ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

6 years, 8 months ago - Kristopher Williams

Does this mean you'll format the hard drive and produce a a finished DCP if we send you the hard drive etc? Or are you just offering to make the file?

6 years, 8 months ago - Alwyne Kennedy

Ah, well, the Curzon cinema that has just screened my film required the DCP package to be sent via the internet, or delivered on a drive. I sent one 13GB DCP to them over the net using wetransfer, which has a 20GB limit for the paid service. That 13GB package contained a 4K film lasting 38 minutes. It took over 5 hours to upload. If you don't have a fast connection like I do, it might take forever that way.

A few days later, I decided I wanted to send an updated version of the film to replace the first version, but it was too late to send via wetransfer - my file submission deadline was just a few hours away. No problem, I thought. I'd physically take my files to them on a drive. And that's when I finally read their drive requirements: they preferred drives formatted to EXT2 or EXT2, but in "exceptional circumstances" they would accept NTFS (Master Boot Record/MSDOS ONLY).

They also said this: "MAC-formatted or RAW drives will not mount."

Well, EXT2 and EXT3 were Linux formats, and I had never formatted a drive to Linux before. I googled, and found some software called EaseUS Partition Master that apparently allowed for Linux formatting from Windows (I am PC, Windows based). EaseUS Partition Master was on a "free trial". I downloaded it, but when I went to apply the formatting, it took me to their purchase page, and I had to fork out £60 for it to proceed with the formatting. I formatted a drive to EXT2, but I then discovered I couldn't transfer my files to it in Windows.

I didn't have time that day to try and find a way to get my files on to the EXT2 formatted drive. Instead, I put my files on a Windows NTFS formatted drive and took it and a USB reader to the Curzon cinema, where, thankfully, their system recognised my NTFS drive and new files got on to their system.

So, to answer your question: check with your cinema what their file submission and drive format requirements are. As it stands now, although I can format drives to Linux EXT2 and EXT3, I can't move files to those Linux drives. However, some quick googling just now threw up some software that apparently allows that - Eassos PartitionGuru Pro. It says there's a free trial available, but maybe it will actually require payment before working fully.

6 years, 8 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

If it helps, ExFAT is the most compatible format for disks. It can support over 4GB (limit of FAT32), and isn't a heap of proprietary shit like whatever Apples use and refuse to license to others, and NTFS with its inherent security and encryption and the complications of some systems being read-only. Might be worth a try in a squeeze, as just about everyone can mount and read it.

6 years, 8 months ago - John Lubran

USB stick by registered post?

6 years, 8 months ago - Alwyne Kennedy

Cheers, Paddy. However, The Curzon advised against using a USB stick greater tha 2GB. I don't know why.

John - thanks. However, for all valuable / precious items I would advise using Royal Mail Special Delivery rather than Royal Mail Registered or any other Royal Mail service. Special Delivery is handled only by selected posties, whereas mere Registered goes through the regular channels and can end up being handled even by temp agency-supplied sorting office staff. And it has a Registered sticker on that marks it out as being more likely to contain something valuable. It is known that theives within the sorting office system target Registered items. So use Special Delivery, which also has a next-day guarantee AND it has £500 of insurance cover as standard, which, for only a few quid more at the counter, can be raised to a max of £2500. During a 12 year period, I sent well over 1000 items of filmmaking kit using Special Delivery, with not one loss or breakage. Helps if you actually package it up right and make the address clear - you'd be surprised at how badly some people will package even delicate items like a camera.

I'll post The Curzon's DCP specs on this thread, as it may be of interest to people.

6 years, 8 months ago - Alwyne Kennedy

The Curzon cinema group's DCP advice to filmmakers...

DCP stands for "Digital Cinema Package".

ASPECT RATIO AND RESOLUTION:
Resolution: 2K or 4k resolution (4K packages will be downscaled to 2K if played on 2K projectors or through a 3D lens).
The container size must match the intended image size and aspect ratio, i.e:

2K:
1998x1080 for 1.85 (flat)
1920x1080 for 1.78 (HD)
2048x858 for 2.39 (scope)
etc. and should not be encoded within a full-chip 2048x1080 container. Similarly any other aspect ratios such as e.g. 1.37
must have the vertical resolution of 1080.

