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Author Topic: Need Advice on Uninstalling Projectors Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-06-2004 01:17 PM                        Joshua -- sounds like a fun project! I wish I had the space for a "real" home theatre like that. Someday.... As for power: The Dolby box doesn't take much, but the amps will need a few amps each at full power. Same for the projector motors. Power for the booth monitor, exciter supplies, etc. will be negligible. Will you be running the lamphouses at 120v or 220v? Don't forget to plan for work lights, threading lamps, exciter supply, etc. Not sure on the AW3 or the Kelmar, but the amount of power consumed won't be much. You will want separate circuits for sound, projector motors, lamps, changeovers, and "other stuff" (platter, etc.) in addition to your usual room circuit for outlets, work lights, rewind bench, etc. As discussed in another thread, you might want to consider a UPS for the processor and (if you will be adding them later) digital systems. You might want to consider separate circuits for house and stage lights (maybe get red and/or blue lights to illuminate the screen, unless you will have a curtain. That way, you can dim the lights independently of each other. If you have a Kelmar dimmer (or similar), you will probably want controls in the house as well as the booth. I'm surprised that William hasn't told you to be sure to stock up on urns for decoration and a WurliTzer organ for silent film accompaniment.  |  IP: Logged William Hooper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1879 From: Mobile, AL USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-07-2004 02:39 AM                        quote: Scott Norwood I'm surprised that William hasn't told you to be sure to stock up on urns for decoration No, no! Wrong decorative motif! Urns don't belong there any more than in Radio City Music Hall or the Hollywood Pantages! He's recreating the Auburn Hippodrome, & the central motif is posts! Potted palms on either side of the screen would be appropriate, though, especially if they're fake like the ones sold in theater supply catalogs of the 1920s & teens. The wainscoting on the wall & stamped tin ceiling panels are auxilliary. Besides, the walls & ceiling will likely be consumed with a probably lifelong project of getting some kind of handle on the acoustics in that room. first place to focus will be the back wall, which will be an interesting double wall to isolate the booth in the back, & have isolation behind a stuffed diaphragmatic wall to isolate the auditorium on that side. The low ceiling (next problem) will make stuff difficult for the space lost if a suspended ceiling is hung. Likely it would have to end some distance from the screen which won't interfere with sightlines, & the section leading from the bare ceiling near the screen to the beginning of the suspended ceiling will need to be ramped at least 45 degrees & acoustical tiles installed there. A painted curtain would be nice, like the one at the Meridian Strand Sheesh, I hate that valance, they should have just omitted it. But curtains & motors are expensive, & besides, the Hippodrome had no curtain & likely just showed scenic slides between shows. So it would be cheaper just to buy a Kodak Ektagraphic slide projector off of eBay, & some glass theater scenic & coming attraction slides which often go for just $2.00, & photograph them onto 35mm slides to run before the movie. Outlay less than $100, masking is likely to be manual, anyway. I've been thinking about getting some equipment together to take some shows to some venues, & working hard on the front end -- an absence of a curtain is abominable, but as I was thinking about one of the venues, an Egyptian-themed interior, I was thinking it would be perfect to have a painted curtain with heiroglyphics on it, & an effects projector to have flames dancing up from the bottom, then thought of just projecting them on it via a slide projector, then thought of Frank Angel's preference for light, cream-colored curtains, that would be reflective & flexible, & you could change the slide for different themed shows, heck, it's not as wonderful, but you could do away with lugging curtains, motor, & curtain track just by using 2 Eketagraphic slide projectors right on the screen, one to project a themed 'curtain', the other modified as an effects projector. For a 'curtain' for Egyptian theatre, project a stationary slide of a wall of heiroglyphics, & the effects projector provides dancing flames at the bottom. A different-themed interior for example could be a stationary pastoral Greek landscape, & slowly drifting clouds across it. Add appropriate pre-show music & lights aimed