Behind the Scenes of Revamped Data Calc Pro App

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Last week, shot.net announced the launch of the revamped Data Calc Pro app from creative VFX studio MPC. The app is dedicated to calculating the amount of storage required for each stage of a film project – from pre-production to shoot, post and delivery.

Keen to find out more about the app and its main features, we caught up with MPC Data Lab creative technology consultant Chris Vincze. Below, he tells us about the design process, how simple it is to use and other apps by MPC.

How did the idea for the original app come about?

When digital cameras first started taking over from film, we needed to constantly be able to estimate storage amounts and plan ahead for jobs, so the app was initially fulfilling an internal need. We wanted something more user-friendly than a spreadsheet, so we thought we'd make an app - plus the portability of a mobile platform made it ideal for use on shoots. We quickly realized how useful it would be for everyone across the industry.

Why is now the right time for a revamp?

There are a few factors that influenced the revamp. The original app proved to be much more popular than we had expected, so we realised that we must be doing something right. However, the free app was very limited in the cameras it could deal with and as more and more diverse cameras came onto the market we needed to keep pace. In the original app everything was hard-coded, therefore hard to update, but now we have a constantly updated live database of over 100 cameras and recorders. As we were rebuilding the app from scratch we decided to do it properly and create all the features we had thought 'wouldn’t it be great if our app did'. MPC were updating their branding, plus iOS7 had come out, so in addition to all the new features we gave the app a complete redesign too.

Can you tell us a bit about the new features?

In addition to adding to the database of cameras, we also included all the manufacturers’ specs for those cameras (and pictures), which although not strictly part of the calculator, we thought would be a really nice feature to have.

The main change that we wanted to implement was to make the app useful for complete workflow calculations. Rather than just calculating how many Gigabytes one hour of Arri Raw takes up, users can now easily take that through the stages of production and post-production/VFX. For example, at the click of a button it’s easy to calculate how much disk space those same rushes take up when converted to Avid DNxHD, or to DPX, or delivery to BluRay or YouTube video. 

The new transfer calculator tells users how long that footage will take to download to a drive, copy across a network, or transfer across the internet with a variety of different speeds.

We've introduced a reverse calculator, giving you the runtime from a given amount of footage, a slow motion calculator and stereo 3D functionality.

Perhaps the function that I use most on a day-to-day basis is the time calculator, which does things like convert between hours and frames or add and subtract timecode or tell you the adjusted running time when you change frame rates.

How easy is the app to use?

Very! We’ve created it as five separate sections to make calculations clear and accurate.

What sort of response have you had to the revamped app?

The first app was never officially launched and spread across the industry via word of mouth. The revamped app was only launched a few weeks ago, but so far the interest has been huge. People really like the new features. We are focussing on being very responsive to users' requests, so if people have suggestions for cameras that aren't in the app we make sure we get them into the database as soon as possible.

Are there any similar apps on the market? If so, what makes this one unique?

There are some apps that have some of the functionality, but none that has everything in the same app. I believe our complete workflow calculation process is unique, and I don't believe there is another time calculator around.

Is MPC currently working on any other apps for the film industry?

Our digital and interactive teams in both London and New York continue to develop apps as a core service offer. Apart from the client work, for the last two years our London team have designed and developed 'Cannesappé' – the 'official unofficial' app for the annual Cannes Lions Festival. We are also in the process of rolling out an internal app to streamline our client services features across our studios.