real media testing does indeed take time. Sometimes weeks of read/write cycles and conditional testing. With a broad landscape of proprietary through mass market SD, CFAST, and CFexpress out there it is our main commonality across the industry in this digital cinema era and a few things should be understood and known.
Some things that can effect your camera media's performance
- Temperature
- Capacity
- Age/Use Cycles
- Flash Variation
- External Forces
In short, temp change can effect the performance, mostly at extremes these days. Predictable that if you are dying in the sun, perhaps your camera is too. Capacity is interesting. Write performance varies on some media types at levels of capacity. So like early on, nice and speedy sustains, then say about 50% full and beyond a dip. Sometimes a notable one at that, like half speed and perhaps slower near the top off even in some cases. Same possibility for reads in some cases. Age/Use. Performance generally is pretty stable, but does indeed fade over time until media death. Actually a nice thing about flash media is often when it gets funky old you can still read from it if it's still got a bit of life in it, plus they can survive a decent drop. Don't drop your media, that wasn't an invitation for clumsy chaos. Flash media certainly doesn't live forever. Actually it's really good to plug in older flash drives if you haven't used them in a few months. Also, not all media is created equal, though tolerances are tight these days, you might have two "of the same cards" that have very slight variation in read/write. Not great for archiving. Yet. External Forces, well, weirdly there are some electronic phenomenon that can impact media performance (likely camera performance too in those cases), but I'll assume most of you don't dress up in lead full body suits.
You need quality, tested, and fast enough media for your camera to reliably record.
What's important to look for when it comes to mass market media?
- Sustained Read and Write Speeds
On mass market media proudly displayed often on the sticker is the Burst Read/Write speed. We don't need that. We are create motion pictures and larger files and what we are mainly concerned with, so look for Sustained Read/Write speeds often hidden in the specifications or printed very forwardly by the brave brands that understand who they are selling to (thank you).
Cameras in general have a general data rate target that they are trying to hit. Some have variable data rates and even codecs that support that. And some media doesn't have consistent Read/Write performance despite being of the same standard interface type. Capacity is part of the equation especially on newer media types. Manufacturers have to play rather safe here because if you are exploring the top end of writes you can get into buffer overflows, dropped frames, a crashed camera, Chernobyl-eque weirdness. So when a camera system is designed, particularly bleeding edge stuff you have to play well within bounds. So even though you might have rock star media that can handle 1000MB/s writes, if it suddenly dips to 700MB/s half way full, and you have to design a recording codec of some sort, likely better to provision a bit below that 700MB/s mark rather than the 1000MB/s one, especially with age degradation taken into account. Sort of how that all works in reality, but not something everybody thinks about. In short there, don't ever expect a camera's max data rate to be near the top of what the media can do. That would be reckless and odd. Fast media is attractive like red sweet syrup to a hummingbird, but it's rarely what the camera is going to actually be doing. Though these speed boosts are certainly well received and alarmingly useful on the media offload/read times if you have the hardware to exploit that.
As many are discovering with the newer mass market media types you will want to use higher capacity cards to even get the required data rates on some of these chunkier beastly RAW codecs, price you pay if you want that delicious nondestructive digital negative or sultry high resolution oversampling. A price well worth paying for IMO.
Often you'll see camera manufacturers offer a list of certified and/or approved media. Usually that's media that's gone through some sort of testing process in a lab with dudes wearing clean suits while cameras buzz against racks on walls to ensure that it Read/Writes with expected performance and sets you up for success, thanks masked dudes and dudettes. For companies that offer proprietary media all of this has occurred and likely even more so in regards to usage cycles, ruggedness, failure rates, and temperature tests. For the mass market and more consumer-style media types obviously camera companies don't test media forever, so you'll likely discover cards that might launch after a camera release date that work fine with your system. For the companies that make less expensive media, there's certainly a round of QC, but often not as robust as that wouldn't be very cost or time effective. Always important to test out a new card before you take it out on a job, shoot, passion project, expected Academy Award Nominated Project. Test. Test. Test.
Best Practics: Media Handling
Had to wrap this fully rigged camera to protect it from watering down our takeoff location.
