Frequently Asked Questions about the Hollywood Photos Photo Booth!
How is Hollywood Photos unique from other photo booths?
Hollywood Photos is the only Photo Booth that contains a computer modem that allows photos and movies to be mailed via e-mail. Other photo booths only print pictures or stickers.
Why is it called Hollywood Photos?
Hollywood Photos is an excellent theme because it combines the fun of getting a photo taken with the excitement of recording movie. The player receives a photo as well as gets entertained as they create and play their movie.
Why are the movies called Movie Post Cards?
Because the photo booths are commonly at tourist locations, the movies sent from the booth are like digital postcards. People e-mail their movie greetings back to people at home or work letting them know what they are doing. The movies are color and have sound just like movies recorded with video cameras.
Is Hollywood Photos easy to play with?
Yes. The movie booth is very customer friendly. The customer is guided through the picture taking process by on-screen and audio commands.
Does Hollywood Photos print photographs?
Yes, everyone who plays the booth will receive a printed photo. Because the movie booth is the Internet version of the Hollywood Photos color photo booth, customers may also choose to e-mail the photo, as well as create and e-mail a movie file.
Is the customer required to e-mail a photograph or movie?
No. The customer may choose to just receive a photo.
Does the user get to e-mail the photo or movie to more than one e-mail address?
Yes. After the customer takes the photo or records a movie they will be prompted to enter an e-mail address. After the first e-mail address is entered, the booth will ask them if they want the photo or movie sent to another e-mail address. If yes, the customer will input more money to cover the additional e-mails. If more credits are required, the booth will prompt the user to enter more money, or the booth will deduct the proper amount of credits.
How will the photograph be e-mailed?
Because Hollywood Photos uses a special camera, the image on the photograph is stored on the computer as a JPEG
(.jpg) file. JPEG is a universal image file type that almost all computers can display. The e-mail will have the JPEG file as an attachment. The majority of e-mail recipients will be able to view the picture by “double-clicking” on the file within their e-mail program.
How will the movie be e-mailed?
The movies created in the photo booth are recorded as an MPEG (.mpg) file. MPEG is a universal movie file type that almost all computers can play within their media players. The e-mail will have the MPEG file as an attachment. The majority of e-mail recipients will be able to play the movie by “double-clicking” on the file within their e-mail program.
How does Hollywood Photos e-mail the photograph and movie?
After the picture is taken or the movie is recorded, the booth will prompt the user to enter in an e-mail address. The user gets to type in a personal message in the e-mail subject line so that the recipient will know who sent the file and that the file is safe to open, and that it is not SPAM (Junk e-mail). The photo booth will then automatically dial up an Internet account and send the e-mail with the image or movie file attached to the e-mail.
What can the Recipient do with the Hollywood Photos e-mail photograph?
Because the photograph is e-mailed as a JPEG, which is also called a digital photograph, the recipient will be able to print the photo, post it to a web page, forward it on to a friend or mark it up in a paint program. There are hundreds of fun things to do with a photo sent by Hollywood Photos.
What can the Recipient do with the movie file?
Because the movie is e-mailed as an MPEG, which is like and audio\visual file (AVI), the recipient will be able to play the movie over and over, post it to a web page, forward it on to a friend. There are many of fun things to do with a movie postcard sent by Hollywood Photos.
Will the recipient have trouble downloading the photo or movie?
No. In almost all cases the photograph file (.jpg) will be very small approx. 30 kilobytes, and the movie file (.mpg) will be about 300 kilobytes. Most computers can download files of this size in less than 20 seconds using standard modem speeds of 56 kb/s. In some very rare cases, people may use an e-mail program that does not let them receive attachments. Because the photo is sent as an e-mail with an attachment, these users that have e-mail programs (or servers) that do not accept attachments will not be able to view the digital photograph or movie sent by Hollywood Photos.
Do I have to worry about Hollywood Photos sending computer viruses?
No. Most computer viruses are located in files that make applications run such as executable files. Hollywood Photos does not create or use software programs that access program files. Hollywood Photos creates a JPEG or MPEG file and sends it attached to an e-mail using an industry standard e-mail program, so the probability of a virus being sent inadvertently is very small. Also, most computers contain virus-scanning programs that will detect computer viruses including files attached to e-mail to prevent the spread of computer viruses.
Does it matter what type of e-mail program people use to view a photo or movie sent by Hollywood Photos?
In almost all cases No. All standard e-mail programs available today follow industry formats that allow e-mail to be sent and received. Some older e-mail programs and e-mail servers may have trouble with the file attachment, but these systems are being replaced so that the probability of not being able to open the e-mail and view the photo and movie is decreasing rapidly.
How many e-mail addresses will Hollywood Photos send a photograph or movie to?
