Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: If you have an all digital theatre how would you show "kid shows" for the summer

This is topic If you have an all digital theatre how would you show "kid shows" for the summer in forum Digital Cinema Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=16;t=000246

Posted by Robert LaValley (Member # 4319) on 08-23-2008, 07:27 PM:

You know those "kid show" movie camps that most chains have during the summer. How would you do one of those at an all digital house?
I know I used to get old used 35mm prints for kid shows at other places but with the advent of all digital houses it made me wonder how much product you would be able to show for kidshows that way.

Posted by Dustin Mitchell (Member # 372) on 08-23-2008, 07:40 PM:

The majority of digital installs have the capability of playing 35mm as well as digital shows on at least a few screens in the complex.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-23-2008, 07:44 PM:

I would think you could license a blu-ray disc through the studio until such point that they convert the kids movies to D-cinema format. After all they do it for 35mm, 16mm, DVD and even VHS. Of course not every D-cinema install can run a blu-ray disc, but many can. It wouldn't be theatrical quality, as the image really falls apart due to the compression at any reasonable sized screen, but its better than nothing if there is no 35mm equipment in the booth.

Does anyone know if any of the kids movies have been converted and are available in D-cinema format yet?

Posted by David Zylstra (Member # 4230) on 08-23-2008, 08:01 PM:

I know the product from The Bigger Picture - Kid Toons - comes in JPEG2K . . . . prior to them becoming part of AccessIT they used DVDs.

Showing DVDs in lieu of the studio digging out a 35mm print is not un-precedented either. I'll bet that the existing library won't get converted to JPEG2K - it is easier and cheaper to authorize DVD use.

If we did a string of kids shows we would be able to do either 35mm (we kept several in each building), digial or DVD - it would be studio choice on which format we show.

Posted by Sam King (Member # 4029) on 08-23-2008, 08:39 PM:

We used standard DVDs this summer. Didn't look half bad. Although all our digital projectors have NEC line scalers, so that helped. Blu-Ray would have been nice, maybe for next summer.

Posted by Joe Elliott (Member # 4006) on 08-24-2008, 01:31 AM:

Finding a DVD player that would do HDMI and 6 channel outputs was near impossible, and of course, the company would not have wanted to pay for it most likely.

I tested out using a computer with DVD's. DVI-D out to the input of a Barco dp-100 worked. The computer recognized it as a 1080p HDTV. I also had 6-channel out of my sound card, into the Dolby unit. Standard DVD's though lack the resolution of film, and so it looked ok, and would have been good enough for a kids show. There was no way I was going to buy a blue-ray player for my computer just to try it out, but I imagine blue-ray would look just fine.

As for automating it, well, that's another story. Automation is for the lazy and feeble anyway. [Big Grin]

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 08-24-2008, 02:29 AM:

quote: Joe Elliott
Automation is for the lazy and feeble

I wonder how much it would cost me to have this phrase cast in bronze so that I could hang it as a plaque on the wall in my booth. [Big Grin]

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 08-24-2008, 09:29 AM:

quote: Joe Elliott

Standard DVD's though lack the resolution of film, and so it looked ok, and would have been good enough for a kids show.

Why should standards be any lower for a kids show? This is the attitude that is destroying the exhibition industry. Why do something the right way when it can be done in a "good enough" way?

Posted by Joe Elliott (Member # 4006) on 08-24-2008, 11:33 AM:

As in the free summer kids shows. Typically the prints you get for these are not in the best shape to begin with. So you can't always put as good a picture as you would like on the screen anyway. It's either deal with the scratches, dirt etc. on a print that has been used more that Paris Hilton, or have a clean image, that is not quite the resolution you would like.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 08-24-2008, 11:47 AM:

Note, the Denon Pro DVD players DN-V210 and DN-V310 have HDMI outputs available...they can also skip the menus!

However, if you plan to run alternative content, invest in a good alternative content scaler/switcher. All three of the big-three DCinema makers offer them and they effectively give you all of the typical inputs you would find on traditional A/V projectors.

Steve