Quote:
Originally Posted by maxhifi
This story is awesome. My Seeburg hideaway jukebox generated a similar level of admiration, but since it is in the basement and not the front hall, things never escalated to that extent!
So did you ever run 35mm at home?
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Yes, actually, I did, as impractical as that was what with needing to stop and thread up a new reel 5 or 6 times for normal length titles, 7 to as many as 12 times for longer titles like GONE WITH THE WIND or MY FAIR LADY or 2001. But that was in the early 70s even before the video revolution...before even VHS, so the only source of movies was bringing home a print from the theatre where I worked. But the novelty of being able to see first run movies in my house soon wore off for my friends and family and no one wanted to put up with both the reel changes and the noise of the projector, which was substantial given it was meant to be located in a sound containing projection booth away from the audience. I soon realized that the best use for this beast was to convert it to a telecine movement and copy the films onto the only viable video format at the time, Sony's U-Matic 3/4in tape deck. Once copied, then play it back via the VideoBeam, allowing me to have a Home Theatre before the term Home Theatre was even a thing. This is what an obsession will do to a kid, and as much as everyone else will say it's crazy, aside from my family and friends, it has given me more satisfaction and joy than anything less.
This is a picture of the back of the VideoBeam setup in the living room -- yes that's a masking surround and motorized curtains (hey, if you are going to do it...do it right, I always say!).
On top of the VB are a pair of 3D active glasses for 3D movies available from a small company, 3DTV which used alternating frames very much the same principle as home 3D works today. Back them I was able to show THE HOUSE OF WAX and a few other titles thru this company on the VideoBeam, much to the amazement of my guests -- and me as well as I never thought I would be able to show the very first 3D movie I ever saw as a 10 yr old in my apartment. I was fascinated by 3D as a kid and that fascination never left me.