Digital cameras, higher resolution and now tapeless work flow is impacting the industry.  Tapeless means just that!  No longer recording on tape but going directly to the digital medium.  This means on set original data information to backup to dailies.  Then going from the set right to editorial to visual effects to digital intermediate before even going to tape or film.  In fact the not so distant future will not even see that. It will go right to your neighborhood movie theater over satellite or fiber optics.

Resolution is what is driving this movement.  4K ( 4 times the size of a 2K file) is becoming the preference even if it means going from 4K  down to 2K then back to 4K.  Digital Cinema projections are in 4K with such movies as X-Men Origins.  The Red System is talking 6K capturing while NHK in Japan is speaking about 8K.  And as productions are capturing digitally, the shooting ratio has been going up.  Where shooting ratio in film always provided a sense of fiscal responsibility, such shooting ratios as 30:1 50:1  or 60:1 have allowed the director to make less specific creative decisions on set but wait until post.  It might make a director lazy on set add more time to a schedule but it certainly does keep the cost down in many areas and can provide for things to move faster and affect the cost.  And cost is what it is about. This trend is especially true in television and more and more tv shows are moving to the digital camera.  They have requirements of lower budgets and fast turn arounds’ and that is exactly what digital provides.  Advances in consumer technology is somewhat moving this along.  As consumer technology improves, technology for the industry must keep ahead.  It’s a matter of moving data:  digital data  and it gets faster and faster.  Features that shoot elsewhere in the world can have their data sent electronically via data networks are being seriously considered by many independent producers thus changing the way they produce.  This affects their bottom line:  the cost  and it is something that is making inroads.  However,  with all of this digital technology, cameras, 4K, 8K, 6K  and tapeless work flow talk, producers must consider if and how it impacts creatively, since protecting the creative integrity of any project is a priority.

Then there is the new Sony PDW-F800 XDCAM HD which is three CCD 4:2:2 tapeless file based camera recording at 1080 or 720, and it can overcrank and undercrank and can do time lapse digital cinematography

Launched at NAB 2009, the PDW-F800 XDCAM HD422 Camcorder builds on the phenomenally successful PDW-700, adding in new capabilities and features with the aim of creating the most fully featured tapeless camcorder on the market.

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