Film crew hire/Birmingham/DIT and data
DIT and data on Birmingham shoots. Every card checked and copied before it leaves the set.
The edit for a Birmingham shoot might be across the city, down the line in London, in our own suite or in another country. Here’s how the footage gets there in one piece: what a DIT or data wrangler does, what they carry, how much a day makes, how many copies, and every way rushes leave Birmingham, from a drive on the train at New Street to an upload that starts before wrap.
DIT · day rate
£527
Verified copies before a card is wiped
2
1 hour of Sony FX6 4K at 25p
up to about 112 GB
New Street to Euston, fastest train
1 hr 17 min
On this page
01 Who does what
DIT, data wrangler or loader?
Three jobs that overlap, and get called different things on different sets. Which one a Birmingham shoot needs comes down to the cameras, the formats and how soon the edit wants the rushes.
Digital imaging technician
DIT
Works with the DOP on the camera settings and the look, checks every take for focus, exposure and noise, sets up colour for dailies, and runs the backups. The one to book for ARRI or RED on a stage at Digbeth Loc. or Curzon Street Studios.
Backups and the log
Data wrangler
Takes the cards from the cameras, copies them to drives with verified backups, and keeps the log. On a three-camera conference day at the ICC or the NEC, the wrangler keeps up with the cards so the camera team never has to stop.
On smaller jobs
Camera assistant or loader
On a small shoot the 2nd AC offloads cards between set-ups with verification software. On a sportswear brand’s studio day in Woolwich, London, in January 2025, our 2nd AC doubled as DIT at the end of the day.
Our view
For a one- or two-camera FX6 interview day in an office on Colmore Row, a camera assistant with the right software does the job. Book a wrangler once there are three or more cameras, and a DIT for RAW, ARRI or RED, dailies the same night, or an edit in another city or time zone waiting on proxies. The DIT’s cart and drives go on the quote as their own lines. Booking the whole crew? Every role is on the Birmingham crew page.
02 On set
How we handle data on a Birmingham shoot
Five steps, every shoot, whoever is doing them.
01
Offload, verified
Cards are copied with checksum-verified software such as Silverstack, ShotPut Pro or OffShoot, which reads each copy back against the card. Never by dragging files in Finder.
02
Two copies, then three
Two verified copies on separate drives before a card goes back to camera to be formatted, and a third away from set by the end of the day.
03
Check it
Spot checks for focus, exposure, sound and timecode, while the crew are still there to go again.
04
Log it
A report for every card, and an ASC MHL file that travels with the media: a checksum for every file, usually xxHash or MD5, and a record of every copy made.
05
Hand it over
At wrap the drives go to you, onto a train at New Street, to a courier, up to the cloud, or to our edit.
Card handling
A full card comes off camera marked as not yet copied, and goes straight to the DIT, never into a pocket. It goes back to camera only when two verified copies exist and the DIT has marked it safe to format. On a two-camera day each camera’s cards live in their own case, so nothing gets formatted by mistake.
Why it matters
Copying in Finder gives no checksum, so a corrupted file can go unnoticed until the card is formatted and the original is gone. The baseline we work to is the 3-2-1 rule: three copies, on two kinds of storage, one of them off site.
On one of our jobs
For Swanson Studios, a US production company filming interviews in Portsmouth, London and Oxford in November 2023, our co-founder Ollie Couch was the DIT. He ingested the RED footage and the audio, made proxies, and backed every card up twice, to two mirrored drives: one for Swanson, one for their client.
03 The cart
What a DIT brings, and what they need
The cart is a small data station on wheels. Most DITs bring their own, and it goes on the quote as its own line, with the drives.
Software and looks
A station
A laptop or workstation running the verification software, the camera makers’ own tools for RAW, and the DOP’s look files for dailies.
Media
Readers and drives
A reader for every card format on the day, and drives for three copies. A Sony FX6 records to CFexpress Type A or SD cards; ARRI and RED cameras use their makers’ own media.
Checks and backup power
A monitor and power
A calibrated monitor for checking pictures, and an uninterruptible power supply, so a tripped socket doesn’t stop a copy halfway.
Power and a corner
A socket and a spot out of the traffic of the set, close enough for the camera team to hand over cards. At the ICC, the NEC or an office on Colmore Row, we agree both with the venue before the day.
A wired line, if anything uploads
An undated NEC Wi-Fi guide for exhibitors describes its free Wi-Fi as a 5Mb service for basic browsing, not for anything a stand depends on, and recommends a hard-wired connection, booked in advance (checked October 2026). At five megabits a second, one hour of FX6 4K at 25p would take about two days to upload, so we ask any venue for a wired line and test it before the day.
