Combining multiple DCP's into 1

[Jeff]

Hi There,

Thank you so much for this software, I've created a few DCP's now and they have played successfully in cinemas. These were as single DCP's.

Has someone had a similar experience who is able to help please... I'm in a situation where I need to combine x3 DCP's into one which will then get sent to and playout in cinema's and I'm not 100% confident that I've done it correctly or that it will work. I've done a mini test using DOM Combiner, though I'm struggling to confirm a couple of things...

1. Is there a way of doing a test where I can check if all x3 films with subtitles will play successfully in this combined package state? At the moment using DOM Player I can only check one film, even when I drag all the assets into the DOM Player. But that one film is playing correctly, with subs as well.

2. I'm losing all the DCP naming convention i.e. BobsFilm_FTR-1_F-185_FR-EN_51_2K_20250117_SMPTE_OV when I combine them. It is there within the cpl but should it not be on a folder name like when creating a single DCP? What's the correct naming convention to recognise there are multiple DCP's in one package/folder?

To conclude, I'm pretty confident that should I send a single DCP to a cinema, that it should work. However, I'm at this hurdle of doing a combined package, literally x3 films, but would like to find a way of confirming and testing that I've done it correctly and it will work.

Any help/feedback would be much appreciated.

Thank you very much!

[StephW999]

Normally if you want to combine DCPs into a single package, they must all be in the same image format, same frame-rate, same standard ; Otherwise it's not compliant. (But it still works)
This being the case, the combiner will output the cpls xmls and assets only in a single folder, and before launching the process you must enter the text annotation (PKL) in the textbox and choose the destination folder.
With the DoM player you choose the folder you created, and then select the cpl (menu:View->CPL)
In a player server before the ingest the name of the PKL to be ingested will appear : all cpls will be assimilated

[Jeff]

Hey, thank you so much for your reply, I really appreciate it.
I was not aware of the View -> CPL which has helped a lot in being able to view the test clips I created.
As to your first point, yes all x3 DCP's will have the same image format, frame-rate and standard.
Do you at all know if packages like this created with DOM Combiner and having the same image format, frame-rate, standard, are generally ingested successfully by cinemas/player servers and play fine?
Thank you again!

[StephW999]

Hi Jeff!
I admit that I haven't tested it, but there is no particular reason why it wouldn't work on a server.

[Carsten]

Why do you need them to be in a single package?

[Jeff]

Hi Jeff!
I admit that I haven't tested it, but there is no particular reason why it wouldn't work on a server.

Okay, thank you very much for letting me know.

[Jeff]

Why do you need them to be in a single package?

Hey, the primary reasons are time and economy. It's more cost effective to send just one package multiple times, over 3 individual DCP's, multiple times...i.e 100+ cinemas. However it is, of course, imperative that, that single package works.

[Carsten]

If time and economy would be valid points - why are 99% of all commercial DCPs distributed to cinemas single CPL packages? The classic being one OV and multiple VF packages. Maybe you need to explain a bit better what the difference means for your workflow?


I have used combiner a few times for testing, and it worked, but I guess few people are using it regularly, so, there is probably not much bug feedback.

I could test a combo on our two cinema systems that could imitate your package.

I also think that your package will look different when bering ingested on a Cinema server - staff will notice the new annotation and folder name you give in combiner, but within the package, you will see you original ISDCF/DCNC named content for ingest. DCP-o-matic player does not ingest and does not use a DCP/CPL tailored file browser as cinema servers do.

[IoannisSyrogiannis]

It seems to me like there is a misconception on what is the effect of making one package (DCP) for more than one compositions (CPL).
Making one DCP, does not mean:
Smaller data volume (the total difference will be a few kilobytes among a multitude of gigabytes)
That one will be ingesting them with one go (the ingestion process will be separate by a cinema media server, it may make a difference on a TMS)
A player will play them together, and/or in a particular order (when ingested, the original CPLs/DCPs will be counted as different)

So, there is no time saving that one wouldn't achieve similarly by grouping more than one DCPs as subfolders to another (folder).

With the resulting package being the same size (practically) as the three packages, storage or transfer would cost the exact same. The only remote possibility for saving money there would have been a service that would count the package list files (instead of the composition playlists or total data volume) to charge for storage and/or transfer.

I would consider making a package out of different CPLs (that one is not an alternative version of another in some manner), increasing complexity. Not a wise thing to do.

[Jeff]

If time and economy would be valid points - why are 99% of all commercial DCPs distributed to cinemas single CPL packages? The classic being one OV and multiple VF packages. Maybe you need to explain a bit better what the difference means for your workflow?

I have used combiner a few times for testing, and it worked, but I guess few people are using it regularly, so, there is probably not much bug feedback.

I could test a combo on our two cinema systems that could imitate your package.

I also think that your package will look different when bering ingested on a Cinema server - staff will notice the new annotation and folder name you give in combiner, but within the package, you will see you original ISDCF/DCNC named content for ingest. DCP-o-matic player does not ingest and does not use a DCP/CPL tailored file browser as cinema servers do.

Thank you Carsten, I appreciate that! If it was up to me, I would send single CPL packages, however we're working with an external company and they want the packages wrapped/combined. Hence me trying to work it out and check if I'm doing it correctly. The fall back we have is that it will be checked and QC'd, but I just want to as much my side work out to do it correctly. However, from your 99% comment, sounds like it's perhaps not the most common way to deliver DCP's, but more commonly they are delivered as single CPL packages?

Regarding the folder name you give in Combiner - do you at all know if that has caused problems with cinemas or if there is a specific standard? Because the official naming convention now only sits within the CPL when combined, and I can call the folder anything.