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Virtual 3D books?
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Virtual 3D books? // Archive: Tech Forum
Post by splinters // Apr 14, 2008, 12:32pm
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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I have an idea...and would appreciate some advice...:D
For years now I have been trying to get my books in print...all 24 of them.
Having had three printed now I do feel that they lack the 'sparkle' of the digital versions; colours are not as good, images not as sharp. Nice to hold but ultimately not going to be profitable.
So I am thinking of selling these digitally. After all, how much would I get from a £10 book sale? maybe a few pounds at best (probably less) then factor in the agent's fee and I would not get a lot.
Now consider selling a book for £2 online...profit? £2. Sell a million downloads...retire...:D
Ok, a bit of a dream but worth a punt...after all I already have the digital images here and ready to go.
I have been looking at page flipping software to enhance the e-book exprience (and they seem to be gaining popularity) but they look really drab.
I have considered making an animation of a book in 3D with images mapped onto the pages but I don't think this will be practical for compability/download etc.
So, just putting this out there and maybe the best chance for me to share my work and maybe make a few punds in the process. Room for growth into interactive CD's and education etc.
Any suggestions are welcome guys. I only decided tonight that this maybe the route to take and I am still contemplating the best way to do it.:o |
Post by Burnart // Apr 14, 2008, 12:45pm
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Burnart
Total Posts: 839
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Don't know how they do it precisely but the Myst games have the whole
immersive book reading experience down pretty well. Partly due to the fact that the items look like a books. |
Post by Jack Edwards // Apr 14, 2008, 3:00pm
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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I like using MS reader to read books. Maybe the .lit format would be worth looking into? :confused:
I think this is a great idea Spliters! You could still do the ebay thing for exposure and like you said selling a digital product is great because you after the download costs and processing fees you get to keep almost all the money. :D
Not to mention if you can get it automated so that the store software handles the downloads and deliver then you don't have to spend time on customer service and delivery of the product either. Just money coming in every time one sells.... :) |
Post by jamesmc // Apr 14, 2008, 3:05pm
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jamesmc
Total Posts: 2566
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I have an idea...and would appreciate some advice...:D
For years now I have been trying to get my books in print...all 24 of them.
Having had three printed now I do feel that they lack the 'sparkle' of the digital versions; colours are not as good, images not as sharp. Nice to hold but ultimately not going to be profitable.
So I am thinking of selling these digitally. After all, how much would I get from a £10 book sale? maybe a few pounds at best (probably less) then factor in the agent's fee and I would not get a lot.
Now consider selling a book for £2 online...profit? £2. Sell a million downloads...retire...:D
Ok, a bit of a dream but worth a punt...after all I already have the digital images here and ready to go.
I have been looking at page flipping software to enhance the e-book exprience (and they seem to be gaining popularity) but they look really drab.
I have considered making an animation of a book in 3D with images mapped onto the pages but I don't think this will be practical for compability/download etc.
So, just putting this out there and maybe the best chance for me to share my work and maybe make a few punds in the process. Room for growth into interactive CD's and education etc.
Any suggestions are welcome guys. I only decided tonight that this maybe the route to take and I am still contemplating the best way to do it.:o
Camtasia Studio has a nice page flipping transition. One can also add viewer with pause to make it more familiar, I'll make one up and see it is what you were thinking about |
Post by jamesmc // Apr 14, 2008, 3:17pm
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jamesmc
Total Posts: 2566
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Here's the page turning transition in Camtasia Studio 5. Probably not what you want, but just let you know it's there.
WMV format (can be output in flash as well)
Used some old pics from last years smc. :) |
Post by Improv // Apr 14, 2008, 3:53pm
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Improv
Total Posts: 0
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Ballistic Publishing, who do regular books on themed 2D and 3D subjects have a page turning electronic book that they use for previewing their paper books online:
http://www.ballisticpublishing.com/books/painter/
Go down the page to where it says 'Book Previewer'. That one is a little small, but perhaps it can be set to a larger page size?
Have a look if you're interested. |
Post by Délé // Apr 14, 2008, 4:22pm
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Délé
Total Posts: 1374
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Not a bad idea Paul. It would be hard to sit down by the bed and read a digital book to your kids, but there are also a lot of kids jumping online and learning to read and such as well.
Really, whenever I see your book collection I see WAY more than just books. I see the possibility for an entire immersive website with not only books, but also games, puzzles, and maybe even 3d environments based off of the books that kids can explore and socialize in. It would be a lot more work for sure, but if you're going to have a go at digital, I think a much more expansive vision would yield better results. If you made money with the site you could then maybe even go with subsidy publishing and sell the books on the site.
Of course every website needs some kind of hook. This might be hard to think about after all of the work you put into the books, but if you had those on the website for free, it could draw kids to the website. Then you could charge a subscription to access other immersive features based off of the books.