4K:
3996x2160 for 1.85 (flat)
3840x2160 for 1.78 (HD)
4096x1760 for 2.39 (scope)

File Format : Jpeg2000/MXF.

ENCODING TYPE:
InterOp (24fps) or SMPTE (allows for a range of frame rate options but most commonly 25fps).

3D
Not all of our sites/screens have 3D capabilities, please enquire before delivery.

SUBTITLES:
Hardcoded (burnt in) or supplied as a supplemental package.

ENCRYPTION:
Encryption is optional. Please remember to supply the KDM in plenty of time and make sure the ‘valid from’ date is set to at least a day before your technical rehearsal and screening to allow us to carry out onscreen testing. Please also ensure your certificate database is up to date.

DELIVERY MEDIA:
It is your responsibility to ensure that DCP hard drives are formatted correctly, have appropriate interface and are error-free.

PACKAGING:
Please ensure your hard drive is adequately protected. Remember to enclose all cables/adapters.

PARTITION TABLE TYPE/PARTITION SCHEME:
Master Boot Record/MSDOS ONLY!!! Remember drives with wrong partition table such as GUID may not mount and your package will not be ingested as a result.

FORMATTING:
EXT2 or EXT3. In exceptional circumstances NTFS is also acceptable but we cannot guarantee the drive will mount. MAC-formatted or RAW drives will not mount.

INTERFACE:
As a minimum requirement your drive must have a USB 2.0/3.0 socket.

PARTITIONING:
DO NOT create multiple partitions on your drive.

PREFERRED ENCLOSURE:
CruDataPort enclosures with 7200RPM drives/ or SSD and DX115 carriers.

AVOID:
● Cheap enclosures/drives from obscure manufacturers. The controllers on these drives as well as the
interfaces/sockets on the enclosures are generally of very poor quality. As a result such drives often get damaged
in transit or fail to mount/ingest properly.
● Using USB memory sticks for content bigger than 2GB. Please use a hard drive.
● Slow and very large capacity drives (over 1T).
● Data DVD

TITLING AND LABELLING:
Your package must be titled in accordance with the digital naming convention. Please refer to: http://digitalcinemanamingconvention.com/ .

Content Name, Type and Annotation Text categories must be edited appropriately to reflect the DCI title of the package. Failure to do so results in discrepancies between the title on the server and the title used in the listings, which in turn may lead to confusion.

Your drive must be properly labelled. The title of your film on the label should match that of the DCP title on the server. The label on the drive or the projectionist letter/technical form must contain the standard information about the package
as well as the lab contact details including the telephone and email.

HARD DRIVE CONTENTS:
Your hard drive must only contain one version of your film and no other packages/folders/files. Use the shortest path – do NOT nest the DCP files deeper than one folder.

QC:
Please ensure your Digital cinema package is created in accordance with the DCI specifications. All hash values must be checked or the package will not load on the server.

GENERAL NOTES ON CONTENT:
Your DCP must NOT contain colour bars, clocks, information cards, countdowns, sync pops or any other content you don’t want the audience to see/hear. Please include at least 2 seconds on black at start/end of the film.

DELIVERY OVER THE INTERNET:
We can only accept files under 20 GB.

6 years, 8 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

You can also format drives to ExFAT, fwiw. The theoretical supported file size is a mere 16 Exabytes!!

6 years, 8 months ago - John Lubran

Great stuff guys

6 years, 8 months ago - Alwyne Kennedy

Correction: my film was 28 minutes long, not 38.

6 years, 8 months ago - Nathan Hannawin

I've used SanDisk SSD's formatted to ExFAT for DCP's and had no issues at all, pretty cheap now and have use after you have done your cinema run. Always check first though, some projectionists will happily run an mp4 from VLC and never had issues with that either

6 years, 8 months ago - Alwyne Kennedy

Cheers, Nathan.

The Curzon did specify I had to deliver a DCP, but, yes, most projectors can take different formats, I know. And The Curzon's drive formatting requirements will be specific to their system and practices. And yes, anyone about to have a film screened needs to check with their target cinema first.