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Author Topic: Tips on screening rooms Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-04-2007 10:13 PM                     Here is some of the stuff that I used to use. I still have one pair of SA's and the pair of MTM dubbers.... I think this is the "Home Alone" pair of projectors. I have to give credit to Steve Kraus for comming up with the all in one idea on the Century. This was the first time I used the "Warnerphponic" Century sound reproducers. They still had the original 3-track heads in them... one was S/N 001! I still have that mag head although it is pretty worn. Some nights on John Hughes films we went through anywhere from 20K to 40K feet of film on them... literally hours of dailies! You could re-thread them and be ready for the next c/o in about a minute once you got used to them. Ultimately there would be 7 sets of these built. All of them survive to this day. This is the first production set of projectors as used on "Free Willy-2" shot on Lopez Island. This pair is installed in Houston.  |  IP: Logged Richard Fowler Film God Posts: 2392 From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 12-05-2007 07:07 AM                     Serviced some of Mark's machines in Florida. We had next to no problems...only the operator (Who had no clue what he was running) on one production which we had switched to an experienced dailies projectionist.  |  IP: Logged Bill Gabel Film God Posts: 3873 From: Technicolor / Postworks NY, USA Registered: Jan 2002 posted 12-05-2007 10:25 AM                     quote: Steve Beverly I bought it was because of the Mitchell Cope Screening Room pictorials here Isn't his room a Private Home Screening Room? It's a nice looking room from the pictures, but as Mark said those projectors wouldn't be a good choice for working with todays film makers at any budget. They used those types of projectors in the days you where stuck in the middle of nowhere and needed to see the footage. That was many moons ago. I work with many film makers here in NYC on all types of budgets and dallies. The Screening Room I run is in Times Square and fits the needs of the modern film maker for film and digital.  |  IP: Logged Steve Beverly Film Handler Posts: 83 From: El Paso, Tx., Registered: Nov 2007 posted 12-05-2007 10:49 PM                     Well GREAT news, I was able to cancel the deal on the A.V.E., it cost me $25 bucks but well worth the price to not make a catastrophic mistake. Now here is the Super Simplex I am looking at, it is in my price: Here is the info on the projection system: The system includes the following items: * Super Simplex Projector - reconditioned, and in excellent condition. Less than 30 hours since reconditioning. The reconditioning included new gate components, shutter, bearings, sprockets, intermittent movement, etc. This machine is like-new. It comes with a 1.85 aperture plate. * Simplex Four Star Soundhead - Works well, and sounds great, low flutter and wow. Cosmetically, not the prettiest, but otherwise in good condition. * Exciter Lamp Power Supply - a good ol’ analog unit mounted in the film transport rack with a front panel switch provided on the transport control panel. The supply could power two exciter lamps, if required. * Spare Exciter Lamp - call us paranoid, but we like spare bulbs! * ORC 1000 Xenon Lamp House - Self contained, no external power supply required. The bulb in the lamp house is quite young and bright. * Spare Xenon Bulb - in original packaging. * Pedestal for projector, soundhead, and lamp ? re-wired, cast iron base, dolly included. * Custom Built Film Transport System - constructed for the purpose of showing complete features with a single projector. Far simpler than a platter system, and better for the film. The transport is build around two classic 10, 000 ft Cinerama reels and a pair of projector reel arms. The system allows reel-to-reel showing and rewind, and handles both the Cinerama reels as well as standard reels. This system can be used in place of a make-up table for print assembly/breakdown. The take-up motor is a high quality, quiet, high-torque worm gear motor, and the rewind motor is a high-speed torque motor with variable tension control. A small amount of hold-back tension can be applied during show for smooth film transport. Custom roller guide arms for the projector are included. * 35mm Tape Splicer with tape for print make-up. Makes nice tight splices. * Instruction Manuals - a binder with copies of the original Simplex operating and maintenance manuals is included. Also in the binder is a copy of the ORC Lamp manual, and a selection of articles on film handling and troubleshooting. * Lens - your choice of lenses (only one is included, you choose) a 100mm Snap-Lite or a 50mm Snap-Lite. A Cinemascope anamorphic is also available, but not included in the auction. * Aperture Plates: comes with 1.85 plate, full aperture plate available on request. * Lubrication Kit - a container of all the necessary lubricants for normal operation, including soundhead oil, projector oil, two oilers, and denatured alcohol for cleaning. The spare Xenon bulb is in its original packing. The Xenon bulb, the spare Exciter bulb, the Splicer, and a hardware kit come in a fiberglass road case for neat storage or transport. This system is as close to “Plug-and-Play” as you can get. The projected image is rock stable, and top quality. I routinely used a 16’ screen and filled it with a bright and beautiful image. If you need to go bigger (like for ‘movies in the park’) you need only add a higher power lamp house. Other than the sound head, no sound equipment is included. The soundhead output can feed a standard mixer/amplifier. and has 3 lenses available including an anamorphic and an extra charge: The projector comes with your choice of one of these lenses, an Isco Cinelux Ultra 50mm f2, the right or a Kollmorgen Snaplite 3.75" (95mm) f2. both are in excellent condition, clear, no mold or scratches. I also have a Cinemascope Anamorphic available. And here is the DeVry I am looking at: And here is the information on it: Self contained unit, 1000 Watt Incandescent lamp-house, 2000 Ft. Take-up, 2 new spare Display Spotlights, New DHT Lamp (plus 2 new spares!), 6 Lenses, and spare steel belt & sprocket. See photos. This is a portable 35mm projector, first commissioned by the US Navy, for entertainment and education of sailors onboard ship. Built like a battleship, of heavy-gauge "horizon grey" steel, The DeVry 35mm Projector can project a big, bright 35mm image with sound, and is easy to adjust and fix. Was designed to project for a 1500-person audience. Description of the lenses: 1. Baush & Lomb Series 1 CINEPHOR 3.25 EF 2. Kollmorgen Optical Series 1 BX-171 2.75 3. Gundlach Manhatten Optical 6 inch No. 1 4. Sunray Wollensak 5 inch Focus 5. Sunray Wollensak 4 1/4 inch Focus 6. Gundlach Manhatten Optical 5 1/2 inch The lens that is in the projector: Wollensak 3" f/1.9 Cinema Raptar Projection Lens. Comes with a full 47 page manual, power cord and 2000 ft reel. You will need an external amplifier for sound. The unit powers up, light works, but has not been tested with film. Being sold as-is condition. It costs about half of what the Simplex costs. What do you think of these for what I'm wanting to do?  |  IP: Logged Richard B. Perrine Film Handler Posts: 89 From: Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio Registered: Apr 2000 posted 12-06-2007 12:11 AM                     Boy...I don't post that often...so I had to look up my password for this. I had a set of Devry's....I'd pass on them. Good machine for interlocks.....FP-20 I took mine put torqure motors on the reels, a servo-drive to replace the orginial motor, shaft encoder to lock to the mag dubbers, and added GE sylsens to both of them (just cause I was doing everything else). FP-20 easy to add the shaft encoder or mount anything insdie the collum. Actually to the mix of dubbers...MTM, Magnasync, Magnatech 600 You may have a real apples and oranges thing here. MTM uses a quad pulse. Magnatech uses bi-phase. Magnasync I'm not sure if they ever had any drives that matched the other 2. I have Magnatech. Your MTE 600 is best to work with. Is it a 6 Track Record/play machine? if it is ...your set for a master recorder. You would them just need a shaft encoder in the projector to drive it. BUT the controller uses biphase pulses....SO to lock the MTM deck you need to convert to quad pulses (4line drive instead of just 2 line like the bi-phase) All your dubbers probably have different motor systems.... Check them... The MTE 600 will have a Seperior Electric Stepper Motor, but the Magnasync may have plain old sync motors....the only way to lock them is with selsyn motors. as Far as you Dolby goes.....replace the A cards with SR. Nobody is recording prints with Type A. It will mean a complete remix of your soundtrack form the PME stems...if you use them. Now if you want a couple of Magnatech racks to lock with yor MTE 600.....contact me. Foolish me posted my email address in the body of this email so the mods had to come in and edit it. [ 12-06-2007, 01:14 AM: Message edited by: Brad Miller ]  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 12-06-2007 01:15 AM                     Steve, I am sure there will be somebody to come argue against this post, but what you are looking at is junk. Poor equipment. Stuff you should not be bothering with. Just get yourself something like a Century SA and a portable lamphouse and stay away from the junk.  |  IP: Logged Steve Beverly Film Handler Posts: 83 From: El Paso, Tx., Registered: Nov 2007 posted 12-06-2007 02:43 AM                     I'd be happy too if I could find a Century SA with a portable lamphouse for around a grand....I doubt whether that's gonna happen but I'd love to do it. I also would love to film on the latest Panavisions but can't afford that either. I've got to make what I'm ABLE to do work. I would think maybe the reconditioned Simplex might be closer to what I need to see the film for grading, QC and focus. When I can afford better equipment, I'll upgrade, what I need now is what will work for the money I have to spend and the OTHER problem is I have to get things when the money is available because it has a funny way of evaporating. I don't need the best stuff out there, just something that will work for now, after all, nobody learns to drive at Indy so though I would love to have Mark's old set-up, I gotta deal with reality and go with the cheapest possibly solution that works....unfortunately. Now maybe none of this equipment isn't worth messing with, but there has to be a solution in that price range. I have a selsyn belt sync system that came with the Magnasync reproducers so that's what I'll have to use. They also came with a 6 Track head, but I think they only can playback, not record. I bought them from a guy who also used to do dallies screening so they were well taken care of. Here is my MTM 35/16mm dubber: The Magna Tech 600 is too big to upload so I'll reduce it and submit it later.