16mm
/
mcopy
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues 14 Pull Requests Projects 2 Releases 13 Wiki Activity
Small-gauge film optical printer platform
890 Commits 1 Branch 17 Tags 52 MiB
OpenSCAD 28.7%
JavaScript 18.6%
TypeScript 18.5%
C++ 17.5%
CSS 12.3%
Other 4.4%
Go to file
Matt McWilliams cc06655cd6 Update debug 2023-01-23 00:28:26 -05:00
app Arri-S work 2022-10-07 19:47:56 -04:00
data Add new commands for takeup forward and takeup backward 2023-01-15 10:09:55 -05:00
docs Upload screenshots of app 2018-10-05 18:05:16 -04:00
hardware Save work on the JK99 shield. 2022-11-13 17:35:18 -05:00
ino Use variable in stepper declaration 2022-11-11 15:47:58 -05:00
notes Notes about 4pin_connectors 2022-05-31 17:43:03 -04:00
processing Caught a possible ancient bug in the loop logic for calculating state of camera and projector backwards movements. 2022-08-07 17:23:06 -04:00
scad Update debug 2023-01-23 00:28:26 -05:00
scripts Remove the cli project. It was unmaintained and unnecessarily adds to the project complexity. 2021-02-22 13:15:38 -05:00
src Improve capper documentation 2022-09-16 09:45:19 -04:00
stl All arri s mount and jk lens assembly work. need to do some branch cleanup on this project and tackle capper issues for merge of this branch. 2023-01-03 21:16:19 -05:00
.gitignore Begin testing with mocha and chai. 2019-04-15 13:07:47 -04:00
LICENSE Update license as work has been ongoing since 2018 2021-02-22 13:26:21 -05:00
Readme.md Update links to latest release 2021-03-18 11:35:55 -04:00
package-lock.json Increment build patch version 2022-08-04 10:57:36 -04:00
package.json Increment build patch version 2022-08-04 10:57:36 -04:00
tsconfig.json Refactor mscript GUI code into Typescript 2022-08-07 22:10:53 -04:00

Readme.md

mcopy

An open platform for controlling small-gauge film optical printers (16mm, Super8, 8mm).

  1. Introduction
  2. Downloads
  3. Usage
  4. Software
  5. Firmware
  6. Hardware
  7. Why?

Introduction

The mcopy project is comprised of software and hardware for optical printers, built with re-purposed broken projectors.

Components

  • Sequencer desktop app
  • Scripting language, called mscript, for orchestrating complex sequences
  • Arduino firmware for projectors, cameras, lights and existing printers
  • 3D models of parts used for modifying projectors and printers
  • Schematics for simple Arduino-based electronics
  • Filmout feature for digitally transferring video and images to analog film
  • Interoperability with the intval3 intervalometer

Downloads

Latest Installers

  • 1.6.9 for macOS, Linux (.deb) and Windows (.msi)

Older Versions

  • 1.6.7 for macOS and Linux (.deb)
  • 1.6.4 for macOS, Linux (.deb) and Windows (.msi)
  • 1.6.2 for macOS
  • 1.6.1 for macOS
  • 1.5.2 for macOS
  • 1.4.9 for macOS and Linux (.deb)
  • 1.2.0 for macOS and Linux (.deb)
  • 1.0.3 for macOS and Linux (.deb)

For Windows, you can install from source for now.

Usage

The software requires your hardware to be in place before the mcopy control app is useful.

mcopy app

Software

The mcopy desktop app is an Electron-based project which can be built for Linux, Windows and macOS. Pre-built packages will be made available for macOS, initially, with the other two target platforms to follow. To build the desktop app from source, see the installation and running instructions. The desktop software also interoperates with two related projects; the Bluetooth + Wifi capable, Raspberry Pi-based INTVAL3 and the Arduino-based intval2.

Firmware

This project contains Arduino formware for controlling:

  • a projector
  • a camera (see intval2 for more info)
  • a light
  • a projector + a camera
  • a projector + a light
  • a camera + a light
  • a camera + a projector + a light

Using a simple serial interface, this modular platform can be used to control DIY components, modified existing optical printers or a mixture of components. The desktop app can connect to multiple serial devices, so your mcopy optical printer can be built from various designs that suit your hardware tastes/needs/available parts.

Hardware

All non-electronic hardware for this project is available as plaintext OpenSCAD files and 3D print-able .STL files. The hardware component of this project is aimed at modifying broken Bell & Howell projectors into USB serial-controlled projectors to be used in optical printing.

As a secondary capability, this desktop software and firmware package can be used to replace the sequencers for early-model JK optical printers, with some modification.

Why?

I'm interested in expanding the viability and access of the 16mm film format and to repurpose thre rising tide of discarded film technology.