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MovieTracker is a program for Palm OS in which a Movie Theatre Projectionist can input when his/her movies start and their PDA then keeps track of what movies have been threaded and started based upon the person checking their respective boxes. It sounds an alarm before a movie starts based upon whether or not the boxes for that particular movie have been checked.

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I don't have a palm pilot nor do I think I will use one for telling me when my shows are threaded. I like my little sheet of paper with the shows in the order of when they start. I am just curious if there are projectionists who will find this program useful. Mainly for those that do not have automations that beep, chime, cry, scream or whatever when your shows are ready to start.

This is not a new device but one which many people have shunned in favour of high tech gadgets. It is quite simple to use and a good quality one will last forever.

Just a thought.

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It needs to be able to HotSync to a computer so you can edit your showtimes list without having to enter it in by hand on the Palm. Entering all the showtimes for a 20 screener and then making changes when house numbers and showtimes change can get to be a real PITA.

It also needs the ability to beam the database to another handheld from within the app. While we are at it, why not make it compatible, either directly or indirectly with CTS, or some other computer system that movie theatres use to make and maintian their schedules?

I'm not a fan of remote start either but it would be good if the handheld could querry the projectors to see if they are actualy running. (Either because they weren't started or because the show has been interrupted.)

While we are on the subject of interruptions, why not make it so you can attach notes to each showtime and reference them by time and date. This way, if there is an interruption or some other technical problem it can be recorded. At the end of the shift, the operator can HotSync the handheld and have the notes automatically entered into the booth log.

As for automations that beep before they start, I like it to a point. Only because it means the movie is starting at its correct time, but I do agree that remote starting is very bad. A projectionist NEEDS to be there when the picture hits the screen to make sure that it is in frame and focus. I still forget to push the lens turret back into place on our Ernemanns when I start a film. If I wasn't there when the projector starts, I probably wouldn't hear a complaint until after the first trailer. Customers automatically think that a projectionist is always up there watching the movie and if anything goes wrong, then it would be fixed that instant... not 15 minutes later.

I don't know... I think this is more of a rant than anything else. I tried to check out this guy's site to see if he had any prior projectionist experience and only found out that he has pictures of him and his fiance of four years. At least the program is freeware for any who feel like it may help them maintain a perfect schedule. But wouldn't you realize how useless the program can be after a while? I find it irrating when other people think that they know our jobs better than we do. I prove my point to my employees when I put a new person in the booth and I make a wager that the automation (NeuExcel 2000) would call out a projector problem. Especially on something so simple as keeping the failsafes up.

It it weren't for that, I'd say it makes a good "involvement device". Something to keep people's mind on what they are SUPPOSED to be doing. It's a good start but this app's got a way to go before it finds itself being used in day-to-day theatre operations.

Now that I think of it, there's one more feature that this app needs:
Every "n" minutes, the thing should beep and say, "Go check projector number 'X'."
The only way to stop it from beeping would be to actually take the handheld to that projector and scan a bar code on the side of the console. Of course, the kid will only scan the code and walk away but it's AT LEAST keeping him on his feet and walking the booth. (And not down at the concession stand talking to the girls.)
Even then, I'd give it about two weeks until the kid gets pissed off and stops using the the thing all together.

Like I said, the basic idea is good but it needs work and refinement.

Some hackers in the open-source community didn't like having to use a commercial program to write Palm programs, so now there's also an open source-solution: a cross-compiling version of GCC along with PRC-Tools. These tools were developed separately by different people, so using them is somewhat prone to error. However, Falch.net DeveloperStudio provides an IDE for the open-source solution which actually makes it easier to use than the commercial solution. DeveloperStudio is no longer free, though.

There are also some tools which let you draw forms and use scripting languages to create the logic, but as with all intepreted languages, these programs will run more slowly than compiled programs.

I too have been meaning to get into Palm programming for a while. However, there's a pretty steep learning curve, though, even with the DeveloperStudio, and I haven't had time to sit down and really learn it. So now I have a bunch of tools sitting on my hard drive that have been used only to create a few "Hello world" type applications.

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