Introduction to Sprite Kit with Swift 3 – Part 4 – Action Groups / Sequences and Run Blocks
Read moreIntroduction to Sprite Kit with Swift 3 – Part 4 – Action Groups / Sequences and Run Blocks In this video, we’ll continue working with SKActions, by changing the previous lesson’s walk actions into a sequence of actions. This will allow you to run code at the end of a…
Build an iMessage App Part 6 – Customizing the Emoji Picker and Adding an Image Container
Read moreBuild an iMessage App Part 6 – Customizing the Emoji Picker and Adding an Image Container In this Swift 3 and iMessage tutorial, we’ll add an image container which will house the main emoji image and secondary “saying” image, which ultimately get saved and sent in the MSMessage. Hosts:…
Introduction to Sprite Kit with Swift 3 – Part 3 – Introducing SKActions and Detecting Touches
Read moreIntroduction to Sprite Kit with Swift 3 – Part 3 – Introducing SKActions and Detecting Touches In this video tutorial, we’ll continue where we left off in the last video and run SKActions on our player. We’ll work both with programmatically setup SKActions as well as Actions created using the…
Introduction to Sprite Kit with Swift 3 – Part 2 – Adding a Player with Physics Properties
Read moreIntroduction to Sprite Kit with Swift 3 – Part 2 – Adding a Player with Physics Properties In this video tutorial we’ll jump right in by adding player art assets to the game, then use them in our Sprite Kit Scene file by setting physics properties on an SKSpriteNode. We’ll…
Build an iMessage App Part 5 – Adding the Second UIPickerView
Read moreBuild an iMessage App Part 5 – Adding the Second UIPickerView In this part of our Swift 3 / iMessage app video tutorial, we’ll progress from the intro screen to an expanded mode where the user will customize the image they want to create. We’ll remove our first UIPickerView and…
Build an iMessage App Part 4 – Styling UIButtons and UIView Animations
Read moreBuild an iMessage App Part 4 – Styling UIButtons and UIView Animations In this video we’ll add a UIButton to eventually move away from the intro picker, but primarily we’ll focus on styling the button, adding custom fonts to Xcode, repositioning (and animating) views when we switch between expanded and compact…
Introduction to Sprite Kit with Swift 3 – Part 1 – The Starting Template
Read moreIntroduction to Sprite Kit with Swift 3 – Part 1 –Â The Starting Template A quick video tutorial for FIRST time users of Xcode 8, Sprite Kit, and (later on) Swift 3. This video is a quick tour of the general settings in Xcode 8, and the GameScene.sks file. We’ll tinker…
Build an iMessage App Part 3 – UIPickerView Setup
Read moreBuild an iMessage App Part 3 -Using Images in the Picker and Selecting Rows (Video Tutorial Podcast 39) In this video tutorial we will replace the UILabels in our UIPickerView and instead use UIImageViews. We’ll also look at the code to detect what row has been selected. Hosts: Justin Dike …
Build an iMessage App Part 2 – UIPickerView Setup
Read moreIn this Xcode 8 video tutorial, we'll take a quick look at Sticker Packs for iOS 10, how to set them up, how stickers are sent, and then we'll discuss how to create animated PNGs (APNG files) as an alternative resource asset that can be imported to Xcode. In other…
Build an iMessage App Part 1 – Template Introduction
Read moreIn this Xcode 8 video tutorial, we'll take a quick look at Sticker Packs for iOS 10, how to set them up, how stickers are sent, and then we'll discuss how to create animated PNGs (APNG files) as an alternative resource asset that can be imported to Xcode. In other…
Sticker Packs and How to make Animated PNGS (Episode 36)
Read moreIn this Xcode 8 video tutorial, we'll take a quick look at Sticker Packs for iOS 10, how to set them up, how stickers are sent, and then we'll discuss how to create animated PNGs (APNG files) as an alternative resource asset that can be imported to Xcode. In other…
How to Setup Tile Maps in Xcode 8 (Episode 35)
Read moreIn this video tutorial, you'll learn how to setup Tile Maps in Xcode 8. We'll look at the new Tile Map Node, the tools to paint tiles in the node, and even some tips on how to create your adjacent tiles to bring into Xcode. Plenty more to come at…
