From Picture Book to iPad App: Step 7
Things are going warp speed now. I worked on a detailed schedule for development, illustration and project management/marketing—there is a lot to accomplish to get the app out before the end of fall. The final title page still needs the buttons for music, read to me, etc., but here it is.
Step Seven:
A. Illustration Tasks to Complete
Kate is working on completing the scenes with animation elements that go with each scene—there are three types of animation in the app:
- Happening with the narration
- Activated by touching the screen
- Triggered by some aspect of a game
Four scenes have now been completed with their animation elements. Way to go, Kate! Right on schedule.
B. App Development
Nur completed a draft build of the app using the rough colored scenes, built the games readers can enjoy with the book, and developed a unique page turning style (passed by our 3-year-old app testers). He is putting the final touches on the accelerometer game for the tunnel scene and building the final scenes with their animations first as Kate completes the scenes. Then adding sound, text and narration.
C. Project Management/Marketing
Our small yet determined and dedicated team is working hard, making my job as manager easy.
My most challenging job has been doing the sound effects. Besides knowing there are lots of websites offering sound effects, I knew very little. Finding an open-source editing program called Audacity, I was able to poke around and learn to use it effectively. I purchased sound files (.wav) from:
About half the files were perfect as purchased. Others I edited to get the right length or combined to achieve the perfect sound effect.
I even recorded my own files with my iPod—a fountain and a branch dropping. Finding just the right owl "hoot" became a difficult search until my husband, Bob, came home and performed an awesome impression of an owl. I got my owl. Thanks, Honey!
I would love to insert the owl for you to hear, but no easy way to do it. You'll just have to wait until the app comes out.
This week I'm creating the narration files. Yes, yours truly will be narrating the story.
Please go to the fan page Purple Carrot Books on Facebook and Like it. I'm connecting with people on Google+—writers, reviewers, app developers, teachers, and other interesting people, and following and adding lots of tweeters on Twitter @prplcarrotbooks.
If you haven't been following the series, you might want to check out the previous steps for developing an iPad app: Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, Step 4, Step 5 and Step 6.
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Chris Pedersen and her husband live with a chocolate lab named Brandy in the beautiful Sierra foothills in California. Chris writes for children and loves crafting nonfiction stories from real life. The Prisoner of Carrot Castle is her first iPad app. Her other work in process is a chapter book titled How I Survived Third Grade.
Published work includes Work and Wag, about dog jobs, in Clubhouse Jr. Magazine and A Saving Transformation, in THE DOG NEXT DOOR published by Revell. In addition, since conquering cancer with diet, Chris blogs about health, her heart passion, at Healthy Journey Café where she dishes out recipes and tips to achieve optimum wellness. Her writing journey is chronicled at Paws and Ponder.