The DCP — make one yourself, free
The file format most cinema projection systems play, and how to build one without paying $500–900 for it.
The money-saving moment
Before you accept a booking. Every venue profile on Indie Greenlight states whether a DCP is required — many venues play a plain video file or Blu-ray, so your earliest shows may not need one at all. Prove the audience exists before any DCP money is spent.
What it is
A DCP (Digital Cinema Package) is the standard delivery format for digital cinema servers — the same format studio releases arrive in. It's not one file but a folder of them: your picture as JPEG 2000 frames, audio as uncompressed WAV, and XML files that tell the server how to play it all.
Some theaters require one; others happily play a video file over HDMI or a Blu-ray. Neither kind of venue is better — but you need to know which kind you're booking.
What it should cost
Commercial DCP services charge $500–900 per feature. The actual conversion can be done with free, professional-grade software and a modest amount of computer time. We've made DCPs for real theatrical screenings this way — it's the proof behind this guide.
The free do-it-yourself path
The tool is DCP-o-matic — free, open-source, cross-platform, and used by real cinemas and festivals worldwide. The basic recipe:
- Export a high-quality master from your editor: ProRes 422 HQ (or DNxHR HQX), full resolution, with your final mixed stereo or 5.1 audio.
- Frame rate matters: 24fps is the native language of cinema servers. 23.976 gets converted — let DCP-o-matic handle it rather than your editor.
- In DCP-o-matic: new project → add your master → set the container to Flat (1998×1080) for 1.85-ish films or Scope (2048×858) for 2.39 — don't stretch, let it letterbox.
- Pick 'Feature' as the content type, name it with the standard naming convention the software offers, and export. Expect the encode to run a few hours on a normal computer.
- Play the finished DCP back in DCP-o-matic's player, watching start, middle, end, and every reel change. Check sync against a clap or hard cut.
- Deliver on a USB drive formatted for cinema servers (NTFS works broadly; some older servers want ext2 — ask the booth).
The safety net
Every Indie Greenlight showing includes a required test-play at the venue before show night. A technical problem gets caught days early with an empty room — never with an audience in the seats. That test-play is what makes the free path safe.
You own it forever
However your DCP gets made, it's your master, not anyone's leverage. Once it exists, every future DCP-requiring theater is already covered.
When you don't need it
If your booked venues play files or Blu-ray — check their profiles — you don't need a DCP yet, and shouldn't spend a dime on one.
Questions? hello@indiegreenlight.com