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Author Topic: Century Projectors Retrofitted for Reel-to-Reel Chris Nolan Film Handler Posts: 16 From: Fairfax, Va, USA Registered: Jun 2008 posted 05-10-2009 09:42 AM                     At my theater we run with Century projectors set up with Christie AW3s. Years ago (before I transferred in) we had a film club that occasionally rented a movie so old that the distributor said no splicing (or something along the lines of it) requiring us to retrofit the projectors with reel-to-reel arms above and below. Like I said, it's been years since we've had to use them, but they're still mounted on. The other lead projectionist and I have recently been digging around and found a couple giant reels that I can only assume were designed so that you could build an entire movie onto it back before platters were popular or affordable, and we're playing with the notion of experimenting with them. Since I've never used r2r before, I was wondering if there's anything majorly different (other than the obvious lack of platters) done while threading? How does the projector keep tension/know the proper speed to spin the bottom reel?  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-10-2009 10:05 AM                     There should be a belt that runs from a take-off pulley in the sound head and goes to a pulley on the lower, takeup arm. Depending on the age of the projector it might be made of leather, urethane rubber or something that looks like a long metal spring. Without this belt, you will not be able to run reel-to-reel unless you want to stand there for the entire movie and spin the lower reel by hand. If your projector was outfitted for R2R that belt should be laying around somewhere. If you can't find it you can order one.  |  IP: Logged Chris Nolan Film Handler Posts: 16 From: Fairfax, Va, USA Registered: Jun 2008 posted 05-10-2009 10:27 AM                     It does. The belt is still hooked up, and it spins all the time when we aren't using it. I was more so referring to how the projector know to modify the speed as the diameter of the film spool expands and right from the get go the take up reel takes a second longer to get up to speed with the projector motor.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-10-2009 11:38 AM                     It should have a friction clutch on the lower arm. The belt and pulleys spin at a constant rate. When the tension on the film hits a certain point the clutch will slip. Thus, the lower reel will spin only as fast as needed to take up film. There should also be a friction clutch at the top too. Not only does this clutch regulate the tension of the film for payout, if you have a bell on the upper reel, it regulates the point at which the bell will start to sound. This way you are given a couple-few minutes advance warning to be ready for the changeover. Look in the Manuals section of this site. You will find all sorts of manuals with diagrams in them that show you how these things work.  |  IP: Logged Darryl Spicer Film God Posts: 3250 From: Lexington, KY, USA Registered: Dec 2000 posted 05-10-2009 12:48 PM                    The real question is are your reel arms long enough to accept a 26" reel. Are the two reels you found 26" or 46" reels?  |  IP: Logged Robert E. Allen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1078 From: Checotah, Oklahoma Registered: Jul 2002 posted 05-10-2009 04:53 PM                     Randy pretty well answered your question Chris. A tension clutch on the top keeps the film from spilling out too fast and the take-up clutch on the bottom keeps the constant speed belt from pulling on the film too hard. The bottom clutch can run all the time without hurting anything. FYI for about 70 years two-projector "changeover" systems were the norm for movie theatres. It was in the late 60s that theatres began using single projector platter systems. (I'm convinced their purpose was to get union projectionists out of the booth.) Today the distributors who release classic films will still not allow you to run them on a platter system, that is if you want the best prints. They will send you a platter print but it will probably be full of splices and scratches. That happened to me with a print of "Singing In The Rain" back in '06. There are still change-over houses running around the country. In fact I hope to build a mini-cinema which will be a changeover house as I plan to run a lot of classics.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-10-2009 09:07 PM                     As to the other part of the question. There's not a whole lot of difference between running the projector R2R or plattered. The projector threads the same way. Mount the full reel on the top spindle and lock it in place. Mount an empty reel on the bottom spindle. Run the film down to take up, bypassing the projector momentarily. Thread the projector. Check your film path then run. If you are not doing changeovers you do not have to worry about threading on a timing mark. Just make sure the film is advanced far enough that the audience doesn't see any leader when the projector goes on-screen. You will need to have a good rewinder to run R2R. Every time you run film it will have to be rewound in order to play it again. The guy who taught me to run reels always wound the reels so that it resembled a letter "S" when it was going through the projector. In other words, the payout reel spins counter-clockwise as it plays and the lower, takeup reel spins clockwise as it rolls up the film. When you rewind, the full (tails-out) reel on the left spindle feeds out film from the bottom as it spins counter-clockwise and the empty reel on the right spins clockwise, taking in the film over the top. I always worked with the sound track toward me as I faced the reel side-on. If you do things right, it will become second nature to dismount the old reel from the projector, pop it in the rewinder, mount the new reel, start the projector then go back to take the last reel off the rewinder and put it in the rack... Repeat until done. This is not the only way to do things. It might not even be the best way. It's the way I was taught and the way I have always done things. I'm sure somebody else will come along and tell me everything I do wrong.  |  IP: Logged Robert E. Allen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1078 From: Checotah, Oklahoma Registered: Jul 2002 posted 05-11-2009 04:06 AM                     Actually Randy it is the only way to run a two-projector changeover booth. I did it that way for more than 20 years.  |  IP: Logged Rick Raskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1100 From: Manassas Virginia Registered: Jan 2003 posted 05-11-2009 07:20 AM                     When I ran changeovers I threaded Academy leaders on #9 and SMPTE on #6. Your point will depend on the projector ramp up speed and your reaction time. If you are running 6K' reels you may want to help start the takeup reel so it doesn't snap the film when it starts.  |  IP: Logged Richard P. May Expert Film Handler Posts: 243 From: Los Angeles, CA Registered: Jan 2006 posted 05-11-2009 10:05 AM                     If you are intending to run "no splicing" prints from distributors, the matter of being able to use 6000 ft. reels is irrelevant. Those obviously also require removing leaders and splicing reels together, although only half as much as platters. Standard reel to reel projection uses 2000 ft. reels, as received from the distributor.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 05-11-2009 03:22 PM                     As a world-wide statement...clockwise rotation on the upper reel is more prevelent and is the method recommended by RP39 as well as myself. Only the US did the "S-wind." Steve  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-11-2009 03:40 PM                     Canada alsodid the S wind but my own experience the clockwise feed reel definitely gave me better maintained focus  |  IP: Logged Stephen Furley Film God Posts: 3059 From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England Registered: May 2002 posted 05-11-2009 04:07 PM                     But Brad claims the opposite, and I've found that in the vast majority of cases, except for a few troublesome prints, it makes no difference. I've seen all four possible combinations of emulsion in and out for feed and take-up used in different places, and most projectors these days seem to be able to feed either way. I'd say run it whichever way you find works best with your equipment. Emulsion in for both feed and take-up is the most common here for 35mm.  |  IP: Logged Brad Miller Administrator Posts: 17775 From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall) Registered: May 99 posted 05-11-2009 04:34 PM                     Yup, at least down here in "tha south" running both reels counter-clockwise produces better focus and the print doesn't physically warp over time. RP39 was also created like 3 decades ago and is hardly current advice.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-11-2009 09:28 PM                     quote: Robert E. Allen Actually Randy it is the only way to run a two-projector changeover booth. I did it that way for more than 20 years. See! I told you so!  |  IP: Logged

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