Barco Alchemy issues

[lg.richard]

Hi community, it's not strictly related to DCP o matic, but to your experience sending movies to the theaters.

In the festival im working every year we have new issues with one complex that uses Barco Alchemy server.

2 years ago a huge movie from Mubi couldnt ingest there:
Code 10924: “player - invalid CPL signature - cannot play” (Error)
Situation Solution
The play cannot start
because one of the CPLs has
an invalid signature.
Request a CPL with a valid signature from the content provider.

but it ingested everywhere else.

Last year a small movie with subtitles made in DCP o matic played everywhere else but this massage returned from that theater:
Code 10914: “player - subtitles preprocessing error - cannot play” (Error)

This year the guy in the theater didn't sent me error codes, but called me during a playback, he said he watched the movie in the afternoon, but during the official screening it was freezing, like it was corrupted. I couldnt believe that, because until now i did believe that corrupted material wont ingest, but he said he tried again the following day and it was still freezing. Yesterday he had another issue, KDM stuff (issued to another screen in the complex, he said he couldnt see that, because alchemy showed it was correct because it was from another screen at the same complex, i cant believe its true, but i cant refute becase i have no Alchemy operation experience), and I tried to open Alchemy manual, reading the troubleshooting i just found that:

Code 10928: “player - corruption in CPL assets - play might fail” (Warning)
Situation Solution
The play can start but one or
more assets are corrupted
and could cause problems or
failure during playback.
It is highly recommended to delete and re-ingest corrupted content. If
the source DCP is corrupted, then a healthy DCP should be requested.
The playback of such content can create picture or audio artefacts
or could simply fail.


And now i cant believe its DCI Compliant, how can we work with the possibility of a corrupted DCP (maybe in the copy to the HD I need to send to the theater, because we always test the DCPs integrity after downloading or receiveing Labs HDs) being ingested and only crashing during playback?

[lg.richard]

If anyone operates a Barco Alchemy can you just show me how files are listed in the server, does it shows the lock (red, green, orange, blue) like all the other servers or not?

[Carsten]

Yes, it does. If you're interested, I can take a few screenshots later. What exactly are your issues with Alchemys/ICMPs? There had been a few issues between DCP-o-matic and Alchemy, but, with current software versions on both sides, they are solved.

[mdudzik]

I believe it might be one of the well-known contact issues with ICMP. It is recommended to clean all the electronic contacts and re-seat the Alchemy at least once a year - it depends on the piece, but I've experienced similar issues (e.g. high bitrate packages were freezing etc) caused by oxidation and corrosion that were easy to solve by using IPA alcohol (+ some DeOxit, if possible).

Also, what software version are mentioned ICMPs on?

But actually it's more film-tech question I think.