How to setup a Sprite Kit based watchOS 3 App (Episode 35)
Read moreLearn how to start programming a game using Sprite Kit on Apple Watch. This tutorial using Xcode 8, Swift 3 and targets Watch OS3 on the simulator. You'll learn how to add a Watch target to an existing Sprite Kit based object, add a WKSwipeGestureRecognizer to the InterfaceController than ultimately…
Switching from Swift 2.2 to Swift 3 in Xcode 8 (Episode 34)
Read moreSwitching from Swift 2.2 to 3 in Xcode 8 (CartoonSmart Video Tutorial Podcast Episode 34) In this video tutorial podcast we’ll take a look at a typical Universal Swift based project and up convert it to Swift 3. We’ll be using an early version of Xcode 8, so things may…
How to Draw Donkey Kong Style Pixel Art (Episode 33)
Read moreIn this Adobe Animate / Flash video tutorial, we'll teach how to draw vector art to look like retro pixel art. Ironic huh. And as the title says, in particular we'll mockup a Donkey Kong style board. We'll also teach how to animate a rolling barrel.
How to Change Entire Image Sequences in Adobe Animate (Episode 32)
Read moreHow to Change Entire Image Sequences in Adobe Animate (Video Tutorial Podcast Episode 32) Today we’ll look at how to take a series of already-exported images, import them into either Adobe Flash or Animate, make mass changes to them using the Edit Multiple Frames option, then re-export them. Hosts: Justin…
Sets / Set Collections in Swift (Episode 31)
Read moreThis Swift video tutorial we'll talk about creating Set collection variables. Sets are similar to arrays, but are unordered collections. You can check if a set contains an element using the .contains property. You can add or remove to a Set using .insert and .remove . You iterate through a…
Logical AND OR operators with Swift (Episode 30)
Read moreThis Swift video tutorial we'll talk about logical AND (&&) and OR ( || ) operators. Okay, not the most exciting Swift tutorial, but an essential for anyone programing an iOS or tvOS app with Xcode.
Free Swift and Sprite Kit Tutorial – Prototyping a Board Game and Moving Pieces
Read moreWe're smack-dab in the middle of teaching a lengthy series of lessons on how to program a property-list driven Card and Board Games Kit for iOS or tvOS, but thought it would be a fun diversion to break off from the main Xcode project, start a new and prototype how…
Nil Coalescing Operators with Swift (Episode 29)
Read moreIn this Swift video tutorial, we'll talk about nil coalescing operators. This operator, defined by two question marks ( ?? ), allows you to quickly set a variable equal to a default value if another variable is nil. For example, let someVar = varThatMightBeNil ?? defaultAmount
Ternary Conditional Operators in Swift 2 (Episode 28)
Read moreTernary Conditional Operators in Swift 2.2 (CartoonSmart Video Tutorial Podcast 28) This video tutorial we’ll talk about how to shorthand some if…else statements with the ternary conditional operators. With a bool variable you can quickly make a value equal something based on two conditions. For example… let someVar = question…
Why Program Using Optionals in Swift (Episode 27)
Read moreIn this Swift video tutorial, we'll discuss the how's and why's of programming optional variables in any of your iOS or tvOS apps or games. Optionals allow you to test if a variable is nil or not. We'll go over testing for nil values, then safely forcing a value from…
How to Pause and Repeat Actions in an SKAction Sequence with Swift and Sprite Kit (Episode 26)
Read moreIn the first couple minutes we'll give viewers a little background on why they might want to pause, then repeat the last action in an SKAction sequence (specifically, we'll take a quick look at our current Card and Board Games tutorial series). Sprite Kit allows developers to create sequences of…
Manipulating Strings in Swift 2 (Episode 25)
Read moreIn this video tutorial, we'll discuss some of the fun you can have with String type variables with Swift 2 in an iOS or tvOS based app. Marvel at how we can create a string using an array of Character types, then do things like count the number of characters…
