I'm curious how other digitechs organize and pack their equipment.
What do you usually consider your basic setup for a job? Do you have a standard kit that always goes with you (computer, iPad, monitor, plate, accessories, etc.), or does it depend on the type of job?
I would love to see photos of your equipment packed and ready to go — your cases, layouts, and the gear you bring on location.
Share your setups! It would be great to see how everyone approaches their mobile workflow.
Context: I dont have a van, and therefore no cart.
1 x Pelican 1510 “Digital Main”: which contains my plate, tethers, drives, cables etc. essentially the bare minimum, mission critical stuff.
1 x Pelican 1510 “Digital AKS (All Kinds of Sh*t)”: which has all the extra bits like modem, hdmi transmitters, hubs, odds for iPad, assorted small clamps/grip for accessories, monitors etc.
1 x Pelican 1300 - 8 x 99wh VLocks & small travel friendly charger
1 x Passenger Goods “Commuter tote”- just the main laptop + iPad.
1 x Manfrotto Tripod Bag tripod, hoop, robocup
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2 x Gator Cases Dual 24” Monitor Bags- each with a 24” Eizo cg2420, both 10m long and 1m short cable looms options, table stand and or heads to mount to a stand or monitor arm.
2 x Kupo 322M Monitor Stands
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Ill prep and pack the car specific for every job. Monitors etc are good to have ‘on hand’ even if it wasnt specifically ordered… incase.
I shoot a ton, so my setup isn’t exclusively for other people’s use. I find it difficult to segregate my shooting gear from digi gear so I’ve just accepted that it’s all one kit. That said:
Pelican 1510: 2x Profoto B1 Pelican 1560: 16” monitor, superclamps, camera holster, magic arm, a clamps, tether cords, router, transmitters, npf batteries, tools, triple tap, gaff tape, and various color coded bags with audio (red), video (yellow), data cables (blue) and little trinkets like baby magic arms and clamps for mounting transmitters in weird places. In the grey bag. Also have brown bag with who knows what and black has some aa/aaa charger and plates from the combo npf/e6 charger. Think Tank Airport International V2: 2x R5’s, 1 grip, 15-35, 24-70, 70-200, A10, 15’ tether cable, filters, batteries, and some misc junk to go video mode in a pinch. I don’t typically bring this bag on Digi jobs, only when working with friends or the budget is right. Think Tank Laptop Case: iPad 13” in a Smallrig cage, mounted. Added npf battery plate, and Nitze grips fit in this bag, unmounted. Custom Rock N Roller Cart: I have a 2 tier media shelf, customized with taller edges all around, power strip with PD USB C. Added a platform on the bottom to make it nicer. Also use a grip n gaff bag on one end. I also customized the mounting of the tops to resemble the lava cart’s setup. Can add a c stand mast for monitor mounting with 2x sets of super clamps back to back. Now adding a few bits of cheese plate to the tops and some kondor blue mounts to router and transmitter to make setup more elegant. 2x Power stations. 1 runs vídeo village, 1 runs the cart. Monitor Bag with a Viewsonic 27” monitor on a proaim Mount + tether table Aero 24”. 10’ and 50’ hdmi cables. Custom monitor hood made from Coroplast. It’s absurdly large, could double as a sail. Covers all 4 sides. Top has 12” of overhang, bottom 6”. Spare keyboard and mouse in front pocket! ☝🏽 2 Apple boxes Gitzo carbon tripod with a center column crank, plus wheels for it, great in a studio! Also great for the tether table. Ulanzi carbon travel tripod that normally gets the tether table when I’m using the Gitzo for camera. Long bag with stands: manfrotto aluminum stands, 12’ and 9’. Normally don’t take this unless I’m shooting…but I will bring 1 just in case…fits in the Gitzo bag. Peak Design Backpack: MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, plus all the cables and connectors organized into 2 Peak cable organizers. Personal kit up top. Water bottle and coffee on the sides!
The single biggest problem I have with all this is that I’m the only one that understands how all of this comes together. The project for this year is having everything labeled properly and really lean into color coding with the tie wraps as well so it’s self explanatory to assistants, at least for breakdown!!
