Amazing Digital Cinema

A curated list of resources for film technicians in the areas of mastering, delivering, archiving, and exhibiting digital film content.

Please feel free to contribute to this list!

If you don't know how to contribute on GitHub, follow this guide and the guidelines of this repository. If this is too much effort for you to learn, but you still want to contribute, post an issue here on GitHub with your suggestion(s) for adding to the list.

This list was inspired by the awesome-broadcasting list, which itself was inspired by the awesome awesome list. In contrast, this list also lists non open-source resources. To reflect this matter and out of respect towards the open-source only awesome list projects, I named this list "Amazing" Digital Cinema instead of "Awesome" Digital Cinema.

• Contributors to This List
• Interest Groups
• Resources
  • Books
  • Discussion Papers & Articles
  • Education
  • Forums
  • Knowledge Sources
  • Lists
  • Manuals
  • Media Block (Server) Serial Numbers and Certificates
  • News
  • Standards & Recommendations
  • Test materials
• Tools
  • Command Line Tools
  • DCP Duplication
  • File Transfer
  • Framerate Converters
  • KDM Tools
  • Leq(m) Meters
  • Mastering Tools
  • Plug-ins
  • QC Player
  • Standalone
  • Transcoding Engines
  • Web Apps

Contributors to This List

• Sebastian Böhm
• Mattias Iko Mattsson
• Alexis Michaltsis
• Steven Song
• Laurence Stoll
• Julius Waltenberger
• Wolfgang Woehl

Interest Groups

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) – link goes to the AMPAS science & technology projects.
• Academy Software Foundation (ASWF) – code, collaboration and creativity.
• Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) – a joint venture by the major Hollywood studios for an open digital cinema architecture.
• European Digital Cinema Forum (EDCF) – meeting forum to discuss key issues surrounding digital cinema in Europe.
• HPA IMF User Group – the forum for end-users and implementers of the IMF standard.
• Inter-Society Digital Cinema Forum (ISDCF) – the working group for digital cinema technology, meets about once a month.
• MovieLabs – Hollywood onramp for advanced technologies, innovations in digital distribution and consumer engagement.
• Open Services Alliance - for Media – a global alliance to enable open media services.
• SMPTE DCP Migration Project – the project is pushing the transition from Interop to SMTPE DCP usage in cinemas.
• Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE) – standards body of the motion picture industry.
• Trailer Audio Standards Association (TASA) – leq(m) audio standard for motion picture trailer volume.

Resources

Books

• Color and Mastering for Digital Cinema – Glenn Kennel, 2006.
• Digital Cinema : The Revolution in Cinematography, Post-Production, and Distribution – Brian McKernan, 2005.
• Digital Image Processing with Application to Digital Cinema – KS Thyagarajan, 2005.
• FIAF Digital Projection Guide – Torkell Saetervadet, 2012.
• Image Processing for Cinema – Marcelo Bertalmío, 2014.
• The JPEG 2000 Suite – Peter Schelkens et al., 2009.
• Understanding Digital Cinema – Charles S. Swartz, 2004.

Discussion Papers & Articles

• D-Cinema Equipment Frequently Asked Questions - Torkell Sætervadet, 2012.
• DCI Must Do More on HDR – Michael Karagosian, 2019.
• Digital Cinema Technologies from the Archive's Perspective - Arne Nowak, 2012.
• How Loud is a Movie? – leq(m10), a new measurement procedure, Ioan Allen, 2016 (direct link to PDF).
• What’s Wrong with the DCP? – Michael Karagosian, 2015.

Education

• Advanced Media Technology, M.Eng. – digital cinema lab. Program in German. RheinMain University, Germany.
• Creative Technologies, M.A. – computer science, movie technology and arts program. Konrad Wolf University, Germany.
• Media Technology, B.Eng. – digital cinema lab. Program in German. RheinMain University, Germany.
• Motion Picture Science, B.Sc. – Rochester Institute of Technology, USA.

