How to light a mirror ball

Yes, I've got some really old ones no makers plate that dim fine and I've recently bought a couple of chinese ones that also dim fine. Interestingly enough the Chinese ones are pretty good quality of manufacture.
 
So many sensational ideas!

The pinspot is a classic, thats for sure, but I usually go with (in theatre with budgets mind you when i'm working with them) a couple of profile spots with a hard edge and an iris. That'll keep it nice and tight, and you can focus it well on the bottom 2/3 of the mirrorball.

Saying that, if you want more dots, throw in a gobo or something similar!

I had a 12' ball in the centre of a truss once, with 2 dozen Mac700's on the ground around the edge of the circular truss (I was just playing around) and threw them all on the ball with different gobos. Looked insane. Sadly however, I forgot my camera that day, but thats alright! That was that time! This is the now, and for what you're looking for, pinspots or profiles would do the trick. Par38's weren't really designed for a tight focus on a mirror ball! :D
 
I vote for VL3000 Spots, controlled by a grandMa. Console and 4 fixtures should be under $100K to light the $100 mirror ball.
 
I used a couple of zoom ers's for a show I did recently that I needed much brighter reflection for. I worked pretty well. The size of the fixtures poses a few problems, but that's a trade-off you make.
 
Howdy,

I use 2 pinspots to light each mirror ball in my venue. They're rigged on the same vertical plane aimed at the lower half of the balls from about 1.5 meters away. The question I have is why are the reflections a donut shape with pinspots as opposed to when I light them with my movers or a followspot when they are little dots?

Also, I am looking to replace them with LED pinspots - do you think there would be any reason not to do this? Or will this solve the problem?

P.s In addition to other's comments; I use my current pinspots (so old I have no idea of the brand) on dimmable circuits with paradime dimmers.

Thanks

X
 
Howdy,

I use 2 pinspots to light each mirror ball in my venue. They're rigged on the same vertical plane aimed at the lower half of the balls from about 1.5 meters away. The question I have is why are the reflections a donut shape with pinspots as opposed to when I light them with my movers or a followspot when they are little dots?

Also, I am looking to replace them with LED pinspots - do you think there would be any reason not to do this? Or will this solve the problem?

P.s In addition to other's comments; I use my current pinspots (so old I have no idea of the brand) on dimmable circuits with paradime dimmers.

Thanks

X

Old thread with new question. Welcome to the chat.

The pin spot lamp is probably a 4515 which has a black metal cap that blocks the filament from emitting light directly out. This results in the donut look. The new LED pin spots will not do this and give you a full round light output.
 
The pin spot lamp is probably a 4515 which has a black metal cap that blocks the filament from emitting light directly out. This results in the donut look. The new LED pin spots will not do this and give you a full round light output.

Exactly. You're essentially getting an image of the light source itself.

I once lit a mirror ball using a Colortran Mini Ellipse. They have a peened aluminum reflector and mini-can quartz lamp. The result looked like boobs being projected everywhere...
 

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