PANORAMA CITY, CALIF.—The DIT House and Vitafilm productions, for which I am the founder and co-owner, specialize in digital cinematography and digital imaging technician support. With nearly 33 years of experience combined, my team at the DIT House has built and supported a mobile, fast-paced business focused solely on bringing efficiency and unique technology to these specialties.
The ThunderPack Mini carries a bevy of tools and features that assist with mobile production.
When it comes to our shoots, we often need large data storage units with video monitoring capabilities that can be used on the go. The ThunderPack Mini is a portable Thunderbolt 2 hardware RAID for users who need to collect data on location and move it to a processing center. The system can be used for any production needed to record and store large amounts of data in the field. We began using the ThunderPack Mini after we determined that its customizations met all of our needs for on-set data management and transcoding, and on-set data and color correction.
BAG OF TRICKS
The ThunderPack Mini is powered via Anton Bauer VCLX battery packs, solar panels, internal battery or AC power that is also portable, shockproof, watertight and carry-on friendly. It uses Thunderbolt 2 or 3 hardware RAID with 2.5-inch SSDs or HDDs and is completely customizable with Codex and LTO compatibility, as well as HD-SDI monitoring via a built-in Blackmagic UltraStudio Mini monitor.
Acromove created three models of the ThunderPack Mini—RAID, LTO and BMD; we chose the BMD for its hi-def monitoring capabilities. All ThunderPack Mini models can be customized for storage up to 40 TB of data and can run up to 1150 MB/s configured at RAID-6 and running for up to six hours autonomously on battery power. It can also be customized with GPS/GSM tracking and all units are cooled with a patented noise-limited cooling system with sound traps and four temperature-controlled fans running at no more than 36dB, making it whisper quiet, to run on sets and during filming.
ON THE MOVE
Acromove’s designs have proven to be highly versatile, rugged, innovative and user-friendly. The customizable accessories like the rollaway solar panel, custom-designed external case wheels and hot-swappable, shock-mounted batteries and drives have all proven to come in handy and fit easily in the unit’s Pelican case. This all makes cinematography and post production on the go much easier.
I have been extremely happy with the efficiency and mobility provided by the ThunderPack Series products because I have to set up quickly and have lots of bandwidth available for transcoding while quality checking footage on an HD monitor and the ThunderPack Mini provides exactly what is needed and more. Rapid, mobile transcoding of footage is critical for DIT deadlines and with the ThunderPack Mini it can be done while driving to the next shoot. Time-sensitive conversions and edits can be performed on-the-go, allowing transcoded clips to be reviewed immediately upon arrival, saving us precious time.
Our team here at The DIT House uses, rents out and enjoys the versatile features of Acromove’s ThunderPack Mini.
Sacha Riviére has worked on hundreds of commercials, documentaries, music videos and independent feature films. He can be reached at 818-253-4348.
For more information, please visitwww.acromove.comor call 844-383-2276.
