Festival technical requirements can be confusing the first time. The same festival may ask for an MP4 link when you submit, a ProRes file for its online platform and a DCP for the cinema screening. They are different files for different jobs, and sending the wrong one can cost you a slot in the programme.
Stage 1: submission — the screener
When you submit, programmers only need to watch the film. A private link to an H.264 MP4 on Vimeo or the submission platform is standard. It should be your final cut, with burned-in English subtitles if the film is in another language, because many programmers watch in English.
Stage 2: selection — the exhibition copy
Once selected, the festival sends its technical requirements. For cinema screenings, most ask for a DCP. Some smaller festivals or venues accept a high-quality file instead, usually ProRes 422 HQ or a high-bitrate H.264. Online sections may ask for a separate file with specific settings. Always follow the festival's document — never assume.
What a DCP is
A Digital Cinema Package is the standard format that cinema servers play — the digital equivalent of a film print. It is not a single video file but a folder: picture encoded in JPEG 2000, sound as uncompressed multichannel audio, subtitle files and XML files that describe how everything fits together. Cinema servers are strict: a DCP with an error may simply not play.
The decisions behind a DCP
- Container: Flat (1.85:1) or Scope (2.39:1), chosen from your film's aspect ratio so nothing is cropped.
- Resolution: 2K is standard for festivals; 4K only if requested.
- Frame rate: usually 24 fps; 25 fps material needs attention.
- Standard: SMPTE or Interop, depending on the festival.
- Sound: stereo or 5.1, mapped to the correct channels.
- Subtitles: as separate tracks or burned in, as requested.
- Encryption: festival copies are usually unencrypted; encrypted DCPs need KDM keys.
Can I make a DCP myself?
Free tools such as DCP-o-matic can create a DCP, and for a simple short with stereo sound it is possible to do it yourself. The risk is in the details: colour conversion that leaves the image washed out, wrong channel mapping that puts dialogue in the wrong speaker, subtitles out of the safe area, or a file that fails on the festival's server the day before your screening. If you do it yourself, always test it on a DCP player and, ideally, in a cinema.
Our festival DCP service
We convert your final master into a verified DCP, check it from start to end and deliver it online with a verification report. A short film DCP is $295, a feature DCP with up to two subtitle languages and a matching screener is $695, and $1,290 includes English ⇄ Spanish subtitle translation. See the festival DCP packages.
Before ordering, go through our checklist of files to prepare.