CPL and UUID

[millinho]

Hi,

I just discovered that some DCP systems like Clipster have a problem managing DCPs with the UUID in its CPL filename.
I did find the option to change the CPL name by hand - but the UUID will always be added to the end of the filename? Is there a way to remove the UUID completely? Thanks a lot

Kind regards

[carl]

Not at the moment. The tricky part would be to make sure that there can't be duplicated filenames in the DCP.

I added a note in the bug tracker.

[Carsten]

I just discovered that some DCP systems like Clipster have a problem managing DCPs with the UUID in its CPL filename.

Can you be more specific? As it is very common now to compose DCP file names with UUIDs (I see this daily in DCPs from major studios). Does Clipster have issues when source content/DCPs to be imported uses UUIDs in file names? May it be that only a specific way to include UUIDs in the file name causes these issues?

- Carsten

[Carsten]

This is a DCP-o-matic CPL file name:

cpl_5df8f474-d171-4089-9fbb-1bcc3ddb286d.xml

These are CPL filenames from international mainstream commercial trailers:

CPL_98e5ae73-4a75-4749-b089-1a9ecdd8c6c9.xml (created by Clipster)

CPL_35328e64-b99d-4ae9-9366-c9ff46b88807.xml (created by EasyDCP Creator)

I don't see DCP-o-matic doing something unusual?

[gunnar]

UUID is part of the cpl filename in every commercial DCP mastering softwares like: Dolby CineAsset, EasyDCP and Clipster so I am sure if Clipster is struggling with something the UUID in the filename is not the reason for it.

[millinho]

Thanks a lot for the replies

The DCP I created was made with an older version of the easyDCP creator - so no worries, DOM did nothing wrong, I am just trying to find out if I can use the DOM instead of the easyDCP in the future (and of course pay a decent price).

As it turns out it is possible in newer versions of the easyDCP creator (since version 3.6.2) to change the cpl title.

To be sure I talked to someone of the easyDCP technicians and he confirmed that it's becoming more often that DCPs have the movie title in the filename of the cpl.. To be honest, I find this very strange..

I talked to the person who had the Clipster problem and he confirmed that he sees the UUID of the cpl instead of the composition name. He was able to change it accordingly and offered me to come by and try to find out what the problem is.

Not at the moment. The tricky part would be to make sure that there can't be duplicated filenames in the DCP.

I added a note in the bug tracker.

So if this all is really turns out to be true and it's possible to implement that somehow, I would be more than happy to use DOM in the future
I saw a cpl file which looked like this: cpl_Movietitle_EN_OV_64d379ed0f2e.xml

[Carsten]

I think it is a bad idea to create any filename in a DCP without a UUID.

During a certain time in digital cinema history, many things were possible and common in DCPs, and sometimes, when looking at todays raw DCP files, I miss revealing file names for metadata, assets and KDMs. But I think the use of UUID is a must for reasons of file consistency.

While there are some filename length limitations to keep in mind, I think the best idea is to enable another placeholder in advanced prefs - metadata file name format to include the shortened CPL title together with a UUID. Maybe %c (compliant with asset filename format, or 'cpl name'). Or %d ('DCP name') (%n for 'name' and %t for 'title' is already taken for number of reels and asset type and could be confusing).

Occasionally, I see UUIDs for package/DCP names on servers. Usually they reveal that users did not understand the difference or used their software with some some standard settings not delivering what they'd intend to do.


- Carsten

Bildschirmfoto 2020-01-24 um 20.21.09.jpg

I think, in this example the reason is that no annotation text is set in the PKL file, so, our Sony shows only the PKL UUID. Other servers may handle this in a different way. Some servers may go for PKL/Package, some browse for CPLs. There is no actual standard on how servers display content for ingest or playout.

[millinho]

Ok good to hear, thank you all for the help!