quote: Demetris Thoupis

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Also manual lens change is much faster than automatic.

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quote: Demetris Thoupis

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Closing the douser of the projector only causes light to be hiting the douser. Even if it is only for a few seconds, we have all seen what burned out dowsers look like! I believe that it would be more suitable in closing the lamphouse shutter instead of the dowser of the projector. Also manual lens change is much faster than automatic.

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quote: William T. Parr

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However on a Century SATA of mid to late 80's vintage and newer Simplex Millenums it only takes 2.4 seconds to rotate the turret and change the apperture plate. Lots faster than doing a manual lens change.

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I don't have an exact rotation time, but I want to say the Kinoton turrets are faster than this and as an added bonus they automatically close the douser during a lens change, so no opaque leader is needed. Also the Kinoton turrets do not drift! They are the only turrets I've ever worked with that do not suffer this common problem. However expect to spend some extra time setting them up with a set of binoculars since there is only one focus knob. It takes a bit of work to get them both dead on in focus with each other, but it can be done.
 

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Posted by Lindsay Morris (Member # 1430) on 02-14-2006, 01:31 AM:
 
After my switch from a pair of Simplex Standards to the Century CC & MUTT I wondered just how was the best for me to do the format changes.
Another long established outdoor in Perth splices in 10 secs worth of black leader and does the lens/aperure shuffle on a black screen. If the operator on did not feel comfortable with that they actually used to come to a grinding halt, change the lens and then get going again.
I could not readily find any black leader but had heaps of dark blue stuff cut off from the excess tails on many prints.
Without a lens the screen takes on a nice blue look with the big bullseye in the middle as if the screen is illuminated with a flood lamp.
So after some trial and error I worked out that 10 secs was more than enough to do the change on the Century particularly as I have set it back a bit more than normal from the front wall thus getting the scope assembly in or out is really easy.
Where I have to do a format change I splice in the 10 sec blue leader which has a muted soundtrack and note on the running sheet the spot where the change must be made in the program.
Some nights I have had 2 format changes (WS-Scope-WS) depending upon what trailers and feature I am running.
As the point comes near I loosen the lens clamp and as most trailers have a short credit roll on the end I do the aperture change quickly on that and as soon as the screen goes blue whip the lens out and slip the other one in and clamp up the lens barrel and usually I am well ahead of the blue ending.
As I have 100mm barrels with keyed adapters for the lens I spent a lot of time getting each lens barrel (3 of them WS, Scope and Academy)all exactly spot on so the focus is quite good on any change.
At times a slight tweak is all that is needed to sharpen it up.

Initially I got caught out stopping and changing lens as it took too long, you had to juggle sound faders or kill the exciter and sometimes the takeup on the MUTT would see-saw enough to drop to the Stop position.
IF you did not pick up on that Stop of the MUTT takeup you soon had to stop again just after you got going after the change as there was usually one hell of a film pile up in the soundhead and a risk of film damage
Customer feedback from a couple of "moviephiles" I have in the audience who are usually quite picky... like I could see the DTS track tonight etc... quite liked the blue screen effect.
They commented it was like watching a video presentation

The DTS track at times intrigues me as most times it is not visible and then I get a couple of prints that it stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. It is just on the painted black edge masking.
Maybe one day I will buy another slightly shorter focal length backing lens for scope and fill in the aperture plate edges a bit to bring the image back onto the masking exactly so no more DTS can be seen.
Anyone got a spare 62.5mm diam barrel lens of 4 1/2 focal length that will screw onto the B&L Blue ringed anamorphic I use??
Lindsay
 

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Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 02-14-2006, 06:29 AM:
 
hmm, we never have to change lenses with a show running, but i would think closing (either) douser would be the way to go. if you just have black film running that won't help when the aperture is out. it doesn't sound very professional.

on occasion i've noticed a hair in the gate during the trailers. my procedure for that is to wait until the "credit portion" of the trailer when i can count on several seconds of non-essential image, close the hand douser, remove and wipe aperture (hopefully that's where the hair is stuck or i'm s.o.l.), replace it and open douser.

that's what i'd do if i had to change a lens as well.

carl
 

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Posted by Demetris Thoupis (Member # 833) on 02-14-2006, 01:33 PM:
 
Ok. I am confused!! Actually I think everyone is confused. We have the lamphouse Open/close handle and the projector dowser. How do we refer on the lamphouse Open/Close handle? By the way. I still believe that manual lens change with a turret is faster. I can do it on a V5 in less than 2 seconds by closing the lamphouse handle, changing apperture and turning the turret and re-opening the lamphouse handle again. It's a matter of practice really until you master yourself to the point of no mastering anymore! Consider I've been working at a changeover theater with 2 V5 since the age of 5 that adds something to it. No unfortunately that theater is closed. Oh how I miss the good old days when multiplexes where non-existent.
D
 

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-14-2006, 03:15 PM:
 

quote: Monte L Fullmer

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Does anybody here call the lamphouse "dowser", a "damper" - so one can call the unit on the machine a "dowser" by itself?

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I always just called the lamphouse douser the "douser" and the one on the projector the "changeover douser" and I still call it that today even though we have been changeover-less for 26 years now. (Admittedly it doesn't come up in conversation much.)
 