Each customer will get to specify one e-mail address if they choose to have their photo and movie sent as part of the e-mail play price. Users get the option to send the photo to more than one e-mail address if they choose to input the proper amount of money required (or have the proper credits) in the booth to do so. Each additional e-mail address will cost the player an additional fee established by the booth operator. There is no upper limit to the number of e-mail addresses to which the photo gets sent. This in turn increases the profit per play for the operator.
Does the user get to choose the number of poses for the photo?
Yes the customer gets to choose from 1, 2 or 4 poses or with a border. Regardless of the number of poses selected, Hollywood Photos will just print one photo with the one pose, two poses or all four poses on the photograph. The digital photograph file that is attached to the e-mail will be the 1, 2 or 4 poses that appear on the photograph that the booth prints. The user can also select a border to be printed on the photograph. If the user selects the border option then only one pose will be allowed with the border.
Will Hollywood Photos provide borders for the photographs?
Yes. Hollywood Photos contains twenty-five background choices by default. The user simply chooses the border option, and then selects the desired border by scrolling through the available borders. If the user selects the 1, 2 or 4 pose option than they will not have a border superimposed on their photo. The background will simply be the blue curtain or back wall of the photo booth. The operator of the photo booth may purchase more borders from Smart Industries. These borders are delivered on a CD-ROM for easy installation. The operator will get to choose from 1-15 borders that are available for booth play. These choices allow the operator to use holiday-themed borders at the appropriate time of the year. Smart Industries can also create custom borders for booth owners.
Does the user get to re-take the photo?
No. Just like a polaroid or instant camera, the user gets their chance to look at the camera and say “cheese”. Depending on the number of poses selected, Hollywood will take that many pictures. But after the
picture(s) is taken the user will not get to change their pose, and Hollywood Photos will print the image that was captured. This is part of the fun and users will pay to play again to get the pose they like. Hollywood Photos is designed for quick cycle time to move more people through the booth. Another reason why Hollywood Photos does not allow people to re-take pictures during the same play is because this delays the game and reduces the number of times people can play which decreases profits for the booth operator.
Does the user get to re-record the movie?
Yes. The user gets another chance to record the video clip if they did not like the first video clip that was recorded. The user gets to play back the movie to see what it looks like before they e-mail the movie.
How does the customer input the e-mail address?
After the picture has been taken or the movie has been recorded, Hollywood Photos instructs the user to enter the e-mail address. First the user will enter in the “Subject Line” of the e-mail, and then they will enter the e-mail address. The user does this by moving a cursor over a keyboard on the computer screen. The cursor is moved right or left by pressing one of two separate buttons. (For touch screens, the user touches the on-screen Keyboard) When the cursor is over the proper letter, the user presses both buttons simultaneously which then captures the letter and puts the letter inside the address box until the entire e-mail address appears in the address box. If the user accidentally picks the wrong letter or misspells the e-mail address, they can delete the wrong characters and finish correctly spelling the e-mail address. Once the correct e-mail address appears in the address box, the users moves the cursor to the “send” key and the e-mail will be sent.
How does the user know if they have entered the correct e-mail address?
E-mail addresses are like telephone numbers, but often easier to remember because they usually contain a variation of a person’s name. The user will need to make sure that they have entered the correct spelling of the e-mail address. Hollywood Photos will automatically send the e-mail with the attached photo or movie to that e-mail
address(s). If the address(s) is wrong than the e-mail will become undeliverable and the person will not receive their photo. The customer will not get to see if the intended recipient properly received the e-mail. However Hollywood Photos will say that the e-mail was sent, which prompts the user to remove their photo from the slot and leave the booth …or play again.
Does Hollywood Photos print Stickers?
No. Hollywood Photos specializes in quick color photography and being able to e-mail photographs and movies. Stickers are not an option. There are several reasons why stickers are unpopular. First, stickers often have too small of images which are hard to see, and don’t stick well. The sticker machines sometime require a special thermal printer that is more costly to operate and holds less sheets of stickers which in turn requires more servicing. Also, most stickers from photo booths generally find themselves stuck on the sticker machine or applied somewhere on or within the facility the sticker machine resides. These “prankster” stickers are annoying to operators that must remove them.
What if Hollywood Photos gets a busy signal when dialing the Internet?
Hollywood Photos is able to recognize if there is a busy signal when it dials up the Internet. Hollywood Photos will store the photographs, movies and the e-mails in it’s e-mail program and send the e-mails at a later time. Hollywood Photos is designed to keep re-trying periodically until a connection is made and the e-mails are sent.
Can Hollywood Photos get full of e-mails and stop working?
No. This is very unlikely because the photo booth has plenty of room to store the pictures within it’s computer memory while it is waiting for the next Internet dial-up connection.
Will customer play be interrupted when the booth is sending e-mails?
