Topic: Frequently Asked Questions

OpenDCP FAQ Version 1.1

What is OpenDCP?
OpenDCP is a tool to create digital cinema packages for use in today's digital cinemas.

What systems does OpenDCP run on?
The GUI/CLI versions are currently available for Macintosh OSX 10.6+, Windows 32, and many versions of Linux.

Where is the GUI source?
The source code is located on Google Projects

What type of source content is required?
OpenDCP currently takes content from the Digital Cinema Distribution Master (DCDM) space, which is:

  • 8/12/16-bit RGB Tiff Images (technically only 16-bit is DCDM, but OpenDCP accepts more)

  • 24-bit PCM 48khz or 96khz wav files (each channel is a separate mono wav file)

What does OpenDCP output?
OpenDCP will convert the Tiff image sequence to Jpeg2000 images and convert them to the XYZ colorspace. It will create the necessary MXF files and XML files for the DCP.

Is MPEG2 supported?
OpenDCP will create MPEG2 DCPs, but this is no longer a DCI compliant format and should be avoided in most cases.

Does OpenDCP create MXF Interop or SMPTE packages?
It will create both types.

Does OpenDCP support Stereoscopic (3D)?
Yes, you can create stereoscopic DCPs.

What frame rates are supported?
The major frame rates - 24, 25, 30, 48, 50, 60 in 2D and 24, 48 in 3D are supported. Not all servers support all frame rates, especially with MXF Interop packages. So, the safest choice is to stick with 24fps.

Does OpenDCP support KDMs?
No, OpenDCP does not support KDMs.

Does OpenDCP support DPX or XXX files types?
OpenDCP supports, TIFF, DPX, BMP, and JPEG2000 images

Why can't OpenDCP just take a video file, like mp4 or Apple ProRes?
There are a couple reasons. OpenDCP was originally developed to solve missing pieces in the digital cinema workflow, creating a DCP, which includes DCI compliant JPEG2000 encoding, XYZ color space conversion, MXF wrapping, and XML generation. Many videos are natively 23.97 or 29.97 fps and converting those to 24fps or 30fps requires a little more involvement by the user to ensure audio is properly synced. That is something you want to make sure is right from the start, not after spending hours encoding only to find out it didn't come out right. There are already dozens of ways to readily export a video to a TIFF image sequence. Additionally, there may be licensing issues with mp4 and other codecs. This may be added in the future, but it is not a priority at the moment.

Why are the colors are all weird after the  XYZ conversion?
The colors are in the XYZ colorspace, which can't be viewed on a standard RGB monitor as it will not know how to decode the image.

What servers does OpenDCP work with?
OpenDCP has been tested against the Sony, DoRemi, GDC, and Dolby servers.

Is OpenDCP really free?
OpenDCP is open source and currently free.

Wait, does that mean you are going to charge for it eventually?
An advanced or professional version may be released for a fee to cover the costs of licensing commercial components. This would be for something like faster Jpeg2000 encoding.

Re: Frequently Asked Questions

Hi, I just successfully downloaded OpenDCP on a 64-bit Mac running Mavericks but when I tried to open it after putting it into my Apps folder I got an error message saying that my Google Chrome browser prohibited me from using it
because it was only authorized to open apps purchased at the Apple App Store
Please advise, thank you kindly

Re: Frequently Asked Questions

The OpenDCP application is not a signed application, so OSX will not open it by default.

You can follow the directions below to open the application:

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14369