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What do you do if you have one scene with a different Aspect Ratio?

Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 12:01 am
by neato_orpheus
I am getting ready to DCP a feature I shot. The majority of the movie is 2:35:1 but there is one scene in the middle of the movie that is 16:9.

Do I have to do anything special when making the DCP?

Re: What do you do if you have one scene with a different Aspect Ratio?

Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:07 am
by Carsten
I assume you want to show the movie in scope aspect ratio? Then you need to pillarbox the 16:9 scene within the scope frame.

-> Choose Scope container under DCP

In a default installation, DCP-o-matic will do everything correctly by itself:
-> Scope content will be scaled to scope aspect ratio
-> 16:9 will be scaled to 16:9 and padded with black to scope

In the cinema, scope content will then fill the whole scope screen, and 16:9 content will have black pillar box bars on left and right.

Will this be a 'general' release, or do you plan to show it in specific cinema(s) only? In specific cinemas, there could be a different way to do it - e.g. in a constant width ('multiplex' screen), you could letterbox the scope content within a 16:9 or flat frame. Then, the 16:9 scene would come out 'bigger' ('taller') than the scope scenes. This in done occasionally in IMAX cinemas with specific scenes to emphasize on the full screen size.

- Carsten