Exporting a DCP with FCPX

There is a yes and no answer

No FCPX-DCP plug-ins I know about, but there are free open source apps.

First I would recommend that if you only need this for a single film or even an occasional film, then I would suggest that you consider sending out for DCP master. While I have made a couple in the past, there are many technical specs that have to be done correctly, or you will find out on premier night that it won't play, audio is wrong, and a bunch of other issues. Image your disappointment if your showing can't happen. If just submitting for a festival and it won't play, you can always resubmit, but a showing is only one shot at getting it right. There are many commercial outlets for making DCPs. If you need to create them on a regular basis, then you can DIY using apps, free or paid. But really the peace of mind from having a service create the DCP and the necessary drive and format is worth the cost of hiring it done. Unfortunately, you may need to make multiple versions for differ festivals or Europe vs US. Another reason to consider a commercial version is that without access to a Cinema Projection System, you will have no way to test unless you pay to rent a facility to test view it.

Make certain that you have all of the tech requirements for any festival or screening locations. These can vary including basic items like does it require Linux formatted drives or is NTFS allowed. Aspect ratios, Audio formats, Letterboxing all might differ.

You definitely need to know all of the technical specifications.

Finally, you need to make sure that the delivery device is capable of the throughput speeds you will need for the final delivery. USB2 most likely will not cut it, USB3 or better will be needed and the projection equipment/computer must be able to handle it.

One alternative is to see if a Blu-ray (2K) or Ultra BD(4K) is accepted instead. This is typically a much easier solution, but may have some undesired shortcomings. I have done this in the past even when I create a DCP, I send a BD as back-up and have had it; BD, shown in an historic theatre and it looked good. In this example I was not told if the DCP failed, was wrong for the equipment at theatre or just the projectionist taking the easy way out. Much easier to play via HDMI BD player than to load and show. Who knows, but the showing happened, so that is what counts. Still sending a BD as back-up is a good idea if the theatre or festival will allow.

Having said all this, a web search will show DCP creation tools.

Some other NLEs do have plug-ins available or even included in the NLE app. You could send Apple Feedback if you would like this feature added to FCPX.

Hope this Helps, Greg