About DCDM Masters

About DCDM Masters

Some Studio requires, in addition to the delivery of a DCP, the related DCDM (usually in TIFF 16 bit XYZ)

DCDMs created by MIST follow the specification outlined in this document here:

TIFF is a very capable format and it can store a lot of metadata, including the colorimetry and timecode information. While MIST write this information in the TIFF files, in general almost no product reads it. So a good practice is to provide a manifest along with the DCDM that contains all the necessary information in order to rebuild the DCDM properly.

MIST generates a DCDM manifest as an XML file and as a PDF file, so for tools that require manual assemble, the manifests can be use by the operator to accomplish the task.

In addition the following should be kept in mind:
1) the DCI Specification is not a standard, it's a recommendation (still good to follow though!)
2) Each studio that you may need to deliver to usually has its own variation. Not on the image characteristics (since this is defined in a SMPTE standard), but on the naming convention and file organization. MIST supports quite a few of these flavors of DCDM (Netflix, Fox, Disney, etc).
3) Studio specifications might evolve as well, so the best practice is always to ask them for the latest version of document first. Remember that the people who QC your delivery might not be informed of what you are supposed to deliver.
4) We strive to keep our products up to date with the latest studio specifications, however, we usually ask our clients to get the delivery specifications as early as possible so if there is any change in them, we could take action and reflect these changes in a new version. Usually we roll out a patch for clients if something like that happens.

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