Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Automatic starts

This is topic Automatic starts in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Kenny McCormick (Member # 1802) on 08-02-2003, 04:05 PM:

I was wondering how all you veteran projectionists felt about the use of autostarts as a common practice. We (all projectionists) use them at my place of business but it is against company policy. I use them but only becuase I feel that I work hard enough and make up for it with the other booth work I am getting done while I am working. I do not use them to be lazy and consider them a valuable tool...however I want to hear other opinions from you folks.

Posted by Alexander Smith (Member # 1769) on 08-02-2003, 08:12 PM:

At the six screen site where I work, we rely on autostarts (Strong CNA-200).
The company doesn't have a policy on this. I'd use autostarts regardless,
considering some of the timetables we run. Our customers expect the right show
at the right time.
We have a simple system to ensure that shows are checked as they start, or ASAP
after they start. We also keep records so we can prove that we checked these shows.
Most days it is only one projectionist on duty, except Thursdays.

Hope this helps.

Alex.

Posted by Daniel Burns (Member # 1549) on 08-02-2003, 08:34 PM:

I've ran 8-30 screens by myself and never once found it necessary to use automatic starts. Sure I've used them, but it was because i was being lazy that day, not because it was necessary. You can always thread fast enough to keep up with starts, thats just an excuse for using them. There are all sorts of problems that may occur when any given projector starts, and that is why it is necessary for us to monitor the start for all projectors. It's not hard for any one person to be there when it starts.

Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 08-02-2003, 08:47 PM:

I'm no veteran, but we don't use them either. I either run 8 or 12 screens depending on the shift, and I still find plenty of time to build-up/take-down and run to the food court in the mall. I ran all 20 one day, and that can be a little hectic. I was wondering why at a 6 screen you'd rely on them so much? Unless they ALL started at the same exact time...

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-02-2003, 08:54 PM:

Auto start timers are an ideal feature of any professional booth. I say professional because if the theater is hiring kids who can't or don't want to learn how to thread properly and in frame, etc. then those guys need to be there when the show starts and it is not a professional booth IMHO. For a booth staffed with professionals, then there is no problem with it at all and it allows them to operate the booth to a greater efficiency. For example, let's say a projector breaks down and the projectionist needs to do a quick repair, he can't if he is off trying to start shows manually. Print buildup nights, trailer changing nights, etc. offers the projectionist the ability to multi-task, saving time and the employeer payroll money. Simply put, the only time automatic starts are a bad thing is when a booth is not being ran by professionals.

Now if there is nothing else urgent going on at the time, then by all means the projectionist should make an attempt to be there when it starts, or at least during the trailer pack before the feature starts. For that matter I am a firm believer in the "20 minute policy", where the projectionist must check each screen's presentation every 20 minutes to ensure a quality show, so by no means misinterpret this as my claiming that timers mean the projectionists shouldn't be checking on the shows anyway. However when situations arise, having timers keeps the shows running smoothly and on time. Hey, those projectionists gotta [bs]

sometime!

Posted by Don Bruechert (Member # 1538) on 08-02-2003, 11:30 PM:

We don't have true automatic in our 6 screen, but we do have remote start buttons down at the box that also serve as status indicators and emergency stop buttons. I use them on rare occasion when it is really hectic and I need to be down at the box for some reason and a film is supposed to be starting - us manager/projectionist combos need to be everywhere at once, and the owner likes to screw up and have multiples starting at once on occasion. I will use them because I trust myself to be able to frame and focus correctly, and I got in the habit when I started of always checking my brain after lacing up, so a brain wrap, while not impossible is unlikely. I do admit that when doing remote starts I am paranoid until I can get into the booth and check on things after. Of course they don't all work either - the autostrike is broken on one of our projectors so you have to be up there to start the lamp manually, and it would be the one near the top of the tower....

Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 08-02-2003, 11:39 PM:

The only time I ever use the timer is when I am screening a print and I dont want to miss anything, so I set the timer for one minute and run down to the auditorium.

I have to agree with Brad and DB, anything can go wrong and someone should always be there when the show starts. Of course some people are there when the movie starts and still don't try to fix anything.

