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Festival TechOps Training #1

Covered Items
Filmmakers will need the following to work with AutoDCP
  1. Dropbox Account
    • Enough free space in their Dropbox account to accomodate their final DCP as well as their source
    • The free version of Dropbox is not big enough
    • Dropbox Professional is $20/month and includes a 30 day free trial
  2. Dropbox Desktop App installed and an ability to work with the Desktop app (filmakers are strongly discouraged from working with Dropbox through an internet browser)
  3. Ability to work with Paypal (paypal acount is not required, payment can be made via paypal or credit card)
  4. Ability to work with email, all notices are sent via email
  5. Filmmakers are expected to use AutoDCP themselves, ie they do the uploads and create DCP’s with AutoDCP tools.  If they wish to hire others to do this for them, AutoDCP can refer them to 3rd party professionals with experience doing so.  Please contact us for a referral.
What if a Filmmaker can’t use Dropbox?
  • We can refer a filmmaker to 3rd parties which can do this for them.   Such 3rd parties offer “white glove services”, at vary costs depending on the extra level of support a filmmaker may need.
  • The filmmaker and festival can make other arrangement for the filmaker.  AutoDCP is not able to help with other methods such as ftp, fedex, aspera etc.
  • We do offer direct connection methods for the following studios:  WB, Universal, Fox, Lionsgate, Paramount, Disney, Netflix, and Sony.  If you are studio feel free to contact us about direct connect options.
Content requiring KDM’s, content from a major post house (eg Deluxe), or content being handled by a distributor
  • Content already in distribution should NOT use AutoDCP.  AutoDCP is best suited for indie content coming directly from a creator.  Content in distribution should use traditional delivery methods, booking, trafficking, delivery, etc.
  • Content requiring KDM’s (encrypted content), can not be handled by AutoDCP.  All logistics  related to KDM’s must be handle directly by the festival and the filmmaker.
  • Last minute reels should be handled by traditional HDD/CRU hand delivery to the projection room.
Activating AutoDCP (Notifying Filmmakers & Instructions)

Example of activating AutoDCP from a filmmaker welcome letter.

Festival runner monritoring tools of signups and deliveries.

Making a DCP

Example of making a DCP with AutoDCP.

Upload an existing DCP

Example of uploading an existing DCP to AutoDCP for subsequent e-delivery to a participating festival.  If the folder ‘dcps’ does not exist within apps/AutoDCP, simply create it before uploading your DCP folder.   For instance, this folder must exist prior to uploading your DCP folder apps/AutoDCP/dcps

Delivering a DCP

Example of e-delivering a DCP to a particpating festival.

Keeping track of the filmmakers, who’ve sent what and who’s needing attention.

Prepping the show drive for the theater.

The theater simply needs the festival DCP’s all gathered up and sent to them on a HDD they can deal with.  Instead of shipping many drives to the theater, AutoDCP make it possible to  ship all the DCP’s consolidated onto a single drive (or a small collection of drives vrs a myriad of unorganized media).

AutoDCP validates and organizes all the filmmakers deliverables within the festivals dropbox account in the folder Apps/AutoDCP/delivereables automatically..  Each filmmaker’s DCP will be placed under Apps/AutoDCP/deliverables/festivalname in its own folder named “filmmaker@emailaddress/dcpname”

Simply copy the edelivered DCP’s from the deliverables folder on to an external HDD, and give that to the theater.

One catch.   That HDD needs to be formatted in a way a theater can read it.   It needs to be formatted as NTFS or EXT2.  It can’t be formatted for a Mac, or exFat.   Theaters can’t read those harddrive formats.

To be pedantic, most theaters actually want the HDD which is housed inside a special container called a CRU.   But today, many theaters can accomodate new USB3 type drives.  Check to confirm with your theater that they are okay with a newer USB3 drive formatted either as NTFS or EXT2.  If not here are the official digital theater requirements supported by all theaters worldwide.

The official delivery method is via a HDD contained within a CRU carrier.   The HDD must follow a couple rules

  1. HDD must be formatted ext2 (or NTFS).   exFAT, HFS, etc are NOT allowed, nor do they seldom work
  2. The HDD can not exceed 2TB in size
  3. A HDD can contain multiple DCP folders, but file names within the folders must NOT be modified in any manner.

If the festival would like to hire AutoDCP to create the show drive for them, we are happy to do so.  There is fee for this service, please contact us for details.

Working from a Mac,?  You will  definitely want the Paragon drivers.

Pictured below is what a CRU carrier looks like as well as links to NTFS/EXT2 software for a mac which you are welcome to use if your mac can’t already read/write NTFS/EXT2 harddrives.

Power user note:   Dropbox’s “selective sync” feature lets receive DCP’s directly to your externally connected HDD/CRU!   No more having to copy files last minute.  DCP’s just appear on the show drive as filmmakers edeliver them to you.

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