News and Updates!
The Br-miniBricks 4 & 8 have been essentially unaltered for the last 15 years- until today! We have new manuals for the Bricks coming up on Gilderfluke’s website in the next couple of days (so definitely check it out!). One of the cooler additions to the manual is where it illustrates how to connect out miniBrick to the Sd-25 w/ DMX! Perfect combination for dozens and dozens of applications! They can be easily downloaded and enjoyed for all our mini-Brick lovers worldwide through our website.
We have an exceptionally awesome crop of info in our ‘Application Notes‘ and other goodies to check out on our website so you get the absolute most out of every single thing you buy from Gilderfluke!
The History of the miniBrick
Our miniBricks have a pretty straightforward history, but have also contributed to some amazing shows worldwide. To jump in bluntly, our first small show controllers were about the size of a brick, and with their linear power supply, about the same weight as a brick. Naturally, our clients started referring to them as ‘Bricks’, and the name stuck. There are thousands of these old bricks still ticking away and running their shows all over the world. They set the Gilderfluke & Co. standard for ease of use and reliability that we still have today. We build them to work forever- if something happens, we will fix it. Easy as that- we don’t want you to come back year after year to replace a product. Ever.
The first Br-miniBrick8s were created in our second wave of show controllers, propelled by the release of the first versions of Pc•MACs in the early 1990’s.
These first generation of Br-miniBrick8s had no case (it was available as an option), ServoMotor, DMX-512 outputs or buttons on their tops to program them ‘in place’ without using the Pc•MACs software. These Br-miniBrick8s were programmed using the Pc•MACs software without the license by drawing it on the OffLine Editing Window. PC’s were just too darned slow to handle the RealTime control of a show without a lot of hardware to offload most to the RealTime work from the PC’s microcontroller.
The second generation of miniBricks added the case, servo motor outputs and the program-in-place buttons. The first few builds of this generation of Br-miniBrick8s could receive DMX-512, but not transmit it.
The current third generation version of the Br-miniBrick8s added the ability to transmit 64 channel of DMX-512. This can be used to network Br-miniBrick8s and other DMX-compatible hardware together. It was added to accommodate the addition of DMX-512 reception to the Sd-25 w/DMX audio player/amplifiers, and the easy ‘drag-n-drop’ audio programming that a DMX-512 connection allows. You just put a marker onto the timeline of your show where you want an audio or video to start, and Pc•MACs handles all the rest for you.
For people who are just learning about show control and programming, we usually recommend the Br-miniBrick8, as it has a little of everything on it:
- Eight digital outputs capable of driving must solenoid valves directly
- Two model-airplane servo motor outputs
- 64 channels of DMX-512 transmission.
- 512 channels of DMX-512 reception.
- Can be programmed with the free version of Pc•MACs.
- Because it is networkable, you will never ‘outgrow’ it. It can always be used as part of a larger control system.
Examples of miniBricks Making Awesome Things Happen:
Although you may have never seen a miniBrick, you have certainly seen them at work. With over 5,000 miniBricks in active service, they remain out most popular show controller. They have been used in films, theme parks and museums all over the world.
The miniBricks are used in hundreds of spots at Disney, Universal, Merlin (LegoLand, ‘Ripley’s Believe it or Not’ museums), Lotte, Leofoo, Chimelong and other theme parks worldwide. They have been used to run the Disney electrical parades for decades. Even if you look inside of R2D2 at several of the Disney parks, you’ll find miniBricks!
We only recently found out that the T-Rex at the climax of the Jurassic Park attraction in Osaka runs on a Br-miniBrick8! Universal also likes to hide them in Quad boxes where ever they need a flashing light or simple effect. The two miniature golf courses at the entrance to Universal in Orlando are run by dozens of Br-miniBrick8s for control and Sd-25s for sound. The little Borg mechanisms in the Star Trek universe are controlled by miniBricks.
Even the most recent Tom Hanks release, ‘Greyhound’ uses Br-miniBrick8s for some of the pyro triggers and other effects. The ‘Ack-Ack’ guns on the Kid (where the ‘Greyhound’ class ship where some scenes were filmed) had 75 years of paint on them. They stripped one back to bare metal, and used a Br-miniBrick8 and some air cylinders to animate the gun mechanism.
For people who are just learning about show control and programming, we usually recommend the Br-miniBrick8, as it has a little of everything on it:
- Eight digital outputs capable of driving must solenoid valves directly
- Two model-airplane servo motor outputs
- 64 channels of DMX-512 transmission.
- 512 channels of DMX-512 reception.
- Can be programmed with the free version of Pc•MACs.
- Because it is networkable, you will never ‘outgrow’ it. It can always be used as part of a larger control system.
Check in with us next week as we jump further into our products that are exceptionally useful for Haunters! New posts every week! Buy our most excellent products here! (Our website should be replaced by a prettier one, shortly, we swear!)
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- Halloween Haunt in 2020
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