The Future of Dailies: Simplifying Review Processes in Film Production

Dailies – the raw, unedited footage shot over the course of a day of production – offer content creators valuable insight into acting, camera work, lighting, and production quality. Over the last decade or so, with the shift from film to digital, the dailies process went through a complete transformation to accommodate new production workflows. Now, with recent developments in the cloud, virtual production, AI and machine learning, the next shift in the dailies process is closer on the horizon than one might expect.

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The Shift from Film to Digital

With the prominence of digital cinematography, physical film reels have become a thing of the past. Footage is now almost entirely captured via high-resolution digital cameras, which integrate seamlessly into digital workflows. This transition to digital dailies not only streamlines the production process but also facilitates instant access to footage, enabling efficiencies in collaboration, review and approval of the media.

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Dailies Collaboration in the Cloud

Cloud technology has revolutionised the way dailies are managed and viewed. Production teams can now upload their dailies directly into the cloud rather than rely on physical storage and local servers, allowing access from anywhere with an internet connection. Creative stakeholders now have limitless flexibility to review footage remotely, provide feedback in real-time, and collaborate with team members anywhere in the world.

As the cloud continues to evolve, becoming even more secure, robust and collaborative, only time will tell what future benefits it will impose on dailies and the rest of the production and post process.

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How AI Could Benefit Dailies

While a polarising topic for many, AI and machine learning are also making great strides in streamlining the dailies process. AI-powered tools can analyse dailies footage and detect elements including facial expressions, camera motion, and composition. This automated analysis helps increase efficiencies in the review process and provides valuable insights that help creatives make more informed decisions during post-production.

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The Rise of Virtual Production

Virtual production – the process of shooting against massive LED walls displaying game engine renderings – is becoming more commonplace in the industry. By opting to go virtual, filmmakers can create immersive virtual environments on-set, reducing the costs associated with travel for extensive location shoots, among other benefits. In the case of virtual production, dailies serve as an important tool to visualise and refine virtual scenes in real-time, allowing directors and cinematographers to fine-tune lighting, camera angles, and more. In virtual production, more of the heavy lifting is done in advance of the shoot rather than in post, so dailies are a particularly critical component.

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What’s Next?

The role of dailies in the production process will continue to evolve alongside the technology that powers the industry. From cloud integration to developments in AI, and the increase in virtual productions, dailies will remain a crucial part of the content creation process. By embracing technological innovation, creatives can streamline workflows and bring their artistic visions quicker, cheaper and with more precision than ever before.

Sohonet is your partner in secure dailies collaboration, with tools like ClearView Rush, our dailies review tool. Contact us for more information!

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