Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Victoria 8 MI rewind howto

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Posted by Patrick de Groot (Member # 858) on 03-17-2004, 02:32 PM:

It should be possible to rewind using this projector (it has a motor on the upper spindle). However, it is not connected...
How should I make this work and how do you rewind a film in this manner (do you have to unthread the projector?)

Posted by Antonio Marcheselli (Member # 373) on 03-17-2004, 04:38 PM:

The MI version of projectors are very common in Italy. The rewind is fully automatic, with no additional operation from the projectionist. However the rewind speed is about 32fps. The purpose of the rewind is to have two projectors: the first shows the first part of the movie while the second one is rewinding at 32fps. After the automatic changeover the first projector starts rewinding and so on.

I saw a projector from Cinemeccanica where you can rewind at full speed the print on the projector, after you have unthread the projector.

Hope that this helps

Bye
A

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 03-17-2004, 05:05 PM:

We had a pair of Vic 8's in the old main theatre at the Avco in Westwood, Ca.. That was before they got platters. The main house was set-up to run 12K reels with an auto change-over and rewind on the projector. Or you could run it on 6K's so it could be run in the upstairs theatres without changing reels.

Posted by Per Hauberg (Member # 529) on 03-17-2004, 06:47 PM:

In one of our nearby first-runs, the Regina Theatre of Aarhus, two top-condition Westars were taken out 1972 and replaced by 2 Vic 8mi with punchcard automation and 9.000 feet reels. The manager was so impressed by his buy, that he decided to put the booth downstairs in a glass cage behind 32nd raw, so that audiences could watch the projectionist-free booth at work - They could hear it, too - especially when one projector was running normally, while the other went backwards on high speed. And that was not the only trouble: Sitting down there, the projectors had to use periscope mirrors to get the picture over the custumer's heads. The mirrors took about 40 % of the light, a good deal of the focus, too, and together with the less picture-steadiness on Victoria versus the old Westrex machines, they had to go down from 45 to 35 feet scope after lots of complaints over bad picture quality. Last, but not least, the projectionist believed so much in the "no projectionist needed" sign, that he stayed outside for the first three or four weeks. Film down and up again three times a day for a month without reload and cleaning. -After a few more weeks, that was the end of a brand new "The Sting" print. Horray !
Nevertheless: when given normal maintenance, the monster booth worked ok. I guess, this was the first danish attempt to automation. -Everything was done by the punchcard: dimming, drawing curtains, projector start, c/o and rewind - through projector with film door opened - but to change from tape recorder to film sound, the projectionist had to push a button in the remote box in the auditorium. Happy new world !

Posted by Ken McFall (Member # 845) on 03-17-2004, 07:46 PM:

I worked in two cinemas with the reversable Vic 8's. Odeon Kensington and the Lumier St Martins Lane, now closed.

We never actually used the reverse as such but in the Lumier at least it all worked perfectly.

In reverse mode the gate was pulled open, the sound drum was driven in reverse and the top spindle was driven. The floating flange spools made for a very gentle and smooth take-up. The whole thing made a lot of noise as it changed mode..... but it did work!

The projectors at The Lumier were two very nice examples of the Vic 8, quiet and very steady. It would have been interesting to see how they managed with 70mm in reverse? The only bad thing about them was the vertical 2500w double mirror lamphouse. That was changed later for a 4000w horizontal lamphouse.

I had the dubious pleasure of removing them when the Lumier closed and installing them again, after removing all of the reversible parts.

Looking back it was a sledge hammer to crack a nut but then it must have seemed amazing.

Regards.

Posted by Demetris Thoupis (Member # 833) on 03-18-2004, 03:01 AM:

I did that on 3 Victoria 5 Projectors.
You need an extra roller, a three phase motor, belt, someone to fix the upper shaft so that belt can be attached to it and then you install a switch which switches from A-B. When the switch is in possition A and you start the projector the projector begins playing the film. When the switch is in position B the projectors' main motor is dissengaged and the rewind motor begins to turn. Here in Cyprus I did it on three screens and it worked fine. Saved the projectionists a lot of hastle since mostly we are using Changeovers here and spools. I don't know if it is going to work though on Victoria 8. I have not heard that Cinemeccanica actually incorporates a rewind motor (full speed). I know they have for reverse playing the film for studio projectors. Anyway.
Good Luck
Demetris