How to make DCP files using Resolve

Having struggled with this for the last couple of days I thought it would be useful to share my experience on this forum. DR14 includes an 'easyDCP' option in the deliver page.. forget that unless you are rich. The easyDCP licence is very expensive and all you get in DR14 is a dummy effort which doesnt really do anything useful.

So to make a DCP you have to do the following...

1. Have your finished rendered project ready along with the sound tracks. Setup a new project in DR14 and set the timeline to 1998x1080 if you're working in 2k
2. bring in your movie to the timeline, set all audio tracks to type mono
3. on the color page zoom the picture so it fits the frame
4. using the deliver page you must now render out the video and audio separately. Render the video as jpeg2000 with codec 2K DCI flat (or whatever you're working with) and set the frame rate to suit. Selecting jpeg2000 will disable the audio so dont worry about that. For each frame in your movie you will get 1 small jpeg2000 file so make sure you have plenty of disk space to send these to.
5. having rendered out the jpeg2000 files (yes it takes a long time) disable the export video checkbox and then in the audio tab select wav and 24 bit audio. render each timeline track as its own wav file

thats it for DV14. The next step is to convert these files to the MXF format and thence to DCP files. For this you will need the openDCP software which is free of charge.

So before you go any further read this article on how to use DR14 to create the jpeg files
https://www.provideocoalition.com/creat ... -14-setup/

and this article on how to make the DCP package
https://www.provideocoalition.com/creat ... -14-setup/

My thoughts on this?
Its a bit 'micky' but it works. Hopefully BM will get their act together and integrate the DCP process (opendcp) into DR?? to simplify matters for us (checkout Adobe Media Encoder & Wraptor DCP). As with all of this stuff if you've got a commercial cinema production then I suggest you take your stuff to a post production DCP facility as they are experienced and its not too expensive, about 800usd for a 70 minute film.

Good luck

Please have a look at this free piece of software : DCP-o-matic
https://dcpomatic.com/
I have been using it successfully for last few years for Feature films and Ads.

Having struggled with this for the last couple of days I thought it would be useful to share my experience on this forum. DR14 includes an 'easyDCP' option in the deliver page.. forget that unless you are rich. The easyDCP licence is very expensive and all you get in DR14 is a dummy effort which doesnt really do anything useful.

Hello Thom,

Appreciate your instructions, however I don't think your criticism of Blackmagic and EasyDCP is warranted. EasyDCP is a third party company and choose to charge what they charge for their add-on the same way that any other company does. EasyDCP is $1000 last time I checked for the Resolve extension, which is really not that much considering that one can recoup that amount in one or two projects at most.

I have successfully used the easyDCP feature before (not at my house), but I always feel insecure about how well it really delivers. (Colour Management, Gamma, Gamut, Range)

It is very fast though. I've recently talked this through with bmd employee and will try again, seems it might work just fine. (If it does, it's worth the money. Have you ever tried the open source alternative?)

I'm sure there are several ways to achieve this, one being to use media Encoder which has the Wraptor 2k DCP format as standard. The method I described gives you a lot of choice and understanding of what happens

Re the critique.. well several K€ for something which is actually quite simple in what it does seems opportunistic to me. I think the price tag is latched on to the cost of the DCP projectors. My guess is that this will soon come tumbling down as there are now a couple of freebee alternatives available.

Still it's your choice

EasyDCP is very fairly priced for the high-quality DCP encoder that it is. There are a ton of cheaper and free utilities out there that can create DCPs, however, the quality of the conversion and ease of creating the DCP may vary between applications.

Yes, Adobe Media Encoder has a very limited version of Wraptor DCP but if you need to adjust any options, you need to pay for the full version, which runs about $1k.

If you feel insecure regarding the deliverable, you should QC it in a theatrical environment as it will NOT look like it does on your monitor.

I'd recommend DCP-o-matic for the open source solution. For paid solutions, look at CuteDCP for a cheap alternative to Wraptor.

Hey there,

Thx Thom for those who had no clue...
However, I remember I made one tutorial-like instruction file a few years ago, but I included a few words on the xyz space (just for info) and the right way to order the audio tracks on the TL to make a real 5.1. So I beat you on that

More seriously, time has passed now and considering the easiness-efficiency-user.friendly package now, I'd personally recommend dcp-o-matic for most of the workflow.

Yes that seems to be the way to go but even there we find a number of pitfalls so its necessary to read the manual especially the page on DCP settings

I'd personally recommend dcp-o-matic for most of the workflow

+1

A tip when using DCP-o-matic. Render your surround sound 5:1 in the AAC format, the video in DNxHr444 12 bit and not only will DCPoMatic run faster but you will get a cleaner result

easyDCP is MUCH faster than DCPomatic or opendcp (like a lot, talking 50fps here)

[Peter Chamberlain]

The Resolve and easyDCP paring also handles all the color science automatically. I noticed that was not mentioned in the original post.

The free test of easyDCP within Resolve lets you verify your process, test in Resolve and in a theatre. If you are successful you can buy their license and perform the final DCP render, paying for the license and knowing the encryption is industry accepted and it cost you nothing to test.

Of course we let you render JPEG2000 by itself too for other DCP apps. Choice is yours.

Here is a link to the DCP-o-Matic forum with simple instructions for newbies on how to succeed with a DCP.

https://dcpomatic.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=992

There are certainly a host of other choices but this I wrote specifically for those such as myself who are confronted with a request for a DCP and know zip about the subject

The Resolve and easyDCP paring also handles all the color science automatically. I noticed that was not mentioned in the original post.

Is this now improved, so project can be any setting (2.2, 2.4 gamma etc.) and internal engine does take it into account when converting to final XYZ?

We don't know if the jpg2000 render is DCI compliant or not. Safest is to use either the DNxHR or Prores render of highest quality and let the DCP o matic software recode the gamut

We don't know if the jpg2000 render is DCI compliant or not. Safest is to use either the DNxHR or Prores render of highest quality and let the DCP o matic software recode the gamut

i've ran out dozens of Jpeg2000/XYZ seq, and re-wraped them into DCP's useing DCP-0-Matic set to not change or re-encode anything
they have played in thousands of theatres across the globe, so far; zero rejections
biggest advantage i find are;
- being able to QC the XYZ seq + 5.1's easly
- not haveing to make an ROI means i can offer this service for the time spent in the suite
- haveing control of the color path means i can be sure the train is firmly on the rails, what goes out my door is golden