No. Hollywood Photos is designed to perform all of the e-mailing functions in the “background”. This means that users will not know when the photo booth is connected to the Internet, and Users will be able to play the booth normally without delay.
Will the customer have to wait for Hollywood Photos to send the e-mail every time?
No. Hollywood Photos is designed to dial up the Internet and send e-mails on a periodic basis, so the user will not need to be present while this activity is occurring. In almost all cases, the user will be done playing before Hollywood Photos even connects to the Internet. The booth will store the e-mails and photos that are taken and dial the Internet every 30 minutes, so that all the e-mails are sent in a batch mode. This means that photo booth does not need to be connected to the Internet for long periods of time. Regardless, the dial-up and e-mail activity occurs in the background and will not interrupt play of the booth.
Does the Photo Booth have other Languages?
Yes, currently the photo booth has programs for English, Spanish and French. Smart Industries can develop other language versions if required.
What currency does the photo booth accept?
The booth is designed to accept coins and dollar bills. Depending on your currency needs, Smart Industries can install the proper coin mechanism for your country location.
Does the booth use a thermal printer?
No. The printer is an ink jet printer. Thermal printers are expensive and slower and less reliable than ink jet printers. The photo booth uses special photographic paper for lower operating cost with comparable quality.
What type of phone service is required?
Hollywood Photos can be connected to a standard phone line that is operated by the local phone service, or through a wireless connection with a cellular phone service provider.
Landline:
The operator of the booth will need to have the phone service connected and subscribe to a local phone service plan. In some cases the phone company will need to run a phone line to the booth depending on location. The booth contains a standard phone line connection and modem and requires “dial tone” to operate with the phone service. Most local phone subscription plans have a flat fee for unlimited usage. This type of plan is recommended so Hollywood Photos can send many e-mails without incurring a variable per user “dial-up” toll charge for the operator.
Wireless:
The operator can choose to also have a wireless phone connection. This requires that the photo booth have the additional wireless modem. The modem works with analog cellular network that provides coverage of 95% of the United States. The operator will then have to subscribe to a wireless phone service. Most cellular service providers have economical service plans where you can pay a flat rate for a set number of minutes. The amount of dial-up time required of the photo booth is anticipated to be minimal because the e-mail and data transfer rate will be fast because the file size per e-mail will be fast (approx 10 -20seconds) for each e-mail.
Will the operator pay long distance charges?
No. If the booth is connected to the local phone service, and the Internet Service provider has a local access number, then the operator will not incur long distance charges from the booth if booth is using the local access number.
Does the operator need to subscribe to an Internet Service Provider?
Yes. The operator should find a local Internet Service Provider (ISP) that has a reasonable plan for unlimited use of the Internet and unlimited access time. It is recommended that the operator subscribe to an Internet plan that provides unlimited usage. This will allow Hollywood Photos to send e-mails without incurring the variable per use charges or exceeding any allotted time. This ISP will need to provide the operator an e-mail account for Hollywood Photos to use to send e-mails. The Internet Service Provider should have a local phone number that Hollywood Photos can use when it dials up the Internet, to prevent long distance charges.
How Does Hollywood Photos know what e-mail account to Use to send e-mails?
The operator inputs the email account information (and usually a password) into Hollywood Photos during initial set-up of the booth. The operator also enters in the local Internet access phone number provided by the ISP so that of the Internet access.
What type of printer is in the photo booth?
Hewlett Packard HP200C color inkjet printer. The printer requires four ink cartridges that can be purchased at most office supply stores, such as office depot and Wal-Mart. Hewlett Packard was selected because of reliability and the availability of supplies can be purchased almost anywhere. The printer incorporates Kodak digital imaging for high quality glossy photos. The printer uses special paper that doesn’t curl and jam the printer
How many sheets of paper is in the printer?
The high capacity printer holds 250 sheets of paper. This specially cut and sized paper (approx. 3 ½” x 5”) is available in 250 sheets per package for easy printer replenishing. The paper is high quality photographic paper that looks and feels like a developed photograph. This paper can be purchased through Smart Industries in quantities of 12 packages per box. The paper is also designed so it won’t curl which prevents jamming of the printer.
Is the movie booth a separate photo booth than the Hollywood Photos photo booth?
No, the Movie Booth is the Internet version of the Hollywood Photos photo booth. The booths are different because the program (game) and the Internet version of the booth contain either a standard land-line or cellular modem.
What is the Profit of play for the Hollywood Photos photo booth?
For a standard Hollywood Photos play (1 photo) the profit per play is
$1 play - 28ë cost = 72ë profit
For a standard e-mail movie play (1 photo/movie and 1 e-mail) the profit per play is
$2 play - 28ë cost = $1.72 profit
This does not include the monthly service fees for phone service (approx. $30-$50/month) and Internet service (approx $20/month). The price per play for both the standard Hollywood Photos and Movie booth versions can be established by the operator. The operator can set up how much it costs for the photo and how much additional to charge for each e-mail.
