Good size for Mirror Ball

[ukpartydj]

I've been looking at the starball effects etc and decided that I can't get exactly what I want out of them so going with a mirror ball idea, however I want to use them inside a pillar so space is limited... an 8" will fit no problem at all but I know very little about mirror balls and get the feeling the smaller ball may look a bit naff compared to a 12"??

[SamV]

While generally bigger is better when it comes to mirror balls, small does work too but only if it's a proper decent one. I have to admit that most of the smaller ones I've seen are car bootsale specials. Hardly surprising when decent ones are so expensive.

If you can find one with lots of small mirrors and use a motor it'll be nice.

[funkymook]

What I like about mirror balls is apart from the effect they produce they also look pretty when the lights are on (what other DJ light can say that?).

I use an 18" one - large enough to give a bit of a wow factor but not too expensive (next size up and they start getting expensive). Anything smaller will give you the effect but doesn't have the same visual impact (unless you intend to use a few hung together).

The Ultimax Atlas bracket is a good option for mounting them on a stand.

Get the slowest motor you can (1/2 rpm is ideal), if it's too fast the effect can be very disorienting. The battery motors are very handy, but I wouldn't use one on anything bigger than a 12" (and I've strengthened mine to make sure it's secure).

You need to light it well to get the best out of it - the 3watt led pinspots are OK, but I've started using one of my Solar 250 projectors and it's well worth having a powerful light source, especially in larger rooms.

One of the Arriba cases is a perfect fit for an 18" ball (can't remember which one, I'll have a look later).

[Pe7e]

IMO the best value ones are the 20" @ £50 ish, if you go up to 24" the cost triples to around £150, and anythig over that, the price gets silly, plus, you can't get them through a standard door.

[SamV]

Quite often they will unscrew in halves to get around that :)

[DazzyD]

I'm happy enough with running two 12" mirror balls lit with 3W LED pinspots. However, I would expect a sharper effect to be achieved by buying a narrower beam angle light. I think mine are pretty average at 12 degrees.

[surround sounds]

I use one of these as its as programs built in to it and very easy to set up adj spherion

http://youtu.be/dUwrVKVYVgs

[Nightowl Discotheques]

we use 3 an 8" 12" 20" depending on venue with the 12" being my fave... and the effect is better on a slow rotator

[ukpartydj]

While generally bigger is better when it comes to mirror balls, small does work too but only if it's a proper decent one. I have to admit that most of the smaller ones I've seen are car bootsale specials. Hardly surprising when decent ones are so expensive.

If you can find one with lots of small mirrors and use a motor it'll be nice.

Cheers, just had a quick look on ebay and the price tells the story really ... really cheap mirror ball = few mirrors, defiantly have a motor.



What I like about mirror balls is apart from the effect they produce they also look pretty when the lights are on (what other DJ light can say that?).

I use an 18" one - large enough to give a bit of a wow factor but not too expensive (next size up and they start getting expensive). Anything smaller will give you the effect but doesn't have the same visual impact (unless you intend to use a few hung together).

The Ultimax Atlas bracket is a good option for mounting them on a stand.

Get the slowest motor you can (1/2 rpm is ideal), if it's too fast the effect can be very disorienting. The battery motors are very handy, but I wouldn't use one on anything bigger than a 12" (and I've strengthened mine to make sure it's secure).

You need to light it well to get the best out of it - the 3watt led pinspots are OK, but I've started using one of my Solar 250 projectors and it's well worth having a powerful light source, especially in larger rooms.

One of the Arriba cases is a perfect fit for an 18" ball (can't remember which one, I'll have a look later).

18" is far to big for the application I've just measured everything and where the ball is round the 12" should extend inbetween the bars on the piller, quite excited about this idea. no need for bracket as I can fasten onto the top plate and let the ball hang in the middle. I was thinking about just using standard small LEDJ PAR to light the ball up might invest in some brighter lights if that's the case...

Seems so much cheaper/better than a Jellydome style fixing ...

£20 for a motor - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130714859309&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en
£20 for a Ball - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-300mm-12-Silver-Sparkling-Disco-Lights-Halloween-Party-Large-Mirror-Ball-/390515362213?pt=UK_ConElec_LightingLEDsStrobes_RL&hash=item5aec8789a5

Say I even bought a brighter light for £60... that's the same price as a Jellydome really and you're getting the real deal and you can use to light for other stuff.

Or am I missing something?

[funkymook]

Say I even bought a brighter light for £60... that's the same price as a Jellydome really and you're getting the real deal and you can use to light for other stuff.

Or am I missing something?

The only thing that can be a bit of a pain is positioning the light in the right place to give the best coverage, the Jellydomes etc obviously don't have that issue.

[TONYTIGER]

I keep a lot of different size mirror balls in our hire stock most popular sizes are 20" and 1 m most installations i see is incorrect lighting of the ball you need to have at least two sides lit to get decent effect and ideally you should have a type of light that is able to focus so there is no over spill of the beam.

[DazzyD]

I use one of these as its as programs built in to it and very easy to set up adj spherion

http://youtu.be/dUwrVKVYVgs

I was using one of these for one the one the walk-in walk-out venues I was doing in the run up to Christmas. I quite like the effect but, have to say, they are big units when compared to a lot of lighting effects on the market. I had this one set up on a stand to the side of me and the effect pretty much filled the room.

[intensesound]

16" i always find is a good size but depends on what your doing with it really. Mine is used when we do a 4x4m cross over dancefloor and mirror ball is in middle. but if i use on deck stand i use a 12". so really depend on what your doing with it