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Author
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Topic: [ask] Changeover (reel transition) tricks
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Winbert Hutahaean
Film God
Posts: 5468
From: Nouméa, New Caledonia
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted December 02, 2008 09:16 PM
Hi all,
I am going to learn some technical tricks on reels changeover.
I notice that every sound projector will have 3 steps to start the movie, i.e :
1. Turn on the machine (motor on)
2. Light on
3. Light on and sound on
It takes a couple second to get to no. 3
When reel on projector 1 is nearly finish, but we need a couple seconds to get the projector 2 fully operational, how do you guys dealing with this?
Secondly, what do you splice on the tail of the reel 1? Black tail or transparent tail?
(ps: In my mind, the transparent tail is saver/better because I can keep the projector 1 still on, while I am dealing with the projector 2)
thanks,
--------------------
Winbert
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John Whittle
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 791
From: Northridge, CA USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted December 03, 2008 04:52 PM
There is an SMPTE standard on this under leaders. A 35mm print has a 12 foot start leader on each reel (and there are standards for the end tail leader as well). The 12 foot mark is picture start and then counts down either in feet (of 35mm) 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 or on the SMPTE Universal leader in seconds 8,7,6,5,4,3,2 and then the picture starts and the sound is pulled up so that picture and sound start together.
When reels are made up in the lab 1000 footers joined into 2000 foot exchange size, a sound pull up is necessary so when the film is spliced there isn't a second of silence (you've probably heard old buzz and sound loss on old 16mm prints where the pull up didn't cover the sound advance).
I made (back in the 70s) an automated change-over for a pair of Eiki MS-861s. I made a little IR reader that would sense a foil tape on the perf edge of the film. That pulse would turn on the next projector (motor and lamp) and the second cue would activate a douser that would open on the incoming projector, close on the outgoing projector and switch the sound. Then the third tab would shut down the outgoing projector. All done with relays back then, but would be just as easy to do today and you don't have to mark the film and can sit with the audience in their amazement as the projectors change-over. Then at your leisure you remove the film from the shut down projector and thread the next reel with the picture start in the gate (you make a minor adjustment for start-up speed, but the old axiom was "8 in the gate") and rejoin the audience for the next change-over.
If you do it manually, I'd recommend making a panel that remotes the on-off and lamp-on-off for each projector and then you can just throw those switches as the cues come up on the screen (I did it that way back in the 60s with my Fairchild 8mm sound projector). The douser is the real trick and it's little more than a little shutter that's pulled out of the way of the gate by a solenoid and returned with a spring.
There are many designs, most are build it yourself, and Kodak in one of their tech papers actually showed plans for a pair of Pagents with the douser in front of the lens.
Next you add the main draw infront of the screen and put in a motor to open and close it.
(I think the SMPTE standard says there should be 6 frames of action following the change-over cue and no significant sound (dialogue) in the last second or first second of a reel and obviously no susutained music cue either.)
John
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Chip Gelmini
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1733
From: Brooksville, FL
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted December 06, 2008 08:31 PM
All my prints have long black leaders, and I install cue marks with a writing device. Since I plan to own my films permanently, I usually put one center scratch using the sprocket on super 8 as a guide. Most theater release prints have two sets four frames each. But I only use 2 sets one frame each.
For those of you who have multiple prints and hand crank rewinds, find a print that has the old fashioned lab cues that can work for your changeovers. Measure the number of rotations of the hand crank (it won't be much) between the first and second cue. And this way you know your placement when you put one in manually on a print that needs it.
For those of you that use Neumade hand rewinds and standard large hub reels such as a Taylor or Goldberg steel reel or the Elmo Aluminum; the gold yellow hand crank Neumade knob will go .75 of a turn for proper cue distance. Work backawards, from cue # 2 and proceed to cue #1. Begin with 4 inches between the tail splice and the part of film in your fingers. Then mark and measure .75 turn.
