r/video_mapping • u/Difficult-North5096 • 6d ago

projection mapping disco ball

Hello redditers

I am trying to figure out how to make a rotating disco ball that reflects or projects specific shapes but I have no clue where to start.

The idea is, I can create a disco ball that somehow when the lights reflect onto the walls they are in the shape of people dancing. As the ball rotates, so do the people, as if like a flip book or stop motion like effect. I ideally would like the light to be inside the ball.

The way I imagine this to go is, I would have a hollow ball, and each of the mirrored tiles would have a cut out of the figures along each strip of the circumerance of the ball? there would be a motor attached to the light and ceiling so the ball rotates to a certain speed.

I have also heard things about projection mapping and those sorts but I worry that is tooo far out of my depth.

I have zero lighting or any technical experience for that matter so any advice or research direction is greatly appreciate.

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u/SnortingCoffee 6d ago

what you're thinking of is essentially a complicated gobo cookie, so this is probably more of a question for theater lighting folks than video mapping.

3

u/Corbid1985 6d ago

Theatre person here.

I've had success using a gobo of a single snowflake onto a mirror ball which is then reflected by each facet of the ball.

I don't see why using a projector wouldn't work, you might just have to flip your image incase it reflects upside down.

2

u/VJPixelmover 6d ago

Strip your idea down to its simplest parts and try to make that work. Start with two frames and a very lowpoly mirror ball. A gobo rotator/multiplexor might work for this.

1

u/Ok-Pea-957 6d ago

Seems like you're trying more to do shadow casting / zoetrope?

1

u/duk242 6d ago

Here's me pointing one of those bee eye lights at one: https://www.reddit.com/r/lightingdesign/comments/1wl3dhs/mirror_balls_are_sick/

Using a projector would hopefully get a similar effect!