While artists all over the world continue to work with celluloid film, they are often confronted with precarious screening conditions due to increasingly old and hard to repair equipment. In particular, film projectors and their aging mechanical parts have become less dependable, contributing in many cases to the destruction of the film material instead of ensuring its optimal presentation. The last 16mm commercially available film projector was built in the 90’s but most artists, archivists and projectionists have to deal with much older equipment, sometimes going back to the 60’s and 50’s. At the same time, the traditional industrial manufacturers have disappeared or shifted to other fields, service personnel have retired and spare parts are rare and unreasonably priced. Designed mainly for standard film projections, vintage projectors also fail to cater to contemporary demands: While not offering enough flexibility for artists who work in expanded cinema, they also don’t usually meet the needs of archival projection. Along with the digital revolution, which has, in the last decade, already greatly reduced the opportunities for experiencing analogue film projection, the aging technology of vintage projection equipment has become an important factor in the disappearance of analogue film projection and the uniqueness of its experience.

Our idea is to develop a state-of-the-art and modular 16mm film projector using only open-source technologies and non-proprietary/commonly available spare parts. We believe that especially the central mechanical elements of the old projectors – claw mechanism, shutter wheel and film transport - are in most cases so well engineered that a new development here would be a waste of time and energy. Instead, we want to build the projector on the basis of an existing - and easily available - projector mechanism. The same applies to the optics: lenses that are compatible with projectors made by Eiki, Bauer, Bell & Howell and Hokushin are available worldwide in good condition. This projector should cater to the needs of contemporary film artists, archivists and projectionists alike.

Design:
• Modular design
• Open source technologies
• Non-proprietary & commonly available spare parts (3D-printable)
• Adjustable height & tilt
• Lightweight for travelling & portability during projection
• Option to project in vertical format (90° tilted or Prism system)

Power:
• 110V & 220V
• Optional: Battery for outdoor & portability during projection

Light source:
• Super bright, dimmable LED
• Color temperature adjustment for differently timed prints
Tungsten or Xenon or redshifted film prints
• Digital shutter (flicker)

Film formats:
• 16mm – Super-16 – Ultra-16 – open gate
(with switchable format masks)
• Steady focus between print & reversal stocks
• Optional: interchangeable sprocket wheels for shrunk film

Optics:
• Wide zoom range lens 25mm – 150mm
• Compatible with Bauer, Eiki & B&H lenses (adapter tubes)
• Focus with Worm Gear
• Anamorphic lens holder
• Holder for Elmo Viewer Type 100 (viewing without screen)

Transport:
• Crystal sync speeds: 12 – 15 – 16,66 – 18 – 23,976 – 24 – 25 – 29,97 – 30 FPS
• Manual vario-speed from < 1 to 30 FPS
• Vario shutter wheel independent from FPS
• Digital frame counter
• Memory counter for in- and out-point
• Fast rewind in both directions

Audio:
• Optical & magnetic audio (no built-in amplifier – just outputs)
• Microphone input for live voice
• Headphone jack
• Integrated digital audio sync system

Connectivity:
• Sync with digital audio, video & midi
• Sync between several projectors
• Switchable from master to slave
• Sync with Elmo ESS system
• Optional: ready for telecine
• Remote control: IR / Cable / Bluetooth

Accessories:
• Development of a compatible looper device
• Spool arm extensions

Our project takes place over a period of two and a half years, and should be completed by September 2025 with the presentation of a prototype at the Back To The Future Festival in Rotterdam.

As a first step, in a team of two, we disassembled four film projector models, which we found offered a suitable mechanical system that could serve as the basis for further development. We have defined three fields of development, for which we will have to collaborate with different experts. These fields are light source, film transport mechanism and electronics.

But before we can take the next step, we also realised that we are at a junction where we first have to decide which path to take:

A. Develop a flexible upgrading system which suits various existing projector models. This would ensure that artists would be able to upgrade their own projector model, no matter where they live and what projector they own. Our concern is that it may be difficult to develop parts that can adapt with various existing mechanical parts.

B. Develop an upgrading system for only one widely available projector model. This would enable us to develop much more specific parts and create an integrated concept for that one type. The downside is that many projector models are not equally available in all parts of the world.

C. Develop a DIY-Kit, replicating mechanics from various existing models, using techniques like 3D-printing , CNC- and laser cutting. This would enable artists all over the world to build up their own, modular and state-of-the-art projector from scratch. Eventually we could provide and ship readymade parts that would be too difficult to produce individually.

