Indie Filmmakers Rejoice-D16 Digital Bolex

[LethalWolfe]

That is mostly true however the Bolex will (supposedly) use Adobe's video DNG format which is about as standardized and cross platform as a raw codec can get.

I wasn't worried about standardization but file size, storage costs, pre-processing before you take it into your NLE, etc.,.

Digital Bolex FAQ

Q: How much data storage will I need?

A: The D-16 images are around 3.5 MB per frame. At 24 frames per second, that works out to about 5 GB per minute. This means that on two 32 GB cards, you can record about 13 minutes worth of footage. We recommend at least four 32 GB CF cards and about 500 GB of hard drive storage for a minute of run-time of your final film. So if you have a 12 minute film, you would need 6 TB of storage. (64 GB CF cards also available)

It's going to take big, fast CF cards (read: expensive) and lots of HDD storage to own & operate this camera and I feel like that might be a deal breaker for a lot of the typical DSLR crowd that it seems to target. The price point puts it at the DSLR level but the real world operational budget I think is going to be much higher.

What I'm worried about is, overall, this will be too much camera for the DSLR crowd and not enough camera for the pro crowd. I know they said HD-SDI out is going to be coming via an external module... who knows. I hope this camera doesn't end up being a 'tweener that can't get solid footing in either camp because that would most certainly be the death of it.


Lethal

 

[ppc_michael]

The D-16 images are around 3.5 MB per frame. At 24 frames per second, that works out to about 5 GB per minute.

That's an interesting parallel with Bolex's film cameras, such as the H16 typically taking 100ft rolls of 16mm, which comes to around 2 minutes 45 seconds at 24fps.

In some ways, I think this could be a good thing, encouraging people to plan their shots much more meticulously to avoid wasting precious storage space. That's my biggest pet peeve when working with people who have always done video: they seem to plan less and shoot more.

 

[LethalWolfe]

That's an interesting parallel with Bolex's film cameras, such as the H16 typically taking 100ft rolls of 16mm, which comes to around 2 minutes 45 seconds at 24fps.

In some ways, I think this could be a good thing, encouraging people to plan their shots much more meticulously to avoid wasting precious storage space. That's my biggest pet peeve when working with people who have always done video: they seem to plan less and shoot more.

Meh, and how many perfect takes were ruined or missed because you had such a small shooting window? I've read a number of directors say that they like digital because they can let the actors act and the scene develop w/o having to worry so much about time and the constant stopping/starting that can interrupt chemistry. And for doc or other unscripted work...yeesh...

Sure, some people over shoot, and those types of people certainly aren't going to get this camera so I don't think that particular problem is going to get solved.

When I first started editing it was a mixture of linear editing and sharing some Avids in the school's media lab that had an impressive, for the time, 18 or so gigs of HDD space. Which meant I did a lot of paper edits and that certainly helped me become a more efficient editor, but that doesn't mean I want to go back to those days now.


Lethal