Does the booth charge more per play for the user to have Hollywood Photos e-mail the photograph and movie?
Yes. Hollywood Photos is designed to generate additional revenue and more profit per play by having the customer input more money to have the photograph and movie e-mailed. The user will be prompted to enter an e-mail address after the photo has been taken. The user will be prompted to enter more money for the e-mail feature, or the program will deduct the proper amount of credits. The operator may choose the price per play amount for each e-mail the player sends.
Is the Photo Booth easy to service?
Yes. The upkeep of the photo booth is fairly simple. The activities include checking audits, removing money, re-filling printer paper, wiping off the screen. With heavy amount of use, the booth may need to be serviced every couple of days in order to empty the cash box. The printer and computer within the booth are mounted on roller-type shelves for easy access for speedy servicing. Also, there is excess room within the control cabinet of the booth for a cleaning bottle and a rag and other cleaning supplies as needed.
How long does it take to service the booth?
Normally it takes just a few minutes. The booth has extra storage space inside the cabinet for extra ink cartridges and printer paper. Having these items on hand expedites the servicing time.
How sturdy is the Photo Booth?
Both the stand-up and sit-down models are very strong. The booth is comprised of a steel-reinforced solid wood cabinet that can withstand years of use in high-traffic public places. The booth is designed to prevent theft of money and internal components.
What type of currency does the booth take?
The booth takes quarters, tokens, the new dollar coin and $1 & $5 dollar bills. The booth does not take credit cards because of the lengthy dial-up and approval requirements for card processing.
What type of camera is in the photo booth?
The camera is closed circuit video camera that captures very clear images and movies. The camera has a motor so the user can adjust camera up or down as necessary. The camera and motor have few mechanical parts so they are very reliable.
What is the “Brain” of the Photo Booth?
The Hollywood Photos color photo booth and Internet version both contain a standard CPU developed specifically for Arcade and kiosk use. The computer is shock-mounted to take daily abuse and contains a hi-capacity fan for efficient cooling. The CPU contains an Intel 400 Celeron processor with a special arcade quality graphics card for high-speed, high-quality graphics.
Does Hollywood Photos have Sound?
Yes. The Photo Booth provides both audio instructions to aid game play and background sounds that make playing the booth more entertaining. The booth contains speakers for exceptional stereo sound.
Does the Photo Booth have a touch-screen display?
Yes the booth can be purchased with a touch-screen. Touch screens provide a more entertaining interaction with the program. Otherwise, the booth is shipped with a two-button model including a standard color monitor protected behind impact-resistant glass for longer life and less maintenance.
Is the “subject line” and e-mail text that Hollywood Photos sends modifiable?
Yes. The operator that sets up the booth can customize the sent-from line of the e-mail and the body text of the e-mail. For example, the e-mails can be sent with a subject line that reads “Hollywood Photos Photo From North Grand Mall”. So when the recipient gets the e-mail, they know where it was sent from and that a photo is attached to the e-mail that can be viewed. The user of the booth will get to enter in the subject line of the e-mail. Also, When the recipient opens the e-mail, the text can read something like “Someone you know has sent you a photo. Please double-click the file name to see the picture”. These text strings can be set to anything the operator wishes.
Can the booth e-mail the operator / owner with status reports?
Yes, Hollywood Photos uses its e-mail capability to send the operator reports on audits, paper-outs, etc. This “watch-dog” feature will reduce the number of unnecessary trips the operator makes to the booth to check on it. This feature will also reduce the amount of down-time the booth will incur due to a problem because the operator will find out quickly if there is a problem and then can remedy the situation. The operator can set-up to who or whom the status reports are sent.
Is it easy to configure the modem within Hollywood Photos?
Yes, during set-up of the booth, the operator simply configures the e-mail program by supplying some minimal information during set-up of the e-mail program. If in the unlikely event that the operator wants to connect the booth to a local area network (LAN) or other computer network via a network connection or phone line configuration they will be responsible for satisfying the additional set-up requirements.
How can you purchase an Hollywood Photo Booth?
Please Contact Smart Industries and they will facilitate the sale directly or through one of their qualified distributors.
How long has Smart Industries been in the amusement/redemption business?
Smart Industries, the manufacturer of Hollywood Photos, has been in business since the early 1960s as an operator, and then have been manufacturing games, cranes and other redemption equipment since the mid 1980s. They have the experience, service and support to make your Hollywood Photos operation as positive as possible. Smart Industries provides product warranties, 800 number technical support, and a parts department to keep your Photo Booth running as smooth as possible.