AE animation 1080 to DCP?

Anything and everything to do with DCP-o-matic.
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ae2dcp
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 16, 2021 9:33 pm

AE animation 1080 to DCP?

Post by ae2dcp »

Hi all,
I have created my animation film in After Effects, and now need to export it to a DCP format for film festivals and cinemas.
Unfortunately, I've created my film in a composition with the settings of: HDTV 1080, 1920 x 1080, square pixels, Frame rate: 24.
It is 24 minutes long.
I would like to export it as a DCP  (perhaps, 2k digital cinema,  1998 x 1080, flat), and use DCP-O-Matic.
When using a DCP creator such as DCP-O-Matic, or Open DCP, the choice of resolution always starts at 2k, and as I wrote, my film's resolution is HDTV 1080.
What shall I do? What can I do to export my composition into a DCP format? Is there a possibility to get around this gap?
I am working with the following tutorial for exporting the DCP file: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s7W2HCSQSw
:mrgreen:
Thank you
Carsten
Posts: 2648
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2014 9:11 pm
Location: Germany

Re: AE animation 1080 to DCP?

Post by Carsten »

This is pretty normal procedure. The standard DCP container for HD/16:9 content is 'Flat' (1998/1080). Your 1920/1080 content will be padded with black on both sides to fill the 1998 container width. Lean black bars on the left and right. We have this in cinema very often, e.g. with ads, or documentaries.
DCP-o-matic will handle this correctly automatically. 'Flat' is DCP-o-matic's default container after installation. Add your HD file, and you will see how DCP-o-matic will put it into the flat container. Set your audio to -20LUFS approximately. Standard audio mastering procedures will usually result into the level being too hot for cinema. Typically, one needs to reduce the overall audio gain by e.g. -10 to -18dB to get it right for cinema. There is no strict spec for audio levels in cinema. It's just better if you get the levels close to standard levels. Best is if you can check audio levels in a properly calibrated listening environment before you create the final DCP for festival entry.
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