Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: DCP format naming convention needs to be updated

This is topic DCP format naming convention needs to be updated in forum Digital Cinema Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 03-06-2013, 07:10 PM:

So when a new format (picture or sound) is either adopted or at least introduced on a major release...who is responsible for adding the identification to the DCP naming lexicon?

I see that OZ has the sound format "111_HI_VI" as one of its version files. I presume that "111" is Barco's Auro 11.1 (it is the only thing that would make sense). How about Dolby Atomos? What would that file have for the sound format?

And then there is the HFR stuff. Is it sufficient to just use the "48" designator? Because there are data rates involved too. Hobbit used a 450MBs but subsequent systems are aiming at 500MBs. Hopefully, the data rate will not matter in the long run...all systems will run what is available. But for now, all systems have geared up for 450MBs because they had to.

Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 03-07-2013, 10:17 AM:

I would suspect the "codes" are going to get even more convoluted in a short time with all the new technologies.
The problem being, the file names are getting long. Being that most OS's are Linux the filename limit is 255 characters for most FS types.

In reality, they should probably just name the files with the most basic of information and provide all the other details inside the CPL.

I'd rather have:
OZ_CCAP_OV-DOMSETIC.cpl.xml and such then have all the relevant data inside the file.
I personally feel that with only minor exceptions the rush by all the manufacturers to roll out their digital products, so as to be competitive, stunted the development of sensible interfaces and smart standards.
Of course now we're all deployed, several versions of DCI later, and backward-compatibility needs to be considered. I guess it would be impractical to change it now.

So I suppose we're stuck with it.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 03-07-2013, 10:31 AM:

I've never found a way to see the whole filename on my GDC server when ingesting from a hard drive. This creates a challenge when the only difference is 71 or 51 near the end of a long filename because it's past the end of the column length. Fortunately, 51 is before 71 alphabetically so I can figure it out from that, but still...

Posted by Geoff Power (Member # 6880) on 03-07-2013, 10:51 AM:

Agree with all the above. On DoReMi I can only briefly see the full filename when I hover over it. Trying to work out why a KDM is failing to activate can be a real pain when there may be only a small character difference. And as Steve Pike recently observed, some films such as Hobbit can have upwards of 20 assets to choose from which makes life stressful at times.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-07-2013, 11:36 AM:

I just wish they would ALWAYS put the actual name of the movie first, not some stupid acronym like "GH" or "PW3" or whatever. Also, if it's a special thing for a chain -- put the name of the chain first, so everything for Regal is listed in the same place.

What'd be even better is if you didn't even need to see all the file names. On the server there should be a feature where you can set it up to ignore what you don't need, like (in our case) 7.1, OCAP, Dbox, 11.1, etc. and just present you with a list of what you can actually use.

Clearly the whole thing was designed by engineers without being run through whatever department is supposed to make things user-friendly.

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 03-07-2013, 05:09 PM:

They are currently working on a metadata addition at isdcf - the same guys that maintain the digital cinema naming convention.

http://isdcf.com/papers/ISDCF-Doc6-Composition-Metadata-Guidelines.pdf

- Carsten

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 03-07-2013, 06:37 PM:

With Dolby, you can see whole shebang, if you widen the columns or look at its "properties".

Posted by Tom Wienholt (Member # 1510) on 03-07-2013, 09:51 PM:

With GDC, in my experience, you can also see the whole thing by hitting the "expand" button.

Posted by Carsten Kurz (Member # 5396) on 03-08-2013, 04:21 AM:

Doremi as well - if you just hover over the filename. However, not so easy with the DCP-2000 touchscreen models.

- Carsten

Posted by Wolfgang Woehl (Member # 6901) on 03-08-2013, 03:04 PM:

Steve, as for your original question: The naming convention is on ISDCF's plate. At the last meeting it was discussed and there's an effort on the way to amend and update the nomenclature. Might take a while but it will happen.