We are heading to Frankfurt for the book fair tomorrow. My colleague Fredrik will stay for a couple of days, while I have to travel back tomorrow night. Our schedule is busy with plenty of exciting meetings, but we will also spend some time walking around talking to possible partners and new users that might want to check out our services.
If you want to get in touch, you can reach Fredrik on +47 93 84 73 46 and Sondre on +47 91 74 15 74. If you are going, I wish you a great fair!
In our series of how-to videos, I promised in the last post that we would return with an advanced topic. And here we are! Today we’ll lead you to a feature that is powerful and that for sure will have you scratching your head over details in the Apple App Store at some point, if you are not used to the terminology of in-app-purchases.
The feature itself is simple enough, check it out:
So by adding a link to another component for download, you are totally flexible in your content creation and content monetization. You can even build your own custom bookshelf this way (like some of our customers have), even if we have tailor made powerful functionality for that particular purpose.
You can add products that have to be purchased before the content is downloaded, and these can be in all three major app stores. Also, even if not shown in the video, we support a couple of third party hosting options for the binary content (to use this, you export it from our system and upload it to Apple’s servers as a binary content for download for a particular in-app-purchase).
If you have questions above the feature shown above or suggestions about new videos topics we should cover, just send us a quick notice. We are happy to do Skype demos or in-person workshops with new our existing customers to discuss details of our offering.
In our series of how-to videos, we will today go on to cover a video that shows how you can add links or jump points between your scenes (aka pages). You find the video embedded below.
That was easy peasy, right? Next time we’ll cover a way more advanced topic, so if you thought it was a bit too easy – please check back! But even if the feature itself is simple, you can actually do a lot with it.
With the feature, you can create non-linear stories, you can add a sidetrack with additional multimedia and if you are creative enough you might create your own little maze game using our tool. It is super easy to add those links or jumps. So, please join me in singing: “Jump around, jump around, jump up, jump up and get down”. (Yes, I was a teenager in the 90s. No, I was in fact not a huge Cypress Hill fan.)
If you have questions above the feature shown above or suggestions about new videos topics we should cover, be sure to let us know. We are planning to start the production of a new batch in a bit more than a month.
In our series of how-to videos, we have come to the promising title Organized madness. It could have been called, like the video itself, Using workspaces to organize your content creation – but that sounded somewhat boring. In any case, the video below explains a really simple feature to help you keep track of your creative projects:
To put it simple, every workspace has a separate set of content in all tabs. This has proved really helpful in keeping track of content and making it findable, while not having to mess around with folders all the time. If you’d like to add another level of tidiness, you might like to use tags/labels. Then you can also filter on a given label within the workspace. Maybe we should make a small video to show you that later. Watch this space!
If you have questions above the feature shown above or suggestions about new videos topics we should cover, be sure to shout out to let us know.
In our series of how-to videos, today’s feature is one that can be used in many different types of titles, but the most obvious might be for educational ones. If the title is based on a textbook, you might want to have a carousel of videos and images where the printed books have a single static image. You find the video showing how you can do this embedded below.
That was pretty easy!? If you have any comments, let us know. Until then, please keep experimenting with the tool and we’ll be back with more practical videos the coming weeks. Please check back!
In our series of how-to videos, we will today show a really useful feature that does not apply to the end user, but is very helpful in the authoring tool. Zoom. Have a look below!
This feature is often used for zooming in and making sure the details are pixel perfect, for instance when working with a dynamic overlay. The feature should not be confused with the ZoomTo interaction types we also offer (these are shown the end user) that can be used for creating exciting effects – let us get back to that in a later video.
If you have questions above the feature above or suggestions about new videos topics we should cover, be sure to let us know.
In our series of how-to videos, we will today show a commonly used feature – namely adding a sound that plays when the user taps a specific area of a page. You can see the video below.
This feature is often used for adding sound effects (children love to repeatedly press to hear water fall, cars start and maybe even animals fart…). Another common use is for guidance or language training in educational titles. In a later video, we will see how even more advanced interactions can be created by using layers (stored in what we call object categories). This way some of our customers lets the user switch between different sets of active sound effects.
If you have questions above the feature above or suggestions about new videos topics we should cover, be sure to let us know.
In our series of how-to videos, we have come to a commonly used feature – namely adding a sound that plays when the user is entering a page. You can see the video below.
