The return of the mirror....

So I've always been a big fan of moving mirror lights...they're fast... the narrower beams have more aerial impact... but it seems that over the past few years, all anybody wanted (at least locally, in the small to medium sized event market) was moving heads...

Recently, however, i've noticed more and more touring shows coming through that rely primarily on mirror units (Just saw They Might Be Giants the other day, and they used mostly TechnoBeams, with a couple of moving head washes (studio colors I think) on each side as the only moving head uinits). Couple this with the new Cybers coming out, and Clay Paky's recent update of the GoldenScan... Is it me, or are other LDs starting to remember the magic that was the moving mirror spotlight, and work them into designs again?

Just wondering what y'all think.

Jeff
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    This a soapbox I've been on for a few years now - great to see a convert to the cause!

    Seriously though, it did seem for quite a while that moving heads were the only fixture type that were seriously considered.

    The mirrors definitely have some advantages -
    - Virtually no movement inertia, so if they're hung on a truss with long droppers the truss doesn't start to swing with the movement of the fixture.
    - More concentrated movement, 16 bit accuracy over a 180x100 range gives very fine control.
    - In a tight rig there's no concern about parts of the light contacting adjacent fixtures or set pieces while moving.
    - A mirror can be moved blind with a high probability of success but a head can be guesswork unless you can actually see the fixture.
    - There's none of that gimbal lock problem when trying to track something directly under the fixture.
    - A moving head has virtually the same footprint whichever way it's rigged, but a moving mirror can be aligned to save space in a certain dimension.

    Ok, sure, there's plenty of other stuff that heads do better, but they're not the be-all and end-all.

    A fixture that had a moving head AND a moving mirror version... now that would be great!

    Thanks for the opportunity to get that off my chest Jeff,

    Cheers,

    Scotty.
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  • 0
    This a soapbox I've been on for a few years now - great to see a convert to the cause!

    Seriously though, it did seem for quite a while that moving heads were the only fixture type that were seriously considered.

    The mirrors definitely have some advantages -
    - Virtually no movement inertia, so if they're hung on a truss with long droppers the truss doesn't start to swing with the movement of the fixture.
    - More concentrated movement, 16 bit accuracy over a 180x100 range gives very fine control.
    - In a tight rig there's no concern about parts of the light contacting adjacent fixtures or set pieces while moving.
    - A mirror can be moved blind with a high probability of success but a head can be guesswork unless you can actually see the fixture.
    - There's none of that gimbal lock problem when trying to track something directly under the fixture.
    - A moving head has virtually the same footprint whichever way it's rigged, but a moving mirror can be aligned to save space in a certain dimension.

    Ok, sure, there's plenty of other stuff that heads do better, but they're not the be-all and end-all.

    A fixture that had a moving head AND a moving mirror version... now that would be great!

    Thanks for the opportunity to get that off my chest Jeff,

    Cheers,

    Scotty.
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