Hey everybody, this is Max from the Equipment Room.
This tutorial will show you how to create a digital cinema package of your film using
Adobe CS6 and an open source program called OpenDCP.
So what is a digital cinema package?
It is a collection of specific video and audio file formats that are used as the digital
exhibition standard for all commercial films.
It was created by an organization founded by all of the major Hollywood studios, called
Digital Cinema Initiatives, to create one play out format for digital cinemas around
the world.
As a result, most theaters have switched to digital projection, leaving 35mm prints behind.
With a few minor exceptions such as IMAX, all Hollywood studios use DCP to distribute
their films to theaters around the world.
Instead of having to send out costly 35mm prints, they can send a digital file for the
cost of a hard drive.
Okay, so how does this apply to you?
Well most film festivals allow filmmakers to exhibit their films in DCP, offering an alternative
to costly 35mm prints or HD cam SR transfers.
Some festivals have abandoned HD cam and film prints altogether.
Also, if you wish to four-wall any commercial theater and screen your film, you will more
than likely have to create a DCP in order to use their projection system.
Before open DCP, DCPs could only be created at a professional DCP encoding lab, now you
can do it for free.
A DCP consists of one MXF file containing every frame of the motion picture in the JPEG 2000
codec in XYZ color space.
One MXF file containing sound channels and four XML files identifying elements of the
film and how they should be played.
Now a couple of caveats you should keep in mind.
Most filmmakers do not have access to a DCP server, in which case there will be no way
to test your file.
If possible, you should arrange to test it at the venue in advance.
Please note that we have tested this method at a venue and achieved excellent results.
There are also numerous filmmakers that have used open DCP successfully and have documented
their experiences online.
Secondly, the storage requirements are large, because there are numerous steps and many
intermediate formats you must work in before you can create your DCP.
While the final DCP you create will run about 1 gigabyte a minute of runtime, you will need
roughly 20 gigabytes per minute your film runs to cover the entire process.
Thirdly, you will need two hard drives, one to ship the DCP files off to venues and another
for the sole purpose of creating the DCP.
The latter may have to be a 3 terabyte or 4 terabyte hard drive.
Another caveat is that this is a time consuming process that will type your computer for about
3 to 4 days.
And lastly, if you took a peek at the open DCP program, you notice that there is a subtitle
tab which is meant to have a separate track for your subtitles, very convenient if you
plan on screening internationally.
However, there is no documentation on the website about how this feature works or which
formats are accepted, so this tutorial will not be covering that.
If any of these are deterrent for you, consider using a professional DCP encoding lab.
For the rest of you with a spirit of adventure, an empty wallet, and some time to spare, I've
broken down making a DCP into nine steps.
DCI specifications require all films to conform to either 2K or 4K resolutions allowing only
two aspect ratios, 185 or 239.
In 2K, 185 is 1998 by 1080, and 239 is 2048 by 858.
Film shot at 1080p or 1920 by 1080 in 169 or 178 aspect ratios will have to conform to
185 by adding pillars to the frames, and I'll be discussing how to do that later in this
tutorial.
In 4K, 185 is 3996 by 2160, and 239 is 4096 by 1716.
These are the only resolutions and aspect ratios that are DCI compliant.
You will have to conform to 24 frames per second, true 24 frames per second, NTSC frame
rates such as 23.976 or 29.97 or 59.94 will not be compatible.
Your audio must be 24 bit with a sample rate of 48 kilohertz.
My master is an Apple ProRes 422 HQ, 1920 by 1080, 23.976 frames per second, and with
audio at 48 kilohertz at 24 bit.
For the purposes of this tutorial, I will be using this as my starting point.
It is always harder to get organized after the fact, so I recommend that you create a
folder structure that separates each type of media you will be working with.
This is how it made sense to me, but you can organize it however you like.
The original master I would keep in one folder, this is in its native settings, not DCI compliant.
The audio mono files, your TIFF sequence, your JPEG 2000 sequence, MXF files, final
DCP master, and DCP creation project files.
Now, whatever you decide to do, do not do without the TIFF sequence or JPEG 2000 sequence
folders.
My film has well over 120,000 frames, yours will have thousands too, so please keep them
in their own folders.
The first thing I need to do is convert the film from 23.976 frames per second to true
24 frames per second, which is essentially speeding it up by.1%.
I highly recommend you do not work from your original edit timeline, export a finished stand
alone file in full quality in your native settings.
I would recommend creating an entirely new project called title of your film DCP creation,
clicking on location, and finding the folder called DCP creation project files.
This will save all of the contents of your project in the project file folder, I would
recommend setting the scratch disks to that same folder as well.
Now I'm going to create a sequence, I'll call it Pembroke 24 frames per second master.
These are just the settings that apply to my master, yours may look different, but you
want to make sure that the time base is set to 24 frames per second, true 24 frames per
second, and the sample rate is set to 48 kilohertz.
Please note that my file does not match the settings of this timeline yet.
Once the project is created, you will go to file, import, and find your master.
Once it is in the project pane, you can see the current frame rates marked clearly.
I'm going to select my master in 23.976, right click, modify, and interpret footage.
Click on the circle next to assume this frame rate.
As you can see, the duration changes dramatically.
Until I change the box to 24 frames per second, this reduced the run time of my feature by
5 seconds roughly 0.1%.
While this window is open, unrelated to the 24 frames per second conversion, you should
go to the audio channels tab.
Make sure that the preset is set to use file.
In my case, this is a stereo mix, so it should say stereo under channel format.
Number of audio tracks should be 1, and active channels per track is 2.
Below, it will list the left and right channel under audio track 1.
If it were a 5.1 mix, it would list 6 channels under audio track 1.
This will be important later when you're splitting the audio channels.
Now back to 24 frames per second conversion.
Select OK, and now the file you imported is conformed to 24 frames per second.
I'm going to rename it as Pembroke 24 frames per second master.
Adobe basically sped up this specific import by 0.1%.
You can now put it into the timeline you created.
Please note that this has not changed the file, simply how the program will interpret
that specific import.
If you re-import the file again, it will not retain the changes to these settings.
So you can get an idea of what Adobe has done.
Let's make a sequence from the 23.976 master.
If I drag the audio track from the 23.976 sequence to the 24 frames per second sequence,
it will be 5 seconds longer.
For frame rates greater than 23.976, such as 29.97, there will be a pitch shift using
this technique.
There are two links for tutorials in the description for converting 29.97 footage seamlessly.
