Pottery Wheel – Review
By App Type: Uncategorized
Our rating: 
By: Brian Howarth
Version #: 1.0
Date Released: 2008-08-30
Developer:
Price: 1.99
User Rating:
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Relaxing and unique, this app is a nice way to pass a little time.
Before downloading this app for review my expectations were high. Could I start with a virtual lump of clay and form the shape from scratch? Could I create virtual bowls? Could I paint and put the pottery in a virtual kiln?
Unfortunately, the answer to all of these is No.
This software simply spins a clay cylinder and allows you to stretch and shrink various parts of the clay. It would be nice to affect the height, and / or the quantity of clay. It would also be nice if you could rotate the pottery to view it and manipulate it from more than just the front view.
In addition, I found it very difficult to gauge where you are on the pottery to properly affect its shape. An indicator of some sort of where you are in contact with the clay would make this easier.
The result of this lacking was that many times, I ended up ruining the shape of one section I had finished when I tried to work on another section of the piece.
In addition, the ability to zoom and rotate the pottery from different angles, and not just zoom in and out would probably make working on the piece much nicer.
That noted, saving your creations on the shelf is a nice feature, but it would be much better if I could take the pottery previously made off the shelf and take another look at it later from various angles.
Quick Take
Value: Low.
Would I Buy Again: Not this version.
Learning Curve: Low.
Who is it for: Anyone interested in virtual pottery.
What I like: Unique concept.
What I Don’t: Difficult make changes and know what part of the pottery you are working on at any one time, and no ability to change the height of the pottery.
Final Statement: This is a great concept, but the implementation leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe a future version will work better and give you more options outside of simply growing and shrinking a spinning cylinder.
Pottery Wheel is a virtual simulation of the centuries old method of shaping moist clay on a spinning platter. If you've ever tried an actual Potter's wheel, you will probably remember that it can be quite tricky, and the wet clay often gets out of control. Not so with this handy little app on your iPhone/iPod Touch.
Pottery Wheel starts you off with a lump of cay conveniently centered on the spinning platform. You can adjust the on-screen position and zoom level to your convenience. When you're ready to sculpt, simply stroke the screen with a finger, and observe as the clay squeezes in or bulges out relative to your finger movements.
You can store your finished works of clay on shelves and these are conveniently saved between Pottery Wheel sessions.O U R T A K E . . .
