Exporting a DCP in Resolve 17/18 Studio using the Easydcp Plugin

With the Easydcp Plugin for Resolve (€949), you can export DCPs from Davinci Resolve and Davinci Resolve Studio. Only Resolve Studio support DCI 4K timelines (4K DCI Flat 3996 x 2160, 4K DCI Scope 4096 x 1716.)

You can also export DCPs using the built-in Kakadu JPEG2000/DCP encoder in Resolve 17/18 studio (€255). The Easydcp plugin supports encrypted DCPs. The Kakadu encoder does not, but it supports supplemental packages. See this post for more info on the Kakadu encoder.

Example:

How to make a 2K Flat SMPTE 25 FPS DCP from a 25 FPS Rec.709 2.4 gamma 1998×1080 Quicktime/MXF Prores 422 HQ with an interleaved 5.1 wav file.

Change the project setting to a Flat or Scope DCI resolution

Start a new project and choose the DCI resolution in Timeline Format in project settings that best matches the resolution and aspect ratio of the film:
2K DCI Flat 1.85 1998 x 1080
2K DCI Scope 2.39 2048 x 858
4K DCI Flat 1.85 3996 x 2160
4K DCI Scope 2.39 4096 x 1716

Example 2K DCI Flat 1998 x 1080

DCP Frame rates

Most DCPs are 24 or 25 FPS. It is best to make the DCP in the original frame rate.
Choose the same project frame rate as the video file:
25 FPS

More info on avoiding frame rate conversions in Resolve in this post

DCP 5.1 Sound

Change Audio Track Type to – 5.1

A 24 bit, 48 kHz. 5.1 mix interleaved wav file can be added to the 5.1 audio track

Correct channel order for 5.1 tracks: Left, Right, Center, LFE, LS, RS

The source can also be MXF or Quicktime file with 5.1 sound. If Resolve does not interpret it automatically, you can right-click on the file in the media pool and choose:
-“Clip attributes”
-“Audio”
and then select 1 5.1 track

Note:
The 5.1 sound can also be 6 mono audio files, but then you have to link it as 5.1 in Fairlight. See this post for more info.

Note:
If the film has a stereo soundtrack, it is often upconverted to 5.1. See this post for more info.

Note:
To make a 7.1 DCP you would make a supplemental package that adds 7.1 sound with 12 channels with Left Rear surround on channel 11 and Right Rear surround on channel 12. More info on making a 7.1 VF in Easydcp Creator plus in this post.

Resolve DCP Color Management

REC 709 2.4 gamma to DCI X´Y´Z´

In “Project Setting – Color management – Color Space and Transforms – Timeline color space,” choose “Color science”: “DaVinci YRGB” and the color space and gamma of the film.: “Rec.709 Gamma 2.4”

Output color space can be left as “Same as timeline”, it is not in use when making DCPs.

When you choose Rec 709 Gamma 2.4 as the Timeline color space, the film will be converted from Rec 709 Gamma 2.4 to DCI X’Y’Z’ when the DCP is made. It will look strange on a standard monitor when rendering, but when you drop the DCP back in the Rec 709 2.4 project, it will have a DCI X’Y’Z’ to Rec 709 2.4 transform applied and look normal.

Note: If the film is already in DCI X’Y’Z’, or you are using a 3D LUT or an effect to do the conversion, choose DCI X’Y’Z’ as the timeline color space to not use an automatic color transform. See this post for more info on the different methods to do the color transforms.

Export DCP settings

Choose “Format” “DCP”.
“Codec” “EasyDCP”
“Type” is the same as the project.
2K DCI Flat.
Resolution and Frame rate are the same as the project.


More info:
24 FPS Interop is the old DCP standard. To make a 25 FPS DCP, you have to untick “use interop” to use the newer SMPTE standard.
The “Maximum bit rate” is 250 Mbit. Lower it if you want to have a smaller file size.

Note:
The EasyDCP JPEG 2000 encoder makes smaller DCPs than the Kakadu Plugin at the same Maximum bit rate.

Audio

Choose Output Track: Timeline track. Track number 1. 5.1

Compositon settings

Use an ISDCF name like this.

