Handling DCPs

tool: DCP-o-matic player

1) start DCP-o-matic player, click on the 'File' menu and hit 'Open'.

2) select the folder that contains the DCP package.

The screenshot example below shows the folder Dcptest_FTR-1-30_F-133_XX-XX_MOS_4K_20221129_SMPTE_OV.

3) The DCP will take a couple of seconds to load and will display an image if successful.

4) If it is an encrypted DCP, you may add a KDM by clicking 'Add KDM' under the 'File' menu. It is important to note that the KDM should be issued to your specific machine, otherwise it will not work.

Tip: The playback resolution may be lowered to improve performance by selecting the desired option under the 'View' drop down menu.

tool: DCP-o-matic player

1) First load the DCP package into DCP-o-matic player. Click the 'Tools' menu and 'Verify DCP'.

2) A pop-up window will appear and DCP-o-matic will begin its verification process, which may take several minutes depending on the duration of the DCP.

3) It will report any found errors in the DCP, which may be any of the three kinds of errors reported by DCP-o-matic

Errors — fatal issues with the DCP that are likely to cause playback issues. (more here)

Bv2.1 errors — errors described by the SMPTE Bv2.1 standard. (more here)

Warnings — small problems that may not matter. (more here)

tool: DCP-o-matic
prepare: a ProRes video file

1) Select 'New' under the 'File' menu.

2) Enter your desired file name in the dialogue box that appears. This will be the name of the folder that holds the data and the initial name for the DCP package.

You may also decide where to save the folder. In the example below, the TEST_DCP folder will be save in My Documents.

3) Next, add your desired video file by click 'Add file(s)...' and hit 'Open' after the file has been selected. The example screenshot below shows that I've selected the video file WENG_S8_TEST1_20220802_TEST2_ProRes (2560x1920).

It is possible to add multiple video clips but this example uses a single clip.

Click 'Open' to select the desired file.

4) The clip will take several seconds to load and you may then inspect the clip by 'Play'.

5) There may be instances where settings for the DCP may have to be tweaked. However, this example will use default settings since it is a test DCP for demonstration purposes.

Click the 'Jobs' menu and hit 'Make DCP'.

DCP-o-matic will begin the encoding process and the process may take several minutes or hours, depending on the length of the video clip.

The finished DCP will be saved in the folder and destination specified in step (2). It will come with several other files but the main DCP package will be located in the folder with the full DCP naming convention as seen below.

This folder may be shared and distributed to stakeholders via physical storage media or delivered over the internet.