Tyler Purcell

Just an FYI, After Effects and Premiere use CUDA for almost all of their real-time rendering. Since nVidia are the only chip's that support CUDA, it's smart to use CUDA for over-all performance. Even DaVinci prefers CUDA support over Open CL. http://create.pro/blog/open-cl-vs-cuda-amd-vs-nvidia-better-application-support-gpgpugpu-acceleration-real-world-face/

Actually, most projectionists do de-focus digital projectors purposely. However, even with the de-focus you can still see the problems.

Yea, the video you posted is most likely a problem with the lower loop. Since what you see is reversed in the camera, it can't be the upper loop. Perhaps the film is being yanked by the sprocket which pulls on the spring loaded backplate and that's causing the problem. To me, that would be the first place I'd look. First thing to do is take a junk roll of film and thread it through the camera to see if there are any obvious issues. My guess is, the loop is failing on start/stop for some reason. So you thread it right, you test it and then when you put the cover back on it, the loop fails. That generally is caused by the pulldown claw not activating the film during start and stop. So the film is being yanked by the sprocket, the loop is lost and eventually the camera will jam.

Well, it sounds like either the loops are too small OR the film is skipping on pulldown. This is generally caused by a backplate issue. That camera is very simple and I can't imagine the pulldown claw itself being a problem as it's directly connected to a spindle which is very hard to damage. The pressure plate spring could snap though and have not enough pressure for the film to stay even when being exposed. I'd love to see a sample, generally these are pretty easy to diagnose.

Well TV stations don't produce much if any content anymore. Commercials are made by ad agencies, who generally hire production companies to produce content. The vast majority of commercial directors are brought in based on their previous work. So breaking into commercials can be very tricky, especially if you don't have a lengthy resume. I've shot many commercials over the years, mostly on film. I got lucky, the production company I worked for, did a lot of commercial work and when they needed B-Roll stuff, where they didn't want to pay for a cinematographer, they'd let me shoot it. That eventually turned into me being the "cheaper" alternative and the next thing I knew, I was shooting commercials. Most of the stuff I did was either talking heads or products, but hey whatever it's work. I was also was going to school at the time, so it was a part time gig. Today, the commercial industry is very competitive, more so then back in the 90's when I was doing it. Honestly, the key would be to make friends with an agency and do some spec work to prove you can do good work. It's easy to fake commercials and have a reel that looks good. Then all you gotta do is befriend an ad agency friend and if you can underbid substantially, then you're in good shape.

They do care. The 70mm screenings of Interstellar, Hateful Eight and Batman V Superman, made a considerable dent for limited theaters. People want to see something different/unusual and that's why film WILL make a comeback, even if it's limited. Well most theaters in the US are still 2k. Most content is being distributed in 2k. Most theaters no longer have projectionists either. The pixel issue with digital projection is so big, projectionists have learned to de-focus the image to help. If that's the solution, we're in big trouble. Well... most of the problems started way before then however. Most real projectionists say the move from double projectors to platter systems was the first nail in the coffin. The platter systems have a tendency to scratch film and when you assemble reels, the splices can be a problem as well. There is also far more tendency for dirt to get on the film when it's running through the air across a room and into the projector. The vast majority of theaters, don't have de-static wheels before and after the projector to help fight dirt pickup. So things were already falling apart in the 90's, but your right, it really started getting bad right before the switch to digital. Mostly because people saw the writing on the wall and there were less people running them, thanks to the union fee's. The numbers I've heard are projectionists rates are around $1000/day for an 8hr shift. Theaters just can't afford that. I disagree... anamorphic lenses have been around since the 60's and they work great. It's a HUGE benefit for 35mm. The Hateful Eight problem was related to poor manufacturing and only half of the lenses suffered problems. They just weren't tested enough and likewise, there were issues. Good 4 perf anamorphic is far better then 2 perf spherical. IDK, the Sergio Leone films look pretty good.

Well the idea is to change the paradigm. The current system isn't working. Prints look worse today then they have in the past because the projection equipment is antiquated. If you build a new style of projection that removes things like the platter brain which is one of the leading causes of film scratches, you've made a huge difference. If you remove the projectionist splicing multiple reels together, you also reduce the amount of scratches. These are things that need to happen if projection is to be saved. Otherwise, film projection will die, not due to lack of quality, but simply because nobody cares. If something isn't done soon, it will be too late before things are changed. The idea would be to make a fleet of projectors and rent/lease them to theaters and filmmakers for peanuts.

Here is a good start, it's from 2014, but it's got almost all the high end cameras on it. http://www.cineverse.net/images/2014_Camera_Comparison_Chart_v10.pdf

Huh, I've not seen one of those, do you have a pix?

