This is topic how does pre-show get to the screen with digital projection? in forum Digital Cinema Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Gary Davidson (Member # 2198) on 02-12-2008, 04:43 PM:
 
dumb how-do-they-do-that question from outsider:
Let's say I have a new digital Christie projection system in my multiplex, 1) how is that content sent to the theatre (CD, sent as a media file over the Internet, messenger pigeon?) 2) what happens to it once it makes it to the theatre?

thx
 

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Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 02-12-2008, 05:30 PM:
 
Those of us with the Christie/AIX/Doremi setup that have the preshow on the Christie DLP projectors get the pre-show content via a DVD-ROM, which is ingested at the LMS.

Once ingested, the preshow (21 minute running time in our case) is simply tacked to the beginning of the playlist for each show.

-Aaron
 

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Posted by David Zylstra (Member # 4230) on 02-12-2008, 05:41 PM:
 
If you have Screenvision they will just use their playback node with the Christie projector instead of a separate video projector. I beleive they send most of their content via satellite, then they control the playlists and start times remotely.

You can also have the automation sequence leave the Christie on between shows and plug in a looping ad show from a DVD player or PC based playback system.

Using the Christie (or any other digital projector) can be more expensive than paying the ongoing costs of separate video projectors for each screen.
 

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Posted by Thomas Pitt (Member # 4322) on 02-12-2008, 05:54 PM:
 
Some cinemas have a separate LCD video projector mounted on one of the portholes. This can be connected to a laptop or desktop PC running a looping Powerpoint presentation for the preshow. Then, when the main show starts, the LCD projector is turned off and the main digital projector starts up.

I would have thought cinemas would produce their own preshow package with commercial advert slides that are sent to them - I don't know much about Screenvision or other packages though.

Some all-digital cinemas still use a 35mm slide carousel projector for their preshows! I guess it saves a fortune in bulbs
 

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Posted by Gary Davidson (Member # 2198) on 02-12-2008, 07:37 PM:
 
Thanks, gents. So I take it it’s pretty uncommon for theares to play pre-show on those big expensive Christie machines, mostly because of expense (bulb wear and tear)?

Regal is turning to digital, are any of their pre-shows shown on big digital projectors? Sorry... two questions there.
 

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Posted by Tristan Lane (Member # 1169) on 02-13-2008, 12:33 AM:
 

quote: Gary Davidson

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So I take it it’s pretty uncommon for theares to play pre-show on those big expensive Christie machines, mostly because of expense (bulb wear and tear)?

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Not uncommon at all. I know of two chains, one large and one small, that both utilize their digital projectors for both preshow ads and feature. Carmike seems to be eliminating all slides and going to

Wear and tear or bulb life is debatable (multiple strikes vs. running continuously during the day). The benefit of providing high resolution full-motion ads is an attractive aspect of potential advertisers.
 

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Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 02-13-2008, 01:50 AM:
 
National Cinemedia feeds their content (Firstlook) via satellite to a main server at the theatre which then feeds the appropriate content to the appropriate screens. Some ads can be changed day by day. Some theatres have plasma screens in their lobbies which also have a dedicated server, again fed via the same satellite dish.
Each of the dcn's (projectors) have their own computer which is where the content is stored.
Bulb life on the Christie LW-25 is relatively short, like 6 to 8 months.
The theatres playing all digital content (movies) play their Firstlook through their main projector, which means these theatres likely do go through more xenon bulbs...or rather, they need changing at more frequent intervals.
 

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Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 02-13-2008, 02:09 AM:
 
By pre-show, are you talking about adverts and trailers?

If so, then they are always on film at the Clocktower, then we change over to either film or digital for the feature, whichever format that particular show happens to be. No adverts or trailers are on digital at the moment. I don't know if they are not available at present, or if a decision has been made to keep them on film for some reason. I have run the odd trailer on the digital projector a couple of times when I didn't have a film copy, but this was just a 1080p download running on Quicktime Pro on my laptop with DVI into the Cine IPM and optital digital audio into the Dolby DMA8 Plus. Not as good as proper digital cinema but it wasn't too far off; I was surprised at how good it actually looked.
 

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Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 02-13-2008, 02:29 AM:
 
In my situaltion, the adverts are digital, the movie trailers are 35mm, like the feature.
In all digital situations, the adverts, the trailers and the feature all run through the same projector.
 

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Posted by Thomas Pitt (Member # 4322) on 02-13-2008, 03:09 PM:
 
If you have an auditorium that's equipped with both 35mm film and digital projection, you may well have a mixture of film and digital.

Often the advert/trailer package runs through the 35mm projector, then it changes over to the digital projector for the movie. Instead of wasting time and money getting digital prints of the adverts and trailers, they just use the existing film versions they have.

That was the way things were done at the Sheffield Cineworld when I went to see Beowulf 3D and Nightmare Before Christmas 3D - adverts and trailers on film, then switch over to digital for the movie.

Of course, if you're a digital-only cinema, you have no choice but to run the adverts and trailers digitally

I usually take 'pre-show' to mean the slides that are shown before the main projector starts up, usually on a slide projector or video projector, while non-sync sound plays during the intermission.
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 02-13-2008, 03:35 PM:
 
Everyone in this neck of the woods leaves the lamps on unleess it can be off for 1 hour or more... so yes the big machines are all being used for pre-show. Weather they look better would be another debate however....

Mark
 

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Posted by Andy Muirhead (Member # 712) on 02-13-2008, 07:38 PM:
 

quote: Thomas Pitt

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Instead of wasting time and money getting digital prints of the adverts and trailers, they just use the existing film versions they have.

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quote: Tristan Lane

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Carmike seems to be eliminating all slides and going to

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quote: Aaron Sisemore

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Once ingested, the preshow (21 minute running time in our case) is simply tacked to the beginning of the playlist for each show.

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quote:

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We'd endeavour to delay the start time of the programme but we've certainly stopped the head program before. And yes, the patrons sat in the auditorium listening to house music and staring at a blank screen for up to 15 minutes in one instance!

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quote: Stu Jamieson

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Oh and our digital ad servers are just Windows PCs running proprietary presentation software.

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