Forums

• dcinemaforum – general digital cinema forum, with a slight focus on the DCP mastering software OpenDCP.
• Film-Tech Digital Cinema Forum - General forum, with a focus on projection
• Filmvorführerforum - (German) General cinema tech forum
• DCP-o-matic User Forum – user forum of the DCP mastering software DCP-o-matic.
• ISDCF Online Forum – online forum of the professional association Inter-Society Digital Cinema Forum (ISDCF).
• Lift Gamma Gain – colourist forum, also with a focus on digital cinema workflows and DCP mastering.
• Projectioniste.net - (French) General cinema tech forum

Knowledge Sources

• Cinepedia – knowledge base about DCP mastering, delivery and exhibition.
• Knut Erik Evensen – insights into DCP mastering, delivery and exhibition.
• Netflix TechBlog – learn about Netflix's world-class engineering efforts.

Lists

• ASWF Landscape – map of open-source projects used in the motion picture industry.
• Awesome Broadcasting – curated, broadcast-related list.
• Awesome Colour – a curated list of colour science resources.
• Awesome Pipeline – a curated list of pipeline toolkits.
• open-workflows – a curated list of resources and workflows for a/v archivists.

Manuals

• Film-Tech Equipment Manual Warehouse - Manuals for Cinema equipment
• kinotehnik.net - (Ukranian) Various equipment manuals in English

Media Block (Server) Serial Numbers and Certificates

• Server Serial Guide - Serial number format for most servers
• How to identify your Servers Serial and Media Block Number - Finding the serial number on most servers

News

• Celluloid Junkie – news resource dedicated to the global film and cinema business.
• Cinema Tech Today - Online edition of the Cinema Technology Magazine
• CineTechGeek – James Gardiner's video blog about digital cinema technology.
• DCinema Today – industry-sponsored press release site about digital cinema technology.
• Digital Cinema Report – news, perspective and analysis on the digital cinema industry.
• mkpeReport – news, perspective and analysis on digital cinema technology.

Standards & Recommendations

• Archive eXchange Format (AXF) – archive file format standard by SMPTE (2014) and later by ISO/IEC (2017).
• Color Transformation Language (CTL) – Color Transformation Language for Digital Motion Picture Pipelines.
• CST Technical recommendations - (French) Technical Recommendations from CST (La Commission supérieure technique de l'image et du son)
• Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) – DCI Spec and Compliance Test Plan.
• Digital Cinema Naming Convention and Metadata/Terminology Registries - ISDCF Naming Convention for CPL ContentTitleText, Metadata UL and terminology registry
• EBU Tech Publications – recommendations and guidelines of the European Broadcasting Union.
• EIDR – a universally unique identifier for movie and television assets.
• Interop Recommendations Overview – deprecated but still actively used Digital Cinema Package recommendations.
• ISDCF Technical Documents – recommendations and guidelines by the Inter-Society Digital Cinema Forum (ISDCF).
• Media Cloud Microservices Architecture (MCMA) – EBU framework for integrating multiple services and processes.
• Media Hash List (MHL) – specification for transferring media data without alterations in the data chain.
• MPAA Content Security Best Practices – compliance with best practices is voluntary and not an accreditation program.
• Open Archive Information System (OAIS) – reference model (ISO 14721) for digital preservation.
• SAWA Leq(m) measurement – advertisement leq(m) measurement standard (direct PDF link).
• SMPTE RDD 52:2020 – requirements for DCP mastering for playback on the highest percentage of systems.
• SMPTE ST 2125, Public Committee Draft – IMF registration service API.
• SMPTE ST 2126, Public Committee Draft – microservice status reporting and logging.
• SMPTE Standards Overview – active SMPTE Digital Cinema Package standards.
• TASA Leq(m) measurement – trailer leq(m) measurement standard (direct PDF link).

Test materials

• ClairMeta Data – various Digital Cinema essences and packages from Ymagis
• EBU Loudness Test Set – EBU materials for testing EBU Tech 3341/3342 metering
• Cinema Test Tools – CJ Flynn's amazing suite of plates for subjective measurement

Tools

Command Line Tools

• ClairMeta – command-line tool for checking and probing of Digital Cinema Packages.
• dcp_inspect – tool for inspection and validation of DCPs (SMPTE and Interop).
• IFIscripts – scripts developed and used by the IFI Irish Film Archive.

