KDM's/Keys

[Armand Daiguillon]

Hi all,

I have what is probably an easy question ....

We are getting a movie (foreign) from non regular channels (not deluxe or cinevision) and the distributor needs our hardware info to generate keys for the movie.
Deluxe and Cinevizion had this stuff on file from previous owners, so I never had to find it.
I have nec 900c projectors with gdc sx 3000 servers - where do I find the serial numbers or other info needed to provide these people to generate keys ?

Thanks !!

Armand

[Brad Miller]

Just click on CONTROL PANEL in your GDC interface. The serial number will be listed at the top of the page. It will be something like "A123456". Tell the keymakers that number and they can handle the rest.

[Armand Daiguillon]

Is that it ? That is easy. lol
I thought I needed serial numbers for more than one component.

Thanks

[Greg Routenburg]

Depending how big to distributor or post house is that is releasing the DCP, they might also ask for the certificate for the server. For the GDC servers, you need to request it from GDC by emailing your serial number(s) to cert@gdc-tech.com. I like to keep all of my certs handy for the various theatres I look after to cover any last minute requests. Sometimes when you're dealing with foreign film makers with various versions, spoken languages and subtitles, the wrong keys can be sent and having the certs to send them can be the difference between making or loosing a show.

[Leo Enticknap]

On the SX-3000, there should be a sticky label on the faceplate that tells you the serial number. As Brad notes, it will consist of the letter A, followed by usually five, but rarely six, digits.

For the big distributors (e.g. Deluxe Technicolor) here, all you need to do is to give them that number. They have arrangements with all the major server and media block manufacturers, and can download the certs directly. Smaller mom-and-pop distributors, however, might not have these arrangements, and will therefore ask you for the actual certificate file

When emailing GDC for a media block certificate file, their official line is that you should give them 48 hours. However, on most of the occasions I've done so, they've responded within half a day. Recently, they've also been asking for the name, address, and a contact name and phone number for the site at which the server is installed; so to save time, you might like to put that in the email preemptively.

An important gotcha with KDMs for foreign movies coming from small distributors overseas is that they will sometimes forget to write the KDM for the correct time zone. I came close to losing festival shows when I worked at the Egyptian because of this. I'd suggest double checking the time window for your KDM as soon as it arrives, to confirm that it will be open for the scheduled time of your screening (and tech check, if you're doing one). If it's half an hour to showtime, you've suddenly realized that the KDM has already closed, and it's 3am in Sodomistan (or wherever the KDM author is located), you're boogered.

[Steve Guttag]

For my "Art" houses. I always get all of the Certificates...keep them on file and also issue them to the managers responsible for operating the equipment because, sooner or later, they'll need them. For the mainstream plexes, it almost never comes up. That said, Dolby, when they "fix" a mediablock, keep the same serial number but it will need a new certificate! That can and does create confusion so...any mediablock that gets "fixed" or repair/exchanged, I also got those certificates to "keep on file" and to issue to the client. Dolby does have an FTP site that does not require a password (the link is from dolbycustomer). Find your unit's serial number and download the certificate (it is always kept current).

[Greg Routenburg]

Steve, when Dolby repairs the media blocks, don't they append a "-1" to the end of the serial number to indicate that it's repaired and needing a new certificate?

[Leo Enticknap]

Doremi did so before Dolby gobbled them, but Dolby themselves did not (and, AFAIK, still do not) do this for their own, pre-Doremi media blocks (DSP100, cat862 and cat745). I don't know if Dolby have continued Doremi's "-1" practice when re-certing hardware that was originally made by Doremi (e.g. DCP2000), and/or Dolby IMSes that run Doremi-derived software.

[Steve Guttag]

I've never seen them do that for the DSS family of products and I haven't had to have any of the post-Dolby Doremi products need to be repaired like that.