Step 1: Premiere Pro and After Effects for Video/Audio

Step 1: Premiere Pro for Video and Audio

Once you are at the stage of saying "Ok, my Video/Movie is polished to perfection and is now ready to be put on a Digital Projector," then you will now begin the first step of actually doing so - in Adobe Premiere Pro. I won't go into too much detail on how to use these programs, as you are probably well versed in the basics if your looking to create your own DCP. If not, then I would google the heck out of any questions that might arise. After all, that's ultimately how I learned how to do this. I will try to be as specific as possible when describing this process, for some information is vital.

Premiere Pro

• Open your movie file in Pr (Premiere Pro). [CS6 in my case] You will create a NEW PROJECT.
• Depending on the resolution of your video, make the appropriate adjustments to meet the minimum size for your DCP. (4k or 2k)
• Once your video is the correct size, save it as a Premiere Project. You will soon open it in Adobe After Effects.
• While you are still in Premiere Pro, export your audio files as 48khz : 24bit .wav (Waveform files). Each channel will have its own .wav file. This would be a good time to set up your folders just to keep things organized. One for Audio, one for original source, etc.

• NOTE: It is very important that you make sure the wav. file per channel is 48khz and at least 24bit. Not having the files set up right can cause a lot of problems when trying to play back on the digital server.

After Effects

I use After Effects to create my Tiff Sequence.

• Open After Effects. In After effects -  Open the Premiere Pro Project file you just made.
• In the Project panel, you will notice some information about your file. Look for the tab that describes the bit depth, like below.

• Click where it says "8bpc" (8 bits per channel). The following dialog box pops up:

• It is IMPERATIVE that you change the depth from 8bpc to 16bpc. This, again, will determine whether the file will play on the digital projector. Keep the default sample rate of 48khz.
• Drag your project to "new composition" box
• Crop out any black bars if you need to, depending on your size: composition > composition settings  

Now it's time to create the tiff sequence. 

• Go to: Composition > Make movie
• Output > format > tiff sequence > TRILLIONS of colors > ok.
• Export the sequence into a designated folder. This will take awhile.
• Grab some of your favorite coffee.

Just so you know what's actually going on, a tiff sequence is similar to 35mm film: (Based on our specifications) There is one frame per 1/24th of a sec. (so 1 second = 24 frames) The tiff sequence is "digitizing" that same technology. After Affects is taking your video file and converting it into tiff files that each represent 1/24 of a second. Once your sequence is complete, you are ready to move to the next step: Using OpenDCP