I’m having trouble locating resources specific to building interactive children’s books and would appreciate any assistance. There are lots of tutorials out there but I don’t know where to start and my search attempts aren’t coming up with what I need. Thank you for helping. [import]uid: 117117 topic_id: 33697 reply_id: 333697[/import]
Re: Children’s Books
I’ve developed several children’s books - here’s my latest, Angel’s Great Escape: A Christmas Story …
iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/angels-great-escape-christmas/id576434669?mt=8
Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.andsowebegin.angelsgreatscape&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsInVrLmNvLmFuZHNvd2ViZWdpbi5hbmdlbHNncmVhdHNjYXBlIl0.
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/mas/dl/android?p=uk.co.andsowebegin.angelsgreatescape
Nook https://nookdeveloper.barnesandnoble.com/tools/dev/linkManager/2940043935038
Let me know what sort of resources you need and I’ll see how I can help.
Stefan [import]uid: 2646 topic_id: 33697 reply_id: 134008[/import]
Perhaps I should have been more specific. I understand enough about programming/scripting that I can look up a Lua syntax reference for the basics. I have already found shared code to create a karaoke type highlighting effect; however I have an idea to modify it with automated timing. But I’m wondering how to put the whole thing together.
http://developer.coronalabs.com/code/soundtextsync-read-it-me-story-books-and-interactive-text
What I am really hoping to find is a bunch of links to things like tutorials, templates, best forums to watch, third party tools, and possibly other things I haven’t thought of. Maybe even a suggestion for keywords to search since the keyword “book” is pulling up a lot of irrelevant hits in Google.
On a side note… Stefan your book is wonderful I just got it for my kids. Thank you very much for sharing.
[import]uid: 117117 topic_id: 33697 reply_id: 134049[/import]
Thanks for buying my app! Please leave a review if you can.
I have used the text syncing code - only for a demo book - and it works quite well as is.
I use the Director library to create my books, which pre-dates Corona’s own Storyboard functions, but both serve a similar purpose which is to display a sequence of scenes or pages with transitions between them. Their other function is to clean up display objects between scenes/pages so that you don’t run out of memory (you’ll need to add your own function to clean up timers etc.).
So you can design each page in isolation as a separate lua file, typically a background image overlaid with other objects to interact with, which is called by Storyboard or Director. You can have navigation elements and menus in the main lua file, as a common layer on top, and hide/show them as appropriate. You’ll find basic examples in the code section for Director and in Corona’s sample projects for Storyboard.
I like to make my books data-driven so that I have the text, image and audio file names in a separate lua file or SQLite database, which makes it easier make changes e.g. correcting text, changing placeholder images for final versions etc. An advantage of doing this is that the basic framework can be reused just by changing the data file for new content.
Start simple, a page at a time, and see how it goes. If you get stuck with some code give me a shout and I’ll try and help.
Stefan [import]uid: 2646 topic_id: 33697 reply_id: 134051[/import]
Thanks Stefan, this helps a lot. Now when I look at the massive list of tutorials where I should start: Storyboard, Director and SQLite. Are there any others that I may have missed?
[import]uid: 117117 topic_id: 33697 reply_id: 134080[/import]
Re: Children’s Books
I’ve developed several children’s books - here’s my latest, Angel’s Great Escape: A Christmas Story …
iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/angels-great-escape-christmas/id576434669?mt=8
Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.andsowebegin.angelsgreatscape&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsInVrLmNvLmFuZHNvd2ViZWdpbi5hbmdlbHNncmVhdHNjYXBlIl0.
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/gp/mas/dl/android?p=uk.co.andsowebegin.angelsgreatescape
Nook https://nookdeveloper.barnesandnoble.com/tools/dev/linkManager/2940043935038
Let me know what sort of resources you need and I’ll see how I can help.
Stefan [import]uid: 2646 topic_id: 33697 reply_id: 134008[/import]
Perhaps I should have been more specific. I understand enough about programming/scripting that I can look up a Lua syntax reference for the basics. I have already found shared code to create a karaoke type highlighting effect; however I have an idea to modify it with automated timing. But I’m wondering how to put the whole thing together.
http://developer.coronalabs.com/code/soundtextsync-read-it-me-story-books-and-interactive-text
What I am really hoping to find is a bunch of links to things like tutorials, templates, best forums to watch, third party tools, and possibly other things I haven’t thought of. Maybe even a suggestion for keywords to search since the keyword “book” is pulling up a lot of irrelevant hits in Google.
On a side note… Stefan your book is wonderful I just got it for my kids. Thank you very much for sharing.
[import]uid: 117117 topic_id: 33697 reply_id: 134049[/import]
Thanks for buying my app! Please leave a review if you can.
I have used the text syncing code - only for a demo book - and it works quite well as is.
I use the Director library to create my books, which pre-dates Corona’s own Storyboard functions, but both serve a similar purpose which is to display a sequence of scenes or pages with transitions between them. Their other function is to clean up display objects between scenes/pages so that you don’t run out of memory (you’ll need to add your own function to clean up timers etc.).
So you can design each page in isolation as a separate lua file, typically a background image overlaid with other objects to interact with, which is called by Storyboard or Director. You can have navigation elements and menus in the main lua file, as a common layer on top, and hide/show them as appropriate. You’ll find basic examples in the code section for Director and in Corona’s sample projects for Storyboard.
I like to make my books data-driven so that I have the text, image and audio file names in a separate lua file or SQLite database, which makes it easier make changes e.g. correcting text, changing placeholder images for final versions etc. An advantage of doing this is that the basic framework can be reused just by changing the data file for new content.
Start simple, a page at a time, and see how it goes. If you get stuck with some code give me a shout and I’ll try and help.
Stefan [import]uid: 2646 topic_id: 33697 reply_id: 134051[/import]
Thanks Stefan, this helps a lot. Now when I look at the massive list of tutorials where I should start: Storyboard, Director and SQLite. Are there any others that I may have missed?
[import]uid: 117117 topic_id: 33697 reply_id: 134080[/import]