I completely disagree with perpetuating the Interop standard.
SMPTE keeps evolving, and it's not at a dead end like Interop. Proper
25 and 30 fps, more reliable subtitles, and hoping that the near
future brings more interesting metadata support and uses in the
servers and TMS.
My humble opinion.
Manuel AC
On Wed, Dec 9, 2015 at 6:18 PM, Carsten Kurz via DCPomatic
<dcpomatic(a)carlh.net> wrote:
Am 09.12.2015 um 23:20 schrieb Parke Gregg:
One question... Is there any downside to making Interop DCPs? To date, I've
always made SMPTE, but seem to need to shift for full compatibility.
Occasionally people show up and say 'IOP' is outdated, 'SMPTE' is the
future. While there is SOME truth in this, it is a fact that currently all
(but some very few) commercial DCPs delivered to cinemas are still IOP -
features as well as trailers and ads. I could browse through all our DCP
CPL/KDM database of the last 3 years and wouldn't find a single occurrence
of SMPTE DCPs. Except for those that I created myself with DCP-o-matic for
test use only ;-)
There is no penalty with using Interop. Even 25fps Interop, which is
'formally' wrong, works on most servers nowadays.
Some people mix the 'old' MPEG2-Interop with generic 'Interop'. And in so
far, they would be right, 'MPEG2-Interop' is not used anymore.
The only DCPs actually being delivered in SMPTE wrapping currently are ATMOS
and HFR DCPs, because SMPTE formatting is needed to support HFR and ATMOS.
But then even the 5.1 and 7.1 or 24fps versions of these features are
delivered in IOP again.
This is a statement from the recent ISDCF meeting notes, regarding the
future switch to SMPTE DCPs:
---
SMPTE-DCP:
Disney’s movie “Finest Hours” in January is planned to be issued in
SMPTE-DCP over DCDC locations. Norway and Holland for “Finest Hours”
SMPTE-DCP as well. This should be with feature set similar to Test Package B
(including CPL metadata and markers).
Warner Bros. is going to release “How to be Single” on Valentines Day. -
hard drive and DCDC - fairly wide release - US for sure, probably Canada,
not International. Plan for NO Interop-DCP (except in emergency). First
drive out 2 weeks prior WITH ISDCF Test content B1/B2 with instructions for
playback on all screens.
All other studios interested, but nothing planned at this time.
---
So, even in 2016, 'real' SMPTE-DCPs will only turn up in small controlled
environments.
Also, bear in mind that 'SMPTE-DCP' actually refers to some formal changes
in the wrapping, as well as certain optional extensions (like CPL Metadata,
audio track assignments, markers, etc.) .
However, a SMPTE DCP does not need to carry ANY of these extensions, while
still being formally correct. Carl may comment on this, but so far I think
DCP-o-matic is only creating that smallest denominator when creating
SMPTE-DCPs. And that's why they work on existing servers already now.
Even the first commercial SMPTE releases announced for early 2016 will
probably be of this type. It will be a long time until the full feature set
will be seen in common use. Even then, IOP will still have to be supported
for compatibility reasons.
Long story short - use IOP!
- Carsten
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