China Ball Question

Heh, someone gave me a bunch of these for my birthday to make the same get up. Looks like some kind of science molecular project.
 
Hey -
On features we sometimes use 2 fixtures, with two separate cords, so that you can have your choice of bulbs, or a daylight and a tungsten, or mixed. We also just use plastic ties to keep them on the medal frame. We call them HARPS, for some reason. We also normally have a dimmer close by to control them and sometimes use duvatine to control the spill from the top and sides.
 
Mobiledeli, while I admire your kinetic sculpure, I don't believe that baby is gonna fit inside a lantern..Maybe a 30 inch version. If those were not the floro /spiral type bulbs, your lantern would be a fireball.
Hey, I'm all for what ever works, I think I'll make one even bigger for over my breakfast table...Cool fixture.
 
mobiledeli said:
and then of course i dropped it by accident....

1173403058.jpg
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oh no!! i feel your pain! that's exactly what i did with our first fixture. your picture brought back bad memories of me and justin staring speechless at our new $160 investment in compact flo bulbs shattered in pieces on the ground. that was before we found the n:vision bulbs. did you happen to catch that i warned about that in our thread?

the fixture will definitely fit in a 30" china ball, with plenty of room. that's what we used in after class. you can see them in our thread if you click on my banner.

we liked the fixtures. they made us think that flo is the way to go, and now we're thinking of getting some of miracom's lights. anyway, hope they work well for you!
 
mobiledeli said:
not sure what you mean filmat11...

but i shot some test shots with just the exposed light (no lantern)

http://blip.tv/file/get/Mobiledeli-Lighting454.mp4 tell me what you think!
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just checked out your test footage. looks good!

a rube goldberg machine is one that performs a simple task in an indirect, overly-complex way. i only know this because justin had to design one using maya for a 3d animation class he took, and he dropped the knowledge on me. check it out:

http://snodart.com/3Dclips.php
 
cool yeah i figured it'd fit in a 30" because thast the same you used Tim. Im building a small one too btw... Can i ask you what you used to rig them up? i was looking at stands on B&H but nothing seems to give me the horizontal arm i need
 
yeah, that's an issue we really haven't figured out yet. we used these bogen stands that we bought for our lowel omnis:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Search&A=details&Q=&sku=5342&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

but i really wouldn't recommend them. we had to rig an extension arm that we made from a mic stand boom i had and it worked, but it wasn't very sturdy. the stands are aluminum and pretty light weight. i actually had one tip over and broke a few more bulbs that way. we're planning on getting some avenger c-stands with extension arms when we have the money. i'm not sure which ones - do a search at b&h and check them out. maybe someone with more experience with c-stands can chime in. i've never used one, but they look a lot more sturdy than the bogens. they also have that knee or knuckle or whatever you want to call it in the legs, which lets you put a sand bag on them, which would allow you to put a longer extension arm on. after having our stands tilt over a couple times, i'm definitely getting some sand bags for the next time we shoot.
 
i just remembered that we had to rig not only an extension arm for the china ball, but another one going in the opposite direction with a weight on it to counterbalance the weight of the china ball. without that, the stands tipped over. i think no matter what stand you use, you definitely need sand bags.
 
Tim Young said:
i just remembered that we had to rig not only an extension arm for the china ball, but another one going in the opposite direction with a weight on it to counterbalance the weight of the china ball. without that, the stands tipped over. i think no matter what stand you use, you definitely need sand bags.
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Oh yes, sand bags are essential. I didn't need to rig another arm for mine, but it did take 2 bags on the c-stand's legs to keep it balanced.
 
mobiledeli said:
miracom, im not sure what you mean in post... 15 could you possibly help explain it to an idiot likek me???
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I'll try to do a "Cool Lights Video Magazine" VLOG entry on this soon. We're on the hunt for a chinese lantern anyway over here--believe it or not they seem to be harder to find here than they are in the USA. Anyway there's one or two things I want to show in that VLOG entry and the China ball speedring will be one of them. The Lantern lock substitute could be interesting too for that.
 
Always put the largest C-Stand leg out parallel to the stands arm as well!So the leg is directly under the arm, and ALWAYS use bags!
 
FWIW - I got my C-stands (with arms) off of eBay from Amvona. Think I averaged around $60 each shipped.
 
mobiledeli said:
wow tim, thats really expensive. why wouldnt the one i found work?
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Well, you're generally going to want a stand with an arm when using a China ball, otherwise it's a bit awkward to position. Plus, that stand you listed is only 6-feet tall, meaning your 30" lantern is only about chest-high.

Also, I've bought Impact-brand stands before. Ended up returning all of them.
 
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