If you've been to any of my workshops over the years you've seen me chat about this and it's mainly because I see a lot of people still stuffing media into lint filled pockets naked and exposed to whatever evils lurk in that personal storage compartment.
Much like you don't expose film to light, you don't want to expose your digital media to elements that are harmful to it's existence. This is an electronic medium and you should protect against things that might get in the way of a clean and clear electronic connection. Dirt, dust, lint, sand, grime, hair, bugs, keys, and moisture are destructive and want to destroy your footage. Even other electric thingies and strong magnets should be avoided. Tarnish, corrosion, etc. You want to protect against the potential of that even occurring with electronic gear.
Things you can do:
- try not to expose media to the elements, at least not for long
- have dedicated cases or pouches for media, weather sealed is good
- nice to have a small pack of desiccant in your kit just in case you are filming in moist or humid conditions, dry media = happy media
- blow out and clean your media if it's dirty, sooner the better after filming in a dirty location
Tape and the Gate (sort of).
Tape is your best friend, get to know it well.
Not a surprise here, but gaffers tape is alarmingly useful on set for letting people know very quickly what the heck is going on. Taping your mags on the camera lets everybody know that the mag is live and really shouldn't be touched until the AC who put it there or you remove it. Then tape up that that rear side of the mag until it's offloaded so there's zero chance that it gets put back in camera. I go one additional step as I try to actually not do a lot of offloading on set these days. I stow full mags not only taped in a case, but I flip them over to a certain orientation that's different from the empty mags. That way even in a dark space I can grab an empty one and have a tactile acknowledgement that the mag is empty. If working with DITs, I've seen a few who have different color tape for their workflow as media goes through a chain of offloading through backup, which might even happen on separate systems and separate departments. Whatever works for your workflow really. Tape is very useful and you should get used to using it. It's sticky, it's handy. Tape is good.
Taped mags let everybody know it's live, in use, and no touchy.
Nature tip. If you're abroad and working in the wilds a roll of low adhessive (doesn't leave gunk) electrical tape is useful for covering pins on full cards, but a case is even better. But that tape might also come in handy covering various electrical contacts on the camera you don't want to get wet. I have a roll with me on every shoot in my camera case.
"Remember the safest place your footage ever will be is on the media it's recorded on." - Phil Holland
And you should treat your media that way. No matter if you're working with film or digital. In many ways being on top of your electronic media is the modern form of "checking the gate" with your media cards and the media bays of your cameras. So you bloody well should ensure that you care for it like it's one of your limbs, your first born, your mother, the one ring, you get the idea. And yes, you should also check your lens mount/actual gate these days too. Oh you haven't looked in there in a while? Even after 50 lens changes? You're fired. Kidding sort of. Yes, you do this every lens change and don't let me catch you doing otherwise.
Expanding here, this all applies to the camera's media compartment/bay. There's the famous story of the guy who rented a camera and found that he couldn't record because he slotted his card into a spider that took of residence within that media slot. Bad day for both of them really.
I have a lot of standard things I carry with me on set, but a:
- flashlight
- hand blower
- cleaning cloth/preferably lint free Kim Wipes
- a decent multi-tool
can help you in many situations when something is stuck in the bay. Occasionally you'll need something long to slide in there and get to a near dental level of cleaning if there's a dusty bunny that needs to be chased out because it is wedged in there. Be prepared for anything really. Like even baby lizards. That's happened to me and I nearly had to change my pants. Which reminds me, next natural history shoot, bring more pants.
Always keep cleaning supplies handy in a case or on your camera cart.
The camera cart and camera case/bag/baby bjorn is your opportunity to always have handy things nearby. Cleaning supplies, tape, flashlight, pictures of loved ones. Stuff that helps get you through the day and specifically stuff that can help you when you need a bit of help. On big shoots I keep a modest set of tools on the cart and usually more tools elsewhere stowed in case I need to build some crazy mount or something similar.
Wait. I am forgetting something that you should have with you, but I don't keep it on the cart or case. While we're all here....
Gloves.
"How can you pull hard without gloves?." - James Cameron, Aliens BTS 1986
Gloves will protect your hands, in this case, against chemical burns.
