Please deliver the highest quality master you have. Depending on how your project was mastered, this is probably a DPX image sequence or uncompressed or ProRes QuickTime movie, and should be at least 1920×1080, letterboxed as appropriate to your film’s aspect ratio. ProRes 4444 QuickTime is the most common format we receive. There is no visible benefit to delivering a DPX or TIFF image sequence vs. ProRes 4444, so we recommend ProRes, as smaller file sizes make ProRes easier to work with. We can create a DCP from nearly any format, but lower quality formats such as H.264 may not yield image quality suitable for large-screen projection.
If you’re mastering specifically for DCP and have 2K or better footage and the flexibility to output your master at any resolution, you may want to deliver your master at the same pixel dimensions the final DCP will have. These are the exact resolutions to use for standard cinema aspect ratios:
Format Aspect Ratio Pixel Dimensions
2K Flat 1.85 | 1998×1080 |
2K Scope 2.39 | 2048×858 |
4K Flat 1.85 | 3996×2160 |
4K Scope 2.39 | 4096×1716 |
If your master isn’t in one of the above formats, don’t worry. You don’t need to upscale, letterbox, or otherwise convert it. We can handle any required format conversion as part of the DCP creation process. Except in unusual cases, there are no additional fees for such conversion, and for common conversions (e.g. from 1920×1080 to 1998×1080 for a 2K 1.85 DCP) there is no noticeable quality loss.