Once this crucial decision has been made, we want to bring an expert in electromechanics on board to accompany the project through to the prototype. At the same time, we want to build an online community with whom we can share our ideas and who can also test and improve individual parts. We are already in contact with several people who are independently working on similar developments and who are waiting to finally share their knowledge and experiences with each other. In the end, we will hire an industrial designer to work with us in order to build a prototype.

In the following we show detail shots of various 16mm projector models that we have disassembled for better examination. For each model we list the advantages and disadvantages that we noticed during disassembly.

1. Siemens 2000

2. Kodak Pageant

3. Hokushin SC-10

4. nac Analysis Projector

5. Eiki RT2

In August 2023 we decided that before building a prototype, we first needed to find an LED light source that is capable of replacing the common 24V 250W halogen bulb. Chzech film artist Jan Kulka recommended high density LEDs from Chinese manufacturer Getian, which he has used for his Archeoscope expanded cinema machine. Over a period of 6 months we tested several LEDs with different Wattage, starting from 200W, then moving up to 400W, 600W and finally 800W. We based our decisions not only on the brightness but also on the size of the LED chips in relation to the 16mm projector gate.

In order to achieve comparable and realistic testing parameters, we took out a 16mm gate with lens holder from an old Bell & Howell projector. We placed the LEDs as close as possible to the gate and step-by-step turned up the voltage in 0.5V increments. We then measured the temperature on the chip, and the brightness of the projection, using a lux meter.

After a few attempts we noticed that we were always reaching a critical temperature of 60°C (recommended by the manufacturer) even before the LEDs reached the rated power capacity and the highest brightness. We realised that we would have to find a more efficient cooling system then the computer processor heat sink with fan that we had started with. The next step to achieve more brightness was to try out water cooling. For our tests we chose a water cooling system (AIO) that is usually used for gaming computers. This actually allowed us to operate the LEDs with much higher voltage and up to their maximum capacities without over heating. Finally with an 800W LED we were able to reach close to twice the brightness of a 24V 250W halogen bulb.

Reference Brightness: Bell & Howell 16mm Projector with 50mm f/1,4 lens at 24 FPS: 10,000 Lux

LED-Setup: Lens: 50mm f/1,4, distance LED-gate: 2,3 cm, distance lens-wall: 155 cm

Test 1 07.08.2023 LED 200W max. 13,6 A 12 - 16 V with air cooling

Test 2 14.10.2023 LED 400W max. 10 A 42 - 48 V with air cooling

Test 3 16.10.2023 LED 800W max. 15 A 45 - 54 V with air cooling

Test 4 29.10.2023 LED 800W max. 15 A 45 - 54 V with AIO water cooling

Test 5 16.12.2023 LED 600W max. 17 A 36 - 42 V with AIO water cooling

Test 5 16.12.2023 LED 400W max. 10 A 42 - 48 V with AIO water cooling

.

After coming to the conclusion that the 800W LED was the most appropriate for our project, we decided that the next step should be to test the LED with a projector that had a working transport mechanism where we could run a test film through the projector and check the quality of the projection. This would mean that we would have to find a projector that we would need to modify in order to fit the LED and cooler. This brought us back to the question of which path to take with the project in general. It became clear that in the time frame that we have for the project it was most important to be able to test a system where we had variable control over the light and the transport mechanism and that we should focus first on these two parameters. That meant focusing on replacing the lamp and motor in an already existing projector and not trying to create initially the entire projector from scratch or to develop a hybrid model put together from different projectors. We decided to use the Eiki RT model because of its availability, robust construction and the amount of space that it offered in the housing for modifications. The simplicity of its transport mechanism was also the factor as well as the idea that the modifications we would make could be easily reproduced by others.

At this stage we decided to bring in somebody with more expertise with projector construction and modification. Based on his experience building his own custom projection devices we asked Jan Kulka to join our team and continue the development of the prototype with us. In April 2024 we met in Berlin and decided on the next steps to follow. Even though our wish list contains a vast number of possible functions, we decided to focus initially on replacing the motor and installing a flickering LED Lamp that would replace the mechanical shutter.

Bernd Lützeler filmi@gmx.de

Juan David González Monroy jdgonzalezmonroy@gmail.com

SPECTRAL is co-funded by the Creative Europe program of the European Commission.

SPECTRAL is co-funded by the Kofinanzierungsfonds of Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa, Berlin