DCP Duplication

• dcp.py – open-source command-line tool for formatting a hard drive for cinema usage.
• DCP Transfer – format hard drives and copy DCPs for delivery (macOS version).
• LIHUE – DCP volume management appliance. Format, copy, validate.

File Transfer

• Aspera – a multitude of solutions for large, fast file transfer.
• Bagger – Application to produce a package of data files according to the BagIt specification.
• bagit-python – a Python library and command-line utility for working with BagIt style packages.
• Filemail – fast, large file transfer via app, browser, FTP or Torrent
• MASV – fast, large file transfer in the browser, no client software needed. Pay as you go.
• Media Shuttle – browser and desktop solutions for large, fast file transfer.
• MediaSilo – video asset management & sharing solution.
• Signiant – move large files with speed, reliability, and security.
• Qube Wire – deliver DCPs and KDMs to cinemas worldwide.

Framerate Converters

• Alchemist File – framerate converter.
• PixelStrings – framerate conversions, standards conversion and transcoding in the cloud. Pay as you go.
• Tachyon – framerate conversions, standards conversions, reverse telecine and frame rate normalization.

KDM Tools

• DCPtools KDM Studio – online KDM creation, with cinema database. Pay as you go (bundle prices).
• easyDCP KDM Generator+ – allows using external DKDM (Distribution-KDM) to generate KDMs.
• KEYMaster – online KDM creation, with cinema database. Annual subscription.
• Qube Wire – deliver DCPs and KDMs to cinemas worldwide.

Leq(m) Meters

• DCP QA Tools – free (sign up only) DCP quality assurance and audio level assurance tools (includes Leq(m) meter).
• Dolby Media Meter 2 – discontinued 2018 (direct link to user's manual PDF).
• Dolby Model 737 (hardware unit) – discontinued 2018 (direct link to user's manual PDF).
• dpMeter5 – freeware loudness meter plug-in from TB Software.
• NUGEN Audio Loudness Toolkit – solution for loudness compliant delivery.
• WLM Plus Loudness Meter – loudness meter plug-in from Waves Audio.

Mastering Tools

• CLIPSTER – DCP/IMP mastering, player and KDM creation system for the professional market.
• CORTEX Cloud – transcode and master DCPs, IMPs (IMF) and additional formats.
• CORTEX Enterprise – transcode and master DCPs, IMPs (IMF) and additional formats.
• DaVinci Resolve Studio – all in one solution with DCP, IMP (IMF) mastering capabilities.
• DCP-o-matic – open-source DCP mastering, player and KDM creation software.
• easyDCP – DCP/IMP mastering, player and KDM creation software for the professional market.
• MIST – DCP/IMP mastering, player and KDM creation system/software for the professional market.
• OpenDCP – open-source DCP mastering software.
• WAILUA – DCP/IMP mastering software for the professional market.

Plug-ins

• DCIconverter, rolling release – RGB to XYZ and vice versa for Adobe After Effects and Premiere (self compile).
• DCIconverter, v0.7, 2014 – RGB to XYZ and vice versa for Adobe After Effects and Premiere.
• j2k, rolling release – open-source JPEG 2000 encoder plug-in for Adobe programs (self compile).
• j2k, v2.7, 2012 – JPEG 2000 encoder plug-in for Adobe Photoshop, After Effects and Premiere.

QC Player

• CLIPSTER Play – can play DCPs and IMPs (IMF).
• easyDCP Player – can play DCPs and IMPs (IMF).
• easyDCP Player+ – can play DCPs and IMPs (IMF) – more features than non plus version.
• ICE QC Player – can play DCPs and IMPs (IMF).
• NeoDCP Player – can play DCPs - has multiple software versions. Too many to list here.

