I know that unless you have a Super 8 projector with pulse-sync capabilities to act as a slave (meaning the projector's speed will automatically change), it will be extremely difficult to record a soundtrack onto a Super 8 film's magnetic track and have it be in-sync. One workaround is if the projector has continuously variable speed capability, you could adjust its speed slightly during the recording process to attempt to keep the film and sound in-sync.

Now getting to the Elmo ST-1200 series. On the HD (and perhaps others in the series), you may sync the projector with a special tape player with additional sync box equipment, but in that case the Elmo is the master, and the tape player adjusts its speed. The ST-1200 does not have continuously variable speed capability.

The Elmo GS-1200 has pulse-sync capabilities, and perhaps continuously variable speed capability (I'm not sure), and I know many people have successfully recorded soundtracks with it. I have heard of a "Pedro" box that helps with this.

A few questions:

1. Has anyone had any success with a non-GS Elmo (such as the ST-1200HD) in recording a soundtrack in-sync? One possibility I have thought of is to use the VLC media player on a PC/laptop and adjust the speed manually to keep everything in sync. In this case you would of course be feeding the sound output into the Elmo or similar machine. You would be getting the soundtrack from a video (DVD, Blu-ray, youtube, etc.)

2. I have read and seen pics of Blackhawk recording soundtracks from 16mm projectors hooked up to Eumig 800 series projectors. I know that the Eumig doesn't have an electronically controlled speed adjustment, so I'm confused on how they obtained successful results.

3. In the case of the Elmo GS-1200, how did the syncing compensate for belt slippage? On my Yamawa machines, when I have installed new belts, I have had to adjust the potentiometers in order to slow down the projector a bit, since the voices were pitched a bit high.

thanks


Edit: Here is where I read and saw the pics about Blackhawk: http://www.reelclassicdvd.com/BlackhawkFilms.htm
It seems they were using Eumig 700 series, which had the advantage of by-passing the gate, but these were neither continuously variable nor did they have pulse-sync capabilites.

Edit 2: This Blackhawk catalog explains the process of printing and recording:

https://web.opendrive.com/api/v1/downloa...06%97_&inline=1
see page 75.

It seems that they had 2 methods of recording soundtracks. The 2nd method corresponds to what I talked about above, but does not give the detail on how synchronization is obtained. The 1st method uses 16mm magnetic tape that is sprocket driven, and matches in length with the corresponding 16mm film print from which the sound was recorded.
All in all, an interesting read.

Unfortunatly, this is one side of the hobby I have never got in to. If I'm honest, I wish I had done as I have seen the results of home recording thanks to Mark Mander when I purchased a trailer from him last year.

Until recently we only ever used the Elmo ST1200HD as our main projectors for viewing films and they perform better than most and seem to last longer than most. I've been fortunate enough to have them all looked after by Bill Parson, (now retired) which is why they are as good today as they always were and to this day, do not scratch my films thanks to good servicing and replacement of the worn parts which cause this issue.
The GS is a machine I always wanted but I know that when they go wrong they are all but impossible to repair, (electronically) unless you have an proper engineer on hand, unfortunately, these days we dont have that luxury.
There are a small handful of films I would like to get re-recorded but I've got to an age where I really dont think I can be bothered. I've survived the hobby for 44 years without doing it so I think the time has gone by for me to start now. I do have a Bauer T610 which I understand to be a good machine for doing re records but I dont possess a sync box, and of course, it's the time involved and all the added wear to the projector during the process.

I've never looked into re-recording soundtracks much, either, but I do have one reel of a Laurel and Hardy feature with a bit dodgy sound, but nothing terrible, just not as good as the rest of the reels for the feature. I might just try it using the balance stripe so there is no risk of ruining the main stripe.

I never considered getting a GS-1200 for the same reasons as you, Tom. I'm handy with a screwdriver, etc. but once it gets to electronics I know next to nothing other than being able to solder a wire in place. The only advantage a GS-1200 would be to me is the 200 watt bulb, which is 50 watts greater than the ST-1200. I'm not sure how noticeable the increased brightness would be, frankly, as I do have a 1.1 lens fitted to my ST-1200. A 1.0 lens would increase it but the price of those are through the roof. I actually don't notice my ST-1200 being much brighter than my projectors that use a 100 watt EFP.

The extra bells and whistles for sound with the GS-1200 never interested me either, since the vast majority of my films are the old b&w classics that would not benefit from the GS-1200.

My first Elmo ST-1200 scratched films, and it took me almost 10 years to figure out it was the lower green film guide right before the take-up reel. (This was several years before the web and online information was available.) Believe it or not, I stuck splicing tape over the rough spot and never had a problem thereafter. The ST-1200 I currently use had low mileage when I bought it, and there is no wear on the green guide.

I would never let anyone else touch my machines -- I found out early-on that it is quicker, more reliable, and cheaper to do it yourself. 99.99% of maintenance is replacing belts, keeping the film path clean, cleaning the rubber parts, and a very infrequent and judicious application of white lithium grease to the plastic gears (perhaps once every 5 years.)

Renzo Dal Bo sells a Sync Box for the Elmo GS1200 but you can also buy a strobe light accessory that enables you to check the speed of any projector against the presets of the box.
If you are able to adjust the speed of the projector you can then get it in sync with the box and see how consistently it maintains the speed

https://www.facebook.com/renzo.d.bo

Thanks, but alas, I don't have a GS-1200.

But my question is how stable is the speed on the GS-1200, since I assume it has belts? The only projectors that I know of that do not have belts are the Eumigs, but they do have a rubber drive wheel.

With the strobe light you don't need a GS1200
Whilst the the box won't automatically regulate the speed of your projector, you can monitor the speed with the strobe and adjust the projector speed manually.

Not a perfect option I know, but it goes a long way to providing a reasonable solution to Q1 of your original post, without resorting to guessing the projector speed :-)

Quote: Rik Jackman wrote in post #6

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With the strobe light you don't need a GS1200
Whilst the the box won't automatically regulate the speed of your projector, you can monitor the speed with the strobe and adjust the projector speed manually.

Not a perfect option I know, but it goes a long way to providing a reasonable solution to Q1 of your original post, without resorting to guessing the projector speed :-)

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Aha - fair point that I totally missed!

Quote: Rik Jackman wrote in post #8

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Aha - fair point that I totally missed!

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Just noticed Van-Eck sell an rpm checker that can be used on projectors

https://van-eck.net/en/product/rpm_check...eter_projector/

It's called a DT-2234C+ and there are plenty of sellers out there

Quote: Rik Jackman wrote in post #10

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It's called a DT-2234C+ and there are plenty of sellers out there

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If you have a film that needs re-recorded, send it to me. I do this all the time. Perfect sync every time!

onedelorean@yahoo.com