Notes for Theaters.

Your clients asking to send files electronically but you know the headache dealing with downloads?   Handling the various ‘links’, and or web delivery tools just does not work at the theater, too many interruptions, too tedious of a process.   Such methods were not designed for DCPs.   However, one of them works well (if you know how), and that is Dropbox, specially if you use AutoDCP app which will validate any delivered DCP’s BEFORE you load it on your TMS or showplayer.

Setting up things is pretty easy, here’s how:

• Install Dropbox client as described here on a PC
• activate AutoDCP app against the above Dropbox
• Find a spare HDD, reconfigure Dropbox as described here to sync directly to this spare HDD.

And that is about it, ie your account is now ready to receive DCPs from theaters or filmmakers.   The next steps depend on how you want to work with the filmmakers or festival itself.   The steps assumes you just want to either allow a few folks to deliver DCPs to you, or frankly all of them associated with the festival.

Setting up a festival (or theater) to deliver to

• Create a ‘festival’ within AutoDCP and share the ‘boilerplate/link’ instructions with your festival.  Your festival will then paste this into the welcome letter they send out using Filmfreeway tools to their filmmakers.  Or you can share the ‘bare’ link by coping it and giving it to your filmmaker directly, for instance if they are not part of a festival.
• DCPS will start showing up on your HDD ready for ingest into a showplayer or TMS.  You can view the ‘projection report’ to get DCP specific details necessary for projection.

Installing Dropbox can be done on just about any PC which has a network connection to the internet.

AutoDCP Overview

AutoDCP is a collection of tools, available for anyone to use, for making and delivering DCPs.  Additional features of AutoDCP include: automated QC of DCPs, tools to help manage filmmakers who are participating in a festival, and reporting meant for the projectionist or theater operations.

Advantages of AutoDCP

• Filmmakers use AutoDCP to make or deliver DCPs using its services.   The theater is not bogged down in this process.
• It’s cloud based, easily handles one DCP or a thousand DCPs, aka filmmakers all making and delivering their own DCPs to the festival or theater simultaneously.
• DCP’s are QC prior to delivery, no more broken DCPs in the projection booth.
• Inexpensive, and fast for the filmmaker.  Free to receive DCPs by the theater and free to use our festival management tools.