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digital cinema projector convert 2048X1080 to DCI scope?
Hi friends, I have rendered a footage from DaVinci Resolve in JPEG2000 format with resolution 2048X1080 (my original source resolution was 1920X1080). I know that I want to project in theaters as scope, 2.40:1. So I added an “output blank” or “letterbox” in aspect ratio 2.40:1.
I did this because Resolve would flicker at the top of every footage (magic lantern 5d RAW). After letterbox-ing, the flicker is now seen in letterboxed black area, safe now. If I had taken it as DCI scope (2048X858), the flickering would affect my footage, all of them.
Every JPEG2000 sequence and the DCP that is formed out of it also has the letterbox, but the whole resolution is 2048X1080, which is not among the standards of DCI.
I would like to know whether digital cinema projectors or servers can just project cropping off the letterbox top and bottom so that the movie can be shown as 2048X858 (DCI compliant scope)???
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6 Replies
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Technically 2048×1080 is a legal DCP resolution. However, few theater projectors have presets for it. The correct procedure is to create your DCP in 2048×858 (and somehow solve your flicker problem, which I don’t really understand from your description).
The DCP you describe would likely also fail quality control when delivered to distributors and possibly also festivals.
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Joakim Ziegler – Postproduction Supervisor -
I agree with what Joakim says above. Read the entire “Image Scaling” section of the manual, which covers this stuff fairly well. Also useful is Brad Allen’s “Aspect Ratio Cheat Sheet,” which does provide the correct settings for various resolutions including theatrical 2K:
https://unravel.com.au/files/Unravel_Resolution_CheatSheet.pdf
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Thank you friends. That was helpful 🙂
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hi,
as i am sometimes working as a projectionist as well, i can tell you it
shouldn’t be a problem. the normal preset should normally work, as it will
read out the 858 vertical lines from your 1080…that was the initial idea of a dcp container (2048×1080, and in it there are
dwelling 1.85 1998×1080 aka flat, and scope 2048×858).but as a colorist i have to admit i also never really delivered that way, it
seems a little bit dirty :)…andy
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Wow thanks Andy… So even if there is flickering problem at the top of my movie in 2048×1080, the projector would read only 858 vertical lines from my container, as I want scope. So there will be no need of adding letterbox from my side. Will every projector do it?
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sorry, can’t tell you that for sure!
in my understanding the different settings (channels on your projector) do mask
the image (just like the different masks used for 35mill) and then optically zoom the
picture to fit.but for the sake of professional delivery i wouldn’t recommend to do it that way.
in the good old film days there were also a lot of “full frame analog copies”, and
when you showed them in the wrong aspect you could see the boom etc. of course
this shouldn’t happen, but it could. it never can when you mask your master yourself.but then again: also the dcp-authoring-software let you normally decide to do this.
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