Praxinoscope

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Praxinoscope 1879
A Praxinoscope by Ernst Plank , Nuremberg , powered by a hot air engine (now in the think tank of the Birmingham Science Museum)
Émile Reynaud demonstrates his praxinoscope (1882)

The praxinoscope is a precursor to cinematography developed by Émile Reynaud around 1877 , in which the dark pauses between the images are switched off by means of a mirror arrangement. In 1892 , a projection time of 15 minutes could be achieved with picture tapes.

In its original state, the praxinoscope (the so-called "magic drum") is a flat rotating cylinder, open at the top, about the size of a record. Its curved outer wall is about 10 cm high. A picture strip with usually 8 or 12 pictures of a cyclical sequence of movements is attached to the inside. In the middle of the cylinder is a prism with mirrors arranged in a regular polygon. The number of mirrors (number of side faces of the prism) and the number of images of the film strip must correspond. The mean radius of the mirror prism is exactly half the radius of the screen on the cylinder jacket. Thus, the images are mirrored exactly to the center of the inner wall of the drum, where they then stand still for the viewer despite the rotating drum and seem to change fluently. A calm sequence of movements is created.

With a transparent outer wall over which a long strip of image is drawn, a longer film can be shown instead of the cyclical movement.

The Praxinoscope is a further development of the older Zoetrops .

Timetable

  • from 1600: Flip book - flip book with individual images
  • from 1671: Laterna magica - magic lantern: early device for image projection
  • from 1825: Thaumatrop - miracle disc with two threads
  • from 1830: Phenakistiskop - phantascope, miracle wheel or wheel of life
  • from 1832: stroboscope - magic disks: flash unit
  • from 1834: Zoetrop - miracle drum with slots
  • from 1861: Mutoskop - stereo animation sheets per stroboscope
  • from 1877: Praxinoscope - electrical high-speed viewer using a mirror arrangement
  • from 1879: Zoopraxiskop - projection device for chronophotographically generated serial images
  • from 1880: Kaiserpanorama - popular mass medium with stereoscopic picture series
  • from 1886: Electrotachyscope - projection device for row images
  • from 1891: Kinetoskop - first film viewer

Web links

Commons : Praxinoscopes  - Images and Media Files