IMAX DCP
Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2017 10:01 pm
Dear Carsten,
(referring to earlier posts about trying to make an IMAX DCP...)
1000 apologies. I got sidetracked shooting a film. And then spent more-time-than-planned-for trying to figure out the IMAX / DCP thing. After doing tests, and running both an IMAX and a standard DCP in an IMAX theatre with twin laser projectors it appears that IMAX does have a 'proprietary' code somewhere in their DCP's such that ... you can't see what is ON the DCP drive, and, it somehow fires up the twin projectors. Without the IMAX created DCP drive only one laser projector will work, with about half the lumens. Makes a big difference. IMAX charges $1,000 a minute to make the DCP. So a lot of people are wondering if there is in fact a patent proprietary system in play, or whether it's just a simple key. I think the issue for IMAX producers is you can't look at your rushes in an IMAX theatre without paying to have a DCP made (at $1,000 a minute).
I'm not a pirate or patent-offending kind of guy. But it might be intriguing to have a code expert poke around in one of those drives to see if it is in fact a simple key, or if there is some serious patent technology involved (in which case hands off). Tricky to do as getting one of those drives is a bit of a study. They are delivered straight to the theatre.
But, regarding DCP-o-matic, here is an intriguing thought for you: I just got a Panasonic GH5. It has a burst mode for stills ... but that burst mode goes on literally forever, there is no limit, at 30fps. That's 18 Megapixels per frame. And in 4:3, which is the IMAX format. There is no other camera out there that will do a live-action 4:3 at 18 Megapixels per frame. Granted it's not a huge sensor. But it's a very nice sensor. A huge improvement over the GH4, and it's a 4:2:2 colour space at 150Mbps IN-CAMERA ... which will be upped to 400Mbps shortly with a firmware upgrade. It looks like this will give you about a 5K in a 4:3 frame.
I've seen the older Canon 1Dc shooting 4K in a sequence with the Sony F65 and the full IMAX 15:70 (scanned). With the duel laser projectors it was not an easy thing to see which camera was which. Though they did restrict the Canon to close-ups and to mid-shot interiors (in a small space).
What was most interesting was that the 4K material looked just fine. IMAX film has been rated at 12K. But the digital 4K through duel 4K projectors? Very nice.
I'm going to do some 4:3 tests with the GH5. If they prove to be as exceptional as I'm thinking they might (given how nice the normal cinema 4K is), I'll post what I find out to you here. About 15 years ago I was thinking that one day we would be able to shoot IMAX with a small compact camera. Could be we are very close now. Or even there? Might open up the IMAX world a bit...
More soon,
All the best,
Ben
(referring to earlier posts about trying to make an IMAX DCP...)
1000 apologies. I got sidetracked shooting a film. And then spent more-time-than-planned-for trying to figure out the IMAX / DCP thing. After doing tests, and running both an IMAX and a standard DCP in an IMAX theatre with twin laser projectors it appears that IMAX does have a 'proprietary' code somewhere in their DCP's such that ... you can't see what is ON the DCP drive, and, it somehow fires up the twin projectors. Without the IMAX created DCP drive only one laser projector will work, with about half the lumens. Makes a big difference. IMAX charges $1,000 a minute to make the DCP. So a lot of people are wondering if there is in fact a patent proprietary system in play, or whether it's just a simple key. I think the issue for IMAX producers is you can't look at your rushes in an IMAX theatre without paying to have a DCP made (at $1,000 a minute).
I'm not a pirate or patent-offending kind of guy. But it might be intriguing to have a code expert poke around in one of those drives to see if it is in fact a simple key, or if there is some serious patent technology involved (in which case hands off). Tricky to do as getting one of those drives is a bit of a study. They are delivered straight to the theatre.
But, regarding DCP-o-matic, here is an intriguing thought for you: I just got a Panasonic GH5. It has a burst mode for stills ... but that burst mode goes on literally forever, there is no limit, at 30fps. That's 18 Megapixels per frame. And in 4:3, which is the IMAX format. There is no other camera out there that will do a live-action 4:3 at 18 Megapixels per frame. Granted it's not a huge sensor. But it's a very nice sensor. A huge improvement over the GH4, and it's a 4:2:2 colour space at 150Mbps IN-CAMERA ... which will be upped to 400Mbps shortly with a firmware upgrade. It looks like this will give you about a 5K in a 4:3 frame.
I've seen the older Canon 1Dc shooting 4K in a sequence with the Sony F65 and the full IMAX 15:70 (scanned). With the duel laser projectors it was not an easy thing to see which camera was which. Though they did restrict the Canon to close-ups and to mid-shot interiors (in a small space).
What was most interesting was that the 4K material looked just fine. IMAX film has been rated at 12K. But the digital 4K through duel 4K projectors? Very nice.
I'm going to do some 4:3 tests with the GH5. If they prove to be as exceptional as I'm thinking they might (given how nice the normal cinema 4K is), I'll post what I find out to you here. About 15 years ago I was thinking that one day we would be able to shoot IMAX with a small compact camera. Could be we are very close now. Or even there? Might open up the IMAX world a bit...
More soon,
All the best,
Ben