| | |  | Electronics | Home » » Digital Blue Lego Stop Animation Video Camera | | | | | | WARNING:| CHOKING HAZARD -- Small parts. Not for children under 3 yrs. |
| | | Description: | | The LEGO Stop Animation Video Camera is a great way to capture both regular video and make awesome Stop Animation videos for any LEGO fan, big or small! Use the included LEGO Stop Animation Studio software to edit the videos you capture or hook your camera up and use the included tripod and two LEGO mini figures to create amazing Stop Animation videos. It's easy to upload your video creations to YouTube using the LEGO Stop Animation Studio software to share them with family and friends. | | | Features: | |
• Records both stop animation and regular videos
• 1.5" rotation color screen
• Holds XX minutes/hours of video with SD card (not included)
• Macro lens for extreme close ups of your LEGO creations
• Includes: LEGO Stop Animation Studio Software CD, adjustable tripod, two LEGO mini-figs
| | | Product Details: | | | Product Length:
| 3.6 inches | | Product Width:
| 1.6 inches | | Product Height:
| 2.64 inches | | Product Weight:
| 1.04 pounds | | Package Length:
| 9.6 inches | | Package Width:
| 6.7 inches | | Package Height:
| 2.7 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.9 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 20 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 20 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
45 of 48 found the following review helpful:
 Time consuming. Cute Camera, horrible software, nearly useless.Dec 27, 2009
By Lively Geek
Save yourself a large headache and avoid this product. I only purchased this because I could not find any reviews - so here is mine:
I've never written an electronics review before now. That's how disappointed I am. I purchased this video camera for my nine-year-old son. I spent the whole evening trying to get it to function with the software. (I have two fully updated XP machines, which exceed the minimum requirements.) Needless to say, I am extremely disappointed with the software, which is clunky and buggy. I cannot stress this enough. I cannot believe that anyone ever got this to work outside of their dev team. I tried to upload the images we took with the camera by itself, and though it imported them, I had to watch a spinning wheel when i tried to process them in any way. The program also locked up on me whenever I tried to import those same pictures from the hard drive (rather than the camera), saying the program encountered an unexpected error and had to close. I tried a stop-motion movie with the camera hooked in via the supplied USB cable, but when I hit the "make movie" button, i got more spinning wheel. I let it sit there for more than an hour, but it had effectively locked up so hard, that even an "end task" did not stop it. It is such a great feeling to lose every frame of animation in the process. (This machine was a Win XP, 2.66 with 1GB ram.)
I loaded the drivers when it prompted me, read all the instructions and on-line trouble shooting/warnings, etc., but still cannot make a single stop motion movie with it. I tried a few different methods, and even played with some of the filters and special effects, only to get the eventual, eternally spinning wheel. I tried it on two PC's with similar effect.
I do like the look and feel of the hardware -- cool factor is high. Though it is pretty low-tech for this day and age, it would have been sufficient for a child to begin with. I like the Lego "tripod" for use on a base plate, and the closeup lens is a good feature, but it does not perform well in even medium light. Even with all the cool Lego-ness to it, the total lack of functionality (for making a movie), and the fact that this time vampire sucked away a half day of my life, completely kills the deal.
I am going to try and return it to ToysRUs as soon as possible. It would be great if I could use it with my Mac (no software or drivers for Mac!), or with another program on the PC. But I found that my two-year old VX Lifecam and stop motion freeware are doing a great job until I can research a good alternative video camera. If they rewrite the software or write it for the mac, then maybe this will be a decent product. Maybe.
39 of 41 found the following review helpful:
Big Big DisapointmentDec 15, 2009
By LKnomad
My son took an animation class using a digital blue product. Unfortunately, the video cameras he used only worked on XP. When he saw the Lego Stop Animation camera he was very excited. The website stated it worked with Vista and Windows 7 so we ordered it. Once we installed the software my son tried it out. It didn't work. It wouldn't tether to the computer. The software didn't recognize the camera. Then when we imported individual pictures and put them into an animation, the video played back upside down.
I sent an email to tech support and was told that the camera only worked with XP. When I looked on the website the min. system requirements had been changed to XP. Still the documentation that comes with the camera said Vista. The guides on the website say Vista as well.
I have asked for a full refund from Digital Blue but at this time they have not responded. I am very disappointed. It could have been a great product. The software looked fun to use but without the camera tethered to the computer it just wont work. My son will be getting the Flip Video Camera instead.
28 of 29 found the following review helpful:
Son very disappointedDec 29, 2009
By hs mom
My son got this as a gift on Christmas. He was very, very excited to get it. Unfornately, it was very short lived.
We have an XP computer, but couldn't get the software to load for a long time. Then when we finally did half the features wouldn't work.
The quality of the camera wasn't was worth the $79.99 price either.
We have returned the camera.
18 of 20 found the following review helpful:
Still haven't gotten it to workDec 31, 2009
By S. Husting
We received our Digi Blue video camera recently. The software loaded fine from the provided disc. However, when we plugged in the camera, our Windows Vista computer never recognized the camera hardware and we never found any drivers for it. I manually pointed to each folder on the disc, to no avail. I contacted tech support via a form on their web site about the issue. No answer yet after several days.
My son videotaped himself and played it back on the TV. It was very pixelated and dim. So the cameraperson must shoot under bright (not room) light and accept a playback size of not much larger than on YouTube.
The onboard memory holds about 20 seconds of stop-motion action frames and plays back at 15 frames per second, which is acceptable. You can purchase a separate SD card for more memory. Supposedly the software will splice all the separate pictures together to create the actual film experience. I don't know what the frame size is for the finished project (for reasons given above).
The software does not work in Vista. That is, it won't import any still pictures even though it says it will. According to other sources, it seems that it does not work with Vista, even though the printed material says it does. Perhaps Digital Blue failed to check this before their printing materials went out.
The camera holds two AA batteries.
If tech support would answer and help, I'll try to add more details later.
I'm sure this would be a fun project for young people to dabble in animation for the first time, or who are frustrated at using a normal video camera not containing stop-motion capability. At under $80, what you get is fair for the price - a stop-motion camera with onboard digital memory, zoom in and zoom out, space for SD card, lockable pivoting stand to hold the camera at various angles, a cute Lego motif, and software to put it all together and wow your friends. For young people anxious to try their own hands at being the next George Lucas, this product will give them a start - if they have Windows XP.
10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
DisapointingJan 18, 2010
By SarahG
The software is impossible. So we never got to see if it works. Finally got the software installed on our old laptop, it only works on XP and when it finally installed we couldn't figure out how to use it. So it's sitting on the table - a complete waste of money. I guess I wouldn't care if it was only $20 - but $80 I feel like an idiot!! Don't buy it!
See all 20 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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