That's the assumption everyone has, but nobody has come up with a solution. Most internet today isn't fast enough and we currently produce more content then we can afford to store. Most of the people I know, produce well over 128gb a month worth of stills alone. Just uploading/managing all of that content is a job most people won't do. Plus, there is no "free" service to upload that much data. Everything costs money and the moment you stop paying, you could loose all that data. Plus, there is no instant access to any of it since it requires internet. So most people walk around with 1000 or so pictures on their phone that's not backed up which cover years worth of their life and that's it. Then their mobile device fails or is lost and they loose everything. So it's not JUST about the lack of long-term hands off storage, but it's also about data loss with digital devices. I've actually lost more content thanks to digital technology then I've ever lost during the film days. Probably because I take MORE pictures, shoot MORE video and have more content, so the ratio of material shot vs saved is the same. Well, magnetic tape stored properly isn't too bad, it can last quite a while. The problem is that most people don't store properly and the back coating of the tape fails. With audio tapes, you can bake them and still get data off, but with video tapes, generally they are too damaged. I use to build archiving solutions for magnetic tape, so I have quite a bit of experience dealing with bad tapes. I've threaded up 2" video tapes from the 60's that were stored correctly and they've worked fine. Yet 3/4" tapes from the 80's that weren't stored properly, clog heads so badly, they're impossible to playback even if you bake them. I actually designed a machine that kept the heads from clogging, but the company I did the work for, didn't see any potential. I was shocked and dismayed because my success rate was much higher, but still not enough. Tapes that clogged heads, would be thrown away in most cases, which is too bad. With audio, we had a 24 bit 192khz multi-channel encoder. For video, we had a very fancy 10 bit 4:2:2 Pro Res encoder that worked great. Our system was robotic and it drove the tape machine automatically. The files were then automatically stored on to A/B LTO6 tape AND a Proxy version was stored onto a hard drive. We'd hand back the client a hard drive and the LTO Tapes. It was a great system as LTO's last around 50 years sitting on a shelf, which is pretty good. Yet, the same problem exists, whose gonna playback an LTO6 tape in 50 years? I mean, it's going to be such an obsolete format, totally worthless in the grand scheme of things. Good Vinyl, good tube pre-amp's and solid state transistor based amp's are really good. Really well mastered CD's and high-end D/A converters sound good as well. Computer audio, generally sounds like crap, mostly because the clock of the computer and the clock of the D/A converter's, don't match. So it's very hard to get your computer to spit out higher quality audio then a really good playback device. I've done 100's of tests with a myriad of different devices over the years and being an audiophile, I can tell you computers never sound that good without specialized hardware. Same goes for computer displays... I mean most of them are 8 bit!

Wish I had the money to develop it. I really want to figure out of I can use a rolling loop design vertically. In my mind, that would be the ultimate design, with a high-power LED lamp in the middle of the rotary projector that doesn't require any crazy ventilation. The shutter would be rotary based and it COULD run 2, 3, 4 perf film. I'm just not sure if you can do what I want to do because it requires vacuum and unlike 15/70, 2 and 3 perf is such a smaller physical image, I don't know if it would work. Personally, I'm not really interested in developing/designing something that uses the same ol' movement, just modified. I'm only interested in doing something totally different, super small, lightweight and quiet. The guy who will help me design this beast, just got a huge mill, so all I need is a rapid prototyping machine.

The funny part is, we as a culture create more content today then ever before in our history. Yet, the digital age has one huge consequence, in 50 years, where will all that media be? Forget about movies and television, lets focus on still images and audio. A recent research paper said our future will be the least documented in the previous 50 years. Digital storage solutions don't mean anything because we are analog beings. So even if there was a breakthrough in storage, hold petabytes in a 1x1" cube, the devices necessary to playback that media will be the determining factor. Plus, imagine storing an entire lifetime of media in such a small device. Where would it be stored? When people pass away and their house is cleaned up, where will that content be? How will the family members get that data and view/save it for later use? We still have some of the first images ever made on paper and glass, they still exist over 150 years later. Will OUR life be viable by whatever creatures inhabit the world 150 years from now?

But they aren't in practice.

Yea, heavily modified LTR. It makes no noise, literally from 1 foot away, you can't hear it. SR3's are a lot quieter, but they still make more noise then the LTR. I use to be an Arri guy, but I'm an Aaton convert, I just love my LTR. I'll be picking up a few XTR Prod's for my school soon as well. :)

The truth is, there is no infrastructure for anything more then what we currently deliver. The vast majority of people on this planet are incapable of watching 1080p content pixel for pixel. Getting people to pay for faster internet, better computers, higher resolution monitors, it's just not going to happen fast. There are populated places in this country that don't even have cell towers, let alone fast internet. The vast majority of people don't live in media-rich places, so they aren't exposed to higher resolution. The desire to upgrade just doesn't exist and had terrestrial broadcast stayed SD, they would have been fine, I know I would have. I do agree that for archiving purposes, 8k is probably pretty smart. However, the industry standard compression standard for long-term storage (JPEG2000), isn't very efficient. 16 bit RGB 444 8k video is around 8GB per second. So for a 100 minute movie, you're looking at 800GB, most movies would be a Terabyte. So imagine storing that much data, I mean you're looking at dozens of petabytes that needs to be constantly backed up or a shelf with 6 cans of film. Original 35mm negative is around 4.5k and original 5 perf 70mm negative is around 8k. So if you want high res on a shelf, that's the way to go.