How to Setup a WordPress Site Part 5 (Episode 24)
Read moreIn the continuing saga of setting up Clevon’s wordpress-ed based website, we’ll actually install a theme worth a damn (Cardinal by Swift Ideas) and begin to show off some of the nice features of it. Cardinal, like many of the other themes by Swift Ideas, is an amazing framework that…
Swift Defer Statements and Programming with Emojis (Episode 23)
Read moreSwift Defer Statements and Programming with Emojis (CartoonSmart Video Tutorial Podcast Episode 23) Time to learn about defer statements! This chunk of code runs in functions marked with the throws option, regardless of whether or not an error occurs. Hrm doesn’t sound right. What the heck , here’s what the…
How to Program Generics with Swift (Episode 22)
Read moreIn this video tutorial we'll look at how to use Generics in a Swift function. A generic function or method works on collections of different types. Or to put it another way, a function could accept different parameter types when called. In this lesson we'll use two simple types, String…
Error Types with Swift (Episode 21)
Read moreThis tutorial we will discuss Error types in Swift, include do and catch statements. This can be a tad confusing to new iOS / tvOS developers but hopefully this video lesson will make some sense of it. Like all our podcasts, we're here to have fun! If you want to…
Discussion on the new Top Level Domains (Bonus Show 5)
Read moreDiscussion on the new Top Level Domains (Bonus Show 5) Join us in this serious talk (eye roll) on the new top level domains you can register. What are top level domains, or TLD’s for short. You’re probably already familiar with .com, .net , and the rest of the “normal” ones. Right?…
Swift Tutorial on Enum Types (Episode 20)
Read moreIn this lesson we'll look at enum type variables with Swift. These are constant variables which could be used for getting back a raw value, but in most cases, enums are simply used as identifiers, like Rank.Ace or just .Ace . Where the value isn't important, but testing whether or…
How to Setup a WordPress Site Part 4 (Podcast Episode 19)
Read moreHow to Setup a WordPress Site Part 4Â (Video Tutorial Podcast Episode 19) We’ll continue building Clevon’s WordPress based website, this time discussing some essential plugins. Okay, the ones we feel are essential. These include Jetpack. VaultPress (a paid plugin which is part of the Jetpack suite), Facebook Pixel Convertor,…
Announcing ClevCon 2016 – Audio Only (BONUS show 4)
Read moreWe make good on our promise to let Clevon announce the 2nd annual ClevCon, July 4 outside the River Falls post office, assuming the Post Office is actually closed on July 4. If not, the event will probably be cancelled and tickets will not be refunded.
How to Draw a Logo Part 2 (Episode 18)
Read moreHow to Draw a Logo Part 2 ( Video Tutorial Podcast Episode 18) Continuing from yesterday we’ll finish off making the Uhmerican Made logo, so this is yet another free digital illustration tutorial brought to you by CartoonSmart.com . We’ll work in Adobe Animate (or Adobe Flash is fine too), and look at…
Digital Illustration Tutorials – How to Draw Pinball Game Art – Part 8
Read moreIn this Adobe Animate (or Adobe Flash) digital illustration tutorial, we'll draw lights onto our Pinball Table. This will involve adding Filters and giving the light an on and off look.
How to Draw a Logo Part 1 (Episode 17)
Read moreThis digital illustration tutorial will teach you how to use Adobe Animate or Adobe Flash to create a vector based logo from scratch. We'll discuss some initial resources and inspiration for a potential logo, then use the Text tool in Adobe Animate to lay down our initial font. After that…
Digital Illustration Tutorials – How to Draw Pinball Game Art – Part 7
Read moreIn this crisp, 10 minute Adobe Animate and Flash video tutorial, we'll add a little more flare and detail to our plunger alley ways. For the most part, we'll just draw another vector based rail for the ball to go under.
