Hands down, this is the best video case for traveling

When it comes to running a smooth production, everyone loves their kit. The problem is that carrying your kit around can be quite an unpleasant experience. Between all the bags of gear, you can really get lost. Enter My Case Builder, where you can make your dream case.

It’s not only the size and padding, My Case Builder (MCB) can create a highly customized case that literally fits all your gear in the most precise way.

Take Maor Cohen, for example. Maor is a commercial videographer who shoots fashion. He uses a Tilta Float with a hefty BMPCC rig attached. It’s a wide 45cm rig and does not fit in any standard bag. Between the BMPCC rig and all the accessories Maor brings to a shoot, he was walking around with quite a few bags. We needed to end this.

My Case Builder were kind enough to let us test their service, and what can I say? I’m in love. Let’s break it down on how to create your perfect videography Hardcase.

One case to fit them all

The idea of building a new case was double: 1 – have a case where the entire BMPCC rig fits assembled and 2 – move as many of the accessories and kits into a single bag for easy transport and storage.

We opted for one of the bigger Doro cases that was wide enough for the rig, but then we had some spare space on top of the camera and to its front and sides. All and all, it’s about 75 centimeters long, a bit over 48 centimeters wide, and about 39 centimeters tall – plenty of space.

There was quite a bit of kit to place in the case, so we went on to MCB and started the design. The site has an interface where you can plan a case and see a 3d model to make sure it fits your vision.

We created lots of small notches and spaces to store lenses, batteries, monitors, audio kit, and more. We ended with a three-tray case that fits Maor’s workflow. You can also look at it as a three shelves case, where each shelf fits a different part of a production workflow. The bottom shelf is the actual case, and the middle and top shelves can be removed for access or to spread on a cart or preparation table.

Bottom storage

This is the shelf that is actually part of the case. And it’s usually covered by the two other trays.

Since it is the least accessible tray, we placed all the gear you typically only have to access once during a shoot: the BMPCC rig, the lenses, and a few other things that we either need or don’t need for a shoot. That means that we only need to access this shelf once.

As you can see, the rig fits perfectly into the case even though it’s not an ordinary shape. To create this, we used a feature on MCB where you take a top shot of your gear, and the site gives you an outline to verify and tweak. It was pretty easy. After making the rig cutout, we realized that we could split the remainder of the space into two trays and just needed to make a cutout in the second tray.

Next to the camera, we placed the lenses. Maor keeps his lenses with their step-up filters to speed up the workflow, creating some weirdly shaped lenses. MCB has a nice feature to add notches to any shape to make the lenses easy to pick up. The foam also “hugs” the lenses perfectly and widens as the lens widens to keep them safe.

We placed the filters here and the adapters for the matte box.

Lastly, and this is something that we did all over the case, is that we printed what goes in each space. This is helpful twice: for one, it helps any assistant put things in the right place. But it also helps to ensure that nothing is left on set when you break down.

This bottom shelf is enormous, and you can watch the video to realize how many items we fit in there (including a second tiny Fuji X Pro 3 and lens set). To make everything accessible, we made different holes at different heights. We had a pleasant surprise when we realized MCB does not charge extra for adding holes with different depths. It’s a flat price per “tray”. (actually, it’s a flat price per case, no matter how many heights and holes you create. Trays are a bit extra, but that’s understandable).

The second tray

The second tray is where we put what I call “client relation things”. The most apparent thing about this tray is the huge intercut in the middle where the handle for the BMPCC goes.

But with this cutout taken away, we still have a considerable space we can use. (As for the cut, you can choose if you want the cuts to go through or leave the bottom plastic for support).

This is where the Holyland Mars goes, along with a small client monitor. We also put the Tilta Nucleus here [get link]. Surprisingly the Nucleus case was a perfect fit, so we just made a colossal square hole for it. This is also where some BTS things go, like the GoPro. Again, every slot has a description under it, so you can clearly see what’s missing and where to put things back.

The top tray

This is where we have all the stuff we usually need to take and put back during production, and as you can see, most of it is power.
In the middle, we have a bunch of NPF and V-mount batteries, and they’re all exposed, so you can click and see if they have juice or not. We also have all the chargers on this tray.

Our audio kit is also on this level, though it should probably go on the first tray.

When you get the tray out, it flexes a bit, and I wish the bottom was a bit more rigid. To mitigate this, we added holes to hold the case from more comfortable points.

The lid

We chose a smooth, printed lid, though you can also have your standard eggshell lid. We placed two KYU-6 lights on the lig using magnetic discs. This helps to see what’s inside in the dark. This is probably my only ask of MCB – add the option to have a light or allow some discs on the lid to attach external lights.

That said, I am very happy to see my logo, contact details and a social media QR code on the lid. The case created lots of chatter, so it’s a good opportunity to display the brand.

The Complete case

All and all, the empty case weighs about 12 kilos. Between the gear, the foam, and the rig, the full case weighs about 36 kilos, and that’s a lot of kit. It is not easy to carry, but luckily there are wheels and a handle. In terms of mounting this to a car, you would need some serious back muscles or an assistant.

This specific case was about 780 to design and build. Quite a fantastic value considering that some cases ship for that price with a “standard” pick and pluck foam. MCB were kind and shipped the case to our HQ at their own expense, but shipping in the US is standard pricing.

If you want to learn more about the service, head to My Case Builder to design your case.

Full disclosure: DIYP did not buy this case. We got it from mycasebuilder.com for testing the service. That said, My Case Builder had no editorial say about the video, and they didn’t get to see it before it went live.