A modern DIT cart needs to be mobile, rigid and configurable, with enough payload capacity for workstations, RAID arrays, monitors and power distribution. You should look for professional film carts with high payload ratings, good brakes, large wheels for location work, and mounting options for monitors, VESA arms, power strips and cable management, like those from INOVATIV and Magliner, to keep the on‑set footprint compact and safe across studios, location and OB setups.
| Area | Entry‑level DIT setup (low budget) | Mid‑range DIT setup (series/commercial) | High‑end DIT setup (HETV/feature) |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIT cart | N/A | Full‑size DIT cart with higher payload and better wheels | Customised cart with racks, cable routing and accessories |
| Monitoring | Laptop Display or portable monitor | 4K GUI monitor plus small HDR reference display | Dedicated HDR reference monitor plus GUI/timeline displays |
| Colour tools | Software‑only grading controls | Compact Resolve panel, LUT box and scopes | Full colour panel, advanced scopes and routing |
| Ingest & backup software | Simple checksum offload tool | Full media management with reports and cloud sync | Studio‑integrated asset management and remote access |
| Workstation & storage | Laptop Workstation, Card Readers, and portable SSD or small RAID | High‑performance workstation with larger RAID | Dual‑GPU high-performance workstation with large RAID for dailies |
DITs rely on colour‑accurate reference and GUI monitors to judge exposure, colour and focus. For on‑set work, prioritise 4K (or higher) panels with wide colour gamuts such as DCI‑P3 or Adobe RGB, strong uniformity, hardware or LUT calibration, and SDI/HDMI or Thunderbolt connectivity to integrate with cameras and I/O hardware.
As live grading and show LUT creation become standard, many DITs now use compact colourist panels on the cart. Hardware panels from the likes of Blackmagic Design and Tangent speed up live grading and offer more precise control for improved consistency on set.
Secure, verified ingest is the non-negotiable foundation of every DIT workflow – one corrupted card can halt production, so prioritising checksum verification, multi-destination backups and detailed logging protects your footage from set to post. UK DITs handling ARRI, RED, Sony or Blackmagic media need software that automates safe offloads while generating reports for producers and post teams.
Ingest workstations and storage are where all your DIT decisions come together: this is the engine that runs your offloads, live grades and dailies, and the vault that keeps every card safe. Scan’s strength is in custom workstations and storage, so we can help you create a well‑matched DIT PC and RAID setup that lets you offload multiple cards at once, grade in real time and keep working even when one drive fails, which is essential for Netflix‑approved and HETV workflows.