I know this may be more work than you can or want to put into it. It's just that you have such an awesome foundation to build such a thing off of. You've got great characters, settings, and stories from which to build a very fun and educational interactive website. When I think of "Buddy World" I think of much more than just books.
Anyway, just an idea. ;) Whatever you do I hope something is made of your books. They are very good. :) |
Post by jamesmc // Apr 14, 2008, 4:23pm
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jamesmc
Total Posts: 2566
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Ballistic Publishing, who do regular books on themed 2D and 3D subjects have a page turning electronic book that they use for previewing their paper books online:
http://www.ballisticpublishing.com/books/painter/
Go down the page to where it says 'Book Previewer'. That one is a little small, but perhaps it can be set to a larger page size?
Have a look if you're interested.
Oh ! That is very nice and very user friendly. :) |
Post by Improv // Apr 14, 2008, 5:12pm
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Improv
Total Posts: 0
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Oh ! That is very nice and very user friendly. :)
Yes, I thought so too. I can understand them keeping it small so that you would buy their books. But I have to wonder if it would be that fast for, say an 800x600 size book? Hmmm... |
Post by hemulin // Apr 14, 2008, 8:52pm
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hemulin
Total Posts: 1058
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You might want to read this before you go down the ebay route:
ebay bans auctions of digital downloads (http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/04/02/ebay-bans-auctions-of-digital-downloads/) |
Post by splinters // Apr 15, 2008, 12:21am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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Not a bad idea Paul. It would be hard to sit down by the bed and read a digital book to your kids, but there are also a lot of kids jumping online and learning to read and such as well.
Really, whenever I see your book collection I see WAY more than just books. I see the possibility for an entire immersive website with not only books, but also games, puzzles, and maybe even 3d environments based off of the books that kids can explore and socialize in. It would be a lot more work for sure, but if you're going to have a go at digital, I think a much more expansive vision would yield better results. If you made money with the site you could then maybe even go with subsidy publishing and sell the books on the site.
Of course every website needs some kind of hook. This might be hard to think about after all of the work you put into the books, but if you had those on the website for free, it could draw kids to the website. Then you could charge a subscription to access other immersive features based off of the books.
I know this may be more work than you can or want to put into it. It's just that you have such an awesome foundation to build such a thing off of. You've got great characters, settings, and stories from which to build a very fun and educational interactive website. When I think of "Buddy World" I think of much more than just books.
Anyway, just an idea. ;) Whatever you do I hope something is made of your books. They are very good. :)
You read my mind on many points Dele. I guess there is only Hemulin here who has seen the interactive CD I made which is exactly what you describe. Unfortunately I made it using Ezedia which is hardly well known and can be problematic on distribution CD's.
But this is exactly what I want to make; an expansive, interactive world that can be explored and enjoyed by children and their parents. I still have the 'printed' option for these books as they are static and maybe that could be based on the success of the digital versions. Many options really, I just need to get started...:o |
Post by jayr // Apr 15, 2008, 12:54am
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jayr
Total Posts: 1074
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Have you thought about an interactive DVD? i think they could handle what you want to do, lots of scope for bright images and no-one need special software to run them, just their dvd player |
Post by splinters // Apr 15, 2008, 2:06am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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Yup Jayr, another one on my list. The ezedia software I used for the CD needs no software..it is self running with the player on the CD but it needs quicktime and other factors can cause it not to run properly. 99% of the time it is fine...but when money is involved....:rolleyes:
At the moment it just about fills a CD, so next stage will indeed be DVD. I am just not sure the .vob route would be right especially as it is all mostly static. I still have PC's in mind although I do have wallpapers for phones and I read Little Cloud on my PSP last night. Just why is it these books look better on a screen..;)
Have you bought your new toy yet jayr? |
Post by spyfrog // Apr 15, 2008, 3:22am
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spyfrog
Total Posts: 181
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Yup Jayr, another one on my list. The ezedia software I used for the CD needs no software..it is self running with the player on the CD but it needs quicktime and other factors can cause it not to run properly. 99% of the time it is fine...but when money is involved....:rolleyes:
At the moment it just about fills a CD, so next stage will indeed be DVD. I am just not sure the .vob route would be right especially as it is all mostly static. I still have PC's in mind although I do have wallpapers for phones and I read Little Cloud on my PSP last night. Just why is it these books look better on a screen..;)
Have you bought your new toy yet jayr?
Have you looked into Multimedia Fusion from Clickteam if you want to make interactive books?
www.clickteam.com
I am sure Paul Boland can tell you more if you would like, he is a long time user of that software. |
Post by jayr // Apr 15, 2008, 7:50am
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jayr
Total Posts: 1074
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Have you bought your new toy yet jayr?
