Yoostar Entertainment System

If you're a fan of classic films, the Yoostar Entertainment System gives you an opportunity to see how your acting skills compare with the likes of Tom Hanks, Audrey Hepburn, or Marlon Brando -- just to name a few. The system can insert you into some of Hollywood's best-known movie scenes. All you need is a Windows PC (a Mac version of the software is supposedly in the works.) The rest is supplied by Yoostar, including a USB camera with built-in microphone, tabletop mini-tripod, remote control, collapsible 6 x 6 green background (complete with nylon tote bag), assorted brackets, and the Yoostar application on CD-ROM. Yoostar employs the same technology that layers TV meteorologists over computer-generated maps. It's called chroma-key, or "green screen," but the Yoostar version works with ordinary room lighting. The unit comes with preloaded scenes, including several classic films, such as "Rocky," and additional clips can be purchased from [...]. Your road to stardom starts by positioning yourself in front of the camera, using a guide displayed on your computer screen. The goal is to match the size and position of the original actor or actress. You can also adjust the camera's sensitivity to match the original scene's lighting. Once the device has all the foreground information, you must step completely out of frame, so it can analyze the background and create the matte effect. When you step back into the frame, you see yourself inserted into the starting frame. Cool! When you're all set, the system produces a five-second countdown and cues you to start, just like on a Hollywood set. The settings, however, aren't saved, so you have to go through the ritual of stepping in and out of frame for every performance, which quickly becomes tedious. Teleprompter is provided, but on my PC, it lagged behind the action. There's no apparent way to speed it up, but the software provides a button to send a copy of the script to your printer. The scenes are usually less than thirty seconds, so memorizing lines isn't difficult. Delivering them in sync with recorded dialog is another story. The teleprompter isn't the only annoyance, however. The application itself has some bugs. It aborted several times in the middle of the five-second countdown without explanation. My laptop is several years old, but it has 4 GB of RAM and a dual-core processor, which exceeds Yoostar's minimum requirements. Nevertheless, the program seemed sluggish at times and had to be relaunched frequently. In summary, the Yoostar Entertainment System is enjoyable but not devoid of shortcomings. First, it's not cheap. The system retails for $170. The box says it includes twelve scenes and two bonus scenes, but the scenes are not of your own choosing. If they really wanted to give you fourteen scenes, they would bundle three or four, just to get you started, and let you to download the rest without having to use plastic. But don't get me wrong. The Yoostar system is loads of fun. If you're looking for a way to liven up a holiday gathering, this is it. The novelty might fade due to the software's quirkiness and company's fiddle-dee-dee policies, rules, and restrictions, but the concept is a winner.

The product was in great shape and an impressive set up however the software CD that you must install to make the camera and green screen effect even work must be registered online to function. The company is no longer in business and rather than creating a way to by pass the registration process or to have left the website up so that the software could at least be unlocked the company has, instead, closed everything there by locking the operating software and rendering the entire set up -camera, green screen, tri-pod, remote-all of it - completely useless. The software will load, then say it must be registered, after clicking on "register now" it tries to access the website returns with a "Server Unavailable" message then closes. There are many postings about this from other frustrated buyers online. Why they did this without creating SOME way to unlock the software is beyond me but thats how it is so be aware if you buy this you're basically getting a green piece of fabric and a web cam. Pity.

it's okay, once I get more room at least I will have a green screen to play with adobe

YooStar only comes with a few clips to begin with, most of which are unusable if you have children and the others are only mediocre. There are better ones available for purchase at [...] a pop. I still think the idea itself is great! (that's why it gets two stars)- but keep reading...It probably won't work with your computer (zero stars). What was really terrible is the customer service. I paid extra for expedited shipping and it still took over a week to arrive (LATE for Christmas, by the way). The unit is easy to assemble, but would NOT connect properly to my computer. When I finally got a response from Customer Service, they were incredibly unhelpful, wasted a lot of time, and ended up blaming me- saying that my computer wasn't powerful enough for the unit. My laptop is less than a year old. How a brand new computer wouldn't be compatible with something like this is beyond me. And having the customer service representative berate me for not having a laptop good enough for the computer? Bizarre. This thing is going back and I regret ever paying for shipping.

I have to say,upfront,that I did not have anything to do with the mechanical set-up or running of the game. I just procured it for our local h.s. jr.-sr. after prom party. We made sure the people involved in running the Yoostar had the appropriate-speed laptop and that they could try it out the week before the event, to become familiar with it. I was busy with other parts of the evening, but the students posted some of their scenes on the Yoostar site, and I have to say they were pretty hilarious! It looked like they were really having fun with scenes from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Up in Smoke," "The Wizard of Oz," "The Blues Brothers," "The Terminator," etc. As another reviewer stated, I can see how there are perhaps not enough scenes included to make it an ongoing game at home, without purchasing other scenes, but for an evening or event it truly was just right! We let the students use the game and then used it for a prize later on in the evening. I have to say the price on Amazon was wonderful, under $100, and it's even lower now. I kind of wish I had taken a chance to try it myself! The shipping from a third party, J & S Games, was wonderful. I wrote a note through Amazon explaining that I really needed it by a certain date and they wrote right back and handled it beautifully. I would recommend this for a party-type situation, just allow time to pre-test the game and get familiar with its workings and things should run smoothly!

One night before Christmas, I fell asleep in front of the TV. I woke up during a commercial for YOOSTAR, thought it was very interesting, did my best to remember the website address. In the morning, I tried my best to remember the website address, but had to google what I had remembered (so what, I had some "Christmas Cheer" the night before). I'm glad I did, and I am so happy I ordered it for me, I mean my son, who wants to be a director. I am surprised on how well it works. Yes, it takes some manuevering of the camera and the green screen, but once it is set up it's amazing how it places "yoo" right into the movie. Now some reviewers have complained about the price. It is a bit pricey and what Yoostar should have done was to include more clips on the DVD to justify the price. You are able to buy more clips on the yoostar website and they are reasonably priced, from $1.99 to $2.99. The only slight criticism I have is that you can't play your recorded media clips in Windows Media Player or attach the recorded media file, let's say, to your own website. You can watch your clip with the yoostar program, and you can load your clip to the Yoostar website where anyone can see it. Also, you add your clip to Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. But you can not upload your clip to Youtube. But I understand why. You are using copyrighted material and yoostar has to be in control on where the clip is dispersed. I believe using short clips from movies for humor does not violate copyright law, but I imagine yoostar wants to play it safe. Nonetheless, it is great fun for the entire family, works well, and [...] is adding more clips to its website. Enjoy!

Man, I've been hunting this thing down for 5 days now. Why is it a Best Buy exclusive? they are the only ones that seem to openly carry it. I checked online,and it said that they were in stock,but when I went down there,someone told my wife that they are an "online only" item,which is bull,so I talked with someone who looked it up,and they are backordered in EVERY Best Buy,state wide....wow...so the only way to get one is online! NO!!!!..so I tried to get it through Amazon,but Amazon is giving me problems about my payment method ( I made a regular Visa payment,come on !!!! ). What do I have to do to get one of these things, I'm just gonna give up soon :(

Nice, but not enough movies to use with it