A synchronous-recording, pulse-sync system developed by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. for the Single-8 format intended principally for amateur use.
Film Explorer
Unidentified Single-8 amateur film, shot using the Pulse-Sync System. When the shutter-release button was pressed to start shooting, a white semi-circle start mark on the right edge was exposed on the third frame by a Pulse-Sync-compatible camera.
Courtesy of Sadanobu Iida.
Identification
5.46mm x 4.01mm (0.215 in x 0.158 in).
1
Fujichrome color reversal films R25 (daylight), or RT200 (tungsten). Fuji B/W reversal films NEOPAN R50, or NEOPAN R200, may also have been used until these stocks were discontinued in 1976.
Double-system. An audio cassette, or quarter-inch (6.35mm) open-reel tape, was synchronized to the Single-8 camera, or projector, via a pulse-sync controller cable, which ensured that both film and tape ran at the same consistent speed.
5.69mm x 4.22mm (0.224 in x 0.166 in).
B/W, color.
The camera exposed a small start mark next to the third frame to initiate synchronization.
History
Before the 1970s, accurate synchronization of image and sound, such as lip-sync, was difficult to achieve for amateur 8mm filmmakers. With the exception of a few Standard 8mm cameras that could make simultaneous recordings using optical sound film (such as the Fairchild Cinephonic 8mm Sound Camera), recording was done in the past either by using a tape recorder during shooting, with simultaneous playback during projection, or by a magnetic strip, applied to the film after developing.
In Japan, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (later Sony) introduced the Film Tape Synchronizer (FTS) for Standard 8mm film in 1957. This device connected a Standard 8mm projector to a tape recorder, in order to synchronize image and sound after the film had been shot and processed. Similar products were marketed by other projector manufacturers with names such as “Tape Talkie”, or “Tape Sound”. These were designed to constantly adjust the speed of the 8mm projector to the playback speed of the tape recorder by varying the electrical current.
The Swiss-manufactured Nagra III tape recorder, a technological predecessor to the Pulse-Sync System that was initially released in 1957, recorded a synchronization signal on quarter-inch magnetic tape called a “pilot tone”, allowing the tape recorder and camera to record simultaneously in precise synchrony. Another method for synchronization used a quartz-based timer circuit that kept the camera’s shooting speed constant.
Fujifilm’s Pulse-Sync System, released in December 1971, used pulse signals to synchronize the camera and tape recorder for simultaneous recording during shooting. Subsequently, connecting a projector and a tape recorder via the Pulse-Sync System, allowed for sound projection in which the image and recorded sound were precisely synchronized.
Other synchronization systems that used a pulse signal and were aimed at the amateur market, in competition with Pulse-Sync, included Elmo’s Filmatic Sound, released in 1969, and Canon’s Audio Sync, which arrived in 1972. Despite the need for a fairly significant initial investment, to install compatible equipment, Pulse-Synch provided an attractive route to creating lip-synchronized soundtracks. The presence of compatible projectors and cameras, as well as similar products from other manufacturers, suggest that the Pulse-Sync System became popular, to some extent. On the other hand, Kodak introduced the Super 8 sound cartridge film-and-sound camera in 1973, which opened up the possibility to easily make simultaneous recordings using just a camera, with no need for additional sound recording equipment.
The Pulse-Sync System was listed in the 1976 issue of Amachua Eiga Nenkan (Amateur Film Yearbook) published by Nihon/Nippon Kogata Eiga Renmei (Japan Small Gauge Film Federation). It continued to be sold for some time alongside magnetic stripe sound cameras, such as the Fujica AX-100, which was launched in 1976. As magnetic stripe recording on Single-8 and Super 8 film became more sophisticated in the late-1970s (including two-track stereo recording), the Pulse-Sync System gradually fell out of use. Its exact date of discontinuation is unknown.
Selected Filmography
An amateur film that used the Pulse-Sync System to synchronize audio on a quarter-inch open-reel tape with a Single-8 projector.
An amateur film that used the Pulse-Sync System to synchronize audio on a quarter-inch open-reel tape with a Single-8 projector.
