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(based on 57 reviews)
 Finally, I can make drawings come alive
Written by Wigglesworth from Sunny
Sep 23, 2009
I've been thinking/dreaming about some way to be able to take a simple drawing and then animate it. This thing actually does that. Amazing. From that point on, all the gaming, customizing, etc all makes great sense. Kids can now envision, scribble and cause those images to come alive and actually move. THAT is progress. The fact that it includes a digital camera is really nice - they don't just sell you programming and expect you to go out and buy hardware.
(136 of 143 people found this review helpful)
fun for kids,
Written by lamar from new orleans
Dec 04, 2009
the mash up is really cool. the games are alright, i was hoping for a little more control of the charactors in mash up, but im using it for video purposes to use with my own music. i also have the u create music, which does allow you a good bit of control..
found this on google.
promises to "put mash-up creativity and game creation into the hands of kids." I was intrigued; it sounded like a lot more than a passive game-playing experience. Ucreate Games is geared toward kids ages 7 to 13; I figured my smart 6-year-old son would be into it--and he was for a while. After I installed the software for him and attached the USB camera, I worked with him to figure out how to use the Ucreate software.
In the Ucreate Games and Artimation package, you get a drawing tablet, software, a folding digital camera attached to a stand, markers, and a set of templates. The main activities are building and playing your own pinball games and puzzles; creating animations that Mattel calls "mash-ups"; and playing a game called Ball Drop, where you try to get a ball to move from one area of a room to the exit by placing objects in strategic places.
What's really cool about all of these activities is that you can create your own artwork to incorporate into the games. For example, you can draw different parts of the pinball table on the included templates, capture the drawing, and then import the pieces to be placed on your playing field.
Kids probably won't play the pinball game very much after they've created it, though. The playing field is small, and there's only so much you can add to it. My son has a pinball game for the Xbox that he really enjoys, and he didn't think the Ucreate pinball game was very much fun.
However, he has had a blast making mash-ups. On the second day of using the Ucreate, he spent most of his time drawing different characters in the templates and importing them. He also took photos of his Matchbox cars and imported them. He then grabbed these newly created objects and made them move: Using the character templates, he was able to make his people dance and walk around the screen.
The amount of control you have in the animation, however, is very limited. You can add an object and make it do something like move across the screen, but there doesn't appear to be any way to change the motion or action at any point. It's simpler than a typical animation package, which includes frames and points at which you can change things. This really limits the product and the creativity.
Additionally, there's no way to edit your pictures. As I mentioned, my son took pictures of his cars--but there's no way to use just the car in a mash-up. As he animated the car, the background moved with it. It would be great if you could use the base of the camera stand as a chroma key green screen, which would automatically remove the background from objects.
My son has played with the Ucreate a few more times since then; but the mash-ups, which he initially really enjoyed creating, have become too limiting for his imagination.
i agree with most of what he says, but i think the mash up game will hold young peoples interest. by design everything you do with this unit is creative, esp when you take your own images. note that you can also point the camera striaght up, and take self potriats or what ever they place in front, it gives you a 3 second countdown before it takes the pic, you have to get the light right because the built light is deactivated when the camera is in the up position. just by playing with this, they will learn about many things, by playing with the lighting in their room, the endless options of pictures and placement considering their toys, books, magazines,etc, the camera is capable of taking good pictures. what you will get is a photo album of your young ones work, in which the photos can interact with one another.. yes the templates and movements are limited, but the backgrounds, plots, and pictures are not. A+++
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update- i see many new one star reviews. and its sad, they are basically saying saying, it did not work for me, so its junk. many are angry that this device did not meet their expectations, my review was written for a "toy for animation and games" so yes, you probaly can go to cartoon network and create a cooler cartoon from a larger set of templates(but they will not include your kids pictures and art). that does not take away from the fact that if you have a kid under the age of 10,and you spend the time to learn the how to use it, they should find enjoyment in making their owmn games, drawing their own templates, and taking their own pictures. and the mash up games will entertian even older kids. it seems that it will not let some people register, and it may be that they got a band unit, or they are just not doing it right. i have numerous items that i just can not get to work on my computer(anime studio debut 6) (denon hd 2500 media player) but i am not very good at with codes, firewalls, and settings, so i do not write 1star reviews calling the items junk. i have more sympathy for those who did not purchase from amazon and paid higher prices, and may have to go throuhg more steps to get a return, buy many of the one stars are written by amazon verified purchases, sum without even trying to get amazon to send them another to see if it was a bad unit. it may not work for every setup on every computer, no you will not be able to invent games that will blow peoples minds, but for kids 4-12, it will be impressive, and the mash up is as close to pop art i have ever been able to create(and im 34) it seems most of us got good ones, but one critism i do agree with, is that it should be much easier to email your work, or save it to your computer in something other than a MUA file(if you know how to convert, please leave a comment). also i have never seen the commercial, but thats just how commericials are nowadays, they make the toys look way more fun than they are, and as far as im concerned it does "scan" the templates. you just but the tablet on the table and take the picture and you can use the template in your games.
as others have stated you it does not allow much cropping, but most of us purhased this for 19.99-36.99 and it is a toy.
(87 of 91 people found this review helpful)
Fantastic Creative Toy!
Written by TV from Seattle
Sep 21, 2009
Super creative toy! It lets your kids make video games and animated characters using only markers! Only downside is that it requires an internet connection and a computer, but it looks like they are going to release more and more free games for this over time!
(82 of 87 people found this review helpful)
Such a neat way to set your imagination free!
Written by Amy Mcfarland from California
Dec 05, 2009
I bought this for my niece and she has absolutely loved it! You do need to connect it to the computer/internet to start, but apart from that it's been surprisingly easy to simple to use. She has created all kinds of drawings and has learned how to make them move and dance. We haven't tried that much from the game book yet, but so far I am very impressed!
(23 of 25 people found this review helpful)
 A huge letdown
Written by Flitterfly from PA
Jan 19, 2010
Wow, what a big let-down this turned out to be. I ordered this before Christmas, and at that time it had pretty favorable reviews. While I didn't have the software installation or registering problems that other users had, we weren't able to ge the program to recognize the booklet pages that allow you to upload your own photos or objects. We were able to use the camera to take a photo and upload it, but then couldn't figure out how animate it or do anything but drop in a few canned images that come with the program. It's designed for 8 year olds, but I'm 38 and couldn't get it to work! My daughter lost interest in this very quickly, and it's doubtful this will be anything more than a dust collector.
(4 of 4 people found this review helpful)
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