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Author Topic: Whats wrong with this picture Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 03-17-2003 09:07 AM                    Not recommended especially on the Strong/Potts platter which can easily warp if uneven force is applied. However, this is such an obvious method that one wonders why platters are not designed with this in mind. A booth could be equipped with a few extra platter disks of various smaller sizes so that before a move the film can be taken up on a disk just large enough to hold it to simplify carrying it.  |  IP: Logged Andrew Duggan Expert Film Handler Posts: 127 From: Albany, NY, USA Registered: Jun 2002 posted 03-17-2003 09:21 AM                        Don, you should really consider starting to move the prints by themselves, without the platters. Taking platters and shifting them around like that is just asking for problems. Platters get easily dented and scratched that way (I can only imagine what dropping one would be like), and extra strain on the arms can bend them, which can lead to all sorts of fun problems, from timing to tossing. We've got one deck that's bent too far out to be used, caused by rough handling during one of the aforementioned print moves. Also, especially if usiong Potts platters, the pins and bearings wear really easily. When the same bearings run against the same pin for a long time, they get "locked into a groove" and wear each other into a comfortable postion. Thats why, if you've ever installed a platter, after the first few weeks, all of the decks seem to run better and quieter than they did in the beginning. But when you're constantly moving platters back and forth, the bearings and pins are always running against each other in new ways, and they both end up getting dirty and worn out very quickly. I wish our theaters were closer together, so I could invite you up to my booth and show you how screwed some of these platters are from this process. If I can sweet talk someone into borrowing a digital camera sometime soon, I'll post some pictures of these things. But for right now, I'm going back to bed  |  IP: Logged John Pytlak Film God Posts: 9987 From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922 Registered: Jan 2000 posted 03-17-2003 10:44 AM                        Moving a large print that way without clamps, "cookie sheet", or help, is like playing "Russian Roulette". Most of the time you get away with it, but it only takes one time to make a bloody mess you need to pick off the floor. Why take that risk with a print, when it's easy to do it the right way?  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 03-17-2003 11:13 AM                        A guy I work with was a projectionist here in Eugene at the old Moyer West 11th Movieland while he was going to college. I showed him that picture. He said one time someone there (not him of course) was moving a print, not using clamps or anything, and something happened and it started unspooling from the center, in a spiral of course. It happened so quickly that within seconds the entire print collapsed into a tangled heap on the floor. It took them all night to put it back together, and of course the print was pretty much trashed at that point. Couldn't a platter deck have several slots machined into the surface, say 90 or 120 degrees apart, so that 3 or 4 clamps could easily slide in underneath the print, without damaging the print or scratching the platter?  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-17-2003 11:31 AM                        I wish that someone would make clamps designed with a plastic or rubber or other non-metal edge. This would make it more difficult to scratch platter decks when moving prints. I often work on Thursday nights at a 6-plex that doesn't have cookie sheets (the company claims that they are "too expensive" and "unnecessary," but obviously hasn't considered the cost of periodically refinishing the AW3 decks; this is the same company that won't spend a little bit more on a brand of xenon bulbs that lasts 50% longer than the brand which they are currently purchasing). I really don't like using clamps, but that's the only option at that place. The "clamping long prints" suggestion in the "tips" section of this site is quite helpful. I also wish that more theatres would set up extra platter and interlock rollers to allow feeding two prints from one platter to two different houses. I've seen this done with AW3s by using 70mm shafts with two 35mm rollers on each on the payout side, along with some extra rollers in the interlock path, and it works very nicely to allow moving prints without having to physically lift them off the platters. Obviously this only works when moving prints within a single booth, however.  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 03-17-2003 11:39 AM                       That's a good idea, Scott. Teflon-coating. National Amusements in Moline, IL used to use a putty knife to get under the prints for moves. Every disc in that theatre was a scratched-up mess! The clamps are not much better in that respect.  |  IP: Logged Thomas Procyk Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1842 From: Royal Palm Beach, FL, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-17-2003 11:44 AM                     We never moved Gods & Generals. It started in the smallest house and stayed there. =TMP=  |  IP: Logged Don Bruechert Mmmmmmmmm, bird! Posts: 340 From: Manitowoc, WI, USA Registered: Jan 2003 posted 03-17-2003 11:46 AM                        Hmmm... We've had several discussions on this whole moving the whole platter thing, and there have been many valid points both ways. The bearing thing is one I never thought of, so it adds some new fuel to the fire. I always took the opportunity when me moved the platters to lube everything up, but I still didn't come up with that idea. Thanks. We do have 2 booths that are adjacent to each other and they were set up for interlock. Most of us who are there now have never seen it done, although rumor has it there have been 1 or 2 uses of it over the years. I never thought of that as a way to move film, but of course those are the 2 newest booths and when the film moves due to age it tends to move upward into the tower (and the nosebleed seats!).  |  IP: Logged Aaron Mehocic Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 804 From: New Castle, PA, USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 03-17-2003 01:31 PM                     Hey DH I'm waiting!  |  IP: Logged Patrick McDonough Expert Film Handler Posts: 118 From: Greenfield Ma. Registered: Jul 2002 posted 03-17-2003 02:04 PM                     my guess is that he had help picking up the film and is going to have help placing the film down, at least I hope. Either way its not a good idea, for dropping reasons  |  IP: Logged Chris Markiewicz Expert Film Handler Posts: 209 From: Glenaviegh, County Tipperary, Ireland Registered: Aug 2002 posted 03-17-2003 02:05 PM                     I would never move a print without clamps. Only did it once. Seven hours later the print was ready to run again. With clamps, I would line the sliding edge with drafting tape to reduce the chance of scratching the decks. The tape is good for about 3 weeks of changes, then needs to be replaced. I agree that moving the platter decks just causes problems with the bearings. Plus, on a Neumade deck the thrust washer ALWAYS sticks to the deck until you are in the darkest part of the booth, then falls off and rolls away.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 03-17-2003 04:11 PM                     quote: Couldn't a platter deck have several slots machined into the surface, say 90 or 120 degrees apart, so that 3 or 4 clamps could easily slide in underneath the print, without damaging the print or scratching the platter? That's a very cool idea David! Anyone? Anyone? (Watch whoever does this do something stupid like make 3 or 5 slots instead of keeping things balanced with 4. ) I always used print moving discs that were placed on the takeup platter right before the last showing in a particular auditorium, then moved the print while sitting on the disc. It worked extremely well except for those super long ones. When I went to Colorado, Joe showed me how EASY it is to use two people and move prints without clamps nor the slightest damage to the platter decks. Since then, that has been my preferred print moving technique. At some point I'll get pictures and an explanation for the tips section. Nowadays I move them while they are playing through the interlock system of rollers whenever they need to move platters.  |  IP: Logged David Stambaugh Film God Posts: 4021 From: Eugene, Oregon Registered: Jan 2002 posted 03-17-2003 04:26 PM                        The only reason I can think of for doing an odd number of cuts (like 3) is to avoid compromising the "structural integrity" of the deck. If 4 cuts were made, one every 90 degrees, would that create a weak point spanning the entire diameter of the platter? In other words, the radius cut at 90 degrees and the cut at 270 degrees line up with each other across the entire platter. With say 3 cuts, one every 120 degrees, you're only weakening a single radius, not the entire diameter. Or maybe it's a non-issue. ? Someone could make these modifications to a platter and get Ian to stand on it to see what happens.  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 03-17-2003 04:39 PM                        Now why wouldn't three slots be balanced? Three slots would be great, in the rare event that I clamp a print I only use three clamps. I wonder how many manufacturers' decks are thick enough to mill 1/16th inch grooves in the decks to accommodate sliding clamps in...  |  IP: Logged William Leland III Master Film Handler Posts: 336 From: Charleston, SC, Registered: Aug 2002 posted 03-17-2003 04:40 PM                        I always used clamps even when it was a 4 reel movie. Never wanted to chance it. 7 or 8 reel movies I had help. When i couldn't get anpther projectionist I used someone from downstairs. They always said the same thing, " I thought every movie had it's own room". or "I thought it was some huge VCR." gotta love those. If slots were put on the platter wouldn't the print be uneven. Even if the slots where close together the weight of the print will sag. What about building up. The film would hit the raised slots.  |  IP: Logged

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