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Author Topic: Modifying Aperature plates Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 03-29-2003 03:21 AM                  Hey! I'm NOT "old"! One is only as old as they think! >>> Phil  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 03-29-2003 03:26 AM                     hahahah...I edited it. Now you are going to have to edit yours to keep it on track.  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 03-29-2003 03:28 AM                  Yeah, I noticed! Hahhaahahah >>> Phil!  |  IP: Logged Paul G. Thompson The Weenie Man Posts: 4718 From: Mount Vernon WA USA Registered: Nov 2000 posted 03-29-2003 03:47 AM                     Isn't it truly amazing how shit like this can be carried away with our dirty minds? Maybe we spent too much time in the booths by ourselves...Especially us old Carbon Arc nuts. All Don was saying is he has a lightbulb problem he wants to solve. And WHAM!!!! BOHICA!!!! Oh, well. Ex-Navy strikes again..  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-29-2003 02:11 PM                     As for the dead zone below Don's scope image. At the AMC Old Pasadena 8 Theatres we had two auditoria like yours. The screens were constant-width and the scope image was masked off with a "flipperboard" that swung up to conceal the unused screen area below the projected image. This meant that we always had to make an effort to keep those presentations as "scope only" otherwise we would cause complaints when the flat trailers "fell off the bottom of the screen." This is bad theatre design, in my opinion...but, hey...life hands you a lemon, make lemonade! Installing a flipperboard masking would entail measuring the area to be covered and then fashioning a matching base out of something like plywood, painting it black and then covering it with duvetine (sp) fabric. You would then also need a few sturdy hinges and two hook-and-eye sets in order to latch the contraption in place. Sounds to me like your idea to recut plates and/or realign your lenses will still leave you with dead space...above and below the image. This will give your presentations a "letterbox" look. How very "video" of you! Plain English Warning: If you don't know what you're doing, you could end up making things worse by fiddling. My experience with the Kelmar turrets is that it is fiddly stuff at best. I was totally freaked out by how delicate the operation is. It can be a high-wire act if you're trying to do this without cancelling shows because then you have the pressure of the deadline. How experienced are you? Are you confident that you can do this without rendering the system incapable of showing scope movies for a day or two, maybe more, while you find your feet? For all I know, your turrets may be easier to deal with (than my Kelmars) but that still leaves the issue of your aperture plates -- I'm not afraid to publicly state that I screwed up my first few attempts at plate cutting. Again, it all comes down to the extent of one's experience and one's confidence in his/her ability to meet a showtime deadline (and still get a good result). It wasn't really until I got a better mentor that my skills improved. I think it's best to be shown these things than to dive right on in. It could create job trouble for you if you're not ready. But that's just my opinion; there are bound to be people who disagree with me. (Brad -- I don't know if you're still interested. This post took 20 minutes and was edited three times...er...thrice.)  |  IP: Logged Don Bruechert Mmmmmmmmm, bird! Posts: 340 From: Manitowoc, WI, USA Registered: Jan 2003 posted 03-29-2003 03:13 PM                        Quick Answer: I'm about as virginal as it gets... BUT.... I know better than to tamper with the orginal aperature plate, and we do manual lens changes so there is nothing to screw up except the extra plate.... These are jobs for midnight or weekend mornings anyway. The mother of one of the employees is making us a really nice border for the bottom. From what I heard yesterday it is done and just needs to be installed. The customers were already bitching yesterday that we had the movie framed wrong. I agree with you on the 'letterbox' concept, but customer ignorance dictates that if the image is centered on the screen they won't complain because they think it is supposed to be that way. To high or too low and "we" made a mistake.... Makes a guy want to put up a sign on the door that says "We know the movie is at the top of the screen - it is SUPPOSED to be that way!" Mark/Paul, thanks for the lamp tips. I will find out tomorrow if the ejector tabs are there, but I don't recall them. I tried using a "snot sucker" on them already, but it didn't seem to have enough suction to hold onto the lamp... (damn.. a guy has to be so careful of how he words things around here....).  |  IP: Logged Manny Knowles "What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???" Posts: 4247 From: Bloomington, IN, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 03-29-2003 03:31 PM                     I am interested to know how your new border masking was constructed. Photos? I think the real name of the "snot sucker" is an "aspirator" or perhaps just a "bulb syringe."  |  IP: Logged Don Bruechert Mmmmmmmmm, bird! Posts: 340 From: Manitowoc, WI, USA Registered: Jan 2003 posted 03-29-2003 09:56 PM                        I'm supposed to be taking some pics for the cinemania thing (or whatever it's called) anyway, so I'll just shoot a couple of that too... I know it was based on pvc pipe with a velour over the top, that can be lifted on and off if it is needed or not....  |  IP: Logged Don Bruechert Mmmmmmmmm, bird! Posts: 340 From: Manitowoc, WI, USA Registered: Jan 2003 posted 03-31-2003 12:33 AM                        Hey - even though this is the aperature thread, I have to let everybody know that I got my automation lamps changed. I found the lamps at fleet farm - they are european instrument panel lamps. I bought a couple to just try it, and when I pulled the covers off they all had the little ejector tabs you guys were talking about - it worked pretty slick! And, wouldn'tcha know it, while I was looking through drawers I have been in at least 50 times for a tube of super glue I saw someplace, I found a little baggie with 20 of the buggars in it.... and after trying to figure this whole thing out for 6 months... Hmmph! Thanks for the help!  |  IP: Logged

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