The eCraft has Landed - Bad News and Good News

Well. the eCraft has arrived and I have already shot a very bad video with a Bloggie Camera.  Now, why, you ask, would someone that professes to have been in the video industry for 15 years use a Bloggie, of all things, to create their first video of the eCraft.

Blame it on a co-worker with a cold that decided passing it one would be a good thing.  Picking up my lights and camera would have exposed some other people to my cold and that is NOT the kind of gift I want to pass on. Besides, I was just too exhausted from my new gift to go through the hassle of setting up the video lights, etc., etc., etc.  Besides I thought you'd rather have some content than nothing.

But, first.  Some bad news.  The eCraft does NOT cut Creatology Fun Foam in the thickness available from Michael's.  It just will NOT fit under the cutting head or the feading mechanism.  Sorry.  MAJOR BUMMER for me because Fun Foam was THE one thing I actually understand in crafting.  Even four year olds understand Fun Foam!  But, alas, it is not to be.

Having said that, the rest of my story is ALL GOOD.  My approach was to remain as clueless as possible (not read the manual until absolutely lost.) and see how far I could go.  And, I actually was able to put it together, power it up, load some paper and actually make a cut, all while in absolute clueless mode.  Now, THAT is MY kind of product.  So, let's see some images.

The eCraft is a super slim design.  Directions are written right on the cover; but, I found it so simple to operate that I could find a shape and cut it in complete Clueless Mode.  All the controls are at the right, just under the display. which while not hi-res, was adequate for the simple information it conveys and easy to read.

As you can see, the directions for operating the eCraft are relatively straightforward and concise.  The upside down image is interesting as it describes how to clear the machine of cutting debris that might build up.

I thought it would be fun to show you the "Trolley" or Printing/Cutting Head in a technique called Crossed-Eye 3D.  Some of you will be able to see the following in pop into 3D and others will not.  The trick is to look at the center line, crossing your eyes and themn relax them until the image pops into place.  If you are among those that cannot make it 'pop', don't worry.  You can just look at one of images to see the underside of the trolley.  There are two resting pads on the outside edges of the trolly, in the center area a cutting head on the left side and the pen on the right side

The knob at the top is pulled out to release the trolley so that it can be lifted up for changing the pen, removing the cutting blade cover or changing the cutting blade.  The blade cover in the foreground.

 The Screen is adjustable in position from completely flat to near vertical.  While it isn't super hi-res, it is more than adequate to communicate the information we need to select a shape, determine the number of multi-cuts and set the size of the selected shape.  Since I was, after all, in completely clueless mode, I have NO idea what the "Manual - Portrait" means.  I guess I have to read that manual after all!

Controls could NOT be simpler.  When I created my video making my first cut, I was actually sitting behind the cutter, facing the camera.  So, everything was upside down.  Even so, I was able to figure out what I should do and the order in which it should be done.  I believe the "S" indicates the starting point for the cut.