Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Upgraded FM35 losing Presence on Million Dollar Baby

This is topic Upgraded FM35 losing Presence on Million Dollar Baby in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Brian Guckian (Member # 1678) on 01-25-2005, 06:48 AM:

We've been running Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" on a normally well-behaved screen.

This has a "red dot" FM35, yet loses Presence as soon as the feature starts, and remains that way throughout the show. Our automation (Jacro GSX-2004) allows us to run OK regardless as it shuts down only when Motion is lost.

The reader is clean and aligned, and other prints are fine on this screen.

Doing a Search here I saw the very interesting discussion on AI

AI and FM35 Thread

Significantly, "Million Dollar Baby" is also a Warner film, and I see there can be issues re. print density and stock type.

My concern is that our FM35 seems to be already of the "upgraded" type, though I wasn't able to see an additional chip on the sensor board. The serial no. is 005455.

Can we get a further upgrade for this FM35, given the period that has elapsed since these problems were first brought to light?

Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 01-25-2005, 10:14 AM:

Even though you have a red dot, I think there's another upgrade after that. You should contact Component Engineering for more information.

Posted by Brian Guckian (Member # 1678) on 01-25-2005, 06:54 PM:

Thanks Ken

BTW I made a typo in above post, the automation is Jacro GSA-2004-SX. Apologies for that, and a very reliable well-designed system it is too.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 01-25-2005, 07:46 PM:

I suspect it is an issue with the silver from the silver retention process (e.g., Technicolor ENR) reportedly used for the prints, that is reflecting the sensor's light differently. These special processes leave some silver in the image area for a "look" with increased contrast and desaturated colors.

http://www.film-tech.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=001485#000000

As noted, CE may have an update.

Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 01-26-2005, 01:49 AM:

this isn't the issue i thought it would be when i clicked on the thread. but i'll note it anyways.

our print ran fine but after show end the projector would shut down before tailing out. i don't remember if it was presence or motion that the fm-37 (no upgrade available) stopped sensing, but after i replaced a stretch of tail leader that had solid black between the perfs in the srd area all was fine.

would have been messy in an interlock situation. since the automation was expecting a tail-out, the other projectors would keep running until film damage occured.

carl

Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 01-29-2005, 01:07 PM:

Just had a show this morning that stopped in the middle. Ran fine on a different projector yesterday. It is losing presence.

Posted by Brian Guckian (Member # 1678) on 01-30-2005, 03:26 PM:

Thanks for the info, much appreciated...getting details on possible upgrades as we speak.

Posted by Paul Konen (Member # 41) on 06-22-2005, 10:15 PM:

Just encountered another projector losing presence on these failsafes. I've already replaced 3 this year. They are about 6 years old. This projector played the other film (Sisterhood) fine, but the shared print (SW:EP3) has presence problems.

Has anyone else had failures recently?

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 06-23-2005, 12:13 AM:

I, too, think there is another upgrade after the red dot.
You should check into that.

Another thing. How clean is the thing?
Every once in a while, they need to be taken off and given a bath with some alcohol and a Q-Tip. (Don't use lens cleaner or anything with blue dye in it.)

Even if cleaning it doesn't solve the problem completely it will, at least, help minimize the problem. It can help you get by until you have a chance to order replacements.