Hint is telling me to use 8-5.1/HI/VI but I don't need HI/VI

Anything and everything to do with DCP-o-matic.
melissathatblondie
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2023 2:56 pm

Hint is telling me to use 8-5.1/HI/VI but I don't need HI/VI

Post by melissathatblondie »

Hi all,

I have a short film with just stereo audio. I'm trying to get it to have 5.1 audio.

I'm about to do "Jobs--> Make DCP", and when I change the channel to 6-5.1, I get a hint warning that "Your DCP has 6 audio channels, rather than 8 or 16. This may cause some distributors to raise QC errors when they check your DCP. To avoid this, set the DCP audio channels to 8 or 16."

But I know I don't need hearing aid dialogue which is in 8-5.1/HI/VI.

So should I choose 6-5.1 and ignore the hint since that's all that I need? I don't want anything to break.

Thank you so much!! Please respond asap if you can. I have to submit my movie to the screening tomorrow :D
carl
Site Admin
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Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:53 pm

Re: Hint is telling me to use 8-5.1/HI/VI but I don't need HI/VI

Post by carl »

Hi,

Either should be fine. I haven't heard of any projection systems that refuse to play a DCP with 6 channels.
melissathatblondie
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2023 2:56 pm

Re: Hint is telling me to use 8-5.1/HI/VI but I don't need HI/VI

Post by melissathatblondie »

Thank you for the quick response, Carl.

For context, my short is just stereo audio and the dialogue isn't separated. So that audio is all on one track. It's my first film so I didn't know that I should separate the dialogue until now.

Should I use a
1. 6-5.1 with the mid-side decoder?
2. 6-5.1 without the mid-side decoder?
3. 8-5.1/HI/VI with the mid-side decoder?
4. 8-5.1/HI/VI without the mid-side decoder?

What do you recommend?
carl
Site Admin
Posts: 2548
Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:53 pm

Re: Hint is telling me to use 8-5.1/HI/VI but I don't need HI/VI

Post by carl »

Can you listen to the DCP in a cinema before the "full" screening? If not, personally I would make a 6-5.1 without the mid-side decoder as it seems the lowest-risk option.

If you can test it beforehand and see how it sounds, I would try 6-5.1 with the mid-side decoder.
melissathatblondie
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2023 2:56 pm

Re: Hint is telling me to use 8-5.1/HI/VI but I don't need HI/VI

Post by melissathatblondie »

Thank you so much!!
Carsten
Posts: 2804
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2014 9:11 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Hint is telling me to use 8-5.1/HI/VI but I don't need HI/VI

Post by Carsten »

While both UpmixersA and B can cause unexpected results, I never had issues with the mid-side-decoder.

Now, what you can do is to generate the DCP in 5.1 layout with the mid-side-decoder.

Then load the DCP into DCP-o-matic player and use the audio playback matrix in preferences to listen to individual channels. That way you can get a pretty good idea what is going through the center channel.

You can actually set or delete node points in the audio matrix while the DCP is played back.

And btw - using straight 5.1 in the DCP is safe for both Interop and SMPTE DCPs. As Carl says, that hint is meant towards some mastering companies's QC or workflow requirements.
RAY-NUE
Posts: 111
Joined: Mon Aug 21, 2023 4:18 am
Location: Ratchaburi, Thailand

Re: Hint is telling me to use 8-5.1/HI/VI but I don't need HI/VI

Post by RAY-NUE »

melissathatblondie wrote: Wed Sep 06, 2023 3:09 pm Hi all,

I have a short film with just stereo audio. I'm trying to get it to have 5.1 audio.

I'm about to do "Jobs--> Make DCP", and when I change the channel to 6-5.1, I get a hint warning that "Your DCP has 6 audio channels, rather than 8 or 16. This may cause some distributors to raise QC errors when they check your DCP. To avoid this, set the DCP audio channels to 8 or 16."

But I know I don't need hearing aid dialogue which is in 8-5.1/HI/VI.

So should I choose 6-5.1 and ignore the hint since that's all that I need? I don't want anything to break.

Thank you so much!! Please respond asap if you can. I have to submit my movie to the screening tomorrow :D
The screening room has a Dolby processor that can perfectly convert 2.0 stereo sound to Dolby Pro-Logic II 5.1.
But we must inform Projectionist Know that the Dolby Pro-Logic II mode must be selected for your movie.
carl
Site Admin
Posts: 2548
Joined: Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:53 pm

Re: Hint is telling me to use 8-5.1/HI/VI but I don't need HI/VI

Post by carl »

The screening room has a Dolby processor that can perfectly convert 2.0 stereo sound to Dolby Pro-Logic II 5.1.
But we must inform Projectionist Know that the Dolby Pro-Logic II mode must be selected for your movie.
You can't guarantee that the a projection room will even have a projectionist, let alone a Dolby processor.