If you’ve gotten into a film festival, you likely have been asked for a digital cinema package, or DCP for short. Today, DCPs are the most common file type for theatrically viewing films. So what is a DCP, and how do you create one?
What is a DCP?
DCP meaning
Digital cinema packages can be cumbersome and expensive. And yet, if you want to have a screening of your film in a theater, you’ll likely have to make one.
DIGITAL CINEMA PACKAGE DEFINITION
What is a digital cinema package?
A digital cinema package is the industry standard delivery format for theatrical screenings. A DCP contains a collection of files that can be read by digital projectors, including audio, image, and metadata. Each of these files is encoded separately, and subsequently combined in playback.
DCPs have largely replaced 35mm film, which was the dominant theatrical form in the 20th century.
DCP Contents:
- Picture file
- Audio file
- Asset map file
- Composition playlist file
- Packing list file
- Volume index file
As you can see, a digital cinema package isn’t just a single item; it’s an entire collection of files that make up your final film. Let’s look a bit closer at what is required from each of these files.
Elements of a digital cinema package?
What’s in a DCP?
As we noted, the DCP format has 3 core elements: picture, audio, and metadata. Each of these elements have specific technical specifications as outlined by the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE).
Picture
The picture, of course, is the visual aspect of your film. These visuals are contained in a Material Exchange Format file (MXF).
Inside the MXF, the visuals are exported frame-by-frame, with each frame being delivered as a JPEG-2000. This ensures the highest possible quality for the footage since it is a lossless compression codec.
Audio
Sound is arranged similarly, also wrapped in a MXF. The files within the MXF are uncompressed PCM WAV, with a sampling rate of either 48K or 96K and 24 bits. This MXF can contain up to 16 independent channels.
If your film has multiple different languages, multiple MXF’s are typically required, one for each language.
Metadata
Having the video and audio files is all well and good, but you need to tell the projector how to put it all together. This is where metadata, saved in an XML file, comes in. This file defines where the other files are, and what order they should be played back in.
The typical size of a feature DCP film format containing all these elements is between 200 to 500 GB.
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How to make a DCP
Creating a digital cinema package
You now know the answer to “What is a DCP?” Hearing all these file types, your head may be spinning. But because DCPs are an industry standard, the path to create one is well-worn.
Most filmmakers will outsource creating a DCP to a digital cinema encoding facility. The upsides to this approach are obvious: these are professionals who will quality-check the product and troubleshoot any problems that may arise in the export.
The downside, however, is that this process can be expensive, usually ranging from $5-15 a minute (though this can vary, and be much higher if you want 4K resolution). This is a drop in the bucket for a big studio feature, but for an indie budget, it can add up.
Making your own digital cinema package
As such, many filmmakers will make their own DCP. Luckily, you can create a DCP in Adobe Premiere. Simply go to the export tab, and in the menu labelled “Format” select “Wraptor DCP.”
But there is a downside to opting for a free DCP. There is a higher risk of glitches, and sometimes, festivals will go so far as to refuse DCPs that are created in Premiere due to their unreliable nature.
Regardless of the path you take, for the highest quality outcome, it is best to create a Digital Cinema Distribution Master before creating a DCP. The DCDM contains picture and sound files that aren’t yet put in MXF files.
Do I need a DCP?
Why use a digital cinema package?
Let’s review. A digital cinema package is a massive file that can be expensive to make and can easily run into glitches when exporting. So why exactly is it an industry standard?
1. DCPs are high quality
There’s a reason digital cinema packages are hundreds of gigabytes: they are the highest quality version of a film. The compression is lossless, and the resolution can go up to 4K.
2. DCPs are flexible
If you’re releasing a major Hollywood movie, you’ll likely be playing in foreign countries. A DCP is a collection of multiple files, it allows you to easily swap out audio tracks for dubs, without needing to re-export an entirely new project.
So while a DCP might be expensive to make up front, in the long run it’s far more cost effective and creates fewer logistical headaches.
3. DCPs are secure
DCPs are typically encrypted with a key delivery message (KDM), which is required in order for a theater to play the film. As such, KDMs allow studios to dictate when, where, and how a movie is screened. This limits unauthorized screenings or altered cuts.
4. DCPs can be updated
Because they contain multiple files, DCPs allow for updates to be made even after they’re created. Say a movie for some reason has an error in it. With a DCP, you can send an updated file without having to reexport the entirety of the film.
All these perks make digital cinema packages the ideal format with which to screen movies theatrically. As an indie filmmaker, you may roll your eyes at a festival’s request for DCP files– but know that there’s a reason for it.
Up Next
Film distribution explained
Making a DCP is just a small part of the film distribution process. In order to get your movie seen by as many people as possible, you’ll need more than a digital cinema package. We walk you through each step of distribution.
Distribution guide →
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