Software Libraries

• asdcplib – open-source implementation of the SMPTE and Interop MXF “Sound & Picture Track File” format.
• ClairMeta – library for checking and probing of Digital Cinema Packages.
• Colour – a colour science package for Python.
• Comprimato – commercial GPU JPEG 2000 codec.
• grok – open-source JPEG 2000 codec - fork of OpenJPEG.
• IABLib – open-source C++ library for creating, parsing and rendering IAB essence, as specified in SMPTE ST 2098-2.
• itu-r-468-weighting – a zero dependency Python ITU-R 468 noise weighting filter (1 kHz and 2 kHz).
• Kakadu – commercial JPEG 2000 codec.
• leqm-nrt – a non-real-time implementation of Leq(M) measurement according to ISO 21727.
• libdcp – open-source library for reading and writing Digital Cinema Packages (DCPs).
• libsub – open-source subtitle reading/writing library.
• MovieLabs Digital Distribution Framework (MDDF) – a framework for the various MDDF standards.
• node-cpl – a Node.js library for CPL-parsing.
• OpenJPEG – open-source JPEG 2000 codec written in C.
• OpenTimelineIO – interchange format and API for editorial cut information.
• Photon – Photon is an open-source Java implementation of the Interoperable Master Format (IMF) standard.
• python-dcitools – a Python library for working with digital cinema server APIs.
• regxmllib – Java library for the creation of XML representations of MXF header metadata.
• smpte-timecode – a JavaScript library for operations with SMPTE timecodes.
• timecode – a Python module that handles SMPTE timecode.

Standalone

• Annotation Edit – subtitle program (macOS only) that supports digital cinema Interop and SMPTE subtitles.
• Bulk Rename Utility – freeware (Windows only) program for renaming vast amounts of files.
• CineIA_CLI – command-line tool for encoding IMF IAB into (Atmos compatible) DCP IAB.
• DCP-Subtitle Extract – extract DCP subtitles and save them as SRT (SubRib) file.
• IMFTool – a tool for editing IMF CPLs and creating new versions of an existing IMF package.
• Subtitle Edit – open-source subtitle program that supports digital cinema subtitles.
• TI Subtitle Font Compressor – a tool to compress .ttf files to meet requirements of series 1 DLP Projectors.

Transcoding Engines

• CORTEX Cloud – transcode and master DCPs, IMPs (IMF) and additional formats.
• CORTEX Enterprise – transcode and master DCPs, IMPs (IMF) and additional formats.
• PixelStrings – framerate conversions, standards conversion and transcoding in the cloud. Pay as you go.
• TORNADO – transcoding engine for DCPs, IMPs (IMF) and additional formats.
• Transkoder – transcoding engine for DCPs, IMPs (IMF) and additional formats.

Web Apps

• AVTOOLS.IO – web apps for DCP CPL insides, bulk timecode calculations, and timecode conversions.
• CineCert Cloud Tools – online KDM generator and asset inspector.
• Color Space Calculator – online colour space calculator for RGB colour spaces.
• CPL Translator – a web tool that parses DCPs and IMPs (IMF).
• DCP QA Tools – free (sign up only) DCP quality assurance and audio level assurance tools.
• DIVO – a Dolby Vision HDR web tool. Parse, compare and edit Dolby Vision XML.
• Dolby Log Analyzer – a web app that scans Dolby D-cinema server logs to produce an overview.
• editingtools.io – a collection of web-based generators, scripts and converters.
• kinofreund Services – a collection of (partially free) online tools and services.
• Michael Cinquin tools – web tools, e.g. timecode calculator, DCP-subtitle creator and DCP versioning.
• Online Reg-XML MXF Dump Tool – only a few bytes are uploaded to the server.

Workflow tools

• CineFMS – an open-source framework for film festival DCP workflow management, used at the Berlinale.
• Cortex – an open-source framework for computation, rendering, and file I/O (not the same as MTI's CORTEX).
• Frame.io – cloud-based collaboration platform.
• Gaffer – an open-source framework to automate processes, build production workflows and more (based on Cortex).
• Kitsu – open-source production tracker for indie studios.
• Kitsu, hosted at CGWire – hosted production tracker for indie studios.
• MCMA Project Repos – open-source serverless architecture and media workflows in the cloud.
• Mistika Workflows – standard & user-defined media workflows.
• TACTIC – an open-source platform for enterprise workflow solutions (originated in the VFX industry).
• Cinestash – cloud-based digital delivery of media files and DCPs, KDM online creation.