DCI agrees on d-cinema standards: how will it affect post houses?

Post, Sept, 2005 by Nick Dager

HOLLYWOOD -- One of the major hurdles to the widespread development and growth of digital cinema was removed late in July when Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) announced that it had completed the final overall technical system requirements and specifications. (Download a PDF of the details on www.dcimovies.com)

DCI was created March '02 as a joint venture of the major Hollywood movie studios: Disney, Fox, Paramount, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal and Warner Bros. Its primary purpose was to establish and document voluntary specifications for an open architecture for digital cinema that would ensure a uniform and high level of technical performance, reliability and quality control.

When you consider that the major film studios are extremely competitive and that all are divisions of major public corporations, it's something of a minor miracle that DCI was able to achieve its stated goal at all, let alone in just over three years. Many people deserve much credit for the achievement, but special mention must go to DCI president Chuck Goldwater and to its chief technology officer Walt Ordway.

"After three years of careful planning, discussion and reaching out to all the various constituencies who make up our industry, DCI member studios are pleased to have reached unanimous agreement on the necessary overall system requirements and specifications for digital cinema," said Ordway. "We now have a unified specification that will allow manufacturers to create products that will be employable at movie theatres throughout the country and, it is hoped, throughout the world. In fact, the specification is being translated for international markets."

Filmmakers voiced their almost unanimous approval, but perhaps George Lucas and Rick McCallum put it best.

In a joint statement they said, "It's a giant leap forward for those of us who create movies and, perhaps more importantly, for everyone who sees them. We have been advocates of digital cinema for nearly a decade, and this is a day we have long hoped would come. Digital cinema will increasingly become the standard and will change the way movies are made, seen and experienced around the world."

The question now is what does it mean for the post production industry? The short-term answer is a great deal, especially in the larger markets such as LA, New York, London and Toronto that have traditionally served the motion picture industry. The long-term answer is that it will also create new business for post houses in smaller markets because the demand for independent films and for alternative content in local theatres and other places will increase significantly.

BY NICK DAGER

nickdager@digitalcinemareport.com

Nick Dager is the Editor & Publisher of Digital Cinema Report.