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-06-2007 11:01 PM                     Actually some junk is very capable of putting out a better image than some of the current stuff can. All he's after is picture standard thats equal or better than SMPTE and any Super in decent condition can easily do that. There is OBVIOUSLY a budget he needs to follow but if anyone wants to sell Steve a nice SA for 500 bucks I'm sure he would jump on it. As for the Super you'd want to know what he menas by "reconditioned". To some people this means wipe the crud off and send it out the door. This Super has been on and off E-BAy for a long time. The ORC is ok for dailies because of its aluminized reflector... you basically get white light out of it and it runs on 120 volts. You can do 16fl on a 12 foot wide screen with no problem if the mirror is in decent shape..... is it? Also, is the intermittent sprocket on the Super held on by a screw and nut or with taper pins? The taper pin sprockets are NLA and you need the later LaVezzi movement to be able to use Posi-Trol sprockets. Being able to use them is a huge advantage, even on an SA since lateral guiding of the film is done by full width fitting vkf type teeth on one side of the sprocket... just like the reg pins in the movement of a 35mm camera . There are FP-20's on the cheap once in a while but again condition needs to be kown and because you are helping to keep Larry's airplane flying the parts are super expensive . As to the dubbers I always prefered MTM servo drive to Manatech. A room full of Magnatech stepper drive motors running is quite annoying after several hours... noisy dam dubbers! MTM's are silent and have alot lower wow & flutter and I also believe the electronics are of much later design and quieter.... they are how ever a little more temperamental than Magnatech. If you need any direct advice or parts for dubbers just contact Scott Sound in Burbank. Mark  |  IP: Logged Steve Beverly Film Handler Posts: 83 From: El Paso, Tx., Registered: Nov 2007 posted 12-07-2007 03:58 AM                     Well, here's what he had to say about the reconditioning: "Super Simplex Projector - reconditioned, and in excellent condition. Less than 30 hours since reconditioning. The reconditioning included new gate components, shutter, bearings, sprockets, intermittent movement, etc. This machine is like-new." I emailed him and asked If he could give me a few more details on the reconditioning. I also asked about the intermittent sprocket and the mirror. I'll see if he replies and what he has to say. My only real concern is the film transport system. It looks a little Mickey Mouse to me but if it works, it would be nice screen features with, 'course I'd have to get a make-up table, but everything in it's time.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-07-2007 11:36 AM                     Have many of almost every dubber made I rate them as follows Westrex servo drive was the best for low wow and flutter but is very very complex to service and there drive frequency originaly was not 960hz like magnatech MTM servo drive is very good but there torque motors were a little lacking when it came to handling large reels Magna Tech could be depending on its age of selsyn drive interlock converting to a stepper is the only way I know of with current drives to make them work The stepper drive does have noticably higher wow and flutter On the issue of preamps MTM has a terrible low frequency bump Westrex (later called cinemag) are very good Magna Techs are ok Innovonics made the nicest 3rd market record and playback systems that allowed 4 preset eq and level curves They are regrettably no longer made  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-07-2007 12:54 PM                     quote: Gordon McLeod Westrex servo drive was the best for low wow and flutter but is very very complex to service There are zero parts available for Westrex dubbers at all unless you scavenge from another dubber... been through that at the 15/70 theater. The bump on the MTM is easy to tame with the use of the correct type of heads. I agree on the reel servos... touchiest part of the MTM's. But they treat you good if you reciprocate. When properly set up the on machine rewind os really nice as it slows down to a crawl when the reel's almost done rewinding. Mark  |  IP: Logged Richard Fowler Film God Posts: 2392 From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 12-07-2007 01:07 PM                     Remember working a Paramount film finger pushing a MTM torque motor for 5 weeks......  |  IP: Logged Steve Beverly Film Handler Posts: 83 From: El Paso, Tx., Registered: Nov 2007 posted 12-07-2007 04:29 PM                     I received an email back, apparently the Simplex has been sold, though he said he would keep the eamil in the event the deal didn't go through. I suppose the DeVry even at 500 bills is more or less a complete waste of time right?  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 12-07-2007 06:55 PM                     You seem in such a rush.....  |  IP: Logged Steve Beverly Film Handler Posts: 83 From: El Paso, Tx., Registered: Nov 2007 posted 12-07-2007 10:42 PM                     It's just that money evaporating thing. You're right though, I do need to wait for the right deal to come along. I curb my more self destructive instincts and just wait until something come up and hopefully I'll still have the cash available to do it at the time.  |  IP: Logged

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