I wholehearted agree with Jim there. My first on set experience started in the 90s. Working on set was indeed different then and there was a bit more getting your hands dirty dealing with 72lb or heavier camera rigs and likely heavier lighting setups. I don't keep my gloves on a production cart or in a bag, they are always on me in my pocket or on my belt. With a great grandfather and father who were/are woodworkers with gnarled hands and witnessing a few fingers and a hand lobbed off growing up I didn't need to be reminded much to have gloves on me. Early on when I was gripping and gaffing it's pretty easy to see why you want gloves and honestly need them, but even in the camera department it can help the daily wear and tear from roughing up your digits. Often for me they are on when seting up a shot or moving to a new setup, then I take them off while rolling. But more or less if you show up on my set and are part of camera, grip, electric, set dec, and don't have gloves I don't expect you to work safely. And I don't like to worry all day. Strangely those aren't my words, but a rather big director who's name will remain anonymous as who he was speaking to was fired later that day for that and about 6 other reasons. You get the point, always have gloves on you or nearby. It will impress the hell out of your Director that you didn't slice your hand open moving a tripod and they will compliment you by saying nothing about that because it won't happen because you can prevent that.
Gah. I should add something about comfy shoes too, but I spent my first 15 years on set wearing canvas Vans. I learned that lesson later on, but yeah comfy shoe article coming soon, am I right?
That was a glovely detour. Back to media stuff.
Filmy Things.
A taped latch won't surprise open on you.
For those of you working with film. Much of this applies. Keep it cool. Keep it dry. Keep it away from light. After you tape the can, run your finger across the seam to ensure the tape is down tight and it covers the lid/bottom 50/50. If it doesn't, add more tape or tape again until it becomes as natural as breathing for you. Even after it's second nature, check the tape on the rim. You use 1" gaff no matter what, 2" if you have to, nothing narrower. I used black throughout my career on exposed cans, neon orange on cam (and the color I've used for all hot set tape for 20 years, you can see it in the dark easily). Label the can clearly, ideally with a water resistant ink and label. Weird crap seems to happen between you and the lab. Motion picture film has more mass than a roll of still film. Still film in the freezer, 30-60 min for a thaw at room temp. Motion Picture Film in the freezer (1000 foot Super 35mm), 3-5 hours and I usually just went with/go with 6 hours. 70mm 15-perf IMAX 2000 feet? 8-12 hours if you can. At the old studio we had a controlled temperature clean room with constant moving, negative pressure, dry air. And we'd often go a full day on the thaw in that rather controlled environment. We've done less, but safer is better. Beware of X-Rays during travel and if you're around labs, cleaning chemicals, and even the coroners filming something freaky; beware of long exposure to weird vapors. Mags on camera, tape the latch. Things rattle and people have roaming fingers. Rattling is bad and people will always add an unexpected element to a situation.
If looking to get faster on loading and unloading mags. Get a trash roll or leader and practice everyday until it feels extremely natural. Depending on your camera, laser recorder, or even film scanner getting a nice two finger technique to lead the film and feel for the sprockets can help with the feed. In my teens I practiced in a dark room, light on, then light off with leader. Time it. Try to get faster and more confident, but don't ever rush. Getting used to that film wiggle in the fingers is oddly one of the joys of working with it. Older mags can jam, especially the lids. Be patient if you feel that coming on. Film is flimsier than leader, but it gets you a good idea of what the transport is like. For the scanners in my life, it's a bit easier as that neg has been developed and lights are on. But remember you are handling original camera negative and there is no going back. I've held O-Neg that's worth $$,$$$,$$$ once you add everything up going on in frame. The stakes are higher of course on big budget productions, but experience, repetition, and confidence will keep you calm. Scanners can eat and destroy film, you need to protect against that. Make sure the tension is taught and the film is squarely on all guide rollers securely before engaging the spooling/movement.
