Convert your MOV to a DCP.
Upload the file you exported from your editor. We build the cinema package, check it against the DCI spec, and hand it back ready for a festival.
A .mov plays on a laptop. A cinema server won't load it.
Projection servers only ingest DCPs — JPEG 2000 picture, uncompressed sound and XML playlists, packaged to the DCI specification. Your .mov is what that package is made from, not something the booth can play as it is.
Export the best master you have.
A ProRes .mov is ideal; DNxHD and H.264 work too, as do .mxf, .mp4 and .mkv files. Export at the frame rate you edited in, with your final mix — the DCP can only be as good as the file it's built from.
Upload your .mov
Drop it into a new film. Add subtitle files and a separate audio mix if your final sound lives outside the video file.
We encode the DCP
Picture becomes JPEG 2000, sound becomes uncompressed PCM, and the whole thing is wrapped as a SMPTE package — 2K or 4K, pinned to what you chose rather than guessed from your file. AES-128 encryption is optional.
We validate it
The finished package goes through FilmVault Validation — the same DCI check every DCP on FilmVault gets — before it's marked ready. The report is yours as a PDF.
Deliver it
Download it to a drive, send a private link, or deliver it straight into a festival's FilmVault inbox.
What people ask about MOV to DCP
Worth settling before you upload, rather than after a festival writes back.
Can I convert an H.264 or MP4 file instead of ProRes?
Yes. ProRes, DNxHD and H.264 masters are all accepted, in .mov, .mxf, .mp4 or .mkv. ProRes gives the encoder the most to work with; a heavily compressed H.264 will convert, but artefacts in the source carry through into the DCP.
What frame rate should my .mov be?
24, 25, 30, 48, 50 and 60 fps are the standard cinema rates. We'll build a DCP at another rate, but the validation report flags it — a projectionist may turn it away, so it's worth knowing before you send it.
2K or 4K?
2K unless a festival has asked for 4K. 4K also caps the frame rate at 30 fps: above that we stop the encode rather than ship a DCP most projectors can't play.
Can I add subtitles?
Yes — .srt, .ass, .ssa or timed-text .xml, each added as its own track with the language tagged. Supply the font as .ttf or .otf and we embed it, so the projector shows your typeface instead of its default.
How much does converting a MOV to DCP cost?
$50 flat plus $11 a minute for the first 30 minutes, $7 a minute from 31 to 90, and $4 a minute beyond. A 10-minute short is $160; a 90-minute feature, $800. 4K, encryption, rush turnaround and extra subtitle tracks are add-ons.
Turn your .mov into a DCP
Upload a master, get a validated, screening-ready DCP.
Converting a 10-minute short is $160. A 90-minute feature, $800.
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