2K DCPs under 10 Minutes are $99*2K Features are $385 + drive or upload*
Most others are $5 per minute + drive or upload
No turnaround gotchas • No pricing gimmicks • No leasing nonsense
We professionally create, test and deploy DCPs in 3 days or lessWe add confidence with our ChekFile, so you can review your DCP online
For theatrical screenings, film festivals and distribution masters
No matter where you are, or where your DCP is going, we are here to helpWe are knowledgeable and easy to work with
Questions about DCP Creation?
Call us in Los Angeles: (323) 851-0299
Email us: dcp at tfpost dot com Tree Falls Post • Burbank CA
*DISCLAIMERS: Our $99 price is real! Festival 2K DCPs under 10 minutes are really $99+ tax
$385 feature 2k rate is real and covers up to 100 minutes for new customers. All add-on services are always optional.
A DCP Primer:
A DCP (Digital Cinema Package) is the standard theatrical screening format which is a set of specialty data files instead of film, videotape, Blu-ray or DVDs. This “package” of data files, includes files for the picture, and sound, as well as several control files. The entire folder of these files is collectively known as the DCP. These files are typically stored on a hard drive for feature length films (sometimes thumb/flash drives for shorts and trailers). For feature length films it is most common to use a hard drive that enclosed in a container that is referred to as a C.R.U. or (CRU) drive. It is named after the company that manufactures the containers.
You ship or hand-carry your DCP CRU drive to any screening venue that can handle DCP. In some cases venues can accept an upload, but the files are very large, so that may not be realistic -- even if the option is offered. In theory, the DCP can play right off this CRU drive, but in practice is most usually ingested off the CRU drive and into the theaters system called a cinema server. In some cases a flash drive is acceptable for short films.
DCPs have the potential to look and sound better than tape, Blu-ray, or DVD. Also with DCP, (as compared to Blu-ray) you will have the potential advantage of projecting your project in its intended aspect ratio, rather than having it scaled down and “fit” into the letterboxed dimensional confines of the Blu-ray format. If your film is in a cinematic/wide screen format, like 2.35:1, it will be letterboxed on the disk, not full frame. This is precious screen resolution lost to black bars. Especially when projected on a big screen. As great as a Blu-ray can seem to look on a home screen, it is actually a highly compressed format and doesn’t have anywhere near the quality potential of DCP. The quality potential for sound is also improved on a DCP.
As with any format, the quality is also dependent on the relative quality of your project. DCP files and formats are special and you will not be able to play a DCP on your own (unless you have special equipment and/or software).
DCP creation is a file conversion. It is not a creative step and does not involve making changes to your your picture or sound.
In most cases, there is a conversion of the color space you finished to get it to the “X-Y-Z” color space of a DCP, but as mystifying as that might seem, that’s not knobs and buttons pushed. It’s math algorithms handled as part of the DCP encoding process.
DCPs have other advantages in that they are a specialty format and usually on a specialty drive (the CRU drive). And that drive is formatted in a special drive format not recognized by most comptuers. So this makes stealing the content very difficult. In the event that content stealing is a concern, DCPs can take the matter one step further with the option of encryption. Once encrypted, the DCP will only play on projectors that it been authorized to play on with the use of an electronic key called a K.D.M. (Key Delivery Message). A KDM has to be created by matching a specific DCP with a specific projector or set of projectors.
Also, due to the industrial look and feel of a the special CRU drives, people tend to treat them with extra care when handling them and shipping them. Drive failures are therefore extremely rare.
If you are a serious filmmaker and you are screening your film, there are a lot of compelling advantages to choosing a DCP.
You ship or hand-carry your DCP CRU drive to any screening venue that can handle DCP. In some cases venues can accept an upload, but the files are very large, so that may not be realistic -- even if the option is offered. In theory, the DCP can play right off this CRU drive, but in practice is most usually ingested off the CRU drive and into the theaters system called a cinema server. In some cases a flash drive is acceptable for short films.
DCPs have the potential to look and sound better than tape, Blu-ray, or DVD. Also with DCP, (as compared to Blu-ray) you will have the potential advantage of projecting your project in its intended aspect ratio, rather than having it scaled down and “fit” into the letterboxed dimensional confines of the Blu-ray format. If your film is in a cinematic/wide screen format, like 2.35:1, it will be letterboxed on the disk, not full frame. This is precious screen resolution lost to black bars. Especially when projected on a big screen. As great as a Blu-ray can seem to look on a home screen, it is actually a highly compressed format and doesn’t have anywhere near the quality potential of DCP. The quality potential for sound is also improved on a DCP.
As with any format, the quality is also dependent on the relative quality of your project. DCP files and formats are special and you will not be able to play a DCP on your own (unless you have special equipment and/or software).
DCP creation is a file conversion. It is not a creative step and does not involve making changes to your your picture or sound.
In most cases, there is a conversion of the color space you finished to get it to the “X-Y-Z” color space of a DCP, but as mystifying as that might seem, that’s not knobs and buttons pushed. It’s math algorithms handled as part of the DCP encoding process.
DCPs have other advantages in that they are a specialty format and usually on a specialty drive (the CRU drive). And that drive is formatted in a special drive format not recognized by most comptuers. So this makes stealing the content very difficult. In the event that content stealing is a concern, DCPs can take the matter one step further with the option of encryption. Once encrypted, the DCP will only play on projectors that it been authorized to play on with the use of an electronic key called a K.D.M. (Key Delivery Message). A KDM has to be created by matching a specific DCP with a specific projector or set of projectors.
Also, due to the industrial look and feel of a the special CRU drives, people tend to treat them with extra care when handling them and shipping them. Drive failures are therefore extremely rare.
If you are a serious filmmaker and you are screening your film, there are a lot of compelling advantages to choosing a DCP.