This feature is often used for having an actor read text in a children’s book or give an intro to interactions available in a page of learning. In a later video, we will see how this can also be automated for a large number of pages using our import feature.
If you have questions above the feature above or suggestions about new videos topics we should cover, be sure to let us know.
As promised, we are kicking off our series of how-to videos that will run through autumn and likely the (way too long) winter. Our aim is for the videos to be simple enough to be used to learn brand new functionality, and they are a super reference resource if you participated in one of our workshop, but can’t quite seem to remember exactly how to complete a certain task.
This very first video will give you a very quick introduction to the user interface of the tool. It will lead you into the project tab, which is where you will enjoy spending most of your time using our tool. Have a look:
If you have suggestions about new videos topics we should cover, be sure to let us know.
In our series of how-to videos, we will today show a really useful feature that does not apply to the end user, but is very helpful in the authoring tool. Undo and redo. Have a look below to see how this works.
This feature was completed in the spring of 2013 and together with real time feature (covered in a different video), this helps improving your productivity in the authoring tool.
If you have questions above the feature above or suggestions about new videos topics we should cover, be sure to let us know.
In our series of how-to videos, we will today show you a video that covers how to hide and show an entire set of objects at the same time. You’ll find the video embedded below.
Not too hard, I think? We also have videos on working with layers in general. A tip is to click the HOWTO category below to see the growing list of practical how-to videos.
If you have questions above the feature shown above or suggestions about new videos topics we should cover, be sure to let us know.
In our series of how-to videos, we will today feature a video that shows how you can use the work area efficiently. You’ll find the video embedded below.
I hope that was simple enough? Using the opportunities to zoom (another video, in fact), minimize certain elements of the interface and even go full screen can be quite useful. In addition you should of course use your browser’s capabilities for full screen or presentation mode. And of course, beg your boss for that nice new high-res monitor – tell him we said you needed it!
If you have questions above the feature shown above or suggestions about new videos topics we should cover, be sure to let us know.
In our series of how-to videos, we promised to be back this week with a somewhat more advanced feature. Guess what? We are!
Today, we will feature a video that shows how you can show and hide sets of objects when the user taps certain area (or with timed events, more on that later). You can find the video embedded below.
Note that this feature goes well beyond what we explained before about hiding and showing the layers, or object categories as we like to call them since they are used beyond basic layers, in the authoring tool.
If you feel like a pro, try to use the tip at the end to switch sets of objects (some that may even contain navigation) on and off across the project. This is what was used for the multiple sets of sounds, some with karaoke mode, in the Leseland title released on both Android, iOS and Windows Store this summer by our customer Samlaget.
If you have questions above the feature shown above or suggestions about new videos topics we should cover, be sure to let us know.
In our series of how-to videos, we will today feature a video that shows how you can set styles that will be used throughout your project. You find the video embedded below.
That was simple enough, wasn’t it? By next week we’ll be back with another video and that one will probably be touching on a more advanced topic. Please check back!
If you have questions above the feature shown above or suggestions about new videos topics we should cover, be sure to let us know.
In our series of how-to videos, we will today show how you can set an image, or some other object, as the background of the scene. You can have a look below to see how this works, as always you can switch to full screen by using the bottom right icon on the video.
By the way, we store all our videos on YouTube and you can see the full list of videos in the TapBookAuthor YouTube channel and for the HOWTO videos we also have a page that lists them all in progress of being completed.
If you have questions above the feature above or suggestions about new videos topics we should cover, be sure to let us know.
In our series of how-to videos, we will today feature a video that shows how you can use layers – or “object categories” as the slightly engineering minded people at our company like to refer to them (there is a reason, but you might not need to know – we’ll get back to more advanced use of them later). You’ll find the video embedded below.
The layers lets you easily turn on and off visibility of sets of objects in the authoring tool, allowing you to focus on what you are doing at the moment. We’ll be back with another how-to video in less than a week. Please check back!
If you have questions above the feature shown above or suggestions about new videos topics we should cover, don’t hesitate letting us know.
In our series of how-to videos, we will today show how you can see the links between objects in your scene. Have a look below to see how this works.
You will see links between objects such as where to tap to play a particular sound or video. The color codes are assigned randomly and does not have any meaning apart from showing which objects belong together. If you have a very crowded scene, you can use the layers functionality (covered in a later video) in combination with this feature to see links between objects in the currently active layer.
If you have questions above the feature above or suggestions about new videos topics we should cover, be sure to let us know.