up & out behind the top of the screen, & voila, instant classic atmospheric theatre front end. Minus the visual interest of curtain pleats & movement, but you sometimes can't have everything. quote: Scott Norwood and a WurliTzer organ for silent film accompaniment Sheesh, Wurlitzers are hard to work on, & I'd hate to foist that on a newbie! A Robert Morton would be better, & a Wicks not as tonally delicious but reliable & easily serviced. I've seen nice little 4 or 6 rank Wicks TO's going on eBay for about $2,000, some not sold. But that theatre's a little small even for a 4 rank TO. If you look at the Hippodrome, down there at house left behind the all-important posts is an upright grand piano. If he doesn't play, he could get an ugly-duckling upright (not spinet!) player piano off eBay for $300 or so if he picks it up. A roll would only get him through a short 1-reeler, though. There were special roll players for addition to player pianos in theatres which ran the same rolls made for Photoplayers (odd organ-piano combo things with one or two high-capacity roll players); they were themed for Comedy, Drama, etc. You can't get that length of music in a standard player piano roll, so if you were intent on it, you'd have to either get a photoplayer, an outboard roll player, a small organ with roll player, or buy one of those new floppy or CD-based storage media player add-ons for a standard piano like Pianomation. Best just to get a player piano, & use it for appropriate pre-show music, like a piano transcription of the classic curtain raiser Poet & Peasant Overture by Suppe'.  |  IP: Logged Joshua Waaland Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 800 From: Cleveland, Ohio Registered: Dec 1999 posted 10-07-2004 06:48 AM                     William, If you are into organs I wish you could see my neighbors house. He is 82 years old and can hardly get around anymore, but he used to repair organs for a living. He said he didn't get into the big theater type organs as much and that he mainly just repaired home type organs. He has 3 in his garage, 2 in his living room and 2 in his basement. Sometimes he is up until 11pm playing those things. Even though our houses are probably 50 feet apart and the windows are closed, that sound really carries. Anyhow he took me into his basement to see one that he built himself. The sides are made of plywood and aren't that much to look at, but the real jaw dropper is all the electronics he put into it. He made all the circuitry himself. He showed me one board in particular that he had to make 61 identical of just to make a reverb or something. There are so many boards in it it is amazing. There are wires bundled up neatly going in every direction. It looked like something from Nasa inside. On the front panel he has (guessing) about 300 pushbuttons from computers on both sides, 2 keyboards, and about 150 pull knobs. This thing is unbelievable. He also has a plastic etcher so he has plastic bezels on all the knobs which identify what they are. I know nothing about organs (or really care to for that matter) but I was floored by his ingenuity and handiness. Maybe he will let me take a picture of it someday and I can send it to you. Josh  |  IP: Logged William Hooper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1879 From: Mobile, AL USA Registered: Jun 99 posted 10-08-2004 03:47 AM                        quote: Joshua Waaland Sometimes he is up until 11pm playing those things. Even though our houses are probably 50 feet apart and the windows are closed, that sound really carries. You need to construct a diaphone. That'll teach him. The diaphone was invented as an organ stop by theatre organ originator Robert Hope-Jones. http://www.terrypepper.com/lights/closeups/fogsignal/diaphone/diaphone.htm The mechanism was easily & quickly adapted to produce foghorns. The neat thing about the diaphone is that its tuning (note) is not so closely tied to the physics of the opening of a pipe's mouth or a reed inside, but by the oscillation of a valve. It operates horizonatlly, vertically, diagonally, just about any way you want to position it. Scale can go from 8' to 64'. The resonator (the long "pipe" part) doesn't have to be very brilliantly designed if you're not particularly interested in making a rank of notes of particular quality, but just want to make a noise with it. There are picures of the beaters (mechanical part) of the rank of huge 64' diaphones at the Atlantic City Convention Hall at http://www.acchos.org/html/main_organ/stoplist1_1.html Unseen attached above each of the beaters is a resonator (pipe) 64' tall. The lady on this page says it shook her insides. What more could you want?  |  IP: Logged

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