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» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Film Handlers' Forum   » Wikipedia page for the DP70 (Page 2)

 
This topic comprises 3 pages: 1  2  3   
Author Topic: Wikipedia page for the DP70
Steve Kraus
Film God

Posts: 4094
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: May 2000

- posted 03-02-2014 11:03 AM      Profile for Steve Kraus     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Great article. Do you really want to credit Mike Todd as inventor of Todd-AO? Perhaps Dr. Brian O'Brien and American Optical sponsored by Todd.

Did Todd really care if the projectors could project regular movies? I know he made a point of making his "events" very unlike going to an ordinary movie (allegedly popcorn was forbidden) and with the prospects of shows running many months before making way for the next Todd-AO spectacle I'm not sure, unless he was thinking of Todd-AO reductions.

EDIT TO ADD:

You probably need to correct the part about using a variac to regulate speed for silent movie speeds. What is needed is an inverter that can vary the frequency. In some cases this requires replacing the motor with one that doesn't mind the odd waveform; in other cases the inverter output is a decent enough sine wave that a regular motor can handle.

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Thomas Hauerslev
Master Film Handler

Posts: 451
From: Copenhagen, Denmark
Registered: Aug 2000

- posted 03-02-2014 11:58 AM      Profile for Thomas Hauerslev   Author's Homepage   Email Thomas Hauerslev   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Mike Todd & Brian O'Brien and Todd-AO: http://www.in70mm.com/news/2003/todd_ao_birth/index.htm

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

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

- posted 03-03-2014 10:42 AM      Profile for Leo Enticknap   Author's Homepage   Email Leo Enticknap   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Noted - thanks - will update again soon.

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Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 03-03-2014 11:04 AM      Profile for Gordon McLeod   Email Gordon McLeod   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote "(though a separate head assembly is required for 35mm magnetic" actually they supplied a 10 track head as standard for years as they also did for the DP75
And the head mount was the weakest designed assembly as it had no azimuth adjustment of any quality

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

- posted 03-03-2014 12:05 PM      Profile for Steve Guttag   Email Steve Guttag   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Given the way the Phillips head was made...what difference would azimuth would have made...the alignment of the head cores themselves was a bit wanting.

Teccon made a special version (at no additional cost) of their head for the Noreloc/Kinoton projectors...they shaved the mount on the head in half and then mounted a metal dowel pin to that so the head could have an azimuth adjustment but without danger of messing up the zenith of the head. Worked exceptionally well.

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Rick Raskin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1100
From: Manassas Virginia
Registered: Jan 2003

- posted 03-03-2014 12:29 PM      Profile for Rick Raskin   Email Rick Raskin   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Leo Enticknap
Thomas's site says 1963, but I've found one or two other places that say 1966.
1966 is incorrect. I ran AAII machines in 1964 at the demolished Beltway Plaza in Greenbelt, Maryland. I recall that Ballantyne was selling a complete package back then that included the AAII and their transistorized sound system.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 03-03-2014 01:08 PM      Profile for Mark Gulbrandsen   Email Mark Gulbrandsen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
There was a 1966 version of the DP-70 for sure and it is the subject of a four page brochure. Changes to the plastic rollers (white material to black material) and a few other insignificent refinements. Probably more marketing hype than any other aspect to try to get more sales. I have been through so many of these projectors that it's very difficult to actually find any of the 1966 refinements other than the black rollers.

I personally don't think any mention of the development of Todd-AO belongs on the DP-70 page. That deserves a page all of it's own with a link on the DP-70 page. It's a fascinating story in it's own right.
quote: Steve Kraus
You probably need to correct the part about using a variac to regulate speed for silent movie speeds. What is needed is an inverter that can vary the frequency. In some cases this requires replacing the motor with one that doesn't mind the odd waveform; in other cases the inverter output is a decent enough sine wave that a regular motor can handle.
Exactly! You can't do that because they are synchronous motors. It takes a three phase motor powered from an invertor(single to three phase) to do that. At a previous job we bought a bunch of DP-70 that had no motors. So this was my solution to that. This is a three phase inverter drive motor.

I made a few changes to the paragraph about the motors. Would someone please go in and check my spelling and punctuation?

