SUBMISSIONS GUIDELINES
These guidelines are intended to make submitting your materials easier, especially if this is your first DCP order. For most projects, you do not need to build a special theatrical export from scratch. Send us your best final master and any related audio or caption files, and we will guide you from there.
TL;DR
For most submissions, here are the most important points to remember:
- Send your highest-quality final picture master, preferably ProRes or DNxHR in it’s native aspect ratio
- Include your final theatrical audio mix, either properly embedded in the master file or as separate 24-bit / 48 kHz WAV files.
- Include subtitle or caption files if needed, preferably SRT, VTT, SCC, or your existing subtitle/caption export.
- Tell us your frame rate, aspect ratio, and color space if you know them. We can accept common source frame rates like 23.976 fps or 29.97 fps and conform them during mastering when needed.
- Please review your exports before submitting. If you are unsure about any aspect of the process, please contact us with your question.
What to Send Us
Most standard orders should include
- One final picture master
- Final audio, either embedded or separate
- Subtitle or caption files, if applicable
- Any notes about versioning, aspect ratio changes, or accessibility needs
- Confirmation of your intended use, such as festival screening, theatrical screening, or accessibility delivery
Please tell us if any of these apply
- Your aspect ratio changes during playback
- Your project is anamorphic
- You need closed captions on auxiliary devices
- You need HI, VI, or sign-language support
- Your project is already broken into reels
IMPORTANT
Please review your source materials before sending them. Spelling issues in subtitles, wrong audio mixes, wrong versioning, color mistakes, or low-quality exports can delay your order and may require additional work. If you are unsure whether a file is appropriate, contact us before delivery.
In many cases, your native finishing master is the best source file. Unless you have been specifically instructed otherwise, do not resize your film into a Flat or Scope DCP container on your own, do not attempt to convert your own color space for theatrical playback, and do not create reel breaks just because you think you are supposed to. Those decisions are often best handled at the DCP authoring stage.
Best Practices
- Send your final ProRes or DNxHR master at its native resolution
- Send final PCM audio or separate WAVs
- Send the caption or subtitle file you already have
- Tell us the color space your project was graded in, if known
- Ask us if you are unsure
- Review your exports!
Please Avoid
- Low-bitrate web exports for source video
- Consumer surround encodes such as AAC or AC-3 as your source audio
- Guessing at color space or gamma
- Reframing or resizing the picture to fit DCP containers without confirming first
- Mixes that are too loud with peaking audio
- Incorrect audio mix downs in your exports
BEST FORMATS
Quicktime/MXF
- ProRes 4444 XQ
- ProRes 4444
- ProRes 422 HQ
- DNxHR 444
- DNxHR HQX
- DNxHR HQ
- DNxHR SQ
Image Sequences
DPX (3-channel interleaved RGB; 10-bpc)
TIFF (3-channel interleaved RGB; 16-bpc)
JPEG2000 (12-bpc unsigned)
OTHER FORMATS
- ProRes 422
- DNxHD
- XDCAM-EX
- H.264
- H.265 / HEVC
If delivering H.264 or H.265, use a high-quality export. As a general baseline, we recommend at least 20 Mbps for HD and 40 Mbps for UHD.
Send your finished master as a QuickTime, MXF, or MP4 only if it represents your highest-quality deliverable. For most standard jobs, a high-quality ProRes or DNxHR export is the safest choice.
FRAME RATES
Submitting a 23.976 fps or 29.97 fps source master is okay. These are acceptable source delivery frame rates for submission.
When needed for theatrical delivery, Simple DCP can conform qualifying source materials to the appropriate non-drop-frame cinema mastering rateduring the DCP creation process. In most cases, you do not need to create a new export solely to change a 23.976 fps or 29.97 fps source before submitting.
For maximum compatibility, final theatrical mastering is generally performed at 24 fps unless your delivery requirements clearly call for another supported non-drop-frame format.
| Format | DCI – Universal Compatibility | SMPTE – Modern/Specialty Formats |
|---|---|---|
| 2K | 24 | 24, 25, 30 |
| 4K | 24 | 24, 25, 30 |
| HFR (2K) | 48 | 48, 50, 60 |
| 3D | 24 | 24 |
Compatibility note: Accepted submission frame rates are not always the same as final theatrical playback frame rates. SMPTE Bv2.1 compliance requires 24 or 25 fps playback. Frame rates higher than 25 fps are not supported on many systems, so please confirm with your theater before ordering nonstandard playback formats.
COLOR
All DCPs are ultimately conformed for theatrical playback. To do that accurately, we need to understand how your source was graded. If you know your color space and gamma, please include it with your submission.
- sRGB
- Rec.709 gamma 2.2
- Rec.709 gamma 2.35
- Rec.709 gamma 2.4
- P3 DCI
- P3 D65
If you are unsure of your color grade, tell us what software or facility created the master and we can usually help determine the likely color characteristics. If no color information is supplied, source materials may be assumed to be Rec.709 gamma 2.2.
All source materials should be delivered in an RGB target color gamut.
Only source materials color timed to P3 DCI color space will be accepted in XYZ’ target color gamut
RESOLUTIONS
DCPs are not typically packaged in the 1.78:1 shape used for television and web delivery. In digital cinema, content is usually mastered into Flat (1.85:1) or Scope (2.39:1) containers. Whenever possible, source material should be delivered in its native aspect ratio.
You do not need to manually force your film into a DCP container unless your workflow specifically calls for it. If your source does not match a standard Flat or Scope container, it may be letterboxed, pillarboxed, or resized during authoring as appropriate.
| Container | 2K | 4K |
|---|---|---|
| FLAT (1.85:1) | 1998 x 1080 | 3996 x 2160 |
| SCOPE (2.39:1) | 2048 x 858 | 4096 x 1716 |
Please tell us if your aspect ratio changes during playback, or if you are delivering anamorphic content. DCI does not support anamorphic projection, so pixel aspect ratio and presentation intent must be confirmed when placing your order.
