Deluxe USBs

[Jim Cassedy]

Over 90% of my work involves working special shows in private screening rooms, so I don't acquire the usual 'pile' of USB drives, since I don't have to deal with trailers & ads, etc. But the ones I DO get, which often contain special pre or post show graphics or a "message from the director" or a short"making of" type of featurette, which come on some better quality USB stix made made of metal, with a plastic or cardboard tag containing a barcode and a notice to return them attached. These are usually the only ones that I've been specifically asked to return, or had Deluxe or CineVizion come after me if I hold on to them too long. Partly due their often propriatary content, and also because these USBthingys look like they're a lot more expensive than the usual "throw away" type usually sent out. (Which I've seen available online for as little as 8¢ in quantities the distributors probably purchase. )

[Dave Macaulay]

I've had to use some when my USB drive for updates etc. went dead. There is usually a box with dozens in it at multiplexes.
They are usually formatted ext2 in a partition just big enough for whatever is saved. The drive needs to be repartitioned with a primary active partition using the whole 8GB or whatever, then formatted as required. For getting reports or whatever from most servers this better be FAT32, as typical Linux servers won't write to NTFS.

[Leo Enticknap]

And if you don't return them, they'll eventually make a movie about you like Dawson City Frozen in Time

Sadly, I suspect that data rot will see to it that flash memory in long-term storage won't hold up anything like as well as nitrocellulose in a below freezing, low humidity microclimate (several centuries, if the decomposition process had not reached the autocatalytic point at the time the film was frozen).

[Sean Falk]

I ended up jamming most of them into a DCP box and sending them back.
I'm not one to carry a flashdrive with me at all times, so it's nice having a couple, unless they ask for em I'll just hold onto em.

[Mike Blakesley]

I suppose it's only a matter of time until thumb drives get big enough that they'll start shipping movies on them (to us few poor saps that don't "qualify" for the satellite service, whatever that means). I got the weekly TrailMix on a thumb drive a few weeks ago.

[Leo Enticknap]

They already have for small volume and one-time applications. That's often what I do when I make DCPs for other people. You can now get a 256GB stick for $25 that can then be shipped by certified mail for $5-10, depending on the destination, so it makes a lot of sense.

The obstacle for volume duplicators using them is write speed. The cheaper ones will write at 5-10 MBPS tops (even though they will read at typical USB3 speeds), and the pricier ones still won't write as quickly as a SATA spinning rust drive, let alone a SATA SSD.

[Marcel Birgelen]

I suppose it's only a matter of time until thumb drives get big enough that they'll start shipping movies on them (to us few poor saps that don't "qualify" for the satellite service, whatever that means). I got the weekly TrailMix on a thumb drive a few weeks ago.

I guess it can't be long before someone in your distribution region starts to distribute DCPs via Internet accessible services, like it's increasingly the norm around here...

[Frank Cox]

Cinesend is supposed to (eventually) be doing that.

They sent me their gadget a couple of weeks after the big shutdown, I set it up and they tested it, then I switched it off again and haven't turned it on since.

I guess it was poor timing on their part to try to start their operation right at the moment when all of the theatres closed.

I suppose someone will eventually tell me that there's some content for me there, but I haven't heard a peep out of them since they tested it.

[Bobby Henderson]

The situation for removable flash memory sticks could get more interesting once devices with USB-4 connections become widely available. Such ports reportedly will have top speeds up to 40 gigabits per second. Thunderbolt 3 has a 40Gb max speed, but memory sticks and external SSDs with Thunderbolt 3 connections cost a lot more per gigabyte. Prices for USB 4 memory sticks will likely carry a premium, but it may not be as high as Thunderbolt-based memory sticks.