Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Getting Ready To Make Your 1st App!

I've received quite a bit of interest in making a tutorial on "How To Make An App Using TaleSpring" and offering it at Folio Academy So I'm going to make it but I thought this would be a good time to offer some advice for you to get your story and art ready to use the tutorial that I WILL be producing sometime in the next month. I just pulled the trigger on "I Eat You!" and submitted it - should be live in Apple's app store by the beginning of November!!!!


The first order of business is to let you know that I've talked to the CEO of TaleSpring and he has assured me that they are backing way down from the "rights ownership" part of their contract. He reports that they are drafting a new document that will protect their rights to own, distribute, advertise, etc. -the app that their software produces. He also assured me that the new contract will make clear that artists will own the rights outside the app produced by Talespring.com So this is really good news because there was quite a bit of concern over this issue.

Let me also re-state that I do NOT have any financial obligations to Talespring or receive any moneys or discounts for writing about them, using their tools to create my own apps, or making the tutorial on how to use their tools. I like this separation because I am free to remain objective about the value they provide.


Ok - the following are my general pieces of advice to get you thinking about and preparing yourself to make your own Talespring app.

1. Keep it Simple! If you're going to do this the last thing I want or you want is a big ball of frustration and NO app at the end of the day. This is your first app so please save your grandiose ideas for later apps. What we want at the end of the day is for you to learn how to use the tools and how to finish a project. I would highly suggest you go to the bookstore or library and check out Jon Klassen's books "I want my hat back" and "This is not my hat". These books would work extremely well in a Talespring app but with the enhancements of light animation they could be a little different from a book book.

2. Keep it REALLY simple! Notice a pattern here? I really want you to get your feet wet on this project and you won't be able to do that if your dreams and crazy imagination can't be done using Talespring. I would keep animations down to moving an asset from A to B. Rotating and asset. Replacing an asset. Fading an asset out (like a ghost)Fading an asset in. Growing/shrinking etc. I'm making it sound like there's not much you can do when actually there are really cool things you can create but I think your emphasis should be on story rather than high end animation.

3. Create an original story. If your motivation to create a story app is to sell a few copies to your family and share it with your kids or grandkids than tell whatever story you desire. If you want to have the chance of selling lots of apps and enjoying royalties you need to write or partner with a writer who has created a compelling story. I'm not suggesting that you create a story like, "Go The F@#k To Sleep"...but then again I am. Look - I wouldn't write that story - I couldn't put that out there - It goes against my mission - but I still laugh when I hear it and that little laugh is why it's currently #128 on Amazon right now in ALL BOOKS. Do you know how ridiculously high that is? The author is making a killing! Not because of marketing and not because of luck. It's because you either think it's hilarious or you hate it to death. People need to have a strong opinion of what you create in order for it to do well financially. It must be: amazingly sweet, rude, inappropriate, touching, cute, funny, etc.

4. Have your story set in stone before you start illustrating.

5. Did you read #4?



6. I feel like you didn't really read number 4 :) If you're coming to this from an illustrator's perspective like me you probably feel more comfortable drawing rather than working on your story. STOP. If you kind of get your story ready but perhaps it still needs a little work and then you dive into sketches and heaven help us - paintings you'll do one of 2 things: Make compromises on your story because you already have the art or get really frustrated when you realize you have to change your story a little - making some or all of your art obsolete.

7. Get a critique. After your text is finished and you're really happy with it (and hopefully workshoped it in your critique group...no critique group?...start one!...and beg for honesty)

8. Limit Pages. Remember - theoretically you have unlimited pages but this doesn't mean you have carte blanche to waste your viewers time by including superfluous pages. The essence of good design is reduction - so have a purpose for every page. Don't need it? Yank it out! You can start doing thumbnails and story boarding out how your app will work. Pages in Talespring are 1024px wide by 768px tall so unlike a book you don't have a two page spread to work with. Think of the iPad screen. Every time you touch the page turn arrow at the bottom of the screen you get a new screen - not a page turn - but similar.

9. Perhaps work on your character sketches but get that story figured out first! Get your ducks in a row!...or chickens.

10. Number ten is a tuffy -or great news depending. You need an iPad. I know I know this is a hard pill to swallow if you're funds challenged like many right now but you need one to download your book as you produce it so you can see what it looks like and how it behaves. Talespring has a really good simulator so you could get by without one especially if you're not timing sounds to animations like I did in my app - "I Eat You". I had to download my book 9 times to get the timing right because it's a little different from the simulator to the iPad.

Ok, so that's about it! My tutorial will cover you if you're going to be working traditionally or digitally to create your artwork. But here's what you will need to have for a full robust Talespring app:

1. Computer
2. Photoshop(perhaps elements- checking on it) or Gimp (google it - free)
3. scanner - if you're working traditionally
4. Wacom tablet if you're going to be creating your images digitally.
5. iPad app "Tiny Vox" (a few bucks) for voice recording on your iPad (what I used) Audacity (free download)
6. Audacity (free download) and a mic for your computer if you're not going to use your iPad.

Oh - and I'll be releasing a "Beginning Photoshop for Painting" video tutorial on Folio Academy in a few weeks! This will be a great tutorial if you're brand new to Photoshop but don't want to learn about all the tools you'll never need for painting your images. This video series will get you up to speed on how to work with your drawings in photoshop and prepare you for my "Digital Painting in Photoshop" vids.

