here's what we need to make your dcp ...
• Your master quality, picture file, commonly in 23.98 or 24fps (such as ProRes HQ, 4444, DNX, MXF).
• Ideal pixel dimension for 2K is Full Frame: 1998×1080 or 2048×858. If your master is Full Frame HD then 1920×1080 is correct for 2K.
• Ideal pixel dimension for 4K is Full Frame: 3996×2160 or 4096×1716. If your master is Full Frame UHD then 3840×2160 is correct for 4K.
• If your master is not one of the options above, it will be fit into the very best option by scaling and/or adding or removing letterbox/pillarbox.
• Full Frame 2048×1080/4096×2160 has fallen out of favor and often not compatible at theaters unless for IMAX screens. We can use if we letterbox it.
• Your master’s color space is often Rec709. Whatever it is, the info carried in your master’s file’s metadata will be matched accordingly.
• Your master’s gamma is most commonly 2.2 or 2.4. If you know your finishing gamma, relay that to us. If not known, we will assume 2.2.
• If your film is not in 23.98fps or 24fps, or not High Def or larger, there are options to discuss. Call us.
• Source files such as .H264 or .MP4 are not recommended. Standard Def or 720p is not recommended.
• Bars, tones, slates, slates, countdowns, (or none) are all okay. If there, we’ll use them and then edit them out.
• Image sequences (DPX/TIFF) or tape sources are okay, though require additional services and take longer.
• Subtitles need to be burned into your master picture file before hand-off to us.
• Your sound mix can be attached to the picture master or provided as separate WAV or AIF files.
• If finished sound is separate, the picture master should have an audio guide track to assist the re-sync check of audio.
• Separate WAV files are ideally 24bit/48K and one single track per channel. So stereo is 2 discrete mono files and 5.1 is 6 discrete mono files. Please, no AC3 files.
• The most common issues we run into are problems (of one kind or another) with audio tracks attached to master picture files. Providing separate audio usually helps us solve this.
• Two other issues that comes up frequently: A separate sound mix may have been completed before a head logo was added, or before the exact length of the credits was determined. If the mix or end credit music rolls longer than the credits, we can solve it as long as we can match the audio fade out to the guide track. If the head logo has sound, we will need mix tracks that include the head logos.
• If your DCP is to be encrypted, please review encryption details on our wisdom page.
• If encrypted, we will need server certificates from the recipients of the DCP so we can create KDMs or a DKDM. These and the KDMs are usually exchanged back and forth via email between you, us and the recipient.
• If there is a time crunch, we can make an encrypted DCP without waiting for server certificates, and circle back to the KDM before the screening.
• Put file(s) on a hard drive. Drop off your drive in-person or ship the drive to us. Include the drive’s power supply if needed.
• Mac or PC formatted hard drives (or USB thumb drives) are all okay to use to hand off your files.
• Ideally your hard drive has a true USB 3.0, E-Sata, Firewire or Thunderbolt connection.
• Label your hard drive with contact info and project name. Please avoid sending us any files we don’t need.
• We will need to hold your source drive for the duration of the job. So be prepared to leave the drive with us.
• While-you-wait copy-over of your material is generally not available.
• Include a brief note with your contact info & project name. We will follow up to get the order going.
• Master files are usually very large. If you have excellent internet speed you may use our upload page instead.
• If your master files are already on the cloud (such as Dropbox or Google Drive) you may email us the link instead of re-uploading to our system. However, your link has to be set for direct download. We cannot work with any share that requires us to have or create an account on any third party system. This is usually some kind of setting on your end. If this is unsolvable, then we will have to have you do a fresh upload to our system.
• If you have been provided a spec sheet for a specific delivery, please pass that info along.
• We collect payment via email with a credit card payment link. We typically reach out for payment while your order is being worked on, after we’ve verified your master files and have your full order of items and shipping details.
•Your DCP order will almost always include at least one additional hard drive, link, or upload, with additional cost for those items.
• The DCP creation itself is a one-time charge, unless your DCP requires a revision at some point. The DCP can then be copied and tested to other drives or links, as part of the DCP order. Or they can be ordered after-the-fact, as needed in the future.
• CRU drives for feature length films remain the most common requirement. This drive type will serve many scenarios (but not all).
• Standard USB hard drives may be acceptable, but this is entirely determined by what the recipients accept.
• USB thumb drives are often accepted, but only for short film DCPs. An approximate “cut-off” length for thumb drives would usually be around 30 minutes, but really whatever cut-off the recipient states. Thumb drives are generally not accepted for feature length films, because DCP files are too large. Large enough thumb drives do exist at a premium, but the ingest of a DCP off a thumb drive is noticeably slower than from a hard drive. For that reason, most recipients don’t want to handle thumb drives for feature length films.
• We can ship your completed DCP drives (and source drives) back to you, or to a third party, or multiple destinations, if that’s what you need. As with all shipping, costs vary based on speed of delivery and weight.
• If a DCP drives shipped internationally, involve customs paperwork, which will often require your input. Cost and speed international shipping of hard drives, can be a bit surprising (more expensive and slower than what you might imagine). Also a customs delay is possible at any time, so plan ahead.
• A downloadable link of a DCPs is a possibility if accepted (or required) by certain recipients. Acceptance of links is somewhat likely for festivals, less likely at theaters directly. links are somewhat more accepted internationally, due to the complications of shipping and dealing with international customs. Links we make are not permanent and will expire at some determined point. Once we make a link, it can be downloaded numerous times, as long as the link hasn’t expired. So if you can deliver the same link to multiple recipients, that are able to work with a link, they can be very economical.
• In some cases a link won’t satisfy an online delivery. Instead a custom upload will be expected by the recipient to a specific server or through a specific system. We can handle all of this and is priced per gigabyte.
• If you deliver your master files to us on a hard drive (and if there is enough space on your drive), we will include at no extra charge a tested archive of your DCP on that drive. If there is not enough space, then
this courtesy archive will be skipped. Feature DCPs can be as large as 200 gigabytes, so a substantial amount of hard drive space needs to be open on your hard drive for this to happen. This copy can’t realistically that can be used for screenings off your drive (due to drive formatting and file storage convention), it is only for a safety backup, and a potential source for future copies of your DCP.
• We will hold your source materials for one month and archive your DCP for one year, in the event of additional deliveries.
