Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Film Foot

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

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Posted by Mattias Mattsson (Member # 4308) on 06-13-2007, 10:00 PM:

My copy of 'The Focal Encyclopedia of Film & Television Techniques' (1969) has this information on FILM FOOT:

"[...] The length of four standard positive perforations is actually 0.748 in. so that 16 frames measures 11.968 in. or 0.032 in. short of a true foot. This means that the length of a reel described as 1,000 (film) feet is almost 3 ft. short of the full linear distance."

Is this the unit used for new release prints today? (i.e. 11.968 in. per 16 frames)

(I'm a bit confused since Kodak's Film Calculator at http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/filmCalculator.html seems to use linear ("true") feet)

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 06-14-2007, 01:37 AM:

I thought this thread was about the condition one gets after carrying too many film cans up the booth stairs.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 06-14-2007, 02:26 AM:

yea..and blisters carrying "fox boxes" up a long flight of stairs....

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 06-14-2007, 06:29 AM:

Kodak MAKES the film. Believe Kodak.

Who is The Focal Encyclopedia of Film & Television Techniques anyway? And besides, they wrote it in 1969. Everyone was stoned back then.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 06-14-2007, 08:24 AM:

Yeah, but 11.968-inches/16 frames is correct none-the less for release prints.

A release print has its perforation pitch at .1870" and there are exactly 4 of them per frame...16*4*.1870 = 11.968 inches.

And to shatter another rule of thumb...it is only really 89.76-feet/minute. This is all presumming that you are running sync motors with proper pulley ratios.

Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 06-14-2007, 12:28 PM:

Honestly, it's not worth losing sleep over. Projectors have sprockets, films have perfs, and as long as the sprockets can fit in the perforations, they'll pull the film along however fast the sprockets turn.

So you can shoehorn 0.1866" pitch film into regular projector sprockets, or you can use normal on-spec 0.1870". And remember, age, temperature, humidity and processing variations may lead to variation (esp. shrinkage).

--jhawk

[ 06-14-2007, 02:16 PM: Message edited by: John Hawkinson ]

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 06-14-2007, 06:45 PM:

All pertinent film dimensions are well documented by the SMPTE standards:

http://www.smpte.org/standards

quote:
In keeping with SMPTE's original goal of standardizing the industry, SMPTE Standards and Test Materials continue to maintain organization and uphold the integrity of the industry. As part of SMPTE's ongoing goal to advance technical theory in the motion imaging industry, we offer standards and test materials designed to assist you in both your day-to-day business, and your long-term career enhancement.

http://store.smpte.org/category-s/1.htm

Posted by Matthew Jaro (Member # 1786) on 06-17-2007, 12:57 PM:

Hi John --- It's great to see your post. I hope you're feeling better. I see you just couldn't resist talking about film specs. Keep it up and all the best.