Creating Digital Content for Digital Cinema

Programs Used

2012-10-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

For the actual creation of a 16 bit tiff, I will use Adobe After Effects to do so.

2012-10-23T18:25:00.000-07:00

By 2013, the production of 35mm film will be halted and the age of Digital Cinema will be upon us full force. As a projectionist, I find this incredibly saddening as I feel that I have had a short lived exposure to such a beautiful technology. But, however, I feel a need to embrace the technology that is not going to stop, and keep up with the times, so to speak.

With the age of digital cinema upon us, advertisers and theater owners alike will be able to harness the full potential of "on-screen advertising", in a way that had never been possible with film (mainly do to the enormous costs required in creating any length of film.

In this blog, I will teach you how to create content for Digital Cinema, also known as DCP. (Digital Cinema Package)

The digital projector itself is, in a sense, a giant computer with a lamp and a lens. The DCP that is sent to a theater comes in a HardDrive that plugs into the server which is then uploaded to the server. Most films in this format are over 300GBs, so this process can take some time. Once uploaded, you should be able to tell everything about the fim from it's incredibly long title. Including its name, format type (2D/3D 2k or 4k) the studio that made it, length, etc. While looking at the newly uploaded content, you will notice that it is ONE file, which can be programmed into a schedule and played given the right security requirements sent by the studio.

The key thing to remember in creating your own DCP is to realize that the file is NOT one single file. There are several files all contained in a folder that the server scans for. Once the appropriate files are found, and given the correct format, the server then displays these files as one file, which again, can be played in program or by manual means.

I will now go through the process of creating such a file. (Or "files" as you now know they are such)

-GC

A short lesson on Cinema Projection and Formats

2012-10-23T16:20:00.001-07:00

It is essential that you use the highest quality audio, video, illustrations, etc, when you are preparing media for DCP. You will typically have to upscale your files to meet the required resolution set by the projector you are using, but the upscale shouldn't be extreme by any means.

By example, I will be preparing files for an NEC 2K Projector, served by a Dolby Cinema Server.

www.dcinematoday.com sums it up nicely:

"2K is the term used to describe images that have approximately 2K vertical lines. In digital cinema, a 2K image is delivered to the theatre in a digital "container" 2048 pixels wide by 1080 pixels high. A 2K image with a 2.39:1 ("scope") aspect ratio could be supplied having 2048 x 858 pixels. A 2K image with a 1.85:1 ("flat") aspect ratio could be supplied having 1998 x 1080 pixels. 2K resolution is specified by DCI as the minimum needed for showing theatrical content."

So, what this mean for me is:

My image needs to be at least 2048 x 858 pixels for a "Scope" image and 1998 x 1080 pixels
for a "Flat" image.

Scope, (also known as Anamorphic or "Widescreen" is a more popular choice because most Movies today are filmed in Scope. So creating content to "Scope" specifications is generally a good idea because programing a "Scope" ad or short film with a "Scope" movie will typically eliminate the headaches endured by the projectionist or whoever is in charge of uploading content to the servers.

Flat (1998 x 1080) was the old standard in converting movies to home screen formats, until recently. You will notice quite the loss in viewable content in flat formats, so keep that in mind when creating your content.

With that said, I strongly suggest creating both "Scope" and "Flat"versions of your ads so that your ads will be compatible with either workflow/program used depending on which movie is shown.

So, with a little more knowledge, we will continue on to Step 2: Premere Pro