Creating a Digital Cinema Package

[Jith Paul]

Here's a post with some lessons learned with the creation of my first DCP for the short film Algebra I directed, shot on RED-EpicX and RED-ScarletX. This is not by any means an exhaustive tutorial but it does summarize my experience putting it together and testing it using a couple of different DCP servers with 2k Christie projectors in Ottawa, Canada. Please let me know your experiences or any tips from your experience with DCP using the comments section on the post linked here.


http://dcp.treepotmedia.com

Cheers,
Jith.

 

[Karim Ayari]

Thanks for posting this, Jith!

 

[Adam Beck]

Thank you Sir, it was very helpful.

 

[Matthew Scott]

Legend, cheers!

 

[Jith Paul]

Thanks everyone. I have an update and answered a question. Let me know if you come across any info or other tips via the comments section on the document. I have plans to test on Barco hardware in the near future.
Cheers,
Jith.

 

[Joachim Hoge]

Hi

I recently did the same on my mac. I followed a video from a guy in Manchester I think. It took 5 days to do all the renders!
wish I knew about the plugin that makes it possible to drop the TIFF step back then.
I haven't been able to test the finished product, so thanks for the info about the software at the end

 

[Marc Wielage]

I'm glad you at least checked it on actual theatrical projectors. I get very nervous about people doing their own DCPs who have no access to actual DCI-complaint projectors. I've seen (and heard) things go very wrong with DCPs, especially when they don't get checked until the last minute. There's been some major blockbuster films where the DCPs were dodgy at press screenings and shut down due to encryption key problems, leading to disastrous consequences.

 

[SUNILPREM]

Jith thank you very much for the informative post


Sunil Prem

 

[Jith Paul]

I just heard back from the Empire chain of theatres in Ottawa, Canada. They run Barco hardware so I hope to test at one of their theatres soon as well. Not sure which DCP server they attach to. It should be interesting.

 

[Jith Paul]

Unfortunately, testing on Barco equipment at the Empire chain of theatres proved to be an expensive prospect I will have to save for later. I have, however updated the guide with my results using the fjord 2k plug-in to build a feature-length short film compilation used for a local festival called the Digi60 Filmmaker's festival here in Ottawa, Canada.


http://dcp.treepotmedia.com

 

[Patrick Tresch]

Hello

How is the 25P support in Canada and in the US?

Patt

 

[Jith Paul]

Hello

How is the 25P support in Canada and in the US?

Patt

In terms of broadcast or exhibition in theatres? I believe broadcast in North America is 29.97 (someone please confirm). For DCP, the specification states:

3.1.4.2. Frame Rates
The DCDM image structure is required to support a frame rate of 24.000 Hz. The DCDM image
structure can also support a frame rate of 48.000 Hz for 2K image content only. The frame rate
of any individual DCDM master is required to remain constant. Metadata is carried in the image
data file format to indicate the frame rate.

http://dcimovies.com/specification/DCI_DCSS_v12_with_errata_2012-1010.pdf

 

[Caleb Vetter]

I did a screening of my film a couple years ago and went through the same process you just described. Using the xml files straight from OpenDCP worked on one machine at the theater, but not the one we wanted. It wouldn't even recognize it on the drive. It took me several trial and errors to get it right (tried all types of drive formats), but I wound up having to manually edit my xml files and model them after a trailer they gave to me on a flash drive. It's been a while but I'm almost sure it was a doremi system. Anyone else run into this problem?

 

[Kristin Stewart]

25 fps is internationally supported. It's the SMPTE norm of the DCI specifications, no problem at all. That's the interest of a norm ;-)

In the InterOp fork of the DCI specs, yes, only 24 fps or 48 fps are supported. But the InterOp norm is deprecated nowadays.

29.97 fps is for broadcast (tv/video), not for DCP's. You have to go for 30 fps in that case, or 24/25/48/50/60.

Cheers,

Kristin

 

[Jith Paul]

I did a screening of my film a couple years ago and went through the same process you just described. Using the xml files straight from OpenDCP worked on one machine at the theater, but not the one we wanted. It wouldn't even recognize it on the drive. It took me several trial and errors to get it right (tried all types of drive formats), but I wound up having to manually edit my xml files and model them after a trailer they gave to me on a flash drive. It's been a while but I'm almost sure it was a doremi system. Anyone else run into this problem?

I found that ext2 is the most compatible as far as drive formats go. I tested on doremi and dolby servers. As for software, I used OpenDCP in all the test cases.

 

[Mike P.]

