How do I do a DCDM?

Anything and everything to do with DCP-o-matic.
dthorres
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2023 5:32 pm

How do I do a DCDM?

Post by dthorres »

I was asked to do one but Im completely lost.
It doesn't need to be "good". It's mostly to fulfill a bureaucratic deadline and then it will be replaced by a legitimate one.
Mostly looking for a quick and functional solution to meet the immediate requirement.
Carsten
Posts: 2804
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2014 9:11 pm
Location: Germany

Re: How do I do a DCDM?

Post by Carsten »

Is anything known about the requirements? Because, DCDMs are not as strictly spec'd as the DCP.

Usually, it's all images of the visual part as lossless numbered TIFFs (XYZ), and all audio in 24Bit Broadcast-WAV, and subtitles/captions in xml format.
If reels are used, all in one folder per reel. But, I think it's technically okay to create a single reel also for DCDMs.
But some organisations have tighter specs, e.g. German Bundesarchiv, they use a more complicated specification.


What is your source/master material? Have you already created the DCP?
dthorres
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2023 5:32 pm

Re: How do I do a DCDM?

Post by dthorres »

Thank you so much for the reply.
I haven't found any information online about this that is simple and approachable. :(

I do have a DCP.

About the DCDM it doesn't have specific requirements. The film isn't mixed or color graded yet. This DCDM will be replaced later so it needs mostly to be "passable" as a DCDM but it doesn't need to be great.
It's a formal requirement to meet an institution deadline. They will allow us to replace this DCDM later.
I think it's technically okay to create a single reel also for DCDMs.
What do you mean by reel in this context?

Do I essentially export all images in TIFF and sound separately and organize it in separate folders?
Last edited by dthorres on Wed Sep 13, 2023 2:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Carsten
Posts: 2804
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2014 9:11 pm
Location: Germany

Re: How do I do a DCDM?

Post by Carsten »

You know what a 'reel' is within the DCP domain? If your DCP has reels, your DCDM 'should' also reflect this, so, you would put your image series and sound into individual folders for every reel. But, as the project is not even finished as I understand it, there is probably not a reel structure, so, manage it as 'one reel'.

If you have a project that is not yet ready for DCP creation, just export it as a TIFF image series, audio files, captions (if applicable), put everything into folders, name the upper folder according to your title, and you should be fine for this purpose.