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» Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE   » Operations   » Digital Cinema Forum   » CBG-NATO Selects AccessIT (Page 3)

 
This topic comprises 4 pages: 1  2  3  4   
Author Topic: CBG-NATO Selects AccessIT
Barry Floyd
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1079
From: Lebanon, Tennessee, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

- posted 05-22-2008 10:02 AM      Profile for Barry Floyd   Author's Homepage   Email Barry Floyd   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I got an email from NATO yesterday explaining and detailing the "physical booth requirements" prior to the digital installation. Reading over that list... it may be awhile before I even consider converting.

24/7 External Broadband connection
Hell, we don't even have dial-up at my theatre, and there is no broadband service in our town.

Dedicated Phone Line
Another $100 a month for another business line. Is that per machine?

18" x 18" Port
Looks like we'll be knocking out concrete block for this one.

13 consecutive rack spaces in the sound rack
Oh crap.. my sound racks are 15 spaces tall. Doesn't leave alot of room for non-sync sound and transmitters.

Maintain an audio system with a minimum 5.1 sound.
For a drive-in ? I guess we'll just sum all of the 5.1 outputs down to two channel left and right for car stereo.

Port glass shall be single pane, with optical coatings to minimize flare
I guess my air curtain port blowers are gone? How do you keep the bugs off the port window glass?

Projectors require a minimum floor space of 30” wide x 72” deep. Additional clearance of 36” on sides and 36” in rear is recommended for maintenance access.
For a 12' x 12' booth.. it's gonna be a tight fit.

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 05-22-2008 10:07 PM      Profile for Mark Gulbrandsen   Email Mark Gulbrandsen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
That must be an abbreviated edition of the requirements. They left things out like power availability... For instance some of the theaters I service don't have three phase power. Exhaust blower CFM ratings, surge protection and so on down the line.

Mark

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Barry Floyd
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1079
From: Lebanon, Tennessee, USA
Registered: Mar 2000

- posted 05-23-2008 12:10 AM      Profile for Barry Floyd   Author's Homepage   Email Barry Floyd   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
It is an abbreviated list, I was just listing some of the things that I could see right off were going to cause some headaches for me.

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Tristan Lane
Master Film Handler

Posts: 444
From: Nampa, Idaho
Registered: Feb 2002

- posted 05-23-2008 12:28 AM      Profile for Tristan Lane   Email Tristan Lane   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Luckily, power requirements don't require 3 phase if a CP2000ZX or CP2000M can be used. They only require 220 single phase. Alas, I doubt they would work in your drive-in but who knows? Even it they would, I'd push for a CP2000 so you can light that screen up nice!

Exhaust could be increased with a booster fan on top of the projector.

The phone line is just for a backup connection to the LMS. Should the broadband connection go down, they will still be able to connect via modem to your LMS and then into your network.

The audio thing can be fixed. Many of the carmike sites were only center/surround and they got Rane mixers to make a 2 channel source.

I'd be interested to know if they let you keep the air curtain in lieu of the port glass.

A 12x12 booth will be fine for that projector. You'll be eliminating your platter (or both projectors if you are running c/o) You'll probably notice an increase in space.

It will be interesting to see how Christie/AIX handles the installs of these systems into older sites that have many more variables than the modern-day multiplex.

One suggestion: If you have the floor space in your office, have them place the LMS in there so you can make changes to your shows without going up to the booth. Edit: Come to think of it, would they even put an LMS in a single screen site? It seems that would be a waste of materials since you wouldn't need extra storage. And if that is the case, they should discount the fees associated with installation and maint. since there is that much less equipment to worry about.

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Louis Bornwasser
Film God

Posts: 4441
From: prospect ky usa
Registered: Mar 2005

- posted 05-23-2008 05:43 AM      Profile for Louis Bornwasser   Author's Homepage   Email Louis Bornwasser   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
None of these items is a problem. Money will fix them all. When you go digital TV, be sure you have a large supply of money handy!

For the record, the CBG is NOT a non-profit. Louis

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David Zylstra
Master Film Handler

Posts: 432
From: Novi, MI, USA
Registered: Mar 2007

- posted 05-23-2008 07:17 AM      Profile for David Zylstra   Email David Zylstra   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Tristan Lane
The phone line is just for a backup connection to the LMS.
The phone line is a requirement per DCI and I understand that Fox is NOT booking digital prints for theatres without one. Our lines are being used as the primary KDM delivery point for Deluxe and Technicolor.

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Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 05-23-2008 07:36 AM      Profile for Scott Norwood   Author's Homepage   Email Scott Norwood   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Stupid question: if (and I do mean if) the CBG deal actually comes to fruition, will members have a choice about when to do the conversion, or is it a now-or-never deal? What if an exhibitor wanted to wait a year or two (or five or ten) before converting? Would that be an option under the CBG terms?

The requirements do seem a bit onerous, especially since many exhibitors will want to retain 35mm capability and will need to cut new portholes and somehow make space for the DLP units. And isn't it premature to specify such requrements when the terms of the deal haven't even been settled yet?

