techmoan

The Gakken Worldeye - UPDATE v2.0 (Patreon)

Published:

2017-05-14 10:15:27

Edited:

2017-05-15 13:02:35

Imported:

2021-02

Content

This is something that I hadn’t seen reviewed before, so it seemed like a good idea to import one and find out for myself what it really did. In the end it didn’t turn out to be a worthwhile endeavour…but I suppose at least I know that now.

One problem with reviewing products is that whenever they turn out to be less than perfect, I get a load of comments saying “Why did you buy that, it’s rubbish”, even though the only reason they know anything about the device, is because of the video I made.

People associate a good product with a good video and a bad product with a bad video, when in the end, the video takes the same amount of time and effort to put together irrespective of the worthiness of the device being featured.

I’ve got to think it’s why car shows now just feature unobtainable supercars. A show reviewing a budget family car would seem downmarket, but demonstrate a Ferrari and suddenly it’s a high class, upmarket show, when in reality the production costs would be identical for both.

Whenever I pick up an unknown piece of plastic oddness from ebay there’s a really good chance the whole thing will crash and burn…and for me this is what makes it interesting, I suspect though, that I’m in a minority. However if you do want to see a video about something that you definitely won’t want to buy, well here it is.

UPDATE: VIDEO VERSION 2.0

It seems I misjudged how well this would be received. While making it, I felt there wouldn’t be much interest in such an odd device…but now that I’ve read the positive feedback I’ve done a George Lucas, gone back and re-edited the video to include additional scenes (and make Greedo shoot first). The video above this article is now the new updated version 2.0 one….I also added a short outro on to the end that I was saving up for a suitable video. Thanks to Anders Enger Jensen for working on the video conversion as well as the advice and positive feedback from everyone here. Sometimes it’s hard to see what you’ve got when you’ve been staring at an editing package for days…so thanks for letting me view this with new eyes.

Files

What in the world is the Gakken WORLDEYE?

Made for the Japanese market - is it any use elsewhere? If you can think of a use for one...here's some affiliate links to buy it (You’ll be importing from Japan - so turn on international search and you may also end up paying duties) ebay UK: http://ebay.to/2pLY7bh ebay US: http://ebay.to/2pM5AqE ebay CA: http://ebay.to/2pM5kYz ebay DE: http://ebay.to/2pyWJ0i ebay AU: http://ebay.to/2qgP4D4 ebay NL: http://ebay.to/2qgeuQY ebay AT: http://ebay.to/2qgkpWm Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2qg6BLG Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2pLqg31 Prices vary wildly...so choose a seller carefully as they are all offering the same device. -------------SUPPORT--------------- This channel can be supported through Patreon https://www.patreon.com/techmoan Patrons usually have early access to videos ---------------SUBSCRIBE------------------ http://www.youtube.com/user/Techmoan?sub_confirmation=1 -------THANKS TO ------- Jerobeam Fenderson for the intro animation: http://oscilloscopemusic.com/ Anders Enger Jensen for the updated globe video files http://eox.no ----------Outro Music----------- Over Time - Vibe Tracks https://youtu.be/VSSswVZSgJw -----Other videos mentioned------ The Mova Globe: https://youtu.be/joI1Bs49fVo The Miraball: https://youtu.be/yoAhGOcO5QI 4K Aquarium Video: https://youtu.be/0vYb9TcUo0Q Anders Enger Jensen's new (Japanese free) globe videos can be downloaded from here: http://bit.ly/2qkxBaS ----Warping video---- Here's how Anders converted the video files to have the same wrapping properties as the original. 1: Adding the footage onto on of the original files from the device (680x480 px) and make sure it loops seamlessly 2: Adjusting it so that the circular images match the original one in the center. 3: Export to a video file with a lossless format (preserving quality) 4: Export each frame as a picture 5: Adjust the pinch (50%) and adding a black mask if needed around it in Photoshop (automated batch) 6: Re-assemble the pictures as a movie 7: Loop the new video file into a longer file to your liking and export. H264 gives pretty small, but still OK quality (5 minutes = approx. 80MB)