Test_SHR_F_EN-XX_INT-TL_51_2K_NULL_20210508_NUL_SMPTE_OV


Match Content kind with the Composition name. Example SHR -Short.

More info:
INT-TD (International-texted) and INT-TL (International-textless) are often used instead of rating.

Note:
If S is the container and the film is letterboxed on purpose and has 2.66:1 aspect ratio you can write S-266.

Note:
You can also use the Easydcp composition name generator to make the Composition name:

Subtitles

Note: Adding subtitles does not currently work in Resolve 18

You can burn in the subtitles as I show in this post. The Easydcp plugin also supports soft interop and SMPTE XML subtitles.

To add an SMPTE 2010 XML subtitle to an SMPTE DCP, you need a folder with the XML file and font.

Example SMPTE XML 2010 file 25 FPS test.xml converted from SRT in Subtitle edit. More info on converting SRT to XML subtitles in this post.

In a folder with a TTF font renamed to the LoadFont UUID: 03048fd9-d51c-4050-bfbe-933320810bdd.ttf

Size for Flat is usually 36-42.
Size for Scope is usually 38-42
Fonts used are usually Arial.ttf, Microsoft sans serif. Some use Helvetica neue.
Color is usually white FFFFFFFF. Some use a warmer white to match the white point used in the movie.
Position from bottom (Vposition) is usually 7 or 8. If it is too low, it can be cropped.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<SubtitleReel xmlns="http://www.smpte-ra.org/schemas/428-7/2010/DCST" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <Id>urn:uuid:5ef7c9c6-bfa8-4430-aa93-1810c82bf24d</Id>
  <ContentTitleText>test</ContentTitleText>
  <AnnotationText>This is a subtitle file</AnnotationText>
  <IssueDate>2021-10-17T09:25:42.000-00:00</IssueDate>
  <ReelNumber>1</ReelNumber>
  <Language>en</Language>
  <EditRate>24 1</EditRate>
  <TimeCodeRate>24</TimeCodeRate>
  <StartTime>00:00:00:00</StartTime>
  <LoadFont ID="Arial">urn:uuid:03048fd9-d51c-4050-bfbe-933320810bdd</LoadFont>
  <SubtitleList>
    <Font ID="Arial" Size="42" Weight="normal" Color="FFFFFFFF" Effect="border" EffectColor="FF000000">
      <Subtitle SpotNumber="1" FadeUpTime="00:00:00:00" FadeDownTime="00:00:00:00" TimeIn="00:00:01:00" TimeOut="00:00:03:00">
        <Text Vposition="14" Valign="bottom" Halign="center" Direction="ltr">test</Text>
        <Text Vposition="8" Valign="bottom" Halign="center" Direction="ltr">test</Text>
      </Subtitle>
    </Font>
  </SubtitleList>
</SubtitleReel>

To add them to the DCP go to “Subtitle Settings”
Do not tick “Export Subtitle”
Use “browse” under “Subtitles Path” and add the XML file.

Test the DCP in Resolve

-Drop the DCP in a Rec 709 2.4 gamma project and see if it looks normal and sounds normal. If you drop it in on top of the original, you can see if the sound and video match the original.
(Always use the same timeline color space. If the timeline color space is Rec.709 Scene, the DCP will look dark)
-If the DCP has soft subtitles, Resolve will not show them. To check DCPs with soft subtitles use Easydcp Player or DCP-o-matic player
-If the DCP was originally in P3 D65, you could set the timeline color space to P3 D65 on newer macs. See this post for more info.
-If the DCP is greenish and was made with a chromatic adaption to DCI White, you can use a chromatic adaption effect from DCI White to D65 to make it look normal. See this post for more info.
-If you export the DCP and want to avoid gamma shift in QuickTime Player, you can choose Rec.709-A as the gamma tag when exporting. See this post for more info.

Deliver the DCP

• Most film festivals and cinemas accept a download link made with Aspera or Filemail and similar services. Read more in this post.
• A MBR NTFS or ext2/3 hard drive can also be used to deliver the DCP . Read more in this post.