Tobin TVT-S8S Operating Instructions Manual

Operating Instructions

TVT-S8S Tobin Video Transfer

Super-8 Sound

Basic Operation

Turn on the power with the switch on the right rear of
the TVT-S8S. Check that the left-hand switch is in the “Peak
Auto” position, the knob to the right of it is in the upper “Auto”
position or pointing towards the right, and the right-hand rotary
switch is in the “Normal Speed” position.
(Note: see page 9 for identification of the items on the
front panel.)
Switch the unit to “Still” and note that there are no hairs
or lint visible in the picture on the underscanned video monitor.
If there are any, swing open the film gate and brush or blow out
the hairs. Switch back to “Stop” and close the film gate.

Super-8

Regular-8

reel hub with the spokes in the reel spindle. If the reel is correctly prepared, the perforations
(sprocket holes) in the film will be towards you, with the emulsion side (the side with the
picture) facing to the right, while the film is hanging down from the right-hand side of the reel.
There should be about 4 feet (1.25m) of leader before the first picture. If any of this is not the
case, return the film reel to the preparation department for correction.
If the leading edge of the film is mangled, trim it straight across in between perforations
and make extremely small bevels on the corners with scissors, if the film preparation
department hasn’t already done so. If it is bent or curled, flatten it.
Set the Speed knob to 0.5 or half speed. Switch to “Forward”. While constantly holding
down the “Push” lever with your left hand, feed the film into the upper channel with your right
hand.
NOTE: There are two clear plastic windows below the film gate area. You should be
able to see the white leader pass straight down past the left hand window. If it jams and starts to
bunch up, immediately stop and switch to Reverse to back the film out for repair or flattening.
NOTE: After the film is seen to go straight down past the left hand window, a couple of

Check that the film is in fact Super-8. If it
is magnetic sound film, the film itself (but not
necessarily the white leader) will have a brown
stripe on each edge, on the side facing to the left.
Super-8 film has small sprocket holes and
normally comes on a reel with a 1/2" (12.7mm)
diameter center hole. Regular-8 film has larger
sprocket holes and normally comes on a reel with a
5/16" (8mm) diameter center hole.

Threading:

Place the full reel of film on the right-hand
“Supply Reel” spindle, matching up the slots in the

1

seconds later you should see the film through the right hand window pass curving to the right.
After the film emerges from the bottom channel, release the “Push” lever. At this time
you can increase the speed to the normal running rate, and lead the film until about 3 feet (1m)
has emerged. (If you accidentally let go of the Push lever too soon, stop the machine and back
out the film, to begin over.)
NOTE: Avoid contact with the take-up reel and the Manual Advance knob as they will
be turning rapidly.
NOTE: After releasing the Push lever, you will see through the left-hand window that
the white leader has formed a free loop curving over to the right and back. This free loop is
necessary to isolate the intermittent film movement through the film gate, from the smooth
movement required when it is passing over the sound playback head. If the free loop is the
wrong size, the sound will not be in sync with the picture. See page 9.

Switch to “Still.” (You can carefully apply a braking force to the take-up reel to slow
down its spin, without sticking your fingers in the spokes.) Attach the film to the take-up reel,
turning the reel clockwise a couple of turns, after leading it around the two round plastic guides.
Turn the Manual Advance knob counter-clockwise a few turns to ensure that the film
advances intermittently through the film gate. Switch to “Forward” to preview the film. It
should be right way up (people’s heads and the sky at the top). The frameline (the dividing line
between pictures on the film) should not be visible; if it is, adjust the “Framer” knob or screw
while running, until it is not seen.
Switch to “Reverse” and run until the picture is all back on the supply reel and there is
about 1 foot (.3m) of leader film between the supply reel and the film gate, then switch to
“Stop.” Push the “Reset” button to zero the footage counter. Note that while running in reverse
you will likely get blurring or travel ghost, as the shuttering is optimized for running forward.
Start the video recorder. Switch the TVT-S8S to “Forward” and you will be recording
the film on video.