I would say that unless you are 99 percent confident in your skills as a projectionist, I would not use them.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 08-02-2003, 11:40 PM:

I agree with what Brad wrote. The timer start saved us a number of times because it freed us from having to run across the whole booth to start a movie while we were repairing something else. If possible, the projectionist should of course always attend the start, but it can be a great help.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 08-03-2003, 12:11 AM:

I have two booths where I encourage the use of the auto-start feature. Both of those locations have competent projectionists working with all their equipment in one room.

Then there's this other location -- we call it "the bunker" -- with six projectors in four separate rooms. Nothing ever seems to be in full working order...In short, I wouldn't trust the timers in that place. Too many reasons to say "no."

The good news is that we're moving out of that place into a brand new building...If only we'd break ground already!

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 08-03-2003, 12:24 AM:

in a perfect world I would trust timers. But this is not a perfect world so I must rely on 3 things. My Brain, My watch and a walkie talkie. [Smile]

Posted by John Scott (Member # 520) on 08-03-2003, 02:57 AM:

Having at one point managed a complex with ELF Platters and automatic starts, I am of the strong opinion that the auto starts should NOT be used. While it can be a time and labor saver under ideal circumstances, I found that it often just leads to lazy booth operators, poor presentation, dirty projectors, and show-stopping problems.

After discussion with my city manager at the time, we disabled the auto-starts, and were lucky enough to get the ELF decks replaced with normal platter decks.

With needing someone up there to start and thread every show, the vast majority of our problems stopped.

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 08-03-2003, 12:13 PM:

I believe this topic has been discussed before. I don't allow it. I want an operator to start, check frame and focus, sound, and platter function before walking away. I have found two things to be true:

First, Murphy's Law. It's good to have an operator there to deal with a situation at the time it occurs.

Two, Human Nature. I find just when operators are beginning to feel invincible, that's when a mistake happens.

Posted by Greg Pauley (Member # 503) on 08-03-2003, 12:59 PM:

I think the fear listed in some of the posts above is the reason I found that when I used timers we had fewer human errors. I was managing a 7 plex and wrote a program in dos along with some external hardware and had the system start the projectors and control the heating/ac systems. I had some of the same fears mentioned above, but what I found was quite different. What I found was people double and triple checking their threading and framing a lot closer because of the fear they wouldn’t be there when the film started. And most of the time you were always standing by the projector waiting for it to start anyway, and the film ended up getting checked two or three times instead of once. If you had problems in another booth or had multiple start times, having the auto start was a nice feature. Other than a problem with the automation cycling in the middle of one show (due to my programming error) I never had any bad experience with auto start as far as damaged prints or things of that nature. I would agree with Brad that a professional booth should not have any problems with timers, but a lot of the booths today are not run in a professional manner and the younger projectionist are not getting the basic training that most of us older guys received. If I would have started a movie out of frame when I was being trained by some of the old guys I would have been slapped up side the head and called a “Rum Dummy [beer]

”, which I was called on several occasions.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-03-2003, 03:49 PM:

BTW, for you CA21 users out there, something we have been doing is to program two 2 second delays on lines 1-2, then your "motor on" or "auto start" on line 4. This way whenever you hear 3 beeps 2 seconds apart it means to get off your butt and go double check the start of the movie. It's fantastic to not have to constantly be staring at your watch and be audibly reminded of a start. At the feature cue, we put a 1 second delay before the "house down" line. Similarly with this, when you hear two beeps one second apart, you know something is starting the feature and to go check it out. [thumbsup]

For non-CA21 users, I would check out Neumade's radio talking automation thing that was shown on their ShoWest video this year.

Posted by Kris Brunton (Member # 432) on 08-03-2003, 11:02 PM:

The CineQ automations are a great tool in a large booth. Not only advising of show starts they will advise trailer to feature change, credits rolling, show end, projector alarm, house alarm and projector not ready alarms. They will iterface easily with most all radios on the market. We have used Motorolas for all of our installs.

The automation even has an interface to set masking limits from the booth [thumbsup]

I also strongly agree with an operator being at the projector for show starts.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 08-04-2003, 08:23 AM:

As Brad says, automation in a projection room run in a PROFESSIONAL manner can be a great help when things get busy. But it certainly requires the ability to thread/lace in frame, and to be sure there won't be a problem when the show starts itself. "PROFESSIONAL" also means the projectionist will check several times during each show to be sure there are no problems with focus, framing, sound, light miscues, etc.