Parking
Bays suspended through Production Central WM are for technical vehicles parked next to the filming, and its code of practice says a passenger vehicle of any size never counts. A DIT who drives in by car parks off street, and the cart comes in with the kit.
The Clean Air Zone
Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone covers every road inside the A4540 Middleway ring road, around the clock. A car or van below Euro 6 diesel or Euro 4 petrol pays £8 a day, an HGV or coach £50 (checked October 2026). A DIT’s van that doesn’t meet those standards pays the charge for every day it’s driven inside the ring road, on the quote at cost. We check the vans against the zone before they’re booked.
04 Storage
How much data a shoot day makes
Per hour of recording, from the manufacturers’ own figures. Multiply by the hours you roll and the number of cameras, then by the copies you keep.
| Camera and format | Per hour of recording |
|---|---|
| Sony FX6, XAVC-L 4K, 25p | up to about 45 GB |
| Sony FX6, XAVC-I 4K, 25p | up to about 112 GB |
| Sony FX6, XAVC-I 4K, 50p | up to about 225 GB |
| Apple ProRes 422 HQ, UHD, 25p | about 332 GB |
| Apple ProRes 4444, UHD, 25p | about 498 GB |
| Apple ProRes 4444 XQ, UHD, 25p | about 746 GB |
| ARRIRAW Open Gate 3.4K, 24 fps | about 973 GB |
| The same ARRIRAW, as Codex HDE | about 584 GB |
Worked example
A three-camera conference day at the ICC, each FX6 rolling six hours of sessions in XAVC-I 4K at 25p, makes up to about 2 TB. Keep three copies and that’s about 6 TB of drives, sized before the day, not found at lunch. Shoot XAVC-L and the same day is about 810 GB.
From one of our jobs
The client’s post house often sets the format. For Davies Group’s interview days in Manchester, London and Bolton in October and November 2024, the post house asked for log, 4K, 25 frames for interviews and 50 for B-roll, and the London cameras were two Blackmagic 6Ks, chosen to match the other cities for the edit.
05 Delivery
Getting rushes out of Birmingham
Handed over at wrap
The drives go to your producer on set, with the media log. Whoever takes them, the masters stay with the production until the copy has arrived and been checked.
On the train, with a person
New Street is 1 hour 17 minutes from London Euston on the fastest trains, about an hour and a half from Manchester Piccadilly and an hour and a quarter from Bristol Temple Meads; Birmingham International, for the airport and the NEC, is ten minutes out (checked October 2026). A runner or the DIT takes a shuttle drive on the train and hands it to the edit the same day. It’s a copy, never the only one.
By courier
Gophr delivers right across Birmingham, from £7.50 by bike to £26.50 by large van, tracked, and a direct job usually gets from collection to delivery within an hour. Further afield, Speedy Freight’s Birmingham branch, in Halesowen, is open 24 hours and aims to collect anywhere in the Birmingham postcode area within 60 minutes of booking, for same-day delivery anywhere in the UK; its film and production service carries editing drives and rushes. Checked October 2026.
By upload
The connection is the limit: at 1 gigabit a second, a terabyte takes over two hours in theory. MASV gives 15 GB a month free, then US$0.25 a GB, so two hours of FX6 4K at 25p, about 225 GB, costs about US$53 to send (checked October 2026). For a Paris agency’s interviews in Wimbledon, London, the June 2025 rushes went to Paris on two transfer links two days after the shoot.
Proxies as you shoot
Frame.io Camera to Cloud sends proxies, or originals from some cameras, from a connected camera or encoder, keeps a queue when the signal drops, and lets the edit start before wrap. A file that takes more than 24 hours to upload expires, so in a venue we ask for a wired line first.
To an overseas edit
When the edit’s abroad, the proxies go up as you shoot and the drives follow by courier, or fly home with the visiting team: Birmingham International, for the airport, is ten minutes from New Street (checked October 2026). Here’s how overseas teams book a Birmingham crew.
06 Playback
Playback and remote viewing
On four days of customer stories for a US production company in September 2025, at a law firm on Cannon Street in the City of London and then an office in Uxbridge, the US team brought its own DIT and we crewed around them. Playback was added late in the budget: an operator with a playback package, a Teradek and a livestream licence, on all four days, so the shoot could be watched from outside the room.
A video playback operator in Birmingham is £334–518 a day, with the kit on its own line. Two Birmingham details: playing a track out loud on the street needs Production Central WM’s consent under its code of practice, and a stream to a client abroad needs a wired line the building will give you, tested before they join.
