Frequently Asked Question

How can I create a DCDM?

Tagged as: easyDCP Creator

The Digital Cinema Distribution Master (DCDM) is a hierarchical set of uncompressed, unencrypted and unpackaged files. It can be used to exchange the image, audio, subtitles and auxiliary data to other studios, encoding or playback systems or film archives. The DCDM can also be used as the direct starting material for the production of a DCP.

easyDCP does not fully support the DCDM format as specified by the DCI (http://www.dcimovies.com/specification/index.html). However, using Creator and Player+, it is possible to create a DCDM-like set of files with the following restrictions:

  • TIFF files contain 16 bits instead of 12 padded bits
  • TIFF header does not contain metadata such as frame rate or frame count
  • WAVE header does not contain broadcast metadata
  • Folder and file names are slightly different and must be corrected manually

Please ask your partner if this format is sufficient.

To create a DCDM from the Digital Source Master (DSM), start a Creator project and arrange everything as if you would do a DCP:

  • Choose "XYZ (DCI)" as target color space for all picture tracks.
  • Letterboxing should not be used in DCDMs.
  • All reels should have a length of around 20 minutes.
  • Each reel will end up as a separate subfolder in the DCDM.
  • If your studio or archive expects leader countdowns, add them manually.

1. Create an easyDCP Creator project and click on "Preview Project" to open it in easyDCP Player:

2. In easyDCP Player, click on "Asset > Export" (or shortcut "e") to start the Export Wizard. In the first page of the Export Wizard, choose an output folder, select "Export sequence" and press "Next":

3. On the second page, enter the name of the composition "File Name Prefix" and select "Export from Reel":

4. For Video, select "TIFF", "Color Depth 16" and select the appropriate color space of your source material (here: "sRGB") and target color space to "XYZ (DCI)":

5. For Audio, select "Split-channel WAVs":

 

6. When the export is complete, click on "Browse Folder", move and rename all reel folders to "CompositionName.Reel_#". Also, move and rename all files to "CompositionName.Reel_#.FrameNumber.tif". In addition, copy all subtitle and auxiliary files to its appropriate reel folders.