For those of you who might not think you would want to do this but want to try, use a China Marker grease pencil. If you decide you do not want cues on your prints, simply wipe them off. Or if you decide to keep them, wipe them off but change to something that looks better on screen.
My long black Neumade Fiesta leaders are atleast 3 to 4ft long and this is the perfect length. Although the changeover is merely a few seconds, let's suppose your new reel looses a loop, or needs picture or sound or frame attention. The longer black tail gives you up to 10 seconds or so before switching off the old light.
My super 8 leaders are prepped for this as well. On the soundtrack side, on number 8 I make a long white or grey line that is easy to spot when the film comes off the reel during threading. I stop this line when it reaches the top loop. This gives approximate 6 seconds until the splice on the lead is past the sound head.
From the cue marks there are two:
The first START MOTOR is approx 21 inches from cue 2:
The second cue SWITCH LIGHT AND SOUND is four inches from the black leader splice.
In theory somewhere in the middle of the last cue and the leader splice will be the point of switching sound and picture.
Sound switching is easy enough with a remote control to an audio video switcher, using audio only.
As for my changeovers here at home, I have no problems, no major sound noises, or pops or bangs through the speakers.
They can be and are, flawless with a little practice and patience.
As a film collector I only use one machine to run several reels when I am working on, inspecting or testing only part of a feature.
However, for nearly 35 years I have been using twin machines for continuous running shows at home and I do not run a show for an audience without changeovers. And this is regardless of the film format that I use, super 8, standard 8, or 16mm.
Proper changeovers are one of the many reasons to keeping this hobby alive. And I encourage all who are curious to give it a try.
KUDOS to everyone of you whom are trying this step of running a show! HOORAY FOR SHOWMANSHIP!
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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Chip Gelmini
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1733
From: Brooksville, FL
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted December 10, 2008 12:20 PM
1. I tried Brad's suggestion a few years ago. While we got it to work, it was VERY noisy and wasn't quite right. I must admit though, it was not a pair of Kelmar changeovers, but an off brand type. I ended up switching back to the black leader as described in my earlier post (above).
2. For the audio change over device, it is very IMPORTANT the unit be powered by electricity. The ones that are not powered may cause a POP noise as you change inputs. Depending on your system, this could create a BANG through the speakers, and if volume is high, damage to tweeters, mid range, and woofers is at risk.
3. For best results with sound change overs, consider using inputs on a stereo amplifier, such as projector one through tape cassette, and projector two through CD. This gives you the electric power protection; plus perhaps the remote control option for sound switching. You can use blank video imputs for audio change over connections, just remember to leave the (yellow) RCA video connections empty and use only red/white for audio.
4. Another handy Radio Shack cable will be splitters. You'll need these to come out of single track mono and split by two channel stereo at the amp. This avoids the single track sound coming from only the left side mono speaker at the screen.
5. You can add an audio switcher device to the ST1200HD, and split off single track mono (input 1) and moni 1&2 (input 2) and then send the output of this box to the input on your sound change over device. This gives the ST1200HD the one thing it never has that the GS1200 does: A mono - stereo switch.
Finally, all of the above may seem confusing to you, well it isn't really. Read it again, or how many times that it takes, and look at your machines and audio equipment. What I have written above is straight forward, and trust me, it works.
Write to me and I'll answer any questions. But be advised, I am using ST1200HD equipment. So you will need to know about audio output connections related to your own projectors, especially if they are different than mine.
I would also like to say this is a great thread in this forum! Please, if you try change overs, let us know how you make out!!!!!
~ Chip G ~
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Chip Gelmini
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1733
From: Brooksville, FL
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted August 05, 2009 11:24 AM
I would have to say Brad's advice is good. You do need to have the changeovers inside your booth. And get ready for the noise factor when you press the button. It can get nasty. This is my experience, but I will say again it was not the Kelmar changeovers that I was using, but an off brand.
