Sencha embeds interactive CSS3 animations in iBook Author

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014


In 2005, Adobe acquired Macromedia for $3.4 billion to branch out from conventional print publishing into the dynamic web market, largely to get ahold of Flash. Using web standards, Apple has bridged conventional publishing with dynamic, interactive animation in iBooks Author, and Sencha has demonstrated how to extend iBooks with custom, Flash-free animations.



Apple incorporates support in iBooks Author for several built-in widgets, including a gallery viewer, a 3D model viewer, interactive images and review questions. Authors can also create interactive components within Keynote to embed into iBooks, or create their own widgets using Dashcode.



Web developer Sencha has now demonstrated how to use its graphical Sencha Animator tool (below) to build Flash-like animations with interactivity using the features of CSS3, which can then be incorporated into iBooks.









This lets non-programmers create interactive, animated content they can include in their own titles. Once created, users currently have to add an info.plist descriptor file and set the file type to .wdgt, identifying it as a Dashboard widget. The component can then simply be dragged into a iBooks Author page within an HTML widget.









Authors can also develop their own custom widgets using Apple's Dashcode, which is available as part of the Xcode developer tools. However, this requires more sophisticated development skills than many publishers accustomed to working in print are likely to have.



iBooks Author is Apple's strongest push yet into Adobe's print production territory. While Apple has sold iWork Pages for desktop publishing, EPUB and PDF output, iBooks Author aims at capturing an exclusive role in creating sophisticated iPad ebooks, starting with textbooks in the education market where Apple already maintains a strong position.



Inside Apple's efforts to expand iPad content with iBooks Author

Initial iBook 2 titles offer disappointing interactivity

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Hype from Tumult can also be used to create interactive material for iBook Author.

    http://tumultco.com/hype/



    edit : after thought... but like Sencha there is hack required to make the .wdgt file, they will hopefully add a simple 'export as a widget' in the next few weeks.
  • Reply 2 of 9
    Who really cares?



    Adobe is killing Flash in the embedded space.



    How about these folks work on Canvas, WebGL,WebCL and use custom controls with Javascript to create this stuff?
  • Reply 3 of 9
    Apple will once again start a publishing-related tsunami like the one it started in the 80s. Adobe has no other options than follow the curse and release already those HTML5 tools they are working on, or they'll miss the first, all-important market-setting waves. And enough of that maritime figures
  • Reply 4 of 9
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ungenio View Post


    Apple will once again start a publishing-related tsunami like the one it started in the 80s. Adobe has no other options than follow the curse and release already those HTML5 tools they are working on, or they'll miss the first, all-important market-setting waves. And enough of that maritime figures



    I agree but this time I hope Apple remains in the race and at the front. Not just lay the ground work for Adobe to become the giant who them moves to Windows and relegates Macs to last place.
  • Reply 5 of 9
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    I agree but this time I hope Apple remains in the race and at the front. Not just lay the ground work for Adobe to become the giant who them moves to Windows and relegates Macs to last place.



    Well, I think Apple is more interested in selling iPads than leading the publishing software, or any other non-massive software related market by the way.



    In any case, Apple may need to bring the textbook approach to comics, magazines and newspapers if related software companies continue with their tepid innovation. Adobe has already wrestled Apple and knows what's coming to them if they try to use the tactics you're talking about.
  • Reply 6 of 9
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ungenio View Post


    Well, I think Apple is more interested in selling iPads than leading the publishing software, or any other non-massive software related market by the way.



    In any case, Apple may need to bring the textbook approach to comics, magazines and newspapers if related software companies continue with their tepid innovation. Adobe has already wrestled Apple and knows what's coming to them if they try to use the tactics you're talking about.



    I think Apple is just trying to get the ball rolling on THEIR platform.



    I only hope they roll all the various efforts into ONE solution. iAd, iBooks, i-ecetera,.. it's too many developments doing the same thing.



    >> The widget approach of Sencha was kind of what I was expecting as soon as Apple announced this. On the Flash platform, there are a dozen or so "tweening" packages by third parties -- with different licensing and benefits and shortcomings. At least in this case, it's not a tween library on flash, on a javascripted web page, communicating with a backend server -- or even worse, all that mess on an Android phone trying to function.
  • Reply 7 of 9
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post


    Who really cares?



    Adobe is killing Flash in the embedded space.



    How about these folks work on Canvas, WebGL,WebCL and use custom controls with Javascript to create this stuff?



    Didn't read the article huh?



    Sencha is an HTML5 tool for creating widgets using HTML5 and JavaScript.
  • Reply 8 of 9
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Wow I didn't know about this Sencha Animator. I downloaded it and did the tutorial. Pretty sweet. It has a very similar timeline GUI. Very Flash-like. I like it. Just starting out but I can't wait to see what it can do. $199 doesn't seem so bad.
  • Reply 9 of 9
    I've been trying to learn Dashcode, and the biggest stumbling blocks include the paucity of books that teach one how to utilize it and the fact that some features don't work like they should like adding photos to your widget and not seeing them when you build them. Hopefully the increased interest in building widgets for iBook Author will spur Apple to update the app as well as stimulate experienced Dashcode developers to write better books on how to learn how to use it.
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