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Topic: Print Quality

Ian Bailey
Master Film Handler

Posts: 317
From: Nambucca Heads, Australia
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 01-31-2004 05:48 PM

Well focusing is now "clear as mud" to me,at least I've got a few more ideas on where to look to try and improve focus.Wouldn't it be possible for some sort of logo (or whatever) to be at the start of every movie and this logo or picture being shot with the same equipment that the movie was,and in the same "focus style"(e.g. soft or sharp).Then this could be used to get the correct focus for the rest of the movie.I know I live in a dream world but this would make life so much easier for dummies like me.Still on the focus issue why does TV/Video/DVD never seem out of focus?
As for Xenons we turn them on 15 mins before the first show and turn them off at the end of the last show-we get good hours out of our lamps before flickering starts and we have had no trouble with our lamphouses.Our turnaround times are usually 5-15 mins,we would turn it off for a no-show.

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 01-31-2004 05:59 PM

TV/DVD doesn't look out of focus because you're looking at an image that is somewhere around 1/200 the size of a theatre screen, among other possible reasons.

I took the "green band" off of an old trailer and spliced it into my house leader before the countdown starts. That way I can verify the focus ahead of time. We don't have a lens turret so this helps a lot when changing from a scope film to a flat one.

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Ian Bailey
Master Film Handler

Posts: 317
From: Nambucca Heads, Australia
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 01-31-2004 06:10 PM

Mike-do you show the count-down on the screen before the first trailer?I thought that would be a big NO-NO!
I can't see that focusing on something foreign to how the print was shot would help that much!

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Mike Blakesley
Film God

Posts: 12767
From: Forsyth, Montana
Registered: Jun 99

posted 01-31-2004 06:17 PM

Ian - no, of course not -- the countdown comes after the focus strip. I focus and then motor the film ahead to the correct starting point.

This is not a substitute for focusing the film on startup -- it's just a hedge to prevent starting "blurry," which I hate.

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Ian Bailey
Master Film Handler

Posts: 317
From: Nambucca Heads, Australia
Registered: Jun 2003

posted 01-31-2004 06:25 PM

Mike-with our tight scheduling and short turnaround times we would not have time to do this as we would be displaying the "focusing strip" to the audience for the next show!
We usually thread up while the slide advertising is running.

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Carl Martin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1424
From: Oakland, CA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 02-01-2004 02:34 AM

i had another look at our upstairs lamphouses and they are both 2k xetrons (model xh-10 according to some paperwork, though it doesn't say so on them). they both have this sticker, which gives several sensible warnings, and ends with

quote:
DO NOT OPERATE LAMP FOR MORE THAN 5 MINUTES WITH THE HAND DOWSER CLOSED.

so can anyone who uses this model lamphouse confirm that this warning is not to be taken seriously?

this is mainly for curiosity's sake, as we normally just let the automation turn the bulb on and off.

carl

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000

posted 02-01-2004 06:42 AM

Unless there are some particular cooling issues with this model of lamphouse, it should be safe to run the lamp with the hand douser closed more-or-less forever. If there really is a danger of overheating on these lamphouses, then they would be no good in a changeover installation.

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Jon Miller
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 973
From: San Diego, CA, USA
Registered: Sep 1999

posted 02-01-2004 09:55 AM

Carl--maybe the dowser is the same as the one I've seen on the XCN-35 console: just a flat disk of steel with a piece of steel mesh attached to it. Doesn't work well for heat dissipation.

The Christie H20 lamphouse (at least the circa-1979 model I am familiar with) had what looked like a chunk of asbestos on the main dowser plate. While it worked quite well, such an approach would not fly today for reasons well-known.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

posted 02-01-2004 10:45 AM

There are other things that can be used on dowsers today in place of asbestos. Refractory materials are extremely heat resistant and are typically used in place of asbestos. It also wouldn't cost all that much for a piece of Titanium that size for use on a dowser. Hevan forbid that someone actually build something to last though.
Mark @ CLACO

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