8mm Forum: How to tell if a Regular 8 projector is running slow

»	8mm Forum » 8mm Forum » How to tell if a Regular 8 projector is running slow

UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!

Author

Topic: How to tell if a Regular 8 projector is running slow

Jason Schmidt
Film Handler

Posts: 99
From: Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Registered: Nov 2014

posted October 28, 2015 10:47 AM

I recently rewired my grandfather's Bell and Howell 254 to use a modern halogen bulb and played a silent short on it (Have Badge Will Chase). It seems like it might be running slow, but I'm not sure if that is the case or if that is because of the reel. Are there any tips or tricks to figure out if the projector is slow?

The only thing I can think of is to measure the length of the film and count the number of frames per foot to workout the total frames and then see how long it takes to go through the projector and workout the FPS from there. Or is there an easier way?

The projector I have doesn't appear to have multiple speeds, but I don't have the manual and can't seem to find one. I'm not even sure what FPS this particular projector is supposed to run at. I took the case off and the inner workings seem ok, or at least I don't see any problems given my limited knowledge.

| IP: Logged

Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted October 28, 2015 11:21 AM

Well,

You are seeing an extract from "Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops" (a sound film: 24FPS) on a silent R8 machine (16FPS, maybe 18?) so this may be what the numbers call for.

See how it looks here (might be a 20 FPS transfer at that...):

Have Badge Will Chase

--------------------
All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

| IP: Logged

Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted October 28, 2015 11:25 AM

I agree with Steve. The regular 8 projector will be running at 16fps. This is the speed at which the cameras designed for this gauge would run at.

--------------------
Maurice

| IP: Logged

Jason Schmidt
Film Handler

Posts: 99
From: Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Registered: Nov 2014

posted October 28, 2015 11:29 AM

Ok, that's probably what's going on then. Seems strange that they wouldn't "fix" the fps when it is released for silent machines to match their speed, but I guess that would be a ton of work.

| IP: Logged

Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted October 28, 2015 11:48 AM

There were techniques where they'd make a silent negative with every couple of frames from the sound film skipped, but most people never noticed the difference anyway.

I projected a silent Castle newsreel at 24FPS last night (-people from New York are always in a hurry!), it was actually kind of disturbing!

I'm used to two kinds of projector sounds:

-24 FPS with a sound track
-18 FPS without

24 FPS without a sound track introduced a different projector sound into the room and different projector sounds are usually signs of trouble!

--------------------
All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

| IP: Logged

Janice Glesser
Film Goddess

Posts: 3468
From: Sunnyvale, CA USA
Registered: Sep 2011

posted October 28, 2015 12:45 PM

Hi Jason...You might be interested in this thread. I had the same question awhile back about my telecine projector. I ended up buying a Digital Tachometer to measure the frame rate.

http://8mmforum.film-tech.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=009387

--------------------
Janice

"I'm having a very good day!"
Richard Dreyfuss - Let It Ride (1989).

| IP: Logged

Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005

posted October 28, 2015 01:11 PM

Do the reels move? There's a dead give-away. [Smile]

--------------------
"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

| IP: Logged

Clinton Hunt
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 845
From: Waharoa,North Island,New Zealand
Registered: May 2010

posted October 28, 2015 10:22 PM

I have a few silent standard8 films that even when played on a projector with speed control still run a bit slow, and it's kind of annoying eh!
My standard 8mm sound projector runs at about 24fps I think .... But that will be too fast for silent films.
The fastest silent standard 8mm projector I've seen is a dual format and max speed was 22fps I think from memory.

--------------------
Cheers from me in New Zealand :-)

| IP: Logged

All times are Central

Printer-friendly view of this topic

UBB.classic^TM 6.3.1.2