How to Set Up a WordPress Site Part 3 (Episode 16)
Read moreHow to Set Up a WordPress Site Part 3 (Video Tutorial Podcast Episode 16) In this video tutorial, we’ll continue setting up Clevon’s new WordPress site from scratch, by looking briefly into some common things everyone should know about the WP dashboard. The difference between pages and posts, how to…
Product and Branding Ideas – Audio-Only (BONUS show 3)
Read moreProduct and Branding Ideas with Clevon (Audio-Only Podcast BONUS show 3) Topics include the Truck Buck, a bike rack style deer harness, stores that start with Nothing But…(insert product), and a VIP drive thru pass. Hosts: Justin Dike, Clevon O’Doul
Swift Classes with Init and Deinit (Episode 15)
Read moreContinuing from yesterday's exercise, we will add an init and deinit statement to our Swift class. For any first time iOS or tvOS programmers this is a great starter tutorial.
Digital Illustration Tutorials – How to Draw Pinball Game Art – Part 5
Read moreIn this Adobe Animate / Adobe Flash video tutorial, we'll look at texturing and masking the table walls. This will give our barriers a very realistic look, as you'll see by the end of the lesson. We'll also add a 2.5D look to the table with more depth and shadowing…
Marketing Tips with Clevon Audio-Only (BONUS show 2)
Read moreThis episode we'll be discussing some of Clevon's home grown, tried and true "gig economy" marketing tips for freelancers. And this is an audio only broadcast. Do not adjust your dial.
Class Basics with Swift and Sprite Kit (Episode 14)
Read moreWe'll dive back into the official Swift Programming Guide to look at how to write a Class. Yes, one of the most basic things you'll want to know when beginning to program for iOS or tvOS. As usual with a CartoonSmart tutorial podcast, we're here to have fun learning Swift…
Free Swift and Sprite Kit Tutorial from our Pinball Games Series – Part 6
Read moreHere we are at the end of session 1, and we will finally drop a ball into the scene! This involves creating the Ball class and one of Justin's secrets to creating a realistic chrome ball. Hint, it involves parenting some of the ball art to the main ball and…
How to Set Up a WordPress Site Part 2 (Episode 13)
Read moreIn this lesson, we'll talk about how to manually upload the Wordpress zip then upload it to your website. This is an important video tutorial if you aren't hosting with a provider thats already setup your wordpress site. So for example, if you are switching your site to start using…
How to set up a WordPress Site Part 1 (Episode 12)
Read moreThis video tutorial we'll discuss how to setup a Wordpress website. We'll discuss the differences between registering your domain and getting a host, and how you can get a pre-setup Wordpress hosting plan with the domain included (probably the easiest option if you don't have either a domain or host).…
Digital Illustration Tutorials – How to Draw Pinball Game Art – Part 4
Read moreWe'll pick up speed a bit in this next free digital illustration tutorial using Adobe Animate or Flash. This lesson we'll begin drawing the table walls or borders. By the end of this video tutorial, we'll have the basic frame of our table, and a sense of where the ball…
How to Open URLs in Safari with Swift and Sprite Kit (Episode 11)
Read moreThis video we'll learn how to open the Safari window within your iOS app itself, which can also limit the user from opening other domain, or simply pass the user off to the actual iOS Safari app.
Marketing Tips with Clevon Audio-Only (BONUS show 1)
Read moreThis episode we'll be discussing some of Clevon's home grown, tried and true "gig economy" marketing tips for freelancers. And this is an audio only broadcast. Do not adjust your dial.
Free Swift and Sprite Kit Tutorial from our Pinball Games Series – Part 5
Read moreIn this video we will discuss locking the flipper up and down to make a very natural pinball-esque type movement. This involves detecting physics contacts between the Flipper and invisible physics object named FlipperStopper. This quick-stopping technique could be useful in many of your iOS or tvOS projects to come,…
Functions with Parameters that Return Multiple Values in Swift (Podcast Episode 10)
Read moreFunctions with Parameters that Return Multiple Values in Swift (Video Tutorial Podcast Episode 10) We’ll go through more of the official Swift Programming in this iOS / tvOS video tutorial. This episode we look at functions that take in an Array parameter, and return multiple Int values. As usual, this…
How to import an image sequence, change all frames, then export it in Adobe Animate or Adobe Flash
Read morePhew lengthy title, I know, but that about sums it up. If you've ever needed to adjust every frame in a sequence of images, this is the video tutorial for you. Perhaps you bought some royalty free game art from a great site like GameArtPartners.com , and need to adjust…
How to Draw a Robot Head in Adobe Animate (Episode 9)
Read moreIn this video tutorial podcast, we'll have some fun drawing a head using Adobe Animate's vector illustration tools. This could be the beginning of a larger illustration or as simple as a decal or bumper sticker.
