What was the purpose of the larger flat sphere that was suspended above? Was it for just an additional reflective surface to play with the light off of or was there something else to it?
It was a light source, since to get light with vray, if you don't want to use actual lights, you have to use a bright color, kinda like a real life light, its just a bright(kinda hot though, lol) color that illuminates a room/area/etc.