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 05-23-2008 09:06 AM      Profile for Mark Gulbrandsen   Email Mark Gulbrandsen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote:
Money will fix them all. When you go digital TV, be sure you have a large supply of money handy!
Actually Louis I think its time for you to wake up!
All of our customers that have installed TV have had far far lower operating costs both in labor, maintainance, and lamps than the film systems they USED TO RUN. All of them have had ZERO problems and all of them have left the film projectors unused since the first day TV became operationsl. Just go figure too... all of these customers want more TV!

quote:
The requirements do seem a bit onerous,
Typical of what we have had to do in our installs. It would be nice if BArry would post the entire list so others here may learn from it ahead of time... BTW Barry installing D-Cinema in your tiny booth is not a problem as long as you have three phase power. All of the controls are at the rear of the projector at least with Christie so side clearance is not that much of an issue except on the lamp door side.

Mark

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Lyle Romer
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1400
From: Davie, FL, USA
Registered: May 2002

- posted 05-23-2008 09:48 AM      Profile for Lyle Romer   Email Lyle Romer   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The mailing said the information is confidential but I don't think the power requirements are confidential. It says that a 3-phase 208V 60 amp per leg circuit and a dedicated 110 V 20 Amp circuit must be available for the projector.

For the exhaust requirements it is a little more vague and says that specifications will depend upon the projector model.

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Sam D. Chavez
Film God

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

- posted 05-23-2008 10:01 AM      Profile for Sam D. Chavez   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Barco only requires 220, single Phase except for the largest model, DP-3000 which does need 3 Phase.

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David Zylstra
Master Film Handler

Posts: 432
From: Novi, MI, USA
Registered: Mar 2007

- posted 05-23-2008 11:23 AM      Profile for David Zylstra   Email David Zylstra   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote: Scott Norwood
will members have a choice about when to do the conversion
I'm guessing there may be a small window of a few years, but the way I understand AccessIT's phase 1 they had to complete ALL installs by a specific date in order to get the VPF payments (I think there was some leeway given to committed sites, but I understand there was a huge push to get them done by the deadline) - so you may be able to choose approximately when to get installed inside of a 3-5(?) year window.

quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
All of our customers that have installed TV have had far far lower operating costs both in labor, maintainance, and lamps than the film systems they USED TO RUN. All of them have had ZERO problems and all of them have left the film projectors unused since the first day TV became operationsl
This is mostly true for us as well, even with the Christie maintenance our expenses are only marginally higher - electrical usage between our original Christie lamphouses/projectors and the digitals are almost even (the difference is when both are "at rest" - the digital draws more); after we started turning ours off overnight we saw our monthly bills return close to our pre-digital usage. Our lamp costs are higher for digital, but that is because I am sizing our lamps to ensure 14FL over the life of each lamp and not by estimated lumens from the manufacturer (and it is very possible that our 35mms were under lamped for the screens, I was not involved in the initial construction)

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Mark Gulbrandsen
Resident Trollmaster

Posts: 16657
From: Music City
Registered: Jun 99

- posted 05-24-2008 09:30 AM      Profile for Mark Gulbrandsen   Email Mark Gulbrandsen   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
From what I hear the theater owners will be able to pick the installer from a list of qualified ones which may include your present dealer if he has his act together. Christie has admitted to me that being the sole installer/repair source is not the better way to go.

Mark

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Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

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

- posted 05-24-2008 09:35 AM      Profile for Steve Guttag   Email Steve Guttag   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Yeah, it does tend to make one's payroll grow exponentially. And the liklihood of getting good techs, as a percentage, goes down as one grows that big.

Steve

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Frank Angel
Film God

Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999

- posted 05-25-2008 11:09 AM      Profile for Frank Angel   Author's Homepage   Email Frank Angel   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote:

I will say again... those dealers that choose to remain in the dark ages and just continue doing film work are doomed in just a few short years. <> Digital gear can be tested on site as well before the film gear is removed and sent for scrap.
Mark, we get it....you think digital will take over the world tomorrow. And maybe we will be mostly digital at some point in time, but the actual time-frame in which this will happen is nothing but wild speculation.

Since 1999 people who supposedly were in the know (TI, George Lucas, et al) were trumpeting that same line -- film will be dead in 3-5 years. And every year after that we hear the same thing. So excuse me, but your "few short years" have stretched out much longer than the digevangelists' predictions, and as far as I can tell, those predictions were (and are) much more wishful thinking by people who have a vest interest in digital sales than they are real facts.

quote:
All of them have had ZERO problems and all of them have left the film projectors unused since the first day TV became operationsl. Just go figure too... all of these customers want more TV!
You are talking here about brand NEW equipment, much of which is barely a year old. It is a bit disingenuous to compare maintenance and service costs of a digital install to film projection equipment that has been in service for years if not decades. If there were any substantial maintenance costs for digital projection equipment this early on in the game, it would indicate monumental quality control issues if not actual design flaws.

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Sam D. Chavez
Film God

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

- posted 05-25-2008 11:48 AM      Profile for Sam D. Chavez   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
"Digevangelist". A new buzzword is coined.

There is no VPF deal and there may not be one before next year, if ever, but there are some independents cutting to the chase and spending their own money. The reason in part is to take advantage of the possibilities of alternative programing. How well running alternative content works out profit wise remains to be seen.

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