I was looking for a present for my nephew for his 9th birthday. I ordered Zu3D as it seemed quite good value and sounded simple to get going with. I wasn't disappointed! He has spent over a week of the holidays making his own animation films, with plasticine-Wallace and Gromit stylee. It was so quick and easy to make a film, I was suprised.You just use a webcam, (apparently all webcams work with it- he had one already so I didn't buy that.) click a button to take a picture move your character or whatever a tiny bit and take another picture , keep going like this for a while hit play and watch it back you can then add voices and a soundtrack and text and credits at the end. A proper film!
He already had a simple webcam so we just had to install the software and then he was off! Afterwards you can upload your film to the Zu3D gallery where the public can review and comment on them. There are hundreds of films on there made by all sorts of people from amateurs to pros. Tom's found it fun to look through getting ideas for his own animation there are some really impressive films on there. After using plasticine this week he's going to have a go using lego men characters next.
I think this is probably the best present I have ever bought a child (though I can think of a few of my friends who would love having a go at it too.)I've seen the fun he's had using it and there seems so much more potential, I don't think he'll get bored. The only improvement I would suggest would be an easy way to remove hands from the frame, whilst he was getting the hang of it he took quite a lot of pics with his hand in the shot. You can delete the frame but it would be great to just rub out the hand! But too sum up I highly recommend this as a fun, creative and a little bit different present for kids (though I'm thinking of getting a copy myself- so it's not just for kids!)