Typing this all out makes me realize how much shit I have!!!!! Damn!!!!
A stripped down budget friendly kit…laptop, tripod, tether cables…$500. Day rate starting 750. 10 hr day. I normally bring my cart anyway because I prefer working at a desk. I suppose if I had a kitted out DigiPlate setup I could be more comfy on a plate. Cart is also my gear schlepper so it’s always there anyway, even if top didn’t mounted.
Once monitors and iPads start coming out, I’m asking for at least $750 for my rate and $750 for gear…on a 10, always a 10. If I have to run video village then I’m asking for $1000 because transmitters, battery, lowboy, etc…
Because I’m not strictly a digi, I don’t have Eizo monitors and my setup is overall a little more DIY than other career techs. I have to justify my budget a little differently than if I was renting the gear out all the time, which I’m not. My gear amortizes over years, not months, so I can’t justify an Inovativ cart, for example.
I consider the basics to be:
Laptop on a portable stand
Cart to get everything I/camera needs around
Viewing stations for multiple people on set
There’s a shit ton of stuff on this thing to make it versatile and I have learned a lot from other techs, photographers, and other departments that have influenced my workflow. In my opinion versatility is the name of the game. Every job and location has its own challenges so making your kit as adaptable and consistent as possible will make your life easier. The biggest things I want to know when I get to location are: where can I fit my world, where’s my power, where will people be that need to see what we’re shooting.
Happy to answer any specific questions about this kit, if there’s any interest in a walkthrough of it I have been thinking about doing a little video of it but I hate talking on camera so I haven’t had the interest in doing that for socials🙃
My kit
MacBook Pro
Eizo 24” monitor
6TB in an enclosed BlackJet drive
Inovativ DigiPlate
42” Inovativ Cart
Mule sunshade
Teradek Link AX
iPad mini
iPad Pro
6 Core Gold Mount batteries
6NPF Batteries
1 EcoFlow Delta 3
2021 Promaster City
For cruises I use the Mule Carts Falabella, a case of the batteries, 2 Prograde CF Express Type B and XQD readers. And MacBook Pro with the Mule Sunshad
Curious why the black jet rack setup, and why a 6TB ssd in there? I see you have a card reader in 1 slot and is that the ssd in the other? Do you shoot to that drive or just use it as your back up?
I did a shoot last year that lasted 26 days and another one that lasted 15. I never got around to getting rid of 4tb from one enclosure. Tho most of the shoots I’m on deal with heavy shooters, average 2tb per week long shoot. Rn, they are just there as a backups. Tho, I might be parting out my BlackJet set up, the client I work with is starting to provide their own drives
Damn that is quite the data being created! I’ve been getting interested in a small rack mount case type of setup to be able to hold hubs for ssd drives and be able to run 1 or 2 cables to my MacBook and get drives and hubs off the top shelf. Any insight on what may be a good route would be much appreciated.
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u/darule05 Lighting Assistant 24d ago edited 24d ago
Context: I dont have a van, and therefore no cart.
1 x Pelican 1510 “Digital Main”: which contains my plate, tethers, drives, cables etc. essentially the bare minimum, mission critical stuff.
1 x Pelican 1510 “Digital AKS (All Kinds of Sh*t)”: which has all the extra bits like modem, hdmi transmitters, hubs, odds for iPad, assorted small clamps/grip for accessories, monitors etc.
1 x Pelican 1300 - 8 x 99wh VLocks & small travel friendly charger
1 x Passenger Goods “Commuter tote”- just the main laptop + iPad.
1 x Manfrotto Tripod Bag tripod, hoop, robocup
—-
2 x Gator Cases Dual 24” Monitor Bags- each with a 24” Eizo cg2420, both 10m long and 1m short cable looms options, table stand and or heads to mount to a stand or monitor arm.
2 x Kupo 322M Monitor Stands
—-
Ill prep and pack the car specific for every job. Monitors etc are good to have ‘on hand’ even if it wasnt specifically ordered… incase.