AUDIO
Preferred audio delivery
- 24-bit / 48 kHz PCM audio
(Separate WAV files, if available) - PCM audio embedded in MOV, MXF
- Reference level: -20 dBFS
- Output level: 85 dBc
Please avoid
- AAC source audio
- AC-3 source audio
- Other Compressed consumer audio formats
- Ambiguous or incorrectly labeled multichannel files
Standard Audio Channels Configurations
| Channel | 1.0 MONO | 2.0 STEREO | 5.1 | 7.1 | 5.1 ATMOS* | 7.1 ATMOS* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | - | L | L | L | L | L |
| 2 | - | R | R | R | R | R |
| 3 | C | - | C | C | C | C |
| 4 | - | - | LFE | LFE | LFE | LFE |
| 5 | - | - | Ls | Lss | Ls | Lss |
| 6 | - | - | Rs | Rss | Rs | Rss |
| 7 | HI | HI | HI | HI | HI | HI |
| 8 | VI | VI | VI | VI | VI | VI |
| 9 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 11 | - | - | - | Lrs | - | Lrs |
| 12 | - | - | - | Rrs | - | Rrs |
| 13 | - | - | DBOX | DBOX | DBOX | DBOX |
| 14 | - | - | - | - | SYNC | SYNC |
| 15 | SLV | SLV | SLV | SLV | SLV | SLV |
| 16 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
HI = Hearing Impaired Audio
VI = Visual Impaired Audio Description
SLV = Sign Language Video
*Dolby Atmos mix must be accompanied by auxiliary MXF track
See: https://files.isdcf.com/papers/ISDCF-Doc4-Audio-channel-recommendations.pdf
REEL FORMATTING
- It is recommended practice that all films exceeding 23 minutes in length be broken into reels. While it is possible to create a long play DCP, this will prove a limiting factor when working with your DCP in the future and may result in added time and expense.
- If delivering in reels, each track must be broken into matching reels with the same formatting specifications and run time. For example, video elements delivered in reels may not be delivered with an audio print master delivered as a long play
- Each reel should be provided with 8 seconds of Academy head and tail leader with accompanying head and tail pops matching audio.
- It is highly recommended that the first and last frame of your composition should be a black frame in order to ensure proper transition between playlist items and to accomodate queuing up of content that is parked on pause during theatrical exhibition
TIMED TEXT
Our focus at Simple DCP is in ensuring your timed text tracks meet the technical specifications necessary to play properly in commercial cinemas. It is the submitters responsibility to evaluate timed text tracks for spelling, formatting, and any other aesthetic considerations prior to submission. Please ensure that your timed text tracks are accurate and meet your standards prior to submission.
Simple DCP can implement subtitles and captions for both on-screen playback and auxiliary devices with support for both XML and PNG subtitling. Supply your subtitles in any of the following formats:
- Captionmaker (cap)
- DLP CineCanvas (xml)
- DVD Studio Pro / Spruce STL (stl, doc, rtf, txt)
- iTunes Timed Text (itt)
- Subrip (srt)
- SCC Closed Caption (scc, mov, m4v)
- WebVTT (vtt)
All timed text elements must be at least 15 frames in duration and spaced at least 2 frames between each instance. Any given composition’s first timed text element must occur no less than 4 seconds from start of picture.
Open Subtitles/Captions
Open Subtitles and captions are timed text tracks that are intended to be played on screen in real time for all viewers. Please evaluate your subtitles closely to ensure that your text will display clearly and legibly during each timed text instance and that it will not interfere with any burned-in text elements such as lower thirds, location cards, subtitles, etc.
- It is recommended that open subtitles/captions not exceed 52 characters per line, but must not exceed 79 characters per line.
- Each open subtitle/caption instance should have a maximum of three lines
Closed Captions/Subtitles
Closed Captions/Subtitles are timed text tracks that are intended to be played on auxiliary devices that do not interfere with the primary viewing experience. Closed captions/subtitles are subject to a number of technical restrictions that mandate several considerations for the packaging of your DCP. Failure to meet these prerequisites may result in additional processing time and fees for your order
- Closed Captions/Subtitle XML files must not exceed 256KB in size. This corresponds to an average run time of around 20-25 minutes. Films longer than 23 minutes in length should, accordingly, be broken into reels with no reel exceeding 23 minutes in length prior to submission.
- It is recommended that closed captions/subtitles not exceed 30 characters per line, but must not exceed 32 characters per line.
- Each closed caption/subtitle instance should have a maximum of three lines
Accessibility
HI – Hearing Impaired tracks
A hearing impaired audio track is a mono mix down of the film intended to assist viewers who have difficulty hearing dialogue and other sound elements in a movie theater.
The recommended method for providing such a track is to mix down the L/R/C channels of audio using the following formula:
- Center Channel @ 0dB
- Left Channel @ -6dB
- Right Channel @ -6dB
- Peak Limiter @ -14dBFS
- Compressor @ 2.5:1
VI – Visually Impaired Descriptive Audio track
A visually impaired descriptive audio track is a mono narration track that describes the most pertinent details of what is taking place on screen to assist viewers who have difficulty seeing. These tracks can be recorded by professional narrators or procedurally built using a transcription service with text to speech technology.
VI tracks do not contain a full mixown of the film soundtrack. This is a narration only track.
SLV – Sign Language Video
- Source Requirements:
- Frame rate: 24 fps
- Resolution: 480×640
- Color: Y’UV