It's pretty loud! I recently did a shoot with a RED Epic and S16mm right next to each other and the S16 camera you couldn't hear, but the EPIC fan was prominent in the very quiet room. The RED One's are much louder, but both cameras get quieter when you start recording, it's just when they're on standby things get louder. So what is loud? Well, maybe 35db from 1 foot away? So not really "LOUD". Quieter then a MOS 35mm camera, but not nearly as quiet as a digital camera SHOULD be.

Yea, the rewards structure has always been my beef with crowd funding. You can do good rewards on features, but shorts, it's a whole other ballgame and even if you have good soft money, it's still not enough in most cases.

The Sony F5 is a lot of camera. It's also very rare to find a complete F5 package (Sony Viewfinder, batteries, cards) for much under $15k. The FS7 is actually a better deal in the long run if Sony is considered an option (which it's not in my book). You can find used FS7's for in that 5 - 7k bracket if you look hard enough. Unfortunately, the URSA 4.6k fully decked out brand new is STILL less money then a USED COMPLETE FS7 package. Plus, the URSA already has PL mount, RAW, Pro Res and all the bells and whistles necessary for a great looking image. On a side note, been shooting a lot recently with the C300MKII and it still amazes me how Canon can cripple their cameras so much. It's covered in "features" which is nice, but some of the most basic things I want like a histogram and RAW/Pro Res recording, aren't available. Plus, the camera makes noise like a RED does, which is just silly if you ask me. If you can't cool your camera with a heat sync, you've gotta come up with a different solution.

Thanks for the info Giacomo. I have one short film right now that is very current event that I really want to shoot, however it would cost around $25 - $30k to do it right. The big problem I've had is finding capitol for this and other smaller projects. I don't have a fan base to help spark interest, nor a top actor associated. If I could find a revenue source that works, I could probably fund it through friends, but it has to be fool-proof. So my question to you is; how do you deal with online fundraising for something that isn't going to be a big movie with huge payouts at the end? On kickstarter for instance, most people won't sign up unless there is some great gift at the end of it all.

Ahh got ya! So this begs the question, how did you recoup on the sales? What was your strategy going in.

Agreed! It was so close to being fantastic! I would have lost the dance scene/air plane crash and a few other things, but a 95 minute cut of that movie would have absolutely played better.

Great job, really enjoyed! A lot of money went into that short, my I ask where you were able to find such money for a short?

I too really enjoy '1941' it's such a campy bunch of whoop-ass, it's just great! I'm also a fan of star trek, so I enjoy those movies, pre-reboot. Honestly, I have a lot of "eclectic" taste in entertainment, so my list is too long for posting.

Blackmagic is a small company, like RED was when they first started. They're also NOT an American company, so it's challenging to get support. I haven't needed support, but I know the support people well and they say things are better here in the states today, then they have been in the last few years. I don't believe Sony and Panasonic has much support for consumer products anymore. They use to, but today it's all pushed to the reseller, which most people don't have any connection to. Canon has actual support, which is very nice. I've dealt with them many times and they've been very helpful, but I think that's more related to top people using their cameras for still's, rather then the video market. I don't think everything Blackmagic makes is ready for prime time yet, but they're WAY closer then RED was when they first launched. The RED ONE was a train wreck when it first came out, the first shows had upwards of 9 camera bodies they'd cycle through scene by scene, just to keep them working. Blackmagic doesn't have those issues what so ever. You can buy a camera and it will work if it's not defective. I own two pockets and have borrowed/rented other one's for bigger shoots, never once had an issue with any of them. Same goes for the cinema camera that everyone bitches/complains about, my experiences have been nothing but positive. The URSA Mini, same deal, just a flat-out nice camera, that works great. Not a fan of the BIG URSA, it's a worthless camera thanks to the Mini, but I have yet to experience all the issues people talk about. So either people are doing something odd with their use of the camera, or they're just defective from the factory. Talk about JVC and Canon, I've had more issues with those two brands then any others. Dead pixels, over-heating cameras, bad recording heads, bad logic on the menu systems, horrible shifting on the glass when trying to focus, audio distortion no matter what you do, phantom power blowing up mic's, loose cabling inside cameras, etc... AND worst off, those were borrowed/rental cameras! I can't imagine owning either brands products for video production. For stills, not such a big deal because you can easily fix dead pixels in photoshop, much harder to do on a video camera. So for me constantly abusing the black magic cameras the way I do, including shooting in a pool last weekend with water splashing the camera and of course, salt water on the ocean shoots, heat of the desert, cold of the snow capped mountains. I mean, my pockets have been through A LOT and been fine. But I understand if you power them with an external source, they will overheat, so I don't do that. I mean, how difficult is that?

If you already have equipment insurance and are using your own equipment, then you don't need anything else. If you're letting people borrow your equipment, they will need to put your name on the documents. I've been dealing with an insurance claim for two months now from equipment damage someone did on a recent rental. I'm glad I got insurance!