Digital Illustration Tutorials – How to Draw Pinball Game Art – Part 3
Read moreIn this free digital illustration tutorial, we'll discuss how to draw realistic looking metallic rails for our top-down viewed pinball table. We'll use Adobe Animate in this course, but you can also use Adobe Flash (same tools as far as this video tutorial series is considered). We'll look at creating…
SKActions with Swift and Sprite Kit (Podcast Episode 8)
Read moreWatch as we create a player in the SKScene, then run a repeating SKAction that makes the character scale up and down forever. If you enjoy this CartoonSmart.com video tutorial podcast, you'll find plenty more at our website.
Free Swift and Sprite Kit Tutorial from our Pinball Games Series – Part 4
Read moreThis video is part 4 of 6 (the entire first session) of CartoonSmart's new series on Pinball Games using Sprite Kit and Swift 2. This video will discuss how to push the flippers upward using physics impulses. This is an important distinction from simply rotating them, as a physics impulses…
Picking on the Swift Documentation – For and Switch statements (Podcast Episode 7)
Read moreThis episode we take some code straight from Apple's Swift 2.2 Programming documentation and pick it apart. Or pick on it. We'll look at for statements and switch statements, with some humorous line-by-line explanations of what exactly is going on.
Swift While Statements Compared to the Update Function in Sprite Kit (Podcast Episode 6)
Read moreIn this video podcast, we will look at incrementing variables using a traditional while statement, then compare that to the update function in a Sprite Kit based Xcode project. As usual, find more awesome Swift and Sprite Kit video tutorials at CartoonSmart.com
Working with the Scene Editor in Xcode (Episode 5)
Read moreLearn how to animate frame sequences and create movement actions in the Timeline of Xcode 7's Scene Editor. We'll also turn on physics in the scene, and talk about the Dynamic / Affected by Gravity settings. You'll see the difference between a sprite character and non dynamic floor. As usual,…
Free Swift and Sprite Kit Tutorial from our Pinball Games Series – Part 3
Read moreThis video is part 3 of 6 (the entire first session) of CartoonSmart's new series on Pinball Games using Sprite Kit and Swift 2. This video will discuss the initial setup of the flippers in an Xcode project for both iOS and tvOS. We'll look at physics based objects, apply…
Free Swift and Sprite Kit Tutorial from our Pinball Games Series – Part 2
Read moreThis video is part 2 of 6 (the entire first session) of CartoonSmart’s new series on Pinball Games using Sprite Kit and Swift 2. In this video you will learn how to touch left or right (which ultimately will raise the flippers) on either the iPhone, iPad or Apple TV…
Free Swift and Sprite Kit Tutorial from our Pinball Games Series – Part 1
Read moreGood news free-lovers, we're going to start publishing the entire first session from our Pinball Games iOS and tvOS Tutorial series. This video is the first of at least 6 more to follow (comprising the first session) which teaches the initial setup of our Pinball Kit programmed with Swift and…
Dictionaries with Sprite Kit and Swift 2 (Episode 4)
Read moreLearn more Swift 2, as we cover the basics of Arrays in this CartoonSmart.com video tutorial podcast. We'll discuss creating an array with some initial data, then iterating through it. Guest instructor: Clevon O’Doul
Arrays with Sprite Kit and Swift 2 (Episode 3)
Read moreLearn more Swift 2, as we cover the basics of Arrays in this CartoonSmart.com video tutorial podcast. We'll discuss creating an array with some initial data, then iterating through it. Guest instructor: Clevon O’Doul
Basic Variable Types with Swift and Sprite Kit (Episode 2)
Read moreLearn the basics as we discuss String, Int and Float types in Swift and Sprite Kit in Xcode.