Just thought I'd thank Jith -- I followed Treepot's guide and had success running an OpenDCP compiled DCP package off a Doremi DCP-2k4 system (with Christie 2k projectors).

A couple of things I had trouble with -- I couldn't get OpenDCP OR jp2k to render out a jpeg2000 sequence that was more than 8-bit. Whether I went direct from my timeline (r3d raw) to jp2000 with jp2k or from a 16-bit TIFF sequence converted to jpeg2000 within OpenDCP, the resulting j2c files were always 8-bit upon inspection in Photoshop. Using jp2k and AME allows you to set the bit depth manually, but then you're no longer using their "Digital Cinema" default/preset and I was worried it would cause compatibility issues.

Similarly, if using OpenDCP to make your jpeg2000 files out of 16-bit TIFFs, you need to establish if the XYZ conversion is from rec709 or sRGB (whatever your monitoring path was)… If you don't enable a conversion, your resulting images will NOT be displayed properly (the mid-tones go massively magenta displaying on the DCP server.) SO, if you open your OpenDCP generated j2c files, they *should* look desaturated, low contrast, and have more green in the image that your rec709/sRGB based files. The same thing happens when using jp2k out of the timeline of Premiere or AE, but jp2k kind of forces you to select a conversion method (whereas OpenDCP was defaulting to "none" for me).

Another thing; your ext2/ext3 drive NEEDS to be formatted as Master Boot Record. I think using a linux distro for formatting does this automatically, but using Paragon Ext for Mac defaults to whatever Disk Utility used last time you used it (generally speaking that's GUID Partition Table).

Maybe it was because I was using an 8bit j2c sequence, but in retrospect, I'm not convinced the 2k DCP is better (quality wise) compared to a 1080p Blu-Ray projected at 2k. I hate to say it, but there were three projects displayed -- one running off a macbook to the christie (at 1080p), a blu-ray (also at 1080p), and our DCP (running at 2k 2.39). The differences in quality were negligible at best, and I'd argue that just the time it takes to transfer from your USB2 drive to the DCP server likely isn't worth it. …Like even for FX-heavy, hollywood studio pictures… Don't get me wrong, 4k would be a different story, but when projecting at 2k, it's hard to find a real-world benefit.

 

[M Most]

Don't get me wrong, 4k would be a different story, but when projecting at 2k, it's hard to find a real-world benefit.

You mean besides a defined color space, well implemented security, common exchange format, robust compression that along with server specifications can deliver both 4K and 2K from the same package, support for multiple languages, support for subtitles, support for 3D via an interleaved left/right stream, automation capabilities that permit defining shows on the fly (i.e., rolling in selected trailers and changing them at a moment's notice), and support for on the fly scene replacement when necessary?

 

[Mike P.]

Don't get me wrong, I know why they use it, but I was speaking more for (festival) screening purposes and independents (aka not wide theatrical releases in a bunch of different countries).

Conversely, I meant more from a screener-quality-only perspective. Having a well defined colour space and robust compression are the only two "benefits" in your list that I was criticizing; from where I was sitting (2k projection comparing 2k XYZ and 1080p rec709 2D content) the quality differences were negligible (and I was actually looking for them, unlike the audience).

 

[M Most]

Don't get me wrong, I know why they use it, but I was speaking more for (festival) screening purposes and independents (aka not wide theatrical releases in a bunch of different countries).

Conversely, I meant more from a screener-quality-only perspective. Having a well defined colour space and robust compression are the only two "benefits" in your list that I was criticizing; from where I was sitting (2k projection comparing 2k XYZ and 1080p rec709 2D content) the quality differences were negligible (and I was actually looking for them, unlike the audience).

The DCP wasn't designed specifically for quality (although that was not being ignored), it was designed for openness, flexibility for distribution, relatively unlimited color space, security, and perhaps most importantly at the time, getting the best results out of a TI DLP Cinema projector. The reason for you or other indies to use it is because theaters that present studio fare are required to have digital cinema servers, so most of them are set up around such units. It is therefore a deliverable that virtually every theater will be able to use and project. Anything else is not. You don't do this only for quality reasons, you do it for compatibility. It's not an "either/or" because it's not you making the decision as to what to support.

 

[Mike P.]

I'm confused; are you agreeing with me that the visual quality differences are negligible, but then giving me reasons why it's used?

I think we're talking in circles; you're trying to tell me why DCP is good, and I'm saying that it's (more often than not) a waste of time and/or money making a DCP if I have the option to project from Blu-Ray (or computer).