Clean everything. For most of my film days that was compressed nitrogen, alcohol on steel, and wipes. Check for broken perfs, more common as film ages. If you see one, check the film and check the whole transport to see how it was made. Having a loupe can help you CSI investigate potentially where damage occurred. Nothing touches the sprockets except your fingers, film, and occasionally a soft wiping. A slightly dented sprocket or *gasp* a broken sprocket is a demon you don't want to unleash onto the world. If you've got rubber gaskets anywhere in or around the mag, check those and ensure they are still pliable and have a supple bounce to them. Old rubber eventually leaves debris or worse lets light in.
And yeah. Lots of stuff can get stuck in the gate. Check it, clean it. Tweezers and if you're lucky enough to have a pair of rubber tipped ones are very helpful when that shocking tiny speck cardboard somehow snuck it's way into the camera making you question and curse reality at the same time. Film cameras are a bit different than digital and they can indeed, not easily, be completely taken apart. If you have had to do this to find what the hell was scratching your film inside the transport, we can have a beer together and I can tell you the tale of a production that lost a week of footage and likely a few years off the camera departments lives.
Let's get back to digital.
Odds and Ends
Have I mentioned, always have tape with you on set?
Don't use your cards for other stuff and don't just delete clips with the reader off the freaking mag. Though some camera workflows allow for you to write LUTs into specific folders and all that, which is fine, you shouldn't be copying other junk onto your cards nor should you be deleting or formatting on the computer. This is as much a workflow thing as it is a best practice thing. You format in camera and you only wipe your cards there. If you do "other stuff" segmenting is possible and recording errors can occur, especially on the more expensive cinema cameras. They more or less treat media like a roll of film and you can't delete a clip on film short of splicing it out in the edit or having a can tumble out of van door and down a hill as you scream in absolute horror.
If you rent your gear, make sure you Securely Format your card. Otherwise your closed set artsy nude scene or super top secret project screens in front of absolute strangers who's intentions are a mystery, but they will download it, and show it to others. Protect your footage. Even when deleting it.
Not focusing on workflow much here, but yes, backup everything. Double redundancy is very good when offloading. Triple is super good. Quadruple, well you're probably wearing loaves of bread as shoes, but hey, I won't judge you because of the pain on how you got to here. Something hurt you and it was likely unconditioned power frying a drive, mother nature, a dog, or some other form chaos. Just back it up, verify it, breathe deeply, reflect, and double check it before you send that card back to camera, then take a shot confidence in knowing you've done the thing and keep on working.
Cameras and even media receive firmware updates to add features and often to address issues. Technology changes fast these days. Stay tuned in and make sure you're up to date. However, unless it's a major issue, as with camera firmware, perhaps don't go updating firmware mid-project. And certainly don't update firmware on some cards or cameras on a multi-cam shoot and not all of them. That's just asking for problems.
For mass market and even used proprietary media, beware of knock-offs. Huge issue in the lower cost media market for sure as it's pretty common. The best you can do to combat against this is to purchase your media from a trusted retailer who you know is getting it from the appropriate channels. That 1TB card you got for a steal might just be a relabeled knock-off brand X 128GB for instance. That $,$$$ card for your $$,$$$ camera you found used eBay might have been cracked open with a voided warranty. You get the idea. Buy with confidence from people you trust. A good deal can sometimes turn into an awful nightmare.
Personally, I find that certain brands do a better job of general quality control and overall quality of the media itself. Cheapest rarely is the best and much like monitors you want to buy the best you can afford. Hell, that pretty much applies to all the things you include in your kit. Most discover this in their filmmaking journey, especially if you are a working professional. You're using these tools to make a living and have to rely on them. Quality is a cry once, buy once pain which is better than death from a thousand little cuts. Our industry isn't very forgiving when things go wrong on set. There's a 2nd AD out there looking at you with glowing orange eyes in the dark corner of the sound stage watching you at all times waiting to devour your soul in a time of weakness. Buy quality stuff to keep that monster at bay. Your clients will never thank you for this, but they will keep you working if you exhibit a level control over chaos even when uncontrollable chaos occurs.
That's it. Short and sweet. Keep this stuff in your head. You'll be working with recording media for the rest of your career. Film, Digital, Canvas, Stone, Paper, etc. Care for it. Your's and likely other's hard work is captured on it. Treat it that way.
Happy shooting. And check your bloody gate.
Phil