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Dcp creation for PC
Dear All,
I recently jumped straight into the Dcp-creation biz without much knowledge. I am using a 12 core trashcan, Mac os, Davinci 12.5 with easy dcp plugin.I created the DCP and validated it and shipped to a festival but they called and said they cannot work with it because they are on a PC based system.
Question, where do I manage in Resolve that the DCP is mac and or PC friendly? Do I need a higher Resolve?
Cheers and Thank you all in advance!
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14 Replies
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DCPs are not OS specific. Did you send it on a mac formatted drive?
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The DCP spec calls for ext3 formatted drives (Linux format) but in practice most cinema management systems run on Windows. Why cinemas don’t have MacDrive or a free ext3 util to mount any drives on Windows is beyond me. Not expensive and saves hundreds of dollars and anxiety getting the right formatted drives delivered. I gave up doing DCPs as so many cinemas are not compliant with the format. Don’t assume they can reliably read exFAT either. Just give them NTFS formatted drives. And you won’t get the drives USB cable back most likely.
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[Michael Gissing] “The DCP spec calls for ext3 formatted drives (Linux format) but in practice most cinema management systems run on Windows.”
That is correct, and it is all the more frustrating that so many exhibitions are running with ad hoc installations that are incompatible on a variety of levels with the DCI specification. Even when you do comply, the chances are that the submission will be rejected for one reason or another, the vast majority of the time because the exhibitor is out of compliance.
NTFS will work… if you are a macOS-based service, it may well be the best option, even if you run one of the LInux overlays (ie. Paragon). I just sent out a package a few days ago, and was almost immediately requested to do an upload. Sure, 64GB, here you go…
jPo, CSI
\”I always pass on free advice — its never of any use to me\” Oscar Wilde.
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Yes I did and in one case the so called projectionist said he had a spare mac book pro and was able to play the dip in another case they could not. I ended up formatting a drive into DOD FAT and hope for the best.
Max Hoffmann
everything_max@mac.com
http://www.everythingmax.com -
Thank you. I tried your recommendation but will probably need to make Blue Ray backup just in case.
Max Hoffmann
everything_max@mac.com
http://www.everythingmax.com -
Thank you!! The upload would be the best of all versions but ay one needs speed for that.
Max Hoffmann
everything_max@mac.com
http://www.everythingmax.com -
[Max Hoffmann] “I ended up formatting a drive into DOD FAT and hope for the best.”
Everyone running on a Mac should do what all us PC users routinely do. Buy software that gives us the ability to read and write the other formats. On my PC I run MacDrive as many editors just bring drives in HFS+ and don’t really understand drive formatting. On Mac, as Joseph said, use Paragon to enable the Mac to read and write NTFS for Windows. This will also make life easier for editing and finishing work in Resolve anyway, even if you never make another DCP.
Hoping for the best means you are highly likely to have to get Paragon and redo it, costing time and postage. The cinema won’t change or buy the software they need so it falls to the DCP maker to manage them.
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Nothing works reliable.
DCP ‘should’ be on EXT 2, with proper block sizes and stuff…
That works almost always, except the one cinema here in town where they only accepted NTFS, not even EXfat.
I have no clue why it is so difficult for them not to have a PC in the network. (They always have a PC, never networked with the projectors storage for some reason.)Bouke
http://www.videotoolshed.com -
I’ve tried ext2 and 3. Most cinemas I have dealt with in Australia cannot read either. The DCP spec says ext3 but some say ext2 is compatible and more reliable. Either way in almost every case I dealt with NTFS was the only reliable drive format.
Considering how simple it is to read ext2 or 3 drive on a WIndows machine, I even offered to email the tiny free util that does this but the other problem is there are not real techs running the show. Usually kids who can sell tickets & popcorn and the tech people visit infrequently. So they are scared to install or just don’t know how to install a simple drive read utility.
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Frustrating, because ext2(/3) is the only DCI compliant disk format, the only one “guaranteed” in the industry standards to be universally readable by theater projection systems. I recently brought this to the attention of a European cinema, providing both them and the client DCI specifications — purely in self-defense as I was being accused of making a faulty rush DCP overnighted to them from the U.S. at a hefty cost — and believe it or not, after “enlightening” them, the theater easily accommodated! This is a prestigious venue that’s been around for some time, but apparently, nobody knew — that simple — and all these years they have not been informing clients about their NTFS limitation, while turning away perfectly good DCPs as mysteriously “faulty” or “unreadable”.
Was I the first to ever tell them?? Seriously?? That’s all it took? — in an email — and they are changed forever. As a DCP maker, I feel a little cocky and emboldened. I kind of want to take up a sort of “activism” in defense of DCI requirements for everyone’s sake. It asks very little of theaters — asks less of them than they of us by them being non-compliant.
It is perfectly okay to have a PC-based media server/projection system, but to be compliant you absolutely must have software or a device driver for reading ext2/3, OR a linux shell (probably more reliable than something like $35 Paragon), OR a linux workstation on the network. It’s nominal cost — much easier and cheaper in total than forcing clients to generate auxiliary non-compliant DCP kits — and takes very little time to implement. If it’s simply a matter of purchasing Paragon, the easiest option, then it’s literally three to five minutes of time to bring the system up to spec. Viola.
Ok, that’s it, I’m going to include some sort of short and friendly spec and trouble-shooting sheet that makes it very clear that if the theater is unable to read compliant DCPs, they have an issue, and include tips for reading proper DCPs. From now on, also, on my proposals I’m explicitly not responsible for incompatibility IF a venue has not informed the client of special needs (like ntfs only).
That said, outside of activist silliness, I could see making a compliant kit (sata drive as ext2, cart, hard case etc.); then also formatting a thumb drive as ntfs, include a second copy of the DCP on that stick and tuck it inside the hard case along with the “real” DCP. If you want to add a little flair, be snarky — in the right, sure, but snarky — and label it “(backup for non-compliant theaters” ????
– b
“THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA” –
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