First European feature film encoded, packaged and encrypted in DCI compliant format

First European feature film encoded, packaged and encrypted in DCI compliant format

Eclair presents the DCI compliant JPEG2000 master of “Les Bronzes 3, amis pour la vie” at IDiff in Cannes

Eclair Laboratoires, the leading post-production house and lab in France, and Eclair Digital Cinema reached a new industry milestone ? preparing the first DCI compliant JPEG2000 master of a European feature film: “Les Bronzes 3, amis pour la vie”, produced by Les Films Christian Fechner and distributed by Warner Bros. France. This French blockbuster was shot in 35mm, post-produced and colour corrected at Eclair Laboratoires using a 2K digital intermediate and mastered for digital projection following the recommendations of DCI v1: JPEG2000 encoding, MXF packaging and AES 128 CBC encryption. The encoder used is a Doremi DMS2000 mastering station. This digital version premiered at IDiff with a projection for 200 cinema professionals, using a Doremi DCP2000 server and a Cinemeccanica CMC3 D2 2K DLP Cinema™ projector. “Les Bronzes 3, amis pour la vie” has subsequently been released by Eclair in 35mm ? the largest 35mm release to date in France ? as well as on digital screens equipped with servers compatible with the MPEG-2 MXF Interop format. “We are proud to be the first post-production house in Europe to be able to master films in DCI compliant format. We would like to thank Les Films Christian Fechner and Warner Bros. for giving us this opportunity to demonstrate our digital know-how. The JPEG2000 compression rate is amazing; we are very impressed by the improvement in image quality and colour rendering in comparison to MPEG-2! Eclair has remained the leader in France by guaranteeing the best picture quality from post-production to the theatre. With this new format, we are confident that we can bring to the audience the exact equivalent of the 2K digital intermediate.” said Philippe Reinaudo, C.T.O. of Eclair Laboratoires. “The DCI specifications define a high level technical standard for digital motion picture releases, which guarantees the best possible image and sound for the audience and very strong content security for the distributor. This level of quality should not be reserved for US blockbusters: European films must benefit from it too! As the digital cinema roll-out approaches, it is our role to show the European creative community that they can rely on the digital know-how of their local historic partners to ensure that their motion pictures ? blockbusters like “Les Bronzes 3, amis pour la vie” or small-budget art films ? are fully rendered on digital screens as well as in 35mm.” said Gwendal Auffret, C.E.O of Eclair Digital Cinema.