Scanners + mirror ball?

[djthunder]

Hey, anyone out there have a set of omegas, a DMX controller, and a mirror ball? Have you tried making a simple program to point 2 of your omegas at a mirror ball, and just stay there? I was just thinking that a scanner would make a heck of a pin spot for a mirror ball during slow dances, perhaps? I know you could also just have the scanners slowly scan the room, but I'm always looking for new ways to use your lights. Also, if you already have a mirror ball, & scanners, you could eliminate pin spots, no?

Anyway, I was just bored & thought of this. Let me know if anyone has tried this, or if everyone has tried this & I am way behind....LOL.

[DJ D3CIB3L]

um- you could get some laser scanners or just lasers and point them to your mirror ball. Those look cool. As for your omega's, you could try using the dip switches or a dmx controller to emiminate pan and tilt.


Hope i helped. C ya.

[DJ-Nigey-C]

if you have a decent enough DMX controller, you can make a simple scene/position where you have 2 fixtures pointing at you ball....

i have done it many a time, it also saves having to put a dimmer rack in just to use 2 channels for 2 lights...

also using your fixtures may also mean that you get a brighter reflection from your ball...

[bAd]

I thought about doing this myself...from what I understand, it's easy to do, i just don't have a controller at the moment. I plan on doing this when i do get one. Maybe have all four point at it wach with a different color.

[djthunder]

I don't have any of my own scanners at this moment. It is a long story, but some years ago I got a job that paid well, but also had me working most weekends, so I sold all my gear, thinking it would be a long time before I would be a DJ again, and when I was ready, I would buy new gear. Well, I did get a much, much, much better day job, 8-5 mon-friday, but I moved out of my area in doing so. As I was starting to collect gear again, I meet a very nice girl & got married. That slowed down the whole DJ gear getting processes. In the meantime, we moved next door to a guy who was running 3 big DJ systems. Looking at my new time constraints of working a full time job, spending time with my wife & growing family, I got to know this guy, became friends, & started working for him, running one of his systems instead. It was a good deal, he took care of all advertising, set me up, & I'd hitch up his trailer, go do a gig. Well, this last summer, he sold the business & moved to Colorado for a new job offer he got. The new owners suck. Being so, I've been starting where I left off, getting most recently lighting gear. I've already got to good clients that provide me with a gig a piece each month. Anyway, I don't have scanners yet, but I've got some other special effect lighting, & some low tech stuff. I'm going to try to get maybe 2 or 4 Omega's come next February, & maybe another sub for my sound.

Anyway, in the meantime, I am imagining fun things to do with the lights I have, & the lights I am planning to get.... :dance:

I've never liked the roto balls or star balls, so I plan on always using a mirror ball, but it's hard to find pin spots to really cut through. Then I thought about the whole scanner thing today, and thought, "gee, a scanner produces a fairly focused beam, and it is a LOT brighter than a pin spot, why not point two of them at a mirror ball?" In theory, I would think it would not only make a bright mirror ball effect, the mirror ball should also produce a load of gobo reflections as well. It might be a lot, LOT better than a roto ball if that is the case. Was wondering if anyone had experimented with that idea, or would like to? If no one else does, I will in February :)

[bAd]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune thunder. Would the new owners of that biz sell you some of their gear? As for the mulitple gobos...it might do a half ass job of it since those mirrors are tiny, but it's worth a try. I WILL be doing this when I get my controller. I think it would look totally awesome when you switch to a slow song and your scanners slowly aim at the ball. :dance:

[djthunder]

Not so much misfortune. It was a perfect fit the way it turned out, actually. I think I needed a kick in the behind to get me going on my own again, and this was it. There has been some expense, and will continue to be some expense for a while, but I'm also making 100% of every gig. My home life has calmed down now, (if there is such a thing with two little boys) and my wife has taken an interest in the business, & has been more helpful than I ever imagined, she has some great talents. The flyers I made up, & what she made up from gathering the information from me, are the difference between night & day. Her version was way more professional, & looked fantastic.

I've really been enjoying using my own equipment again, & I'm really enjoying having my own light show again. A person can be a lot more creative when using their own gear, plus you can hand pick everything. It was the right time & place, & the new owners sucking royally was exactly what I needed to get off my behind & get it back into gear, now that the rest of my life is such that I can, more easily. Working under someone else was great while I was adjusting to my new job/married life/ a growing family, but while the all these things will always keep me busy, I'm also in a good place now to be running my own DJ business again :)

Anyway, off that soap box.

Yeah, I know the smaller mirrors will make smaller gobos, & likely not as well focused, similiar to what a barrel mirror does to a gobo, only more so. But I would think that compared to a couple of 25/35 Watt pin spots, it would be loads better, no? I am only speculating though, because I won't have a way to see for sure till February or so.

Yeah, seeing two scanners slowing scan & then center on the mirror ball for a slow song probably would be a cool transitional effect, I hadn't thought about that aspect :)

[kmix]

hey dj thunder...try djtronix for the omega 1's ...i got a package of 4 plus cables for under $400......i think it was dj bad??? who recommended this store....good luck

[djthunder]

I will check it out, that is a great price :)

[Pearce C]

In our club we have 6 trackspot II scanners, which have one program loaded on our controller to track to the mirror ball. Instead of just pointing at it, we also have their mirrors moving back and forth rapidly at about a 2-3 inch width. With the beam focused as tightly as it can, this gives a shimmering effect coming off the mirror ball.

Another thing that looks really good is to do the same thing (the wiggling mirrors), and have the scanners scroll through various colors at different speeds. We have about 10 different programs that all do the wiggle effect with different speeds and colors, that looks real nice.

Our stuff isn't anything special either, just a simple controller with 16 program buttons with 4 pages each, an old Lightwave controller I believe. You can probably pick that stuff up used for fairly cheap.

[djthunder]

Wow, that sounds excellent. This is the kind of stuff I like about these forums, you can learn from other people's imagination. I wouldn't have thought to try anything more than just point them at the ball. Also, as a mobile, and as a solo DJ (only me for setup) I am limited on the number of lights I can bring, both for cargo space as well as time to setup up, etc. So finding multiple ways to use the same light to provide different stunning effects, is a real plus.

Thanks djterminal! Just checked out your blog site really quick. Like the picture you have at the bottom by the way, cool electrical lightning effect :)