Cinema release -workflow/deliverables advice required

[Dan Parkes]

Hi there

I am a satisfied owner of Aspect HD, using it with CS3 to edit 720p/25 on a quad core, 4GB PC. A 90 minute feature that we are presently editing has been accepted to launch a festival and is also going on to a short cinema run in Brighton and London, UK.

We were only looking for Blu-Ray release, but this change things dramatically -2K digital projection! The cinema has provided tech specs as the following:

IMAGE BASED:
· TIFF Files, 16bit in X’Y’Z’ or RGB (Rec.709 or DCI P3) Colourspace
· DPX Files, 10 bit RGB (Rec.709)
· Quicktime Uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2, 24fps
· All content will be encoded at a frame rate of 24fps.
· Image resolution should be based on 2K, 2048x1080 image container
· Delivery Method: Image files should be on Hard Disk Drive formatted for a PC or Linux operating system.

OR

TAPE BASED
· HDCAM 4:2:2 at 23.98fps, 24fps or 25fps Progressive Segmented Frame.
· HDCAM SR 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 at 23.98fps, 24fps or 25fps Progressive Segmented Frame.
· Digital Betacam 4:2:2 at 50i (25fps)
· Frame Speed - Material submitted in frame rates other than 24fps, such as 23.98fps or 25fps will have their speed adjusted during
encoding to correct the frame rate to 24fps.
· Colour Space - Rec.709 is the only acceptable

What would you recommend I do to export the final film as, and how?

Any suggestions and advice are much appreciated.

Dan

[Dan Parkes]

So I take it I am the first one to to use Cineform for a theatrical release in digital form?

I don't mind pioneering new techniques but any advice would be most appreciated.

Regards

Dan

[David Newman]

It is so common place now, and all of the above would be the answer, as it depend on the film-out facillity you use. Call up FotoKem (we work nicely with them) and just send them a CineForm AVI of your completed file.

[Douglas Turner]

Congrats, Dan!

David - he's not talking about going to 35mm film - he's talking about digital projection.

From my experience of showing our film at film festivals, it's the sound they usually screw up - so be VERY careful about that. Sound is just as important (if not more so) than the visual.

I'd avoid any tape-based formats, HDCAMs will set you back a few hundred pounds for the initial transfer, then probably hundred per tape, and digiBeta is standard def. Also, not many facilities can do HDCAM SR to give you surround sound - so you'll probably be stuck with a stereo mix, as even fewer cinemas will be able to play it (with the surround).

My advice would be to go with the Blu-Ray with 5.1 - cheap as chips, and is more than good enough to do you 720 footage justice (I saw The Strangers at Frightfest on Blu-Ray, and it looked and sounded stunning!).

It costs you nothing to produce a high def Quicktime that you've also listed, so do that too. Upshot is, get a good relationship with a projectionist and do some tests!

[Dan Parkes]

Thanks for the replies!

Yes, we are talking about digital projection, not 35mm. With the expense of HDCAM the only other alternative seems to be an uncompressed file as they do not seem to accept Blu-Ray. But an uncompressed file for a 90 minute film I am assuming will be 2-3TB at least....

Dan

Originally Posted by Douglas Turner

Congrats, Dan!

David - he's not talking about going to 35mm film - he's talking about digital projection.

From my experience of showing our film at film festivals, it's the sound they usually screw up - so be VERY careful about that. Sound is just as important (if not more so) than the visual.

I'd avoid any tape-based formats, HDCAMs will set you back a few hundred pounds for the initial transfer, then probably hundred per tape, and digiBeta is standard def. Also, not many facilities can do HDCAM SR to give you surround sound - so you'll probably be stuck with a stereo mix, as even fewer cinemas will be able to play it (with the surround).

My advice would be to go with the Blu-Ray with 5.1 - cheap as chips, and is more than good enough to do you 720 footage justice (I saw The Strangers at Frightfest on Blu-Ray, and it looked and sounded stunning!).

It costs you nothing to produce a high def Quicktime that you've also listed, so do that too. Upshot is, get a good relationship with a projectionist and do some tests!

[Douglas Turner]

Uncompressed quicktime for should be around 5-700GB? Certainly below a TB (just noticed you need to make a 2048x1080 file!! so you'll have a huge file!! cripes!! Ignore the previous sentence). We delivered our 78 min film to FATS Digital here in Sydney - I think we used Animation, as there was no visible difference between that and uncomp, and that was around 400GB.

Not sure if you can put surround sound in a quicktime mov or not - but if you've gone to the bother of getting a 5.1 mix for your film, you'll want to use it!

You thought about buying a Blu-Ray player, and just giving them that for the festival? I've just bought a Kogan player, with 5.1 analogue audio out (just in case cinema does not have dolby decode) - perfectly fine. I'm sure all 2K projectors will have component or even HDMI inputs to suit.

REFUSE to play it off DigiBeta, cos the festival is bound to get stressed out and put it in the too-difficult-basket and want you to use the lazy/fail-safe option, but it's your film, push as much as possible to show it in the format you want it to be shown. Ask the fest for the mobile # of their projectionist and talk to them directly...

If you go with MOV, then I'd export as a 1440x1080 Cineform HD avi (FilmScan quality) from Premiere - this'll give you a 40-50GB master avi, then use something like TMPGEnc to convert to Quicktime MOV (2048x1080 it looks like you need - I haven't tried a Res this high, though), stick to 25fps. (use either an internal hard disk or an external that's eSATA as a destination, as you'll be slowing the conversion day with a USB external HDD).

[Dan Parkes]

Thanks Douglas, I appreciate the information. The film is actually launching the festival and for that I am sure Blu-Ray is the best. However it is also getting played in a series of cinemas and that is where I have to adhere to the specs as provided in my first post.

Many thanks
Dan