Price$24.95
Media TypeOne-Trick DVD, Prop
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedJan 01, 2010
Cash Out
Will Tsai
SM Productionz
(Based on 1 review)
What if you can take a piece of paper from your wallet, immediately turn it into a bill and hand this single bill out 'clean' ?! It's a practical dream come true effect that's designed for you to shop and pay with your magic.. ! Don't show off with your bills, PAY with it! Perform surrounded anytime anywhere with nothing to hide, palm, or clean up. Totally self-contain!
Running Time: Approximately 59mins
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Ooh, goody! Another one-trick DVD.
Enough of the attitude. I really wanted to like this DVD. The creator seems charming and really proud of his work. However...
One of my jobs as a reviewer is to review the method of teaching. After all, it doesn't matter how good the effect is if you can't learn it. This DVD has one very annoying problem. There's a music track under all of the talking. It's very difficult to hear what's being said during the somewhat complex "arts and crafts" part of the DVD (yes, you have to make your own gimmicks). This is simply inexcusable with today's technology. You can buy off-the-shelf editing software for very cheap that will make it very easy to get the levels right.
While I'm on my soap box, the visuals could have used some more thought, as well. You're having to place "invisible" tape and bits of white paper on top of white paper. It's almost impossible to see in person, so you can only imagine how hard it is on video. Using some colored electrical tape for explanation would have made life much easier.
And then there's the lighting and background issue. The Construction sections are filmed from top-down, which is fine. However, it's all done on a black, highly-reflective surface. Add a light source and it's going to constantly wreak havoc with the camera.
Then there's the issue of missing information. There are parts of the instruction that were missing. I'm not talking "extras," but critical pieces of the puzzle involving how to mount "the work" into your wallet and how to use it. We received an email from the manufacturer a few days before I watched the DVD, which was a couple of weeks after the DVD was released. I'm not exactly sure how you can send several hundred copies of a DVD to the distributor without proofing it. At least they made up for it and have put the missing information on a website.
So is the effect worth all of the hassle? I'm not sure it is. The creator starts with some reasoning for creating this effect. He's doesn't like the idea of borrowing a bill, changing it into a larger bill (or whatever) and then having to change it back before giving it back. So his solution is to start to pull some blank pieces of paper out of your wallet and make them change as the come out? I think he's missing the point. There are too many good reasons to want to borrow a bill. The potential for drama... or comedy. Intense audience interest. Personal interaction. Essentially, the makings of a truly interesting experience. All we seem to have here is a quick, safe visual devoid of anything deeper.
Perhaps I'm being too harsh. Is it magical? That's what we all want, right? For me, the answer is no. The beauty of all other bill switches I've seen, including recent products like Extreme Burn is that you get to see the situation clearly before, and after, the change. With Cash Out, you barely get a flash of a blank piece of paper, as it's coming out of the wallet, before it changes into a bill. And why are you carrying blank pieces of paper in your wallet? I had worked out the basic method after watching the demo video for the first time. I'm guessing I'm not the first person who has wondered what's left in the wallet after the change.
Enough of the attitude. I really wanted to like this DVD. The creator seems charming and really proud of his work. However...
One of my jobs as a reviewer is to review the method of teaching. After all, it doesn't matter how good the effect is if you can't learn it. This DVD has one very annoying problem. There's a music track under all of the talking. It's very difficult to hear what's being said during the somewhat complex "arts and crafts" part of the DVD (yes, you have to make your own gimmicks). This is simply inexcusable with today's technology. You can buy off-the-shelf editing software for very cheap that will make it very easy to get the levels right.
While I'm on my soap box, the visuals could have used some more thought, as well. You're having to place "invisible" tape and bits of white paper on top of white paper. It's almost impossible to see in person, so you can only imagine how hard it is on video. Using some colored electrical tape for explanation would have made life much easier.
And then there's the lighting and background issue. The Construction sections are filmed from top-down, which is fine. However, it's all done on a black, highly-reflective surface. Add a light source and it's going to constantly wreak havoc with the camera.
Then there's the issue of missing information. There are parts of the instruction that were missing. I'm not talking "extras," but critical pieces of the puzzle involving how to mount "the work" into your wallet and how to use it. We received an email from the manufacturer a few days before I watched the DVD, which was a couple of weeks after the DVD was released. I'm not exactly sure how you can send several hundred copies of a DVD to the distributor without proofing it. At least they made up for it and have put the missing information on a website.
So is the effect worth all of the hassle? I'm not sure it is. The creator starts with some reasoning for creating this effect. He's doesn't like the idea of borrowing a bill, changing it into a larger bill (or whatever) and then having to change it back before giving it back. So his solution is to start to pull some blank pieces of paper out of your wallet and make them change as the come out? I think he's missing the point. There are too many good reasons to want to borrow a bill. The potential for drama... or comedy. Intense audience interest. Personal interaction. Essentially, the makings of a truly interesting experience. All we seem to have here is a quick, safe visual devoid of anything deeper.
Perhaps I'm being too harsh. Is it magical? That's what we all want, right? For me, the answer is no. The beauty of all other bill switches I've seen, including recent products like Extreme Burn is that you get to see the situation clearly before, and after, the change. With Cash Out, you barely get a flash of a blank piece of paper, as it's coming out of the wallet, before it changes into a bill. And why are you carrying blank pieces of paper in your wallet? I had worked out the basic method after watching the demo video for the first time. I'm guessing I'm not the first person who has wondered what's left in the wallet after the change.