28 comments:

  1. Thanks for the tips Will. Any idea when they will support multi platforms and not just the Ipad?

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    1. Talespring is really trying to make a great effort to improve their products. Part of the reason they aren't exporting to Android yet is there really isn't much of an android market. Most android users have an expectation of "free" ...I say good luck with that. Developers aren't as excited about free and if they are I wonder how long their excitement will last. Also, it was brought to my attention that since the android platform is "open" you could have an app that people are dying to have and willing to pay cash for only to have it ripped off, copied, and re-uploaded by someone else and offered for free. So now your paid app is competing with it's free twin. I'm not drooling over android right now...

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    2. Wow, thanks again Will. I had no idea android was such a problem. Good to know.

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  2. I don't know the specifics of what file formats you need for Tailspring, but generally Photoshop Elements is like having an older version of photoshop, except it can't do CMYK. So I would expect it to be totally fine for anything staying on digital devices like iPad apps. It still works fine with Wacoms too.
    The most annoying thing for me as someone who used full Photoshop for years (aside from the interface) is that you can't put layers into folders (although you can still link them, lock them, etc). But on the bright side, the keyboard shortcuts are the same.
    Another possible option is Pixelmator. Cheaper, prettier interface, but doesn't have Photoshop's keyboard shortcuts (which are habit for me so I found not having them too annoying).

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    1. Great to know - I used to have elements and as I recalled it really did a lot so thanks for the update! I'm sure there are quite a few people who would be excited about saving a substantial amount of money on Photoshop.

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    2. Checking out Tailspring (looks really interesting, and cheaper & easier than that other one you mentioned recently) and it can use JPG, GIF, animated GIF, PNG. Elements does them all! :D

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    3. Yes - it's a good value and overall I really like them. :)

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  4. Great to hear you will be creating the tutorial Will! I live in Australia and would love to start experimenting and using TaleSpring, but would like to know if they will able to submit, finished apps to Apple (etc), from artists that live outside of America. Would hate to create the next best thing, only to hit a massive roadblock.
    Keep up the great work!
    K

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    1. Great question Karen - you can contact them from their website and here is that link: http://www.talespring.com/contact-us I'm sure they'll get back to you but please let me know if they don't...and I want to know the answer too.

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    2. Yes please post their answer here! Fellow Aussie also interested if they either publish to Aussie store, or publish to US store for non-Americans.

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    3. Ok - so I emailed the CEO of TaleSpring and here was his response:

      "Absolutely! We've already published books from Australia, UK, Turkey, and South Africa."

      So there you go - I'm sure even Canuks can publish :)

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    4. Thanks for emailing them Terry and letting us know. I have emailed twice with no response :(

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  5. I am a canuck and have e-mailed the same question, awaiting a response:) Thanks Will for sharing again...look forward to using your tutorial if outsider's of the U.S. can use the site. Congrats on the creation of your app...Hope it's a huge success!

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  6. Will, I can't thank you enough for all your encouragement and help. I would not be working on my own books and Illustration, if I had not found your blog. Looking forward to the App!

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    1. You're very welcome...I see this time in history as the time artists started waking up to the idea that they now have the tools to take their work directly to their audiences...they just need to realize it and DO it.

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  7. Hey Will, thought that after all this time you have put in helping out the online illustration community that it would be ignorant of me, not to have actually flipped through one of your books with my kids. Thought you'd be happy to know that a mid sized library somewhere in Ontario Canada has a rather large reprentation of your work! And the books that were't actually not on loan, that weren't beyond the grasping of my almost 2 year old, were a hit! "Eewh Bugs" were her exact words when I read "Nasty Bugs" to her.

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    1. Thanks Sabrina - you just made my day! Thanks a lot!

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  8. I understand paying for talespring to publish the app. I'm just curious about who sets the price for the app; the author or talespring?

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    1. Great question....the author sets the price of the app which I really like because it gives you the control.

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  9. Thanks Will for all you do!! ...look forward to seeing more from everything you create and can't thank you enough for all the help and inspiration you have given me this past year. I've had so much access to information because of you. Wish you all the success with your new app!!

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    1. Thank you so much Susan! I'm having a blast! :)

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  10. Hi Will,

    What resolution would you recommend to work with for best results/quality of the illustration on the IPad? I have currently finished the storyboard for a digital book app for children and before starting the color illustrations in Photoshop I want to make sure I have the proper settings for best results even when zooming in! Your advise would be greatly appreciated! ;-) Thanks

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    1. Hi Elhyana,

      What I do is take the drawings from my iPad and enlarge them in photoshop 4 times - just in case someone wants to make a print book down the road. I always want to make sure that my art is big enough for just about any need I might have later on. Hope this helps!

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    2. Great advice! Better be prepared as you say. Thank You!

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  11. This is such a great post, thank you!
    I'm just starting to research and design (and write, don't worry! I listened to #4!) and just wanted to let you know that I liked to you and this post on my most recent blog post. :)
    http://clairewhitmore.com/story-apps-the-quest-begins
    Can't wait to see the tutorial! Thanks again for sharing so much of what you've learned!

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  12. Hi Will, enjoyed hearing you speak and meeting you at Illustrator Day in Atlanta. I have a question. You mentioned that you do your drawings on your IPad and I do too but when I print them the contrasts are not as good in the print as they look on the screen on my IPad. What causes this ? Are illustrations created on IPad as good of quality or resolution as those done on a computer with Photoshop or Painter, Illustrator or other software. If created on IPad should they be further processed through other software?

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