(Topic ID: 310546)

Tear down/resto photo best practices

By Frogman

2 years ago


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  • 11 posts
  • 10 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 2 years ago by Frogman
  • Topic is favorited by 4 Pinsiders

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    #1 2 years ago

    I just completed my first playfield strip down/rebuild and learned a lot. Everyone said to take a lot of pictures but I didn’t realize how many I SHOULD have taken. Determined not to make the same mistake again, I'm curious about different processes.

    I have a bunch of machines to restore over the long haul, so it’s worth investing a bit of time and/or money to get it right.

    Does anyone use an overhead camera rig or mount to take pictures? What about video of the tear down? If you do anything other than point and shoot freestyle please share!

    #2 2 years ago

    Pictures at each stage ... pictures pictures and more pictures .

    #3 2 years ago

    I usually take a lot of pictures at each stage on the game when disassembling, but also pictures of where I lay down the parts and their respectful hardware from diffrent angles..

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    #4 2 years ago

    I’ve learned to not take pictures too close, you lose context. With a high MP image you can afford to zoom out a little.

    Last time I bagged everything in removal order and inverted on the way back. Worked very well that way.

    #5 2 years ago

    No rig. Just photos after each step and at multiple angles. Top, sides, front, back. Also photos of the screws/posts that were removed. Sometimes it can be helpful to include a ruler for the screw length.

    When you think you have enough photos, take a few more.

    #6 2 years ago

    Take a bit of time to look at the posts - I've found a few games where there were different height posts. I ended up drawing a map showing the different post heights and making sure I used the correct length post screws. Using the wrong length screw meant poking thru the bottom of the playfield.

    Do the same thing for the spacers - for example, there are spacers on BSD that are critical to the ramp, and the spacers, when looking at them casually, look the same length. Using the wrong length and you cannot line up the right ramp correctly.

    I think you can catch these things by looking at the parts page in the manuals - if they list different part numbers for posts and spacers, look out.

    #7 2 years ago

    I've also taken my manual of the game to copy place. I have many "blown up" copies made of the playfield pages. I can make notes directly on the those pages.

    This is especially handy for lengths of risers, screws, posts and their specific locations. I put blue tape on them, then identify them as A/B/C/D etc. in that location on the copy paper.

    #8 2 years ago

    LOTS at many different angles. I also refer to pinside for pictures cause sometimes people dont put things back together right so what I took pictures of might have been wrong.

    #9 2 years ago

    Yep, lots of pictures from different angles. I also do some videos now and then, slowly panning from side to side to get from all angles, useful to pause and look at if you didn't take a photo in a certain angle and need it afterwards.

    Also I remove stuff in chunks, like 1-2 playfield plastics + ball guides underneath + screws , washers and posts and put it all in a zip lock bag together with a paper stating what it is and where on the playfield it were.

    After cleaning and waxing the bare playfield I take a bag at a time, clean the stuff inside and put it back on the game.

    #10 2 years ago

    angles angles angles.

    As above, make a couple videos telling your sober self what your doing or any interesting facts/notes

    #11 2 years ago
    Quoted from dr_nybble:

    I’ve learned to not take pictures too close, you lose context. With a high MP image you can afford to zoom out a little.

    The ultra close shots I took were useless and it's a great point about zooming in on high MP images.

    Quoted from Kerry_Richard:

    I've also taken my manual of the game to copy place. I have many "blown up" copies made of the playfield pages. I can make notes directly on the those pages.

    I mounted an older, but large monitor near my rottisserie so I can zoom in on the PDF's. Old skook paper works just as well, though!

    Quoted from TheLaw:

    ...make a couple videos telling your sober self what your doing or any interesting facts/notes

    lol. I can barely focus when I'm sober, can't imagine working on pins when I'm lit.

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