Technology
The Pulse-Sync System connected compatible Fujica Single-8 cameras to a cassette, or open-reel tape recorder, in order to record synchronous sound.
The Fujica ZX300, ZX500, Z800 and ZC1000 cameras were all compatible. These camera models could generate an internal pulse signal; and they could be connected to a tape recorder and microphone via a special Control Cable. Open-reel tape recorders could be connected via a pulse-sync box.
When the camera’s shutter-release button was pressed to commence shooting, a start mark was exposed at the edge of the third film frame. A pulse signal was generated for each frame taken and was recorded on the cassette tape on a separate track from the main audio track.
After shooting and developing the film, a similar system was used to synchronize the print and cassette tape. A compatible pulse-sync projector such as the Fujicascope MX70, MX50, or SH30 had to be used. The projector and the pulse-sync coder that played back the recorded cassette tape were connected via a pulse-sync controller. The pulse on the audio tape that was recorded at the time of filming was used by the pulse-sync controller to adjust the speed of the projector so that each frame of film was synchronized to the corresponding pulse on the tape. Pulse signals were recorded to indicate the start and end of each shot, and they also would automatically start and stop projection.
Left: The connection between the pulse sync coder and the Fujica Z800 Single-8 camera, for simultaneous recording during shooting, is shown here. The pulse generator is mounted on the shaft axis of the camera, which rotates with each frame. When the shutter button on the camera is pressed, the film and recording tape start together and the sound and image are recorded synchronously.
Right: The Pulse sync controller for synchronizing and controlling projectors and tape recorders. This could also be used for dubbing audio after filming and synchronizing the projection of multiple projectors.
Courtesy of Sadanobu Iida.
References
Aoki, Juichiro (c. 1971). Complete Pulse-Sync Course (Parusushinku zenka). Tokyo: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
Fujifilm Holdings Corp. (n.d.). “The History of Fujifilm: 50 Years of Single-8 Development” (“50-nen no Ayumi shinguru – 8 no tenkai”) (accessed May 30, 2023). https://www.fujifilm.co.jp/corporate/aboutus/history/ayumi/dai4-07.html
Kihara, Nobutoshi (1997). “Secrets of Sony Technology” (“Sonī gijutsu no himitsu”). Sony Magazine (Sonī magajinzu): pp.158–161
Narimatsu, Akitoshi (1958). Modern 8mm: 6: Projection, projectors and talkies (Saishin 8mm: kōza 6 eisha eishaki tōkī). Tokyo: Kogaso.
Nihon Kogata Eiga Renmei (1976). Amateur Film Yearbook: 1976 edn (1976 nenban: Amachua eiga nenkan). Tokyo: Nihon Kogata Eiga Renmei.
Orihara, Muddy (2006). “8mm simultaneous recording and shooting: Part 2 – sound misalignment” (“8mm no dōji rokuon satsuei sono 2 oto no zure”) (June 2, 2006). Muddy Orihara’s Film Club Blog (accessed February 10, 2024) https://www.muddyfilm.net/2006/06/8mm_sound_sync.html
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Author
Sadanobu Iida is a small-gauge film researcher. Sadanobu worked for 10 years as an assistant cinematographer and SFX/VFX technician at Shirogumi Inc., involved in the production of commercial animations. He is the author of Report: Senzen kogata eiga shiryo shu (Film Preservation Society: Small Gauge Dept, 2009), Toy Film Museum Booklet 3: The Age of Pathé-baby (co-authored with Noriko Morisue, Toy Film Museum, 2017), supervisor of 9.5mm films for TV drama and the theatrical release version of Wife of a Spy (2020), directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. He supervised the film equipment collection for the launch of the website opened in 2023 called “Film Heritage – National Film Archive Film Material Portal” (https://nfajfilmheritage.jp).
Iida, Sadanobu (2024). “Single-8 Pulse-Sync System”. In James Layton (ed.), Film Atlas. www.filmatlas.com. Brussels: International Federation of Film Archives / Rochester, NY: George Eastman Museum.
Kae Ishihara
