It’s a kind of magic. coolux magic
We at coolux have always known that the process of designing, developing
and manufacturing world-class technology involves a little bit of magic.
In a way, it was only a matter of time, before professional stage magicians
began using coolux products for their very own kind of glamorous performance
magic.
Andreas and Chris Ehrlich, better known as „The Ehrlich Brothers“, are
two of
How they manage to perform some of their amazing illusions must sadly
remain a secret. They are more than happy to discuss what technology they are
using, however.
Due to his extensive experience with sound and video editing, Chris
Ehrlich began his search for a show control system that would accommodate his
preference for a timeline based workflow. His search would ultimately lead him
to the coolux Pandoras Box product range.
A creative spark stands at the beginning of any new illusion. The
Ehrlich Brothers are the kind of performers who are not satisfied with simply
recreating existing show acts, they are driven by the desire to innovate. Chris
Ehrlich told us, how they bring their ideas to life:
„We are building everything ourselves, which means that we are entering
new territory every time. We are happy to have found a „safe ship“ with the
Pandoras Box, a ship that allows us to safely navigate to wherever we want to
go, because it can interface with just about anything.“
One of their current show-acts is called the „World of Genesis“, which
includes a giant world-sphere made of steel, that descends slowly unto the
stage, until the Ehrlich Brothers suddenly appear right in the middle of the
sphere, as if out of nowhere.
During the act, the sphere’s continental plates move around the steel
construct, the tension heightened by mysterious sounds of unknown origin. The
inner core of the futuristic world sphere is additionally equipped with 144 LED
lamps.
Using the „World of Genesis“ as an example, Chris Ehrlich explained to
us, what role the coolux Pandoras Box plays during their shows:
„All of the world sphere’s functions are being controlled using the
Pandoras Box, including the gyration and the movement of the continents. In
addition to this, the Pandoras Box runs all our pyrotechnics, which are all
placed on the timeline, as well as the effects inside the sphere, including fog.
Our basic aim is to integrate all different sections of the show into our
Pandoras Box network. The multi-interfacing capability is something that I find
truly unique.“
Ehrlich Entertainment’s technical operator Florian Rabe commented on
some further details of the evolution of their show set-up:
„Right at the beginning we were just running a small amount of audio and
video content. The system we used back then was very simple and not really able
to do a whole lot of different things. It’s really a great advantage for us to
have the Pandoras Box now, especially since it is so easy to place keyframes on
the layers. In the past this had to be done by hand. Nowadays we have one
coolux Player for video, another Player exclusively for sound, as well as
another Player for video content used for LEDs or background projections.“
Mobility is another key factor that appeals to Florian Rabe:
„If we notice that we have to make some changes after a show, but have to
pack up all of our equipment asap, I just take the stick, sit down with my
laptop and continue working. It’s wonderful to be able to simply replace
certain files.“
Not only coolux Pandoras Box Servers and Players are being used however,
the coolux Widget Designer PRO plays an integral role in the show set-up as
well. A touchscreen user-interface makes show controlling even more intuitive.
Chris Ehrlich told us why:
„Our main operator and I do a lot of the programming together. The two
of us have prepared everything so that the whole set-up can also be controlled
by people who only get to run the shows two to three times a month. It is super
intuitive and includes cue specifications detailing when which button will
trigger what. The Widget Designer is our operating hub. Every audio jingle and
every video gets triggered that way. Should we happen to use LED-screens
somewhere, than these are connected to a button as well.“
Having to work with slightly different team constellations and ever
evolving shows most of the time explains why the Ehrlich Brothers like to rely
on the Widget Designer, in order to minimize the chances of possible operating
mistakes.
Another highlight in the two master magicians’ show programme has to be
the „Jules Verne Machine“, an homage to the design style of the early
industrial revolution that creates the wraparound scenery for an amazing
apparition act. Within the blink of an eye, a truck (or a different object of
similar size) appears on stage, where only seconds before there was nothing.
The technicians can release the Kabuki drop curtains in this case by
simply clicking on a button. As a stage magician, Chris Ehrlich knows better
than most people how crucial the factor timing is when performing live:
„Magic has to do with the right timing in many cases. Timing is actually
more important than speed. Usually speed isn’t the problem, but timing is, if
you are relying on triggering something by hand, or more generally when a lot
of people are involved.“
When asked, if there was anything in particular he liked about the
coolux Pandoras Box product range, Chris Ehrlich had this to say:
„What is really beautiful is the „edging“ feature, which allows us to
manipulate videos in whichever way we need. We could take videos e.g., that
would usually be no wider than two meters when projected onto a screen, and
make them fit the whole of the screen, without having to use any of the
in-house video equipment. This way we can simply send a finalized signal to the
technicians. We can really achieve a whole lot of different things that way,
e.g. we could project onto the whole surface, but only have the left and right
side visible. That kind of approach makes for great effects. This all just
being a matter of programming the Pandoras Box has a lot of advantages.“
Sample Equipment List:
1 x Widget Designer PRO
1 x Widget Designer STD
1 x Pandoras Box Manager
LT
1 x Pandoras Box Manager
LT as Backup
1 x Pandoras Box Offline Manager
4 x Pandoras Box Player STD
2 x DMX Link 8
1 x Sensor Link
1 x Dual HD SDI Input Card
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