Ringing them tomorrow, i'll let you know :D |
Post by MadMouse // Apr 15, 2008, 9:04am
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MadMouse
Total Posts: 1069
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All sounds like a good idea Paul.
Don't ask me what software they use but I've always though the way Cg society present book is quite nice:- CLICK HERE (http://www.ballisticpublishing.com/books/exotique_3/?utm_source=CGSociety&utm_medium=728x90&utm_term=most_beautiful&utm_content=covergirl&utm_campaign=exotique3)
HTH
Steve |
Post by Improv // Apr 15, 2008, 10:02am
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Improv
Total Posts: 0
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All sounds like a good idea Paul.
Don't ask me what software they use but I've always though the way Cg society present book is quite nice:- CLICK HERE (http://www.ballisticpublishing.com/books/exotique_3/?utm_source=CGSociety&utm_medium=728x90&utm_term=most_beautiful&utm_content=covergirl&utm_campaign=exotique3)
HTH
Steve
Gee, wish I'd said that! What a minute-I did! See post #6 in this thread! ;) |
Post by MadMouse // Apr 15, 2008, 10:48am
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MadMouse
Total Posts: 1069
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Gee, wish I'd said that! What a minute-I did!
Doh! I Guess great minds think alike. (In my case it must of been a one off;):D) |
Post by Improv // Apr 15, 2008, 11:36am
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Improv
Total Posts: 0
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Doh! I Guess great minds think alike. (In my case it must of been a one off;):D)
Great minds think alike, but fools seldom differ! Funny how no one ever quotes that last part! ;-) |
Post by hemulin // Apr 15, 2008, 12:07pm
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hemulin
Total Posts: 1058
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Great minds think alike, but fools seldom differ! Funny how no one ever quotes that last part! ;-)
Perhaps it's because we're all fools? ;):D |
Post by Improv // Apr 15, 2008, 12:26pm
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Improv
Total Posts: 0
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Perhaps it's because we're all fools? ;):D
I think it has something to do with Reticulating Splines? :banana: |
Post by hemulin // Apr 15, 2008, 12:34pm
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hemulin
Total Posts: 1058
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I think it has something to do with Reticulating Splines? :banana:
That would mean we would all be joined at the spleen. ;):p |
Post by Improv // Apr 15, 2008, 12:39pm
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Improv
Total Posts: 0
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That would mean we would all be joined at the spleen. ;):p
Only if you go to 2 fer 1 night down the pub! :jumpy: |
Post by splinters // Apr 15, 2008, 1:02pm
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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Mmmm, indeed.
Thanks for all the suggestions so far guys. I downloaded Flipalbum Pro trial and I am looking at that but it is a bit 'drab' However, not sure how this could be done as a true 3D animation...and it might get tiresome changing the pages of a 3D book each time too.
Food for thought though...;)
Must sleep now. |
Post by Burnart // Apr 15, 2008, 1:39pm
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Burnart
Total Posts: 839
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I think it has something to do with Reticulating Splines? :banana:
Ha ha! Sounds like a disease or something as in - "Oh Sorry Takahashi, I can't sing karaoke tonight my reticulating splines have flared up." |
Post by Improv // Apr 15, 2008, 2:29pm
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Improv
Total Posts: 0
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Ha ha! Sounds like a disease or something as in - "Oh Sorry Takahashi, I can't sing karaoke tonight my reticulating splines have flared up."
Do a google on the term-it has something to do with the SimCity game. |
Post by Délé // Apr 15, 2008, 3:12pm
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Délé
Total Posts: 1374
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I guess there is only Hemulin here who has seen the interactive CD I made which is exactly what you describe. Unfortunately I made it using Ezedia which is hardly well known and can be problematic on distribution CD's.Have you thought about using flash? Then you could make all kinds of interactive stuff that could easily be embedded into a website (you can also make executable files too).
SwishMax is a VERY good and inexpensive flash authoring tool. I use it myself. I think it's pretty easy to use and (like with tS) when you expose the scripting abilities, there is great potential to create all kinds of interactive stuff. I would actually like to see some of the powrful SwishMax abilities incorporated into tS. |
Post by Jack Edwards // Apr 15, 2008, 3:18pm
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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Silverlight (Microsoft's competitor to Flash) might be another option as well.
http://silverlight.net/
I agree with Dele, Silverlight or Flash would likely be the way to go. |
Post by splinters // Apr 16, 2008, 12:05am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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Well, while I decide what to do I just registered buddyworld.co.uk for the next two years.
I can put something up there for now while I develop the site...:D |
Post by Jack Edwards // Apr 16, 2008, 8:10am
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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Nice! :jumpy:
(...would've sucked if someone had already gotten the site...) |
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