First, when installed to a 35mm projector, these changeovers move a cable, much like you shift gears on a mountain bike. At the other end of the cable, is a small piece of metal on a bracket that goes up and down. The end of the bracket is a square piece of metal about the size of 35mm film frame. This device is hidden directly behind the film gate. It simply blocks, or unblocks the path of movie light from the exposed frame of movie film. When one side closes, the other side opens and the picture changeover is completed. This is done in a split second of time.
There is no choice to mount the changeover outside the super 8 projector. The shield that goes up or down must be directly in front of the super 8 lens. This is the closest point to the super 8 frame of film that you can get.
The further away from the super 8 projector the changeover shield is, the harder it will be for this to work properly. The maximum travel distance that the shield can go up and down is limited. The further away from the super 8 projector it is, the bigger the shield has to be. And to a point, this affects the open and closing distance.
I did have luck getting mine to work. But it was the over all noise that was the problem. It was more of a loud KER-CLUNK than a simple CLACK as Brad suggests.
In my situation the shield was a piece of panel board approx 5 inches square mounted in a 3 side grooved frame attached to the changeover by a modified wire coat hanger.
I quickly learned the up and down distance was maxed out and yet this was placed right infront of the flat projector lens. There was some run off when the super 8 lens was zoomed out to throw black letterboxed prints to the top and bottom screen masking to produce a 1.85 filled screen image.
Point being this will work, you just have to be ready for and accept limitations. I'm not sure if I would switch to super 8 electric picture changeover again, unless one was made available as an easy add on kit to super 8 collectors who wanted to use it.
I find the super 8 black leader is by far the best changeover for super 8. If your cues and timing are right, the changeover with practice can be flawless. And there is NO NOISE. There are NO LENS restrictions. There are NO modifications to the valuable super 8 projectors.
The only two drawbacks of the black leader are: (1) Finding the source of the footage film stock; (2) Taking the time to splice the strips into your reels of super 8 collection. This can be a time consuming task depending on how large your collection is and how determined you are to get everything set up.
In theory, the black leader edit means you are doing a brief double exposure (about 3 seconds) as one side is dark black, and the other side is fresh new picture. Just enough of a double exposure before you shut off the lamp of the ending machine before your regular tails runs through.
Imagine doing a double exposure changeover WITHOUT the black leader. You'll see how messy it looks when the tail printing is on your screen on top of the fresh new picture of the next reel. Now try the same reel changeover AFTER inserting the black leader and you'll see how much better it looks.
Chip Gelmini
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Bill Brandenstein
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1632
From: California
Registered: Aug 2007
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posted August 26, 2009 07:17 PM
Since I often don't use the same combination of equipment or locations, nor can I leave anything set up permanently, I think Chip's latest contribution is dead on target for me and anyone else for whom the mechanics of a changeover is impractical. (I really hate writing that. But "impractical" is true for me.)
That leads to the issue of what to do for blackout leader and regular leader. Honestly, if there's a local lab who has someone friendly and generous working there, the easiest way is to rescue slug footage and ends about to be discarded. We should all be so blessed, but aren't. But think about it: the Kodak color negative films, unprocessed, are extremely opaque. So I suppose you could buy a cart and for $15 you'd have 50' of opaque tan/black leader. Or for $25 you could get a roll of Plus X or Tri X, run it through the camera with the cap on and viewfinder closed, then have it processed. That stuff is really black too.
Those prices seem high for the yield, and maybe it is, but you'd be certain of 1) triacetate base 2) correct hole geometry, which with Neumade was a nightmare and 3) long-term stability. Right? Or would unprocessed chemicals get wierd over time?
Other leaders aren't always so reliable. I'd be curious what this Pearcepainting eBay auction amounts to -- what is this stuff they're selling? For US $12, plus shipping, 100' is a good price.
I once bought black leader film from The Widescreen Centre, but they only offer white leader anymore. Urbanski only has white 8mm leader as well (including the good Kodak stuff even in 1000' lengths).
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