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Converting FCP project for DCP creation
Hi,
My producer is trying to prep a 4×3 HD film created in FCP7
into the necessary specs for dcp transfer and festival screening. The festival will make the dcp but is asking for specific paramaters.
Here are the native specs of the project:
> 633×480 custom
> square
> no field
> 29.97
> apple pro res 422LT
> 48khz/16bit stereoThe festival wants:
Apple pr res 422 or 422HQ (which is easy enough)
1998×1080 (which doesn’t appear in Compressor as possibility
24 fps or 30fps (which should we do? 30 i guess?)
6 or 8 channel 24bit 48KHz (can i just change to 24 bit?)The numbers and specs requested do not match anything on FCP7 compressor and even as custom we are not able to match or make these numbers appear.
Any suggestions? We must be missing something.Thanks,
RobertRobert Withers
Independent/personal/avant-garde cinema, New York City
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2 Replies
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Yes, the very model of a hot mess.
I don’t know how the producer got to her current version but it is HD with pillarboxes already, only the central image is the 4:3 ratio, a scan from film. So that’s a good point. The file must already be 1920×1080.
The weird 1998×1080 is apparently a 2k format specifically for DCP. I’ve heard of DCP studios asking for these. (They also want 24 fps!) But maybe the festival can use the HD file is.
From research:
2K = artificial standardThe reason for making 2K (2048×1080) slightly bigger than HD seems to have little other reason than that it is a bit bigger and that they need a catchy name. Cinema content is almost never 2048 x 1080 sized, but it is almost always distributed in a 2K (or 4K) ‘envelope’. What does that mean:
cinema ‘flat’ is encoded as 1998 x 1080 frames: aspect ratio 1.85 and fits inside the 2K frame. The frames can be just that size, or black bars are added left & right to get to the full 2K size (‘pillar boxed’).
cinema ‘scope’ is encoded as 2048 x 858 frames: aspect ratio 2.39 and fits inside the 2K frame. The frames can be just that size, or black bars are added top & bottom to get to the full 2K size (‘letter boxed’).Robert Withers
Independent/personal/avant-garde cinema, New York City
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Yes, the very model of a hot mess.
But you make a good point–this file is already an HD square pixel file made from a film scan. It’s got pillarboxes and only the center image is 4:3.
Apparently 1998×1080 is a pixel ratio that is targeted specifically for making DCPs. So maybe the festival will simply accept and convert the existing 1920×1080 file, adding a little more box to the pillars.
See research below:
2K = artificial standard
The reason for making 2K (2048×1080) slightly bigger than HD seems to have little other reason than that it is a bit bigger and that they need a catchy name. Cinema content is almost never 2048 x 1080 sized, but it is almost always distributed in a 2K (or 4K) ‘envelope’. What does that mean:
cinema ‘flat’ is encoded as 1998 x 1080 frames: aspect ratio 1.85 and fits inside the 2K frame. The frames can be just that size, or black bars are added left & right to get to the full 2K size (‘pillar boxed’).
cinema ‘scope’ is encoded as 2048 x 858 frames: aspect ratio 2.39 and fits inside the 2K frame. The frames can be just that size, or black bars are added top & bottom to get to the full 2K size (‘letter boxed’).Robert Withers
Independent/personal/avant-garde cinema, New York City
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