Loop Loss:

The film should be inspected, repaired and cleaned before it comes to you for transfer.
In case a bad splice or multiple damaged perforations causes loss of the lower film loop and an
increased upper loop, this will cause a chattering noise and the picture will start jumping up and
down, along with garbled sound. Turn the “Loop Restorer Knob” sharply to the right and let it
fall back, to reset the loops. If this doesn’t work, turn to “Stop” and also stop the video recorder.
Turn the Ratcheting Sprockets to reset the upper film loop to midway between the clear plastic
guide rails, and so that the lower film loop is curving to the right and back again as seen
through the left-hand window as set with the Loop Restorer Knob. Then resume the transfer.
For a high grade transfer, running the repaired film should resume from an earlier scene change
in the film, doing a video “assembly edit” using a video recorder with a flying erase head. Note
that it may take about a foot for the picture and sound to become steady, so back up the film to
a foot before the start of the desired scene.
At the end of the film, switch to “Stop” and stop the recorder. Record the film length
count for billing purposes, if your company charges by the foot or meter.
Attach the end of the film straight across to the supply reel, without going through the
sprockets and gate, and turn the reel a couple of turns counter-clockwise. Switch the Rewind
“On” and monitor closely because the film rewinding is very fast, and when the film is fully

2

rewound turn the Rewind switch “Off” immediately. Remove the supply reel after it stops, and
you are now ready to transfer the next reel.

Installation

Connect the TVT-S8S machine to a suitable video recorder. This is often a Mini-DV
(digital video) or else DVD (digital video/versatile disc) recorder, or less commonly these days
a VHS (video home system) machine. There are two video output jacks on the front of the
machine. Both can be used at the same time if desired:

•

The S-Video (“Separate”-video) Y/C output may give a cleaner video signal in many cases,
as the luminance (brightness or Y) and chrominance (color or C) signals are sent through
separate wires and will not interfere with each other, and thus not cause odd artifacts to
appear in the picture. This preferred connection is with the Mini-DIN 4-pin cable supplied.

•

The conventional video output is used in case the recorder lacks an S-Video input. The jack
is a professional BNC type, so use the supplied BNC to BNC locking cable to connect to
commercial video equipment. Use the BNC to RCA phono type cable or adapter supplied,
to connect to consumer equipment.

Audio Pitch Correction:

Because of technical video requirements, the TVT-S8S 1CCD telecine runs the film at
speeds that are a bit adapted from the original filming rate. For the happiest customers, the
audio should be routed through a Harmonizer or Pitch Shifter (not included) so the pitch of
voices and music is normalized. In use, the pitch is increased for 18 FPS films and reduced for
24 FPS films, as the former are run a bit slow and the latter are run a bit fast. The external
device is set so the Dry (uncorrected) output is zero and only the Wet (corrected) signal is used.
For NTSC machines, at Normal speed raise the pitch by 5.1% and at Pro speed lower
the pitch by 6.6%.
For PAL units, at Normal speed raise the pitch by 8% and at Pro speed lower the pitch
by 4%.

•

For most equipment, use the supplied RCA phono cable to connect the audio out of the TVT

-S8S to the pitch corrector. To record the mono audio on both channels of the usual stereo
recorder, plug the recorder end of the pitch corrector output into the jack of the supplied Y­cord which has two audio plugs.

•

For broadcast equipment, use an XLR cable (not supplied) to send balanced high level audio
from the 3-pin XLR male jack on the TVT-S8S to a suitable input on the other equipment.

Plug the TVT-S8S into a source of 100 to 240 volts AC (alternating current) at 50 or 60
Hz (Hertz, or cycles per second.) For safety and to minimize electrical interference the third
wire should be grounded (earthed.) Turning on the unit will cause the footage counter to light
up, and for black video to be output.

Monitoring

A color video monitor should be used to help you best oversee the transfer operation.
We recommend that the picture monitor be connected to the output of the recorder, so the tape
or disc playback can be spot-checked for quality. We also suggest the use of an “Underscan
Monitor” which enables the entire video signal to be seen by the operator. Such a monitor can

3