[Frameworks] Portable 16mm projector modifications (SPECTRAL Wandering Sounds and Images)

[Robert Schaller]

Dear Zach et al.,

This is great!  Thank you so much for sharing!

--Robert Schaller

> On Apr 20, 2024, at 10:29 AM, Zach Poff <z at zachpoff.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi all. I'm writing to share updates about a project hosted by Mire film lab in Nantes, FR:  Wandering Sounds and Images is a series of creative research seminars and artist residencies focused on off-grid nomadic cinema performance (part of the SPECTRAL <https://www.spectral-cinematics.eu/> collaboration between six artist-run film labs in the EU).
> 
> The research seminars brought together an international team of artist/experimenters. During three meetings in France, we created portable technologies for 16mm projection, "magic lantern" projection, and 8-channel sound diffusion. Mire will offer these tools to resident artists starting next month. (There are three residencies. Application deadlines for the first two have passed. Subscribe to Mire's email list <https://www.mire-exp.org/mirenews-newsletter/> to find out about the third.)
> 
> We also thoroughly documented the project to invite others to build their own tools based on our designs. We're sharing this documentation on the wiki at filmlabs.org <https://www.filmlabs.org/wiki/en/meetings_projects/spectral/mire-wandering/start>. It's a work-in-progress, but the 16mm projector wiki section <https://www.filmlabs.org/wiki/en/meetings_projects/spectral/mire-wandering/wandering-16mmprojection/start> is now good enough to share. Our goal is to transform 16mm projectors into portable, battery-powered performance instruments. We want to liberate them from the AC outlet and bring them outside to project film loops & normal reels with variable speed and brightness, forwards and backwards, and single-frame. We replaced the shutter with a flashing LED to create a "virtual shutter" with adjustable angle and # of blades. We modified two Eumig projectors and one Eiki. (The wiki is based on the Eiki since they are easy to obtain, but the fundamentals apply to most projectors.) 
> 
> To make the project easily reproducible and adaptable, we used an RC car motor and battery, a common micro-controller and 3D-printed modular parts. The wiki contains a complete Bill of Materials along with source files for the micro-controller code and the 3D models. There is a step-by-step Construction Guide <https://www.filmlabs.org/wiki/en/meetings_projects/spectral/mire-wandering/wandering-16mmprojection/construction_guide/start>. I hope our work inspires you to modify your own projector. It was a group effort, but I'm happy to field questions or direct you to somebody else on the team who can help you on your journey!
> 
> Find out more:
> 
> Mire's description of SPECTRAL and the Wandering Sounds and Images project: https://www.mire-exp.org/spectral-2/ <https://www.mire-exp.org/spectral-2/>
> My summary of the project (with photos, videos, and wiki links): https://www.zachpoff.com/artwork/wandering-sounds-and-images/ <https://www.zachpoff.com/artwork/wandering-sounds-and-images/>
> github repo with source code: https://github.com/z-l-p/film-projector-retrofit <https://github.com/z-l-p/film-projector-retrofit>
> -Zach Poff
> 
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