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Posted by Lindsay Morris (Member # 1430) on 02-14-2006, 08:17 PM:
 
Carl,
You must be very lucky never having to change lens on a program.
I would not have to do lens change IF I never ran a trailer but in my view the trailer is one of the best marketing tools exhibitors have at their disposal
Most nights I run 4 trailers ahead of the feature with the first one preceded by a Next Attraction snipe and the remaining 3 follow on in order of the published season program.
At times it drives me nuts to get trailers all in the same format and there does not appear to be any logic of how the various distributors strike their trailers.
You would expect that scope features would have scope trailers but not always and sometimes they have both WS & C/S versions.
Then out of the blue comes a Scope only version trailer for a flat only version of a feature... case in point recently was Charlie & Choc Factory feature released in OZ in WS but only trailers in C/S available... work that one out.
One some nights I had to change to scope just for that bloody trailer and then change back again as it finished
Why they did not release the film in scope is beyond belief as the trailer was magic in scope but the final result of a WS version for the feature was just a bit lacking.

When you are changing formats it all comes down to time IE how quick you can do the change.
If I work real hard I can do the change in just on 5 secs but it is a scramble and rather than have any stuff ups I allow 10 secs and it is cruisy at that
Once the show has started I like to keep the screen lit and the blue leader does that and at no stage does the audience ever wonder if there has been a breakdown at the back.
Unlike a recent session at a local complex where the scope lens failed to fully rotate or lock in position and we were treated to about a 15min almost diagonal scope image before somebody could be found to fix it
Douser or dowser both mean the same and spelt both those ways in various publications I have read over the years... I think most of us get the general meaning though.
Whether you shut the douser/dowser, use black or blue film or do the lens change on the run as many do over here it all comes back to personal preference and what sort of gear you are using.

I certainly do NOT like stopping as I MUST go over and check that bloody MUTT and that takes time. But IF I have to stop for any other reason I DO take my time and make sure that when I start again there is no MUTT over-run problems, the sound does not brrrr up to speed but is faded up instead and the light is smoothly brought up to full illumination.
The least you can do for your audience is smooth restoration of the program
Lindsay
 

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Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 02-15-2006, 04:44 AM:
 
lindsay,

in the u.s. it's most common to only play flat trailers before a flat feature and scope before scope. in the u.k. i understand it's always flat trailers regardless. it sounds like you're somewhere in between.

especially on our main screen, doing a lens change on the fly would be a royal pain. both the top and side masking is movable, with no preset stops. it can't be set properly unless the onscreen image has bright edges all around, which is often not the case with letter- and pillarboxed trailers, or features that start with a company's logo on a black background. the control is touchy and often over/undershoots so we have to go back and forth a bit. also, we have a framing change between flat and scope. and no, there's no turret.

i still don't see how the aperture is removed with the douser(s) open without throwing light on the masking from the perfs etc.

carl
 

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Posted by Thomas King (Member # 2745) on 02-15-2006, 09:03 AM:
 
We do manual lens changes, and although we have six feet of opaque for the changeover (more than is nesscary, granted, but some of our projectionists are a bit slow) we still close the lamphouse douser, giving a sequence of close, lens change, gateplate, open, focus.
 

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Posted by Lindsay Morris (Member # 1430) on 02-15-2006, 08:16 PM:
 
Carl,
You are dead right we seem to have a wide variety of trailers in OZ and frequently on high profile fliks you get lucky and actually have a choice of flat and scope and at times various versions of the trailer
I think that some of the Star Wars fliks had 3 different versions and most were available in scope or WS/flat.
A couple of times I have taken a scope and WS version of trailers just to make it easier so I could go all scope or all WS for the whole program... nice if you can get it.
Being an outdoor with only black masking painted on for scope size I have don't have to worry about changing the masking.
Changing the aperture plate on the run takes just a second on the Century = one out and one straight back in. The patrons see just a brief wipe across the screen, a few frames of optical sound on the LHS(+ DTS if it is there)on the RHS the image just gets slightly bigger & then a quick wipe back as the aperture goes in. Possibly if you blinked your eye you would miss it and being on the credits on the trailer tail it is all hardly visible being generally white letters on the nice black background. Occasionally I do get caught out with an oddball trailer but that is rare.
Never see the perfs as the gate runners hide those.
Never have to reframe on format change as have set apertures up so image is spot on for all 3 formats and really only have to reframe for some slight differences in prints from differing labs.
Another thing is that my patrons might well be slightly inebrieated as the outdoor culture allows for patrons to bring in their own food and drink to consume picnic style in the grounds before the show. We only have a very basic kiosk/candy bar... very little room to do anything much at all.
So after some of them have had a few sherbets the odd flash of an optical track on the screen and then a blue screen might go totally unnoticed
This method of changing formats suits my particular setup but if I was in a hardtop with masking and etc I would certainly do it different. Horses for courses
Lindsay
 

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Posted by Ron Curran (Member # 3631) on 02-17-2006, 02:14 AM:
 
Our lamphouse has a dowser. Then there is a zipper between the shutter and the gate. The Panalogic automation closes the zipper for the lens and aperture change and opens it after to give us a subtle transition. The chief projectionist has fitted washing machine solenoids and a spring to the dowser so that it opens when the motor is running and closes when it stops. I have heard of some nasty distortions to shutters if the dowser remains open when the projector stops.
 

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Posted by Alexander Smith (Member # 1769) on 02-17-2006, 07:33 PM:
 
I've seen what happens when the Xenon is allowed to heat
the tissue-thin shutter blades of a Century MSC-TU.

Not funny really, if allowed to become excessive. Bank on
a replacement pair of blades as a minimum, or run the risk
of the shutter shaft vibrating excessively and killing the
bearings.

Alex.
 

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