MUNSTER, Germany – Andreas and Chris Ehrlich, better known as The Ehrlich Brothers, may not be eager to reveal the secrets behind the elaborate magic show that keeps corporate event attendees and others entertained. But Chris Ehrlich, an experienced video and sound editor, noted the duo's use of coolux Pandoras Box during their shows. "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 tricks is called the "World of Genesis," which involves a giant steel globe that descends slowly onto the stage. 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, with mysterious sounds of unknown origin filling the air. The inner core of the futuristic sphere is also equipped with 144 LED fixtures.
"All of the world sphere's functions are being controlled using the Pandoras Box, including the gyration and the movement of the continents," he said. "In addition, 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 had this to say about the show setup and how it evolved.
"Right at the beginning, we were just running a small amount of audio and video content," Rabe said. "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."
Rabe also credited Pandoras Box for its mobility.
"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."
Along with Pandoras Box Servers and Players, the coolux Widget Designer PRO plays an integral role in the show setup as well. Chris Ehrlich also noted how a touchscreen user-interface makes controlling the show even more intuitive.
"Our main operator and I do a lot of the programming together," Ehrlich said. "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, then these are connected to a button as well."
With the shows evolving and crews changing, the Ehrlich Brothers also rely on the Widget Designer to minimize the possibility of operating mistakes.
One of the show's highlights involves the "Jules Verne Machine," a tribute to the stylings of the early industrial revolution, where the brothers make objects as large as a truck suddenly appear.
The technicians can release the Kabuki drop curtains in this case by simply clicking on a button. As a stage magician, Chris Ehrlich knows that timing is everything when performing live.
"Magic has to do with the right timing in many cases," Chris Ehrlich noted. "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."
Along with synchronization, Ehrlich credited the coolux Pandoras Box product range for its "edging feature, which allows us to manipulate videos in whichever way we need."
A case in point: "We could take videos 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 – we could project onto the whole surface, but only have the left and right side visible. That kind of approach makes for great effects."
Here is a list of some of the gear used with Ehrlich Brothers performances:
1 Widget Designer PRO
1 Widget Designer STD
1 Pandoras Box Manager LT
1 Pandoras Box Manager LT as Backup
1 Pandoras Box Offline Manager
4 Pandoras Box Player STD
2 DMX Link 8
1 Sensor Link
1 Dual HD SDI Input Card
For more information, please visit www.ehrlich-brothers.com and www.coolux.de.
