Shiny Disco Balls

[DJ Jules]

I've been asked by a client specifically for a mirror ball for their wedding. I've obtained a nice shiny 12" one and a motor with a convenient hole through the middle to facilitate bolt fixing for very little money, now my questions are - how to mount it (on a deckstand?) and how to illuminate it?

I've been told that I could use my scanners to illuminate it if I hang it centrally on the cross bar and put the scanners either side at an angle and then use a DMX controller to fix the mirror positions to focus the scanners on the ball - but I'm not sure how this will affect using the scanners for the rest of the night in terms of positioning (and it'll mean programming the DMX controller with chases for the scanners, which sounds like a pain in the bum).

I'm also a bit worried about mounting it centrally on the deckstand as I'm sure that's going to get in the way! I did wonder about putting it somewhere away from my rig on a T-bar with a couple of Pinspots or an LED par can by itself?

Has anyone got any helpful tips on how best to hang and illuminate a mirror ball from their own experiences?

All advice appreciated,

Julian

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Julian

Have a look round the forum - there are numerous useful threads on this with pictures too.

[OllieJames]

Julian, Tony Scott has a very good way of doing this.

http://www.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=20390

[DJ Jules]

Agreed - that does look good - however, ideally I just want to use 1 ball, and I don't have any moving head light - so I'm trying to work out if the scanners or LED panels will be adequate, or if I should invest in a pair of Pin spot's? I notice he's using some kind of bracket from the truss to suspend them in front of his bar - anyone know where that came from? Tony?

I get the feeling I might have to pull out a few bits and peices tonight to do a bit of testing.

Darren: I did have a look around before posting, but couldn't find anyone using the kind of rig that I have in mind (e.g. one ball, no moving heads), but I did get a few ideas.

Julian

[OllieJames]

I'd be inclinded to just use a couple of ADJ LED Pinspots with it. What do you use to hang your lighting on?

[Danno13]

You can use scanners if you DMX them to point at the ball. Or pin spots are only around £10 - 15 each, so may aswell get a couple of those.

[DJ Jules]

I'd be inclinded to just use a couple of ADJ LED Pinspots with it. What do you use to hang your lighting on?

It's a normally a Giraffe 4' Deckstand which has a single 8' bar - I've seen pictures of rigs with the pin spots clamped to the vertical posts which is probably what I'd do - and would mean I wouldn't want to use any kind of bracket to push the ball forward, as I'm assuming that would mean more of the light would be reflected backwards - unless of course I put the pinspots on the front edge of the stand, but then I'm assuming the light would be reflected down (and any missing the ball would probably end up in my eyes :o )

Julian

[DJ Jules]

You can use scanners if you DMX them to point at the ball. Or pin spots are only around £10 - 15 each, so may aswell get a couple of those.

That'd be traditional Halogen Pin spots I take it...? The LED ones are still about £35/each aren't they? Are the halogen pin spots bright enough? The ones I've seen have a 30W bulb which doesn't sound a lot, but I'm guessing if it's focused, it is?

Julian

[wensleydale]

That'd be traditional Halogen Pin spots I take it...? The LED ones are still about £35/each aren't they? Are the halogen pin spots bright enough? The ones I've seen have a 30W bulb which doesn't sound a lot, but I'm guessing if it's focused, it is?

Julian

yes - halogen will be fine- buy a few from thomann and you get a great effect.

i use mine on a goalpost with pinspots on each upright and one above- sometimes use movers or scanners onto it too.....

http://www.seventieswatches.com/weddingdisco/standard.JPG

[DJ Jules]

yes - halogen will be fine- buy a few from thomann and you get a great effect.

i use mine on a goalpost with pinspots on each upright and one above- sometimes use movers or scanners onto it too.....

Hmm, sounds like I'll invest in a few PAR36 pin spots (the scans work, but I'm not sure I want to have to program a complete show in the DMX controller). By the way, how did you get that LED light on top of the upright!?!

Just as a sideline, I've been playing with a few different light sources this evening and the results have been interesting. The first photo below is using a Scatscan Club set to open Gobo and turned to hit the ball, which gives a nice bright traditional mirror ball effect:

5968

This one is using an RGB LED PAR can :eek: :

5969

Basically, every dot is individually reflected back and visible.

So the moral of the story is, if you use a mirrorball, you need a single point light source (like a pin spot LED with a reflector to focus the light or a halogen PAR). The annoying thing is I've got a couple of nice bright 10w LED's kicking around which I'm sure would do the job brilliantly with the appropriate reflector, lens and a 12v regulated power source...

Julian

[Jonny Boy]

Thanks for the photies!

I actually really like the effect with the LED par.... talk about filling the room!

Maybe not the effect you were looking for, but the experiments certainly give a few ideas/options!