Business screen magazine (1946)

technical reports continued (ho s.imc subject. The new computcri/cd equipment is going a iDnj; way to provide fix>l-proof systems to effect these changes accurately. Among other adv;inces that laboratories will soon be making is the placing of cues on negative color film to indicate scene changes. It is now done by placmg metallic tabs on the film, which requires some film handling. But Irwin Young says, "Negative color film should never be touched by hand at all." Du Art is now in development stages of a system which will instantaneously cue all scene changes by counting the perforations on the film as it travels through the printer. Du Art uses the Hazeliines only for negative-positive timing. Direct eye inspection timing has generally been found to be satisfactory for reversal film. Du Art's timers feel, although Du Art-Schleiter computerized tape punching system for subsequent print corrections. many labs use the analyzers, successfully for both negative and reversal liming. But with a new Eiislman 16mm color negative film soon to be coming out which promis'js to become very popular with producers. Irwin Young expects that the Hazeltincs will take an active and extremely useful part in even more of the lab's color printing output. Academy Awards to Lab Technical Achievements Academy ol .Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Technical Awards were presented this year to both Consolidated Film Industries for its IBM System '7 computer-controlled color piinting system, and to De Luxe General Labs for a System 7 computerized printer and process control. CFI's system uses an IBM System/ 7 computer to maintain a precise color consistency by detecting errors during processing that are so minute even the human eye can't spot them. The new computer-assisted film printing technique enables a timer— the specialist who sets the color standards for a film being processed — to achieve precision and uniformity of film quality never before possible in the motion picture industry, according to Sidney P. Solow. CFI president. With the new technique the company is able to preserve and use more than one million feel of film each year that previously would have to be scrapped. "It is well known that scenes often have to be shot several times to get the right combination of acting, lighting and other effects," said Solow. "What isn't generally known is that miles and miles of otherwise good film is lost during printing and processing because of a color mbalancc or error. For example, a blue sky suddenly becomes another color as a result of a malfunction in the printing process." While the chemical aspects of film processing remain the same, the new technique utilizes the System 7 computer to monitor the amount of basic coloring — red, blu. and green — that go into the make-up of motion picture frames as they are converted from negatives into transparencies for projection. Thj computer activates a flashing light warning system and shuts down any printing machine should any of the three color light values malfunction or not react sufficiently fast. It also prints information giving the scene number and the nature of the color error for the priming foreman ininiediatelv. CFI technician operates a printing machine equipped with IBM System/7 computer. In the past, color imbalances tha occurred during printing would g< unnoticed until final inspection. Hour of time and thousands of feet of filn could be lost. "At our laboratories alone, we ex pect to save 100,000 feet of filn each month that otherwise might havi been ruined by color errors durin) the printing," Solow said. "More im portantly, we can deliver error-frei prints to customers on schedule." A pioneer in the movie industry Consolidated Film Industries was thi first laboratory to perfect machim processing of film in 1925. It has woi ten earlier Academy Awards for tech nical achievement. This year marke< the first time IBM has received suci an honor from the academy. Q Deluxe General's Academy Award Winning System DeLuxe General's print process con trol utilizes an IBM System 7 Cor puter. Quantametric Automatic Densi| lometer and Teletypewriter. De Luxe according to Robert T Kreiman. Pre^ Ident. is the first motion picture filr processing laboratory to use such system. He said that the three comi ponents of the new system are conij bined in a program group to analyze in| formation during film processing fror sensitometric strips, recognize abnor| malities and advise corrective actior The read-out operation is fully at tomatic and is completed within a mat| ter of seconds. Previous laborator methods of performing the identica control studies required up to 10 mL utes per strip of film analyzed. Prior to DeLuxes implementation ol its new system, it followed the standarJ laboratory method of film procesi control. This involves the developmeni of a standard ganmia strip and thJ manual reading of 21 blue, green anJ red color strip values on a DensitomI eter machine. These readings werl then plotted by hand on graph pape and the resulting curve was evaluate(| and compared \vilh a master cune. ij \\a>. then necessary for the contrc technician to determine if the filnl process was normal or abnormal. 1 1 it was abnormal, it was further necesl sary for him to determine what to di to correct the developing process. ThJ gamma strips were processed once a| hour on each developing machine Since developing at IX'I u\e is donJ around the clock, the dcclsion-makini control process was required 24 hou a day. The new system, was designed atlf developed by DeLuxe General's en gineering department under Fr ScobcN, Vice President. continued on page 38 \ 36 May/June. 1973— BUSINESS SCREEN