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7OMM FESTIVAL
Karlsruhe | Gentofte
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VISION, SCOPE & RAMA
1926 Natural Vision
1929 Grandeur
1930 Magnifilm
1930 Realife
1930 Vitascope
1952 Cinerama
1953 CinemaScope
1953 Panavison
1954 VistaVision
1955 Todd-AO
1955 Circle Vision 360
1956 CinemaScope 55
1957 Ultra Panavision 70
1958 Cinemiracle
1958 Kinopanorama
1959 Super Panavision 70
1959 Super Technirama 70
1960 Smell-O-Vision
1961 Sovscope 70
1962
Cinerama 360
1962 MCS-70
1963 70mm Blow Up
1963 Circarama
1963 Circlorama
1966 Dimension 150
1966
Stereo-70
1967 DEFA 70
1967 Pik-A-Movie
1970 IMAX / Omnimax
1974 Cinema 180
1974 SENSURROUND
1976 Dolby Stereo
1984 Showscan
1984 Swissorama
1986 iWERKS
1989 ARRI 765
1990 CDS
1994 DTS / Datasat
2001 Super Dimension 70
2018 Magellan 65

Various Large format | 70mm to 3-strip | 3-strip to 70mm | Specialty Large Format | Special Effects in 65mm | ARC-120 | Early Large Format
7OMM Premiere in Chronological Order

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2002 | 2001 | 2000
1999 | 1998 | 1997
1996 | 1995 | 1994
 

in70mm.com Mission:
• To record the history of the large format movies and the 70mm cinemas as remembered by the people who worked with the films. Both during making and during running the films in projection rooms and as the audience, looking at the curved screen.
in70mm.com, a unique internet based magazine, with articles about 70mm cinemas, 70mm people, 70mm films, 70mm sound, 70mm film credits, 70mm history and 70mm technology. Readers and fans of 70mm are always welcome to contribute.

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Copyright © 1800 - 2070. All rights reserved.

Visit biografmuseet.dk about Danish cinemas

 

Todd-AO Equipment Catalog, Distortion Correction Printer, Mark III
Engineered by American Optical Company, Southbridge, USA

Read more at
in70mm.com
The 70mm Newsletter
Captions by: Brian O'Brien, Jr. around 1997. Images by: American Optical Company, around 1955. Date: 21.05.2014
Front view of Todd-AO's Distortion Correcting Printer, Mark III installed in Fort Lee, New Jersey

The
Distortion Correcting Printing Process was initially meant to be an integrated part of the Todd-AO system. It was originally designed to eliminate three types of distortion, keystone distortion, distortion resulting from using a deeply- curved screen, plus correcting the distortion arising from use of the extremely wide-angle lenses, in both photography and projection. Grant Lobban

Description of Todd-AO Mark III Printer Principle

"Oklahoma!" Printing Operation in the Todd-AO Mark III Printer 


Todd-AO - Distortion Correcting Printing Process
 
More in 70mm reading:

Back to Todd-AO Catalog

Todd-AO Birth date
How Todd-AO Began
Todd-AO Home

DP70 / Universal 70-35 / Norelco AAII - The Todd-AO Projector

Description of Todd-AO Mark III Printer Principle

"Oklahoma!" Printing Operation in the Todd-AO Mark III Printer 

Todd-AO - Distortion Correcting Printing Process

Internet link:

 
Rear view showing control cables.

 
 
Side view showing the supply reels at the top and the take-up reels at the bottom. The closed reels are for the raw stock and the open reels are for the negative. The circular pulley in the center is the heavy flywheel on the printing drive to insure smooth motion.
 
 
Long shot of printer and control boxes.

 
 
Long shot of printer with control boxes.

 
 
System control panel.

 
 
Front of control cabinet

 
 
Inside control cabinet.

 
 

Film Path & Raw stock supply spool

 
Diagram of the film path.

 
 
Benny Grinsewitz loading raw stock.

 
 
Raw stock supply spool with door open.
 
 
Close-up of the take-up section with raw stock can on right and with negative threading back to the open reel farther back.
 
 
Negative and raw stock reels.

Supply section.

 
 
Negative and raw stock take-up section.

 
 
Negative coming from the supply to the print section.

 
 
Printing section showing on left the negative slit illuminated in straight line & on the right the print stock on the curved shoe & slit illuminated with a curved line (The B, or “Droop” correction).

 
 
Another front view of printing section.

Printing section showing on left the negative slit illuminated in straight line & on the right the print stock on the curved shoe & slit illuminated with a curved line (The B, or “Droop” correction).
 
 
Front view of printer showing the correcting cam shift mechanism.

 
 
Close-up of cam shift mechanism and magnetic fluid break.

 
 
Front of print section with only raw stock loaded.

 
 
Front of take-up section.

 
 
Frame line shutter top make the competition think it was a step printer.

 
 
Print section from above with hand on the curved print shoe.
 
 
Close-up of print section.
 
 

Color correcting (“timing”) filters

 
Color correcting (“timing”) filters for each scene were carried in pockets on 65mm clear stock. Roll of these is contained in the cylindrical can on left. The active one is in the circular light beam at the center. These filters get indexed along at each scene change.

 
 
Timing filters in their pocket carrier.

 
 
65mm and 35mm film reels.

 
 

Paper Tape Reader

 
The printers were controlled by punched paper tape, executing correction cam changes and filter changes at each scene change.

Front view showing the paper tape reader in lower right.

 
 
Front of take-up section showing the paper tape control reader on the right.

 
 
Paper tape drive with its control.

 
 
Paper tape drive on the printer.

 
 
Paper tape drive controlling scene changes.
 
 
A control unit.

 
 
Paper tape reel & case.

 
 
Control paper tape transport case.

 
 
Control paper tape.

 
 

Printing illumination section

 
Printing light source system.

 
 
Printing illumination section.

Rear view of frame line shutter

 
 
Light source control box.

 
 

Optical Bridge

 
Side view of print section with optical bridge at high droop angle.

 
 
Side view of print section with optical bridge at medium droop angle.

 
 
Side view of print section with optical bridge at zero droop angle.

 
 
Benny Grinsewitz focusing the optical system.

 
 
Bridge with microscope for focusing printer.

 
 
   
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Updated 28-07-24