Casting with Swift and Sprite Kit (Episode 1)
Read moreLearn how to cast a child in your Sprite Kit scene as a declared variable in your GameScene.swift file.
Free Digital Illustration Tutorial – How to Draw a Star Wars Style Droid
Read moreIn this free digital illustration tutorial we'll be working in Adobe Illustrator Draw, but you can use any graphics software you want (if it has a brush tool and layers, you're good to go). Photoshop, Corel Draw, etc. And as you can see from the preview, we won't be drawing…
Free Digital Illustration Tutorial Art Brushes in Adobe Illustrator
Read moreA free digital illustration tutorial from CartoonSmart's most prolific Adobe Illustrator instructor, Brian Zaikowksi. His Exploring Adobe Illustrator series is literally a day's worth of video tutorials (over 24 hours). The video above is just one lesson from that series, and although this course uses a slightly older version of…
Free Swift tvOS Tutorial – How to Connect the Standard and Micro Gamepad Controllers
Read moreA free Swift tvOS tutorial on how to connect the standard and micro gamepad controllers in any tvOS based app. The micro gamepad is another term for the new Apple TV remote. Like the previous lesson, we'll discuss detecting exact button presses and plenty more.
Free iOS Tutorial – NSUserDefaults with Swift 2
Read moreA short, free video tutorial on using the NSUserDefaults in any iOS or tvOS project. You can use the NSUserDefaults to save user preferences, scores, items a player might have picked up, etc. The beauty of the NSUserDefaults is that they are persistent throughout the life of the app. So…
Free Swift tvOS Tutorials – Player versus Player Games
Read moreIn this Swift tvOS video tutorial you'll learn how to connect an external controller (namely the Nimbus Steel Series which is sold in the Apple Store). You'll learn how to setup controller observers, check the playerIndex of controllers, create a valueChangedHandler to listen for specific button presses (leftThumbstick, buttonA, leftTrigger,…
How to Write Web Comic Strips – Video Tutorial Tips
Read moreWell I’ll file this under digital illustration, but this has a tad more to do with WRITING! In all caps, because its such a scary word for many artists. I know I never wanted to write when I was in school. But this is about how to write web comics,…
Free Swift iOS and tvOS Tutorial – Card and Board Games pt 1
Read moreA free Swift video tutorial covering the basic setup of an Xcode project which targets both iOS and tvOS. This is the humble beginnings of a much longer premium CartoonSmart.com tutorial on how to build a Card and Boards Games Starter Kit, but like all great adventures, we have to…
How to Check Values Periodically with Swift and Sprite Kit – Video Tutorial
Read moreA quick video tutorial with Swift and Sprite Kit in Xcode. We'll discuss how to check values of variables at intervals using SKActions (specifically waitForDuration and runBlock).
Digital Illustration Tutorial – How to Draw Pinball Game Art – Introduction and Parts 1-2
Read moreIn this video tutorial, we'll take a quick look at resources you can draw from for your top-down viewed art. The internet is obviously your best resource, but you'll find apps like Maps or Google Earth to also be useful. In part 2, its time to begin with some actual…
Digital Illustration Tutorial with Adobe Animate – Drawing Iron Man
Read moreIn this digital illustration tutorial, you will learn how to start from a sketch using pencil on paper, or any kind of drawing software for the iPad, tablet or other mobile device. After a quick 5 minute sketch, we will move over to Adobe Animate (Adobe Flash is fine too)…
Free Swift Video Tutorial – Basic Code for a Slot Machine Game
Read moreA quick, free Swift video tutorial covering the basic Sprite Kit code to get you up and running to build a Slot Machine app in Xcode. We'll cover SKActions, arrays, variables, functions, randomized values, equality checking, and just a bit more! It won't make a fully polished slot machine, but…
Free Digital Illustration Tutorial using Adobe Illustrator Draw
Read moreA brand new illustration tutorial! We’ll discuss Adobe Illustrator Draw, a free drawing programming for the iPhone or iPad, which connects up to your Creative Cloud suite of tools and files. But you are welcome to use your own illustration program of choice, since all of what we’ll be doing…
Tutorial 12 – Camera Roll Images and Generating Elements at Runtime
