Minibrix was an early forerunner to the modern interlocking-brick construction sets such as Lego. It consisting of very realistically-coloured rubber bricks, and was made by the Premo Rubber company of Petersfield, Hampshire in England from 1935 to 1976. For an excellent and extensive history of (real!) Minibrix see the web pages created by Fred Smallbone and Malcolm Hanson at Minibrix.com.
Virtual Minibrix allows you to experience all the joys of building in Minibrix – apart from the smell of the rubber – from the comfort and convenience of your computer. The software is very heavily based on the LDraw family of tools, which enable the creation of virtual Lego models. I can take no credit for this excellent collection. I am just a happy user.
It was after I had been using LDraw and its associated programs for about 18 months that I realised it could be adapted as a Minibrix construction tool, too. My contribution was to develop an additional parts library, and a few parameter tweaks, that added a Minibrix modelling world to the existing Lego modelling world. It is these additions that I offer here. For all the other tools and packages I include links to the original web sites.
You will first need to become familiar with using the packages as Lego construction tools, through the linked sites. (But it really doesn’t take very long!) Then it is just one simple, small step to move over to modelling in Minibrix.
The package consists of:
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An easy-to-use CAD (computer aided design) editor, to build your models. |
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A utility which prepares the models for turning into stunning, realistic image files by setting up backgrounds, cameras and lighting. |
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A rendering program which creates ray-traced images of the models |
Please use the links on the left to explore this site.
Getting Started takes you through getting, installing and learning how to use the software.
Manuals contains reproductions of many of the original Minibrix manuals (for practice).
Gallery is an ever-growing collection of my own Virtual Minibrix creations (for inspiration).
Links is a short list of links to related websites, and a “contact” link which allows you to email me, should you feel the urge.
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Page last updated 8 February 2012 |
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