P3D Re: a slide show / computer control question

[Michael Kersenbrock <michaelk@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

John Asbacher wrote:
> 
> I will, probably, ideally own / run this kind of setup.
> I would like feedback on what I should use / change.
> 
> 4 projectors
> 4 lenses(identical)?, probably zoom so that I can maximize images
> 2 dissolve units
> 2 racks to hold all this stuff.

Sounds good to me!  I'm in process of doing this too!

> 
> For the slides;
> Glass mount, with no "ring" effect? I don't know what that means.

Means that it'll likely have anti-newton glass (or some equivalent)
to prevent the newtonian interference rings.  The GePe mounts
you mention later have this kind of glass (ones I have anyway).
 
> 4 kodak IIIA projectors, already got these.
> 4 lenses????? clueless.

I'm setting up my 4 to 6 projector system using 100-150mm zoom
lenses, mostly because I happen to have a lot of them that
came along with the projectors (on eBay).  Zooms also will
give me a bit of room to tweak the magnifications to match
using some pin-registered setup slides I'll be attempting
to "manufacture" (when I start playing with trying to do
E6 in my bathroom... :-).  Seems easier than fixed lenses
and trying to get things to match.

> 2 dissolve units clueless. AVL FX-2 dissolver?? what else is there?

I'm setting up with an Arion 828 4-projector dissolver/programmer and
have four Arion "mate trac two plus" dual-projector dissolve units
that I got all from ebay.  They'll control up to 10 projectors at once.
I've also a design sixteen Arion "backup" programmer that came with
the two-plus's.  New, AVL units are a lot cheaper than Arion's (I
think) and they're on ebay more often, but one finds what one can when 
the opportunity presents itself.  :-)

There's an Arion 828 on ebay currently, but the price is 
VERY substantially more than I got mine on ebay earlier (and mine
was in near mint condition).  Either he's way overpriced, or
I got mine in an unbelievable bargain. I don't know which.

Get what you can find at a good price.  :-)


> 
> I plan to use a laptop for audio playback (with 5.1 sound) + use it to send
> out cues to the dissolver.
> So a dissolver with "only" a serial port control would be ideal. Do these
> things exist?

Don't know.  I got a used Fostex four-track unit on ebay to hold
the runtime "recording", although the stereo music portions will come 
out of my non-laptop 'pewter (where it'll be "edited").  Anybody have
a WinTel computer program to produce Arion Mate-trac compatible
sound beeps?  Or even just their format so I could write one?

The arion mate trac two plus units (which are VERY similar to the
Kodak programmable dissolver 2 which Kodak gets from Arion) are
similar to other brand units in that (I think) they
use audio tones for the control so tape recorders can store the
"programming".  In the Arion setup, the 828 (or my backup) generates
the controlling (it's microprocessor based) tapes, and can get
quite elaborate.  I'm not sure how the other brands do this, but
must be somewhat similar.  There's some info about dissolvers
at:

http://acunet.net/users/young/mermaid/information_dissolves.html


> 
> 2 racks, very nice, totally adjustable... already got these.
> 
> Gepe slide mounts with glasses (price was $15american for 40)
> Do people get rid of their glass mounts??? can you get 500 of them used
> somewhere?

Gepe's have been on ebay occasionally, and in fact the FULL FRAME
Gepe's (usually new with anti-newton glass) have been going 
cheap-per-unit in huge amounts.  However, instead of using 24x36mm it may
be more convenient to use 32mm wide ones so one has room to adjust
for stereo mounting (Neil Steller, my 2x2 "guru" who taught the
2x2 class at a CSC meeting in august (http://www.photo-3d.com/Csc/cscaug99.html)
uses those slightly narrower mounts for that reason).

> 
> Am I missing anything?
> Oh! and the screen!!!
> I was thinking of getting a 9x12 screen... this should fit a 'standard' AV
> format frame.
> http://www.hurleyscreen.com/surfaces.html
> 
> I shoot with two Minolta 7000's on one of 3 bars that I've made.


Sounds good to me!!!  I'm mostly still waiting for my RBT to arrive
next spring.  :-)  Sigh......

Good luck and post how things work out!

Mike K.
a little further south than you in (metro) Portland, Oregon

> 
> John Asbacher  2834  Vine  Street
> Vancouver,  B.C.  Canada  V6K 3L4
> (604) 734-3447 asbacher@xxxxxxxxx