Creation Station webcam review

Will this allow you to make the next blockbuster?

25 December 2007 11:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

It promises to allow you to "become an instant Movie Star with Creation Station" but can the Creation Station live up to the claim? We get filming to find out.

Creation Station promises to let you make and appear in your own movies, music videos, games and then post them on the web.

According to the blurb on the box "You get to choose your favourite music, scenery and characters, then film yourself with the provided video camera and green background, edit your content with the easy to use but sophisticated software".

In reality the Creation Station is basically a webcam that comes with a number of accessories and some software that is more advanced than your average offering.

Out of the box you get the webcam, a tripod, the software and two blankets that you can use as a green screen.

The idea is that you film what you want with the camera standing in front of the green screen and then just like the special-effects laden blockbusters at the cinema, map yourself somewhere else be it a busy street, the moon or somewhere that's just not here.

The software, which only works on a PC, comes complete with library of background movies to insert yourself in or alternatively you can shoot your own.

Sounds great doesn't it. Well we are sure on the drawing board it did, but in reality their are just too many faults to be able to recommend it.

Lets start at the beginning...

The camera is awful, with no real way to focus it, we struggled to get a decent picture, if you can, then you've still got to put up with the fact that it's just 1 megapixel in resolution. Add that to the fact that you have to have it connected via the not very long cable to the PC and its gets a bit frustrating.

Then there is the tripod, it's about as stable as a drunk after 20 pints of beer without the worry of going to work the next day. Flimsy, plasticky, I'm surprised it manages to say up.

The software is cumbersome, confusing, awkward to use, and basically not very good. Having taken about an hour reading through the manual as I went, I still had to enlist the help of two other colleagues. It still took us another 30 minutes to work out what was what.

The green screen is about the only good thing going here. You get plenty of it although using the Velcro to stick the two pieces together is pointless. Why the makers couldn't have just included one bigger piece instead of two is beyond us.

Verdict

While we weren't expecting the earth for a package that costs £99 we were expecting a lot more than this. Everything is flawed here and the promo video that makes you want the Creation Station just couldn't have been made with the product.

We wanted to be excited, we wanted to want to use this again, however in the end, we felt like it was 4 hours we would never get back.

Score

Review Recap

Price as reviewed: £99
The good: You can save your files to YouTube
The bad: All of it
Quick verdict: We wanted to be excited, we wanted to want to use this again, however in the end, we felt like it was 4 hours we would never get back
Score