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From The MailBag Episode 74
Problems Copying A DCP With A Refresher On Good Troubleshooting Techniques
If you work in postproduction long enough, youโre likely to encounter frustrating problems โ sometimes daily or even hourly!
Sometimes itโs a render, sometimes your computer just refuses to cooperate, or sometimes itโs a feature thatโs supposed to work one way and in reality works another.
Recently, I encountered two related and frustrating issues while trying to output a DCP for a client. While I eventually overcame both problems with the help of Mixing Light contributor and good pal Joey DโAnna, I was reminded of how important methodical troubleshooting is in our industry.
In this installment of From The Mailbag, Joey joins us once again while Dan is still sequestered on a big HDR project.
The DCP Problem
Like many of you, I work on a lot of feature-length documentaries. The thing about docs is they often lead multiple lives โ theyโre sold to broadcasters, appear on the web, and in festivals.
What Iโm getting at is these projects can often be 29.97, 25, or even 59.94fps and not the standard โfilmโ frame rate of 24 fps or its cousin 23.976.
As weโve discussed in a previous Insight, Interop DCPs are always 24 fps, and Interop is the most universal DCP format. SMPTE DCPs, along with the ability to have additional features like Dolby Atmos, also support other frame rates like 25, 30, 48 etc.
The project I was working on was 29.97. Because of this, I knew that Iโd have to make an SMPTE formated DCP, but hereโs the thing โ there are no fractional frame rates for an SMPTE DCP. For things to work, it has to be true 30 not 29.97 for example.
DaVinci Resolve Studio both with the built-in Kakadu encoder and with Easy DCP (paid plugin) properly handle the necessary โpull-upโ from 23.98 > 24 for Interop and SMPTE DCPs, but as I found out, the Kakadu encoder does not handle this pull-up properly for 29.97 > 30 (this seems to still be true in the shipping version of 16, Iโve not yet tried 16.1 Beta).
In the episode, we talk about how I overcame this, but I ran into another problem after successfully authoring the DCP!
Because Iโm in the middle of a facility move, the Linux system that I usually use to format DCPs was not available, I follow the incredible write up that Joey contributed to this Insight.
In place of using a Linux computer, I decided to use DCP transfer that I recently wrote about โ which as youโll hear, came with its own problems!
Troubleshooting 101
In the process of trying to solve the problems I was having with the DCP, I was reminded by Joey about the importance of methodical troubleshooting. Joeyโs engineering background lends itself to this approach vs. my approach of โblow it upโ! And to be honest โ it was refreshing and insightful to see how Joeyโs mind worked to fix the problem(s).
While the blow it up approach might fix some problems, youโll often be left without answers as to what the problem actually was.
In the second half of the episode, we discuss the importance of troubleshooting through problem identification and elimination. Even if you consider yourself an excellent problem solver, this discussion is a great reminder on how to properly troubleshoot any issue.
Have A Question For Team Mixing Light?
Remember, if you have questions that youโd like to get an opinion on please use the contact form
Your questions can be aesthetic, technical or even client related. Weโd love to hear from you, and your question might make future episodes of From The MailBag.
Enjoy the MailBag!
-Robbie
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