-
OT – Digital Cinema Format Delivery
Hi,
I’m putting a budget together for a documentary for which I need to add a line-item for Academy eligibility screenings in NY & LA.
I’ve included the Academy specs below.
I understand a 35mm print can cost upwards of $30k.But if I wanted the film projected digitally, what exactly ‘Digital Cinema Format’ – and how much would it cost?
Thanks,
Wayne
From the Academy:
b. publicly exhibited by means of 35mm or 70mm film, or in a 24- or 48-frame progressive scan
Digital Cinema format with a minimum projector resolution of 2048 by 1080 pixels, source image
format conforming to SMPTE 428-1-2006 D-Cinema Distribution Master – Image Characteristics;
image compression (if used) conforming to ISO/IEC 15444-1 (JPEG 2000), and image and sound
file formats suitable for exhibition in commercial Digital Cinema sites. The audio in a typical
Digital Cinema Package (DCP) is 5.1 channels of discrete audio, and that is the preferred audio
configuration. The minimum for a non-mono configuration of the audio shall be three channels as
Left, Center, Right (a Left/Right configuration is not acceptable in a theatrical environment). The
audio data shall be formatted in conformance with SMPTE 428-2-2006 D-Cinema Distribution
Master – Audio Characteristics and SMPTE 428-3-2006 D-Cinema Distribution Master – Audio
Channel Mapping and Channel Labeling. -
1 Reply
-
partial answer: it’s just like getting a *real* certified Dolby encode for theatrical (or DTS or whatever). you need to find a lab that can specifically format your film into the D-Cinema standard. We looked into it for a theatrical screening an I believe the quote was about $10K for a 90 minute piece.
End of day we ended up screening a HDCAM-SR over a 2k Barco projector. It looked pretty freaking stunning on a very large screen. I know this is a very popular method for film festivals where filmmakers have already broke the bank.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up