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A
ABBloch
Known Participant
April 11, 2018
Question

DCP File Size

  • April 11, 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 5841 views

I just outputted an 87-minute DCP from Premiere, and the total file size came out to only 19GB.  That seems awfully small to me.  Calculators suggest it should be between 5 and 10 times that size (and Premiere's estimate, for whatever that's worth, was over a terabyte).

It does seem to play OK, from what I can tell, but my DCP playback capability is limited.  (I haven't invested in a proper player, since I only output DCP's once in a blue moon, as a courtesy, upon client request.)  Digitall DCPplayer screws up the colors (you get what you pay for with a $50 player), but plays it all the way through without any other errors.  The free version of NeoDCP shows correct colors, but by design, it blurs picture and mutes audio after the first minute.   Between these two players, signs are that it does work, although I can't verify with full accuracy.  The small file size just has me a little spooked.

Export settings were:
1980x1080

24P

250 Mbps
48 KHz 5.1 sound

Anyone have any insight to offer?  Thanks.

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    2 replies

    Kevin-Monahan
    Community Manager
    Kevin-MonahanCommunity Manager
    Community Manager
    May 16, 2018

    Hi ABBloch,

    Still having this issue? Let us know.

    Thanks,
    Kevin

    Kevin Monahan - Sr. Community and Engagement Strategist – Adobe Pro Video and Audio
    A
    ABBlochAuthor
    Known Participant
    May 16, 2018

    I'm not quite sure how to answer your question, Kevin.  The mystery of why the file came out so small was never solved, so in that sense, yes, the issue persists.  However, I haven't had any need to create any more DCP's since then, so I'm not technically "still having" the issue.

      Kevin-Monahan
      Community Manager
      Kevin-MonahanCommunity Manager
      Community Manager
      May 17, 2018

      OK ABBloch, thanks for the feedback. I trust that your screening went OK and the quality was acceptable.

      Take Care,

      Kevin

      Kevin Monahan - Sr. Community and Engagement Strategist – Adobe Pro Video and Audio
      S
      SAFEHARBOR11
      Participating Frequently
      April 11, 2018

      File size looks like result of using 25mbps, rather than 250mbps - like you said, should be 10x larger. DV footage is 25mbps and runs about 13GB per hour, so the 19GB size makes sense. Definitely recheck that data rate and encode again with proper setting.

      Thanks

      Jeff

      A
      ABBlochAuthor
      Known Participant
      April 12, 2018

      Your math makes sense, but unless I'm missing something, Premiere's stock Wraptor DCP exporter doesn't allow you to change the bitrate at all.  It's permanently affixed at 250.  You also can't change pixel dimensions, so it's not like the frame size might have been too low.  There's just nothing obvious here that would make it come out so small.


      What's more, the director, who I handed it off to this afternoon, did a test screening at the theater tonight, and he tells me everything looked and sounded fine.  That's good news, but it doesn't make me any less curious about why it's so tiny.

      I'm about to encode another one, just to make sure I'm not crazy.

      E
      excited_Genie16B8
      Legend
      April 12, 2018

      Is that a fixed 250 Mb/s, or a Max?

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