DCP-o-matic and .MOV

[GerrySch]

Good evening everyone. I'm Gerry and my wife is a first-time producer of short-form documentaries. Her bi-lingual documentary (total length 5:14) has been selected to be shown at a film festival but they require DCP. Even though I a broadcast engineer, I've NEVER heard of DCP so I'm taking a crash course in this file format.
Anyway, we called Simple DCP in Culver City and they want almost $200 to convert the file and it's not even 6 minutes long!. I've downloaded the MAC version of DCP-o-matic and it runs fine on my old early 2008 Mac Pro (24 GBs of RAM). When I try to load the .mov file into DCP-o-matic the file name is grayed out. The .MOV video structure is Apple ProRes 4-2-2, 1280 x 720, 59.94 FPS and was cut on the latest version of Final Cut Pro.

So, why is it grayed out in the file open dialog box?

Thank you in advance,
Gerry

[carl]

It sounds like you need to make a new DCP-o-matic project with File / New then add your MOV with the "Add file" button.

There's some step by step instructions in the manual.

[Carsten]

Gerry - you need to get rid of that 59,94fps frame rate. While DCP-o-matic is able to convert your source into a 60fps DCP, only few servers will be able to play this. Cinema gold standard is 24fps. Now, converting from 59,94 to 24fps is nasty. You need to contact the festival people and try to find out wether they can play 60fps, or, a skip-frame 30fps version. DCP-o-matic will do both, and I suggest, for a 6min piece, you create both versions.

Chances to play a 30fps version are higher than a 60fps version. You need to set DCP-o-matic to create a SMPTE DCP when creating a 30/60 fps DCP.

- Carsten

[gunnar]

For what reason is the frame rate 59,94fps?
Was the film shot that way or did you just select it on export?
Every frame rates other than 24fps and 25fps is going to be a problem on most festivals.