American Cinematographer - August 1993 - 71

compiled by Marji Rhea
Video Transfer

Left: TheASC

System

Audio Video

Otti International has developed
a

Corporation's

65mm/70mm film-to-video transfer sys¬

new

Virtual

tem for the Rank Cinetel MK111 Telecine.

Recorder,

By avoiding the intermediate transfer to
35mm, the system minimizes problems with
grain-to-picture ratio and film weave. Un¬
steadiness caused by the print process and
telecine machines are avoided by the direct
transfer and further reduced by a friction
balancing system in the aperture plate.
With the system, dailies can be viewed as
soon as the 65mm negatives are processed.
The larger formats also promise to have
important applications in HDTV.
The system can also transfer al¬
most all other film formats, including 65/
70mm, (65mm negative and 70mm positive)
5-perf; 65/70mm 8-perf (Super 70); 65/
70mm 10-perf (a military, NASA and indus¬
trial format); 65/70mm 5-perf Showscan
60fps; 35mm 12-perf "7012"; 35mm 3-perf;
35mm 4-perf normal; and 16mm standard.
Gate or format changeover is as quick as a
normal 16/35mm change. Also in develop¬
ment are transfer systems for 65/70mm 15perf Imax and 35mm VistaVision 8-perf for¬

random-access

a

retrieval system.
Below: The

softlight by
DeSisti Lighting.

image, occlusion target system, 12V NiCad
battery pack and charger with LED condition
readout, graphics interface module for
frame rate and footage counter, etc., level
sensor module and display interface, builtin communications headset with noise-can¬

celing microphone, and pivoting final dis¬
play section.
For information: Lightstorm
Technologies, 3100 Damon Way, Burbank,
CA 91505, (818) 566-6814, FAX (818) 5661815.

mats.

For information: Otti Interna¬

tional, Via Montanaro 12, Pievebelvicino,
36036, VI, Italy.
Virtual

Display Helmet
Lightstorm Technologies' HID
Helmet Integrated Display System mobile
virtual display does not cause nausea or
headaches as do many current video display
systems, and the user does not have to keep
the non-viewing eye closed.
The helmet offers an image
equivalent to a 42" diagonal screen at 10
feet. The display image occupies only a
small percentage of the display eye fieldof-view while maintaining peripheral vision.
The non-display eye vision remains unob¬
structed in most

cases.

The HID accepts NTSC/PAL
video signal inputs from a wide variety of
video sources, including most video cam¬
eras and transmitted signals. Features in¬
clude a high-resolution monochrome CRT

new

quartz halogen

New

Softlights
Lighting has two new
quartz halogen softlights, the Wyeth 1000watt and Wyeth 1000/2000-watt softlights.
DeSisti

The 1000-watt model is 12" in width, 10"

12 14", 5" deep yoke. The
1000/2000-watt softlight is 2014" wide, 14"
high, and has a 17", 614" deep yoke. Both
come with fixture, egg crate, color frame

high, and has

tal control

protocol.
The VR

a

and bulbs.

For information: Robert E.

Kulesh, DeSisti Lighting/Desmar, (213) 9628321.

Random-Access Retrieval
ASC Audio Video Corporation's
Virtual Recorder is a random-access re¬

trieval system that makes recorded mate¬
rial instantly available for offline editing.

uses

removable

optical

storage to reduce cue time to under 500
milliseconds. Each rewritable Phase

Change Optical (PCO) Cartridge holds 25
minutes of video, two-track audio, and time
code information. Capable of loading up to
six optical cartridges simultaneously, the VR
allows editors random access of 214 hours

of material.
To maximize the performance of
the optical drives, the VR employs DVI tech¬

nology for video compression, producing a
data rate of under 11 kilobytes per frame.
Ideal for offline editing, the resulting NTSC

Any device that can interface with a profes¬

image has

sional videotape recorder can now commu¬
nicate with ASC's VR via the SMPTE digi¬

240

August 1993

American

an

effective resolution of 256 X

pixels.
The VR's software manages

Cinematographer

the

69
American Cinematographer - August 1993

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