Is zero cut a waste of time abd $$$ ?

[GeorgeSelinsky]

I am not doing a 16mm project now but I have one question that has bugged me for a long time. Everywhere I read I always hear that zero cut is, like, totally standard operating procedure for 16 -> 35 work. My understanding in reading the theory behind this is that some 16mm splicers aren't perfectly adjusted, and because of this there's a risk of having a jump at the splice in the optical printer. This begs the question - why not just use a perfectly aligned, tested 16mm hot splicer? Either that or I have misread something, and the truth is that optical printers are all going to jump at a splice regardless how perfect it is...

 

- G.

[David Mullen ASC]

A-B roll checkboard cutting is required for 16mm conforming -- a "zero cut" is only required if you are directly blowing up from the 16mm negative to a 35mm positive instead of a 16mm positive. It has something to do with the time needed for the optical printer to change printer lights or something, I forget the actual explanation! But the zero cut has nothing to do with the splice lines showing up in this case. I suppose with a zero cut, one could even not checkerboard on A-B rolls at all but simply have the frame handles between each edit on an A-roll only.

 

The reasoning for the A-B checkerboard conforming is because the 16mm picture area usually extends right to the edge of the splice, and I assume that being a smaller format, the chances of jumps or splice flashes are greater. It probably is most important if you are making a 16mm print. For a 16mm IP that gets blown-up to a 35mm IN, I suppose any frameline flashes would be outside the 1.85 projection area, so perhaps you could do a straight-cut on an A-roll.