Kim's Corner
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Crystal Magic - Cool Imagery at Cool Prices
I first noticed this product line - or one quite similar - at Crystal Arts on Main Street a couple years ago and then found it at EPCOT during my last visit and was fascinated by both the imagery and the technology. I remember thinking how cool it would be to be able to create the images myself - well, it seems that I wasn’t the only one. I’m a real geek when it comes to product lines with a hi-tech or cutting-edge feel. I know that the “coolness�? factor has jumped off the scale when I come across something that causes me to reach for my wallet before I know what it’s going to cost me.
Found at the World of Disney it’s a wonderful way to capture an image, combine it with a bit of character and spend as little as $20 - for an LED lit keychain - or as much as $300 for a multi portrait block. Crystal Magic’s line manages to combine 2 and 3-D digital photographics and computer-guided laser technology to create a very cool laser-etched product. They create images completely inside a solid piece of optically perfect crystal at a price point that is affordable in a time frame that is reasonable. From beginning to end the process takes a couple of hours as the production of the piece takes place in the WoD facility, and it takes most shoppers that much time to wander through the store.
I don’t come remotely close to understanding the technology by which the images are created - molecular physics not being my strong subject. The digital side I can pretty much work out but I don’t think that I want to be in the same room with a laser beam capable of creating an electrical field greater than 10 million volts per centimeter and the idea that I could even begin to coherently discuss multiphoton absorption or exactly how quickly a trillionth of a second passes is just a bit too Matrix for me. But if you want to see the system at work and look over the products available stop in at WoD and take a look - it’s absolutely cool.
There are about a dozen Disney images available - with more on the way - including a very cute sitting Mickey, Sleeping Beauty Castle, Tinker Bell and Grizzly Peak. If you can’t get to Downtown Disney, Crystal Magic has a web site -
crystalmagic.com - stop by and take a look.
2-D images - photos and such - can be scanned and then etched into these optically perfect crystal blocks and disks.
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It's a lot like sitting for a conventional portrait - but the Minolta Vivid 300 Non-Contact 3-D Digitizer is as far from a conventional camera as a negative is from a digital image file.
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Cubes in three sizes, a round disk and a rectangular block are a few of the items that can be etched. Add a date or a bit of character or a park logo and it's a great souvenir or gift.
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Sitting Mickey, Mickey as the Sorcerer's Apprentice and a Tinker Bell are a couple of the dozen or so Disney images that can be added to your etched item. Both Disneyland and DCA icons are available.
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Cool! Place these etched crystal blocks on a battery operated multi-colored LED light base and it makes a wonderful conversation item.
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