Rexy is a small family-run business based out of a shed in West London. All our products are hand-assembled here in the UK, and are manufactured using the best materials to the highest standard.
Now for a bit of backstory...
My name is Rob, I have been working as a Libra Head Technician in the film industry for over 10 years. Libra Heads have one of the best reputations in the industry. They have been mounted on everything from cranes and cars to boats and wire-rigs, and they have been used on nearly every major film franchise for the last 25 years.
As a Libra Technician, I have spent a lot of time next to the best camera operators in the world. The one thing they all agree on is that operating a camera with hand wheels is the best way to consistently achieve a smooth camera move. However, learning to practice operating with hand wheels has always been inaccessible to most people... until now.
During the lock-down of 2020, when I had a lot of time on our hands, I decided to make my own set of hand wheels in my shed, using the resources I had available. This was primarily an old computer mouse, some rubber bands and a few off-cuts of ply wood. It was crude and a bit unwieldy, but it did what was needed.
As it was based on a USB mouse, I could input it into a computer and control the cursor instead of a camera. Once this was working, all I had to do now was find some games to play. Over the next few months I found a good variety of games that really helped with to improve my operating. I knew I was on to something, but it was a long way from being a finished product.
It would have ended there if it hadn't been for my father-in-law John Brazier. John is the real brains behind Rexy. He was writing code for computers before most of us were born. He worked at CERN before it became the LHC, and if you know what that means, you'll understand how impressive it is. Luckily for me, he is also semi-retired and enjoys a new challenge.
Over the past year we have spent many hours discussing this particular challenge, and together we have developed the Rexy Pico PCB. This is the circuit board at the heart of Rexy Wheels that receives all the different inputs, and then outputs it to your computer like a regular mouse. As well as designing the physical boards, John has also written all the code from scratch.
The resulting product is uncompromising in its performance. The Raspberry Pico at the heart of Rexy has dual-core processors that keeps the encoders and switch inputs completely separate, giving it an insanely fast response time and completely smooth signal output. The firmware has 16 different configurations that allow users to customise it to their needs.
Most importantly, John and I will continue to develop the Rexy firmware as new requirements arise. If you have any ideas for new features, please get in touch and we will try to accommodate the most popular suggestions.
The third (and most important) person behind the Rexy brand is my long-suffering wife Kirsty. She has patiently watched me develop endless prototypes, and still constantly encourages me to keep going. She has also been instrumental in developing the brand identity and marketing materials, as well as all the shipping and handling. There would be no Rexy without her. She is also an awesome mum to our daughter Ruby, who may well be the youngest person to try gaming with handwheels - 'cos you gotta start 'em young!
Please explore our website and social media. We are a small company with big ambitions, and we hope to establish a community of like-minded Rexy gamers, who share new games and compete to get high scores. One day we hope to have Rexy gaming leagues with prizes, so get practicing because it's about to to get very competitive!
Please contribute to our Instagram and Facebook using #rexygaming, and if you share any videos of you beating high scores, we will add you to the leader boards and you get bragging rights.