Simple subtle white light effect for smoochin

[Vectis]

My current lightshow is suffering from a lack of a slow & subtle effect for the smoochie numbers. Anyone any experience of the Showtec Sunraise (http://www.djempire.co.uk/prodinfo.php?ProdID=4967) (the one with white lenses not coloured as per the pic) or can suggest something similar?

Don't want to go the mirror ball route.

Anyone know what the runtime is on these things? Can they take a sustained 30 minutes if needs be? Not much info out there that I can find easily...

Ideas/suggestions welcome as ever.

Edited to add: Tried a couple of those cheap&nasty 'minimoon' things but a) not bright enough and b) move too quickly even on slow rotate mode.

[TonyB]

I have two soundlab Venus lights aimed at the ceiling (rotate pretty slowly) and lock the datamoon gobo's to hearts aimed at the floor. Down side is the Venus has a non standard 230v 50w capsule bulb that aren't cheap when they go (almost as much as a new light :D ).

[spin mobile disco]

You know you can replace the venus bulb fitting with a ceramic one that accepts off the shelf 50watt halogens from B&Q etc. only costs about £2 for the fitting. Then you use standard halogen display lamps instead in the unit.
I had one as well and found it really hard to get hold of bulbs for it locally so a quick modification and now i can get bulbs as cheap as 3 for £1.99.

May be worth a try if you dont mind a bit of soldering.

[wensleydale]

why not just dmx lights to slow and white?

[pagan_flame]

why not just dmx lights to slow and white?...which is what I do with the Datamoons and the controller for the typical B & G First Dance...

[Ricesnaps]

...which is what I do with the Datamoons and the controller for the typical B & G First Dance...
Pagan, are you using a dmx controller or just the NJD small datamoon controller to do that (and if you are just using the small NJD one - there equivalent of the CA-8 sota thing - where can I buy one?)

PS - happy birthday Pagan

[Vectis]

Pagan, are you using a dmx controller or just the NJD small datamoon controller to do that (and if you are just using the small NJD one - there equivalent of the CA-8 sota thing - where can I buy one?)


I've looked at the datamoons before thinking "they'd be a good upgrade to my non-DMX Acme Stormbirds" which I could then demote to my small rig.

Found THIS (http://www.dfb-uk.com/NJD/datamoon_kit.htm) - good value? Is this the controller of which Rice speaks?

Can't find any video of these in operation other than the usual direct-into-the-beam type videos which don't give me any help working out how this might look on the dancefloor end of things... anyone any links/suggestions?

Also... just noticed the datamoon has fixed gobo-to-colour, so suspect it's not possible to get lots of white dots? Other colours/shapes, yes. How slow can the rotations go? If it can go REALLY slow then I'm up for it.

[DJ Frankie]

What about a couple of LED Par Cans?

[TonyB]

You know you can replace the venus bulb fitting with a ceramic one that accepts off the shelf 50watt halogens from B&Q etc. only costs about £2 for the fitting. Then you use standard halogen display lamps instead in the unit.
I had one as well and found it really hard to get hold of bulbs for it locally so a quick modification and now i can get bulbs as cheap as 3 for £1.99.

May be worth a try if you dont mind a bit of soldering.

I have been looking to modify the lights but I found its not the bulb type but the voltage. Most capsule bulbs are 12v so I was thinking of fitting a 12v transformer. Will have a look in B&Q for inspiration. (Ooops - sorry to go a bit Off Topic).

[Mission]

Keeping an eye on this thread myself as wanted to have something similiar.


What about a couple of LED Par Cans?

Thinking of trying this way myself.

[waxintaxin]

why not look at a couple of solar 250s

the gobos are easy to get in single colours or make your own with acetate

the solar 250 is a fantastic unit capable of many things ( if you change the cassettes of course) but white dot is fantastic for smoochy dances

[flatliners]

thats what i was thinking solar 250 or a magma oil wheel or get some moving heads and use one on dmx and use it as a follow spot

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

thats what i was thinking solar 250 or a magma oil wheel or get some moving heads and use one on dmx and use it as a follow spot

A moving head wouldn't be very subtle though, would it? - which is what was asked for.

[Vectis]

Thanks for the suggestions folks.

So far, solar looks like the nearest fit, but I can't afford to do that!

No-one seems to have heard of or seen a Sunraise...

Still hoping someone with experience of the datamoons will come along and give me some indication of how slow they can be made to go. This is sounding like the best compromise as I can use 'em as "proper" lights the rest of the night as well and conserve space on the gantry by replacing stormbirds. Shame I can't have white dots due to the fixed colour-gobo thing but I can compromise on that if the speed is good for smoochin'.

Pweez? :confused:

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

In my opinon, Datamoons would be way too bright for smooching to. You might as well just turn the venue lights on.

[wensleydale]

you can get copies of solars- £50-£100 a go I think.

I bought some slide projectors from a bloke that he had converted to "Solars" for £5 each. Best £10 I spent.

[mike8863]

Slide projectors, what a brilliant idea, you've just solved a problem i had...!!.
This is why I love this forum, so many ideas.
Perhaps we should have a section for "how to", or something similar based on others experiences and shortcuts.....

Mike

[Vectis]

Accuse me of being a bit thick, but...
... how do you get from slide projector to subtle white light effect? :confused:

[PropellerHeadCase]

No-one seems to have heard of or seen a Sunriise...

I think I know the one you mean, it's hemispherical mountable version of the floor-standing unit called a hedgehog. Both are solutions to getting the mirrorball effect (lots of slow moving white dots of light) without a mirrorball.

I need to get one myself.

[Vectis]

I think I know the one you mean

Linky (http://www.djempire.co.uk/prodinfo.php?ProdID=4967) :o

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

The product says "The Sunraise projects bright focused beams of white light" and yet they have a picture of a light with coloured beams!

Confusing or what?

[PropellerHeadCase]

Linky (http://www.djempire.co.uk/prodinfo.php?ProdID=4967) :o

Ah, OK, I was thinking of the hemispherical one that you can floor- or pole-mount, the fully spherical jobs kinda need to be up high and on a platform that's not much wider than the base of the unit.

[Vectis]

Sorted! And without spending a penny (well, not on this project :p ).

Have a couple of Geni Spinmaster III's on my second rig that I usually have running sound-to-light at kids parties etc. because they're so manic.

Some time ago bought the Velleman USB DMX controller intending to have a play sometime.

Well today I had a play, and using the basic software that comes with it I've now got a really good slow jerk-free sequence running. Now going to download something a bit more potent (Freestyler?) and see if I can improve it.

I'm really quite impressed with the motors on the Geni's - lovely smooth movement at something like 2-3rpm and because you've got the 360 degrees out of both x and y it really does look good. The gobo's are pretty cool too so plenty of choice to fit in with colour schemes at weddings etc..

Thanks for the suggestions folks! Love this place.