07 Post
Where it’s cut: your edit, or ours
Birmingham rushes usually go one of three ways. We plan the route at the recce, so the format, the drives and the delivery match the edit.
Your spec
Wherever it is
Your post house
Send us the post house’s spec before the shoot, and the format, the drives and the route out of Birmingham are set to it. For Davies Group in 2024 we handed over rushes only: Manchester’s on SSDs with a Frame.io backup, Bolton’s straight into its SharePoint, and its post house cut the show.
Edit days
Crew hire
An editor in Birmingham
An editor booked for the edit days, cutting from the drives the DIT hands over, in your office or theirs.
Here Now Films
Our own edit
The people who shoot it can cut it, grade it and mix it, with no drives changing hands between companies. Twycross Zoo’s Easter TV ad, shot in Leicestershire, north-east of Birmingham, was cut, graded and mixed by our own team; AlTi Tiedemann Global’s films, shot in London, were edited and animated by us.
- Video editing
- Colour grading
- Hire an editor in Birmingham, from £350 a day
Need a DIT, or the rushes handled?
Tell us the cameras, the formats and where the footage needs to end up: in Birmingham, down the line, our edit or overseas. We’ll book the DIT or wrangler, the drives and the delivery. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Quick contact form
08 Questions
DIT and data in Birmingham: questions
Do I need a DIT or a data wrangler in Birmingham?
Not for a one- or two-camera interview day in an office on Colmore Row: a camera assistant with verification software does the job. Book a data wrangler for three or more cameras, such as a conference at the ICC or the NEC, and a DIT for RAW, ARRI or RED, dailies the same night, or an edit in another city waiting on proxies.
What does data handling add to a Birmingham quote?
The DIT’s day rate, £527, or a wrangler’s, quoted on the brief; the cart and the drives, each on its own line; and the delivery: train fares, a courier or an upload. A non-compliant van inside the A4540 Middleway adds the Clean Air Zone’s £8 a day (checked October 2026). On a crew hire, everything we book carries our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance.
How do I get rushes from Birmingham to a London edit the same day?
New Street is 1 hour 17 minutes from London Euston on the fastest trains, so a runner with a shuttle drive is often quickest. Speedy Freight’s Birmingham branch, in Halesowen, aims to collect within 60 minutes of booking, around the clock, for same-day delivery anywhere in the UK. Or upload: MASV gives 15 GB a month free, then US$0.25 a GB. All checked October 2026. The masters stay with the production until the copy has arrived.
How much storage does a conference day at the ICC or the NEC need?
Three Sony FX6s rolling six hours each in XAVC-I 4K at 25p make up to about 2 TB, from Sony’s maximum bit rates. With three copies, that’s about 6 TB of drives. In XAVC-L it’s up to about 45 GB an hour per camera, so about 810 GB for the same day.
How many copies of the footage should we make?
Three, each checksum-verified, on at least two kinds of storage, with one away from set: the 3-2-1 rule. Cards don’t go back to camera to be formatted until two verified copies exist.
Can we upload rushes from the NEC?
Plan on a wired line, not the Wi-Fi. The NEC’s own exhibitor guide describes its free Wi-Fi as a 5Mb service for basic browsing and recommends a hard-wired connection, booked in advance (checked October 2026). We ask any venue for a wired line before the day, and test it, if proxies or a stream depend on it.
Does a DIT’s van pay the Clean Air Zone charge?
Inside the A4540 Middleway, if it isn’t compliant: £8 a day for a car or van below Euro 6 diesel or Euro 4 petrol, paid on GOV.UK up to six days before or by 23:59 on the sixth day after (checked October 2026). We check the vans against the zone before they’re booked, and any charge goes on the quote at cost.
Can an editor overseas get the rushes?
Yes. Proxies go up as you shoot with Frame.io Camera to Cloud, the originals follow by upload or courier, or the drives fly home with the visiting team: Birmingham International, for the airport, is ten minutes from New Street. For a Paris agency’s interviews in Wimbledon, London, in June 2025, the rushes went to Paris by transfer link two days after the shoot.
Around the crew
More for Birmingham shoots
01
Kit rental
Kit houses at the NEC and on Hagley Road, the crew’s own kit, and what comes up from London.
02
Locations and permits
Production Central WM, the canals, New Street, the parks and the airport’s drone zone.
03
Studios and set builds
Digbeth Loc., Curzon Street, blackout and green screen studios, and set builds.
