Digital Technician: noun, the digital technician or digital image technician oversees everything digital, from the camera to managing the image files on the computer, the various monitors, backups, client harddrives, wifi or any other digital extras that are needed for the job. slang Digital Tech, Digi, DIT
In short, the digital technician is the computer nerd on set. On film and TV sets, they are called the DIT (Digital Imaging Technician). On photo shoots, the digital tech is responsible for the shooting computer, the digital camera and the viewing monitors. But what does a digital tech really do? These days the digital tech covers five overarching tasks: image capture, image quality, image feedback, image storage and image organization. This translates into facilitating digital capture, organizes, stores and provides data to the creative decision makers on set. Efficient communication of data between everyone on set makes a shoot much more productive and facilitates the very high daily shot counts that are so common now.
The Beginning Of course, the role has a changed a lot as the professional digital workflow has evolved over the past 30 years. Older digital cameras, computers and software were very slow and unstable. So, the tech had to spend most of their time keeping the camera and computer connected and maintaining the computer. This is where the role originates. Now, with the advancements of camera manufacturers, software companies, like Capture One, and computer manufacturers, the tech’s responsibilities are much broader. Current digital camera and computer setups have very little compatibility issues and are much more stable. This has freed up the tech’s time to focus on other tasks, like detailed file management and delivering the most up-to-date data to all the stakeholders.
Techs Today
Different types of photoshoots have different demands on the techs. In general, the tech will setup the computer, Capture One, viewing monitors and then setup and connect the camera for the photographer and assistants to begin testing the first shot. The tech will also manage Chronosync with the backup harddrives and any other software needed throughout the day, such as remote viewing software like Zoom or Google Meeting, or software to make PDFs. During the lighting setup and throughout the day the tech will provide feedback on the exposure, the focus, the framing, and any other image quality details.
While doing all of this, the tech will be managing the file naming and file storage. Many shoots require each look to be shot into a different folder with a unique name. Ideally, the client will provide a list of names and a naming convention for the tech to follow. But, sometimes the tech will have to make up their own names as they go. They try to make the filenames as clear as possible without being too long.
How does a Tech make you more productive?
A good tech saves you time, money and prevents headaches. Essentially, a tech takes care of all the hard computer skills you need in a photoshoot so you only have to worry about the creative and makes the whole production much more efficient than working without one.
The Digital Tech Role Can Be Broken Down Into 5 Categories:
Image Capture is the camera recording photos and delivering them to the computer for review and use. You can capture images on a memory card and download them to the computer or tether the camera to the computer to directly save the images on the computer while shooting.
Image Quality is confirming the images meet the specifications of the shoot, from size, color, style, orientation, cropping, exposure and sharpness.
The tech provides Image Feedback by making sure the crew can see the correct photos they need to see to perform their tasks and communicating if the image quality is correct or if something needs to changed, like re-focusing the camera or adjusting the exposure.
Image Security is backing up and properly storing the photos.
Image Organization is the organizing the image filing in the correct folders with the correct names in the client’s desired naming convention.
Why You Should Use A Digital Tech