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Sam D. Chavez
Film God

Posts: 2153
From: Martinez, CA USA
Registered: Aug 2003

- posted 03-03-2014 03:06 PM      Profile for Sam D. Chavez   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The original blue colored heads were a real weak spot. Very soft and the difference in the gaps between channels were visible so azimuth would have been pointless. Teccon's were the best thing to happen to these projectors in the '80's.

The response to this thread has been amazing. We all love this machine.

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Rick Raskin
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1100
From: Manassas Virginia
Registered: Jan 2003

- posted 03-03-2014 03:50 PM      Profile for Rick Raskin   Email Rick Raskin   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
They are truly the Cadillac of projectors.

I added some text about the water cooled gate.

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Steve Kraus
Film God

Posts: 4094
From: Chicago, IL, USA
Registered: May 2000

- posted 03-03-2014 08:32 PM      Profile for Steve Kraus     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I have a couple of ten track heads stashed away. I think they're from Chicago's Cinestage. This one says installed 4/7/64.

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Sam D. Chavez
Film God

Posts: 2153
From: Martinez, CA USA
Registered: Aug 2003

- posted 03-03-2014 08:48 PM      Profile for Sam D. Chavez   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The 4 track heads look to be unused as expected.

I just got some used ones from Randy Pryde today.

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

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

- posted 03-03-2014 10:52 PM      Profile for Leo Enticknap   Author's Homepage   Email Leo Enticknap   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Thanks everyone. Tweaks and cleanups done as follows:

1. Paragraph about Todd specifying that the machine had to be dual gauge replaced with "A core objective of the project was to create a single machine that could project both the Todd-AO 5/70 format and the 4/35 format which was, and was likely to remain, the dominant standard for theater exhibition."

2. "Though a separate head assembly is required for 35mm magnetic" deleted.

3. The features section has been split into subsections (it was getting a bit long).

4. Minor tweaks to Mark's and Rick's additions for consistency of style with the rest of the text.

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
I personally don't think any mention of the development of Todd-AO belongs on the DP-70 page. That deserves a page all of it's own with a link on the DP-70 page. It's a fascinating story in it's own right.
I think it needs a mention, because the machine was invented in the first place as part of the Todd-AO project. In the article as it currently stands, Todd-AO is only mentioned substantively in two sentences, and includes a link to the main Todd-AO page. So I hope it doesn't veer too far off topic.

All we need now are some pics...

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 03-04-2014 06:32 PM      Profile for Mark Gulbrandsen   Email Mark Gulbrandsen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
It's looking good! How do we add pictures to that page? I have some good internal pictures but I'll leave the external original looking shots to some one else. I also have a lot of updated shots with various sound readers and DTS in place of penthouse, etc.

A line or two perhaps with a link to a more comprehensive story of it. Perhaps linked to Thomas's page.

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Leo Enticknap
Film God

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

- posted 03-04-2014 10:52 PM      Profile for Leo Enticknap   Author's Homepage   Email Leo Enticknap   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Thomas's site is linked in the "external links" section at the bottom. Couldn't think of any others to add. In terms of the bibliography, I'm not sure if Torkell Sætervadet's projection manual mentions the DP70 specifically (my copy is still in shipping from Britain to the US, along with all my other books), but I'll add that when I can get hold of it and if it does.

As for photos, Wikipedia is very picky about copyright - you have to be the actual copyright owner to upload them. Having the copyright owner's permission is not enough (I once had a pic taken down by moderators that I was given to upload by someone else, with their permission), because they want you to grant a Creative Commons license, blah blah blah. They have to be uploaded by the actual owner.

Paul Rayton has kindly invited me to take some in the booth of the Egyptian the next time I'm in LA, and so I'll do that and put them into the page when I get a chance.

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Ben Wales
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 602
From: Southampton. England
Registered: Jul 99

- posted 03-06-2014 04:36 PM      Profile for Ben Wales   Email Ben Wales   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Sam D. Chavez
The response to this thread has been amazing. We all love this machine.
Great reading about this and having a DP70 at Home and seeing it everyday is always something to look forward too after a days hard work.

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