From JR in this thread:

"Most people that require DCP that can't afford to use a service will export a TIFF Sequence and then make the DCP package from that with a free tool like OpenDCP. Vegas Pro supports TIFF sequences so it's just as good as any other NLE in that regard."

They asked me for a sample MP4 file .. so I obliged with the Magix AVC/AAC codex. They put that through their DCP routine and reported back that things looked ok. I doubt this is the best quality we can get -- but I know little about DCP and I'm not running this show. Hopefully we will get a sample screening at the theater so we can see the end result with still some time to adjust before the screening.

The process according to the OpenDCP Web site:

The process of creating a DCP with OpenDCP is a small series of steps:

Create an Image Sequence from your digital master. This can be in the TIFF, BMP or DPX formats.

Create separate WAV files of each channel of the soundtrack.

Convert the image sequence to J2C (JPEG 2000) files in XYZ Colorspace in OpenDCP.

Wrap the J2C sequence into an MXF file in OpenDCP.

Wrap the WAV files into an MXF file in OpenDCP.

Create the DCP collection of files in OpenDCP.

Copy the files to a Linux EXT formatted portable hard drive.

Hand the drive to the projectionist.

Buy some popcorn. (optional)

If you get a do-over, you might start rendering a tiff image sequence, if they will accept it.

Just to follow up on this thread about Digital Cinema Package output ...

We did have a sample screening .. it was spectacular! .. No image degradation at all. The screen was something like 50 to 60 feet -- I could not believe how sharp things looked (when the footage was good). Even on the weak footage (some of it shot on point and shoot cameras at 720 x 480 ) it did not look any worse than on my editing monitor. I thought it would fall apart at that size but it did not. My HD footage shot at 1080i on my XR500 looked very good to me.

The upscaling was unreal to me. Sound was also great --- when the levels were right it was far better than I'd ever heard it before. Full and "theatrical" sounding. The sound knocked me over!

I did not do the DCP package for the theater but supplied an MP4 file rendered in Vegas to the templates below. You may notice that my project was shot at 1080i and that my render was to 1080p .. That's what they wanted me to me to do with the render. I don't know the software they used to create the DCP but it looked and sounded great when projected. It's hard to image it looking or sounding better if I had done an image sequence and separate wav files for the tracks.

Now the final render of the entire piece. I hate to change a thing, but I was thinking of using 24 bit for the sound, but it sounded great at 16 bit???

Here's my project properties and render settings.

"...I was thinking of using 24 bit for the sound, but it sounded great at 16 bit???"

There is little to be gained by adding 8 empty bits to audio that was acquired with a lossy codec (AC3).

Glad it worked out.

Wayne Waag has announced the Happy Otter Scripts extension for Vegas. His tools would expose you to the best de-interlacers and encoders available.

There is little to be gained by adding 8 empty bits to audio that was acquired with a lossy codec (AC3).

 

I wish I understood these things better but it looks like the folks I'm working with got it right. All I'm going to do is change some audio levels, mainly lowering levels with the aim of keeping things at a peak of about -12db. The stuff that went higher was just too loud for my taste.

The AAC audio encoders i have do not have a 16/24 bit depth option, only 'Sample Rate' and 'Bit Rate' (bps). I would set the audio bit rate to 320bps or higher. If your rendering to an intermediary file that has PCM audio, then I'd use 24 bits.. especially if the high peaks only hit -12dBFS, the lower level audio and reverb tails should be cleaner.

ive been doing DCP encodes for a local cinema for a while.

my workflow:

export video as tiff image sequence in the proper resolution (1998×1080 or 2048×858 for 2k cinema)

export audio as wave 24bit/48khz

using opendcp, convert stills to j2c (jpeg2000)

encapsulate audio to mxf

encapsulate j2c stills to mxf

generate "dcp package" using the mxf files.

of course, i already made a batch to automate all of that ;)

works fine all the time.

The process according to the OpenDCP Web site:

The process of creating a DCP with OpenDCP is a small series of steps:

Create an Image Sequence from your digital master. This can be in the TIFF, BMP or DPX formats.

Create separate WAV files of each channel of the soundtrack.

Convert the image sequence to J2C (JPEG 2000) files in XYZ Colorspace in OpenDCP.

Wrap the J2C sequence into an MXF file in OpenDCP.

Wrap the WAV files into an MXF file in OpenDCP.

Create the DCP collection of files in OpenDCP.

Copy the files to a Linux EXT formatted portable hard drive.

Hand the drive to the projectionist.

Buy some popcorn. (optional)

If you get a do-over, you might start rendering a tiff image sequence, if they will accept it.

Thanks for this John.

A coupla additional questions. Do I render full range or studio RGB? What do you mean by "wrap"?

Thanks!

The question should really be answered by someone who has actually made a DCP even though I've rewrapped everything from Blu-ray video and audio to fish.

The final output should be broadcast legal or Studio RGB*.

MXF, MP4 M2TS are containers which contain video, audio, text and other information. Even if you render video and audio separately, the reference above expects the output to be multiplexed by some means so that all the program material will be in and MXF container or wrapper.

*In the future, we'll have to state the color space. Maybe, the future is here. I don't know.

Hi all,

a guy from a local cinema just gave me this great link to DCP o'matic. It handles as good as everything in one go.

https://dcpomatic.com/