Read moreIn this video we'll discuss how to use photos from the device's Camera Roll or take new photos to replace a placeholder image on the page. This allows readers the option to include their own images as part of the book. These photos can be masked, so only part of…
Tutorial 11 – Random Values, Pages and Custom Keyboards
Read moreIn this video we'll discuss how to prompt readers to enter a word using a custom keyboard, to match a random word. This is a great example of how the kit can be used for learning books or simply for parental gates to limit access to parts of the book…
Tutorial 9 – Making a Maze Game
Read moreIn this video, we'll create a maze game. We'll use the same Left, Right, Up and Down control buttons from the previous page (see the earlier two videos), but this time instead of moving a character with a physics impulse, we will create a MoveBy action (setup in the property…
Tutorial 8 – Collision Detection and Listeners
Read moreThis video discusses.... How to react to contacts between different physics bodies (for example, to detect when the ship contacts a star to collect) How to keep a running count of something being collected (or interacted with) How to listen for conditions and react when they've been met. For example,…
Tutorial 7 – Flying a Ship
Read moreThis video discusses how to add physics boundaries to characters and other objects then "fly" them around the Scene by apply impulses in Left, Right, Up and Down directions. We'll setup invisible directional buttons, create boundaries around the entire scene, and also create a swirling vortex for the ship to…
Tutorial 6 – Pick and Save a Character
Read moreThis video discusses how to pick from multiple characters (images) and choose one to essentially follow the reader throughout the book. So in this book app, we'll allow kids to pick a spaceship and the ship they choose can appear on any page of the book. Even if they close…
Tutorial 5 – Continue and Menu Cheats
Read moreIn this video, we'll discuss an easy way to use the same menu items from page to page. Most pages in your book will have a button back to the main menu and a next button. Xcode allows you to create a scene that can actually be dropped into other…
Tutorial 4 – Mad Libs Style Pages
Read moreIn this video, we'll discuss adding a rotation gesture to rotate any number of images, then focus on how to add user-editable text, which is saved so every time the reader re-opens the app, their previously entered text is still there. We'll also customize the user input field, and create…
Tutorial 3 – Menu Page
Read moreIn this video, we'll discuss creating a menu page to begin navigating the book. First though, we'll add a little flare to the page by making the central graphic pan with the user's touch. We'll then add labels and an invisible button which are attached to the central graphic, so…
Tutorial 2 – Cover Page
Read moreIn this video, we'll discuss adding Color Sprites, texturing them with your image, naming them for interaction, animating images, adding labels, and the Property List settings to treat the image like a button to transition to a new Scene / Page.
Tutorial 1 – Initial Setup
Read moreIn this first video tutorial on how to use the Story Tellers iOS and tvOS Starter Kit we'll discuss the initial setup in Xcode, how to import images, what size images to use and the connection between the Scene (layout) files and the Property List.
So it’s your first time with Xcode and the Story Tellers iOS Starter Kit 2…. Now what?
Read moreSo you've never used one of CartoonSmart's starter kits before? Heck, maybe you've never even used Xcode before? Well you're at the right place at the right time. Xcode 7 now makes laying out AND timeline based-animating possible within the program. So as an illustrator or animator, you have the…
February’s Royalty Free Game Art for CartoonSmart Subscribers is ready!
Read moreAlrighty, subscriba-ree-nos! We’ve got 2 gorgeously illustrated “Boss” style enemy / alien characters this month. One kind of looks like The Vision though, and has a “laser sword” so maybe he’s not all that bad. Oh wait, its a red laser sword. That is usually bad! If you’re a subscriber,…
Saving the Reader’s Name (or any input text) in the Story Teller’s iOS Starter Kit 2
Read moreIn the Story Teller’s iOS Starter Kit 2, you can use one simple property with a Touch Event to prompt the iOS Keyboard open and save ANY value. This could be reader’s name, a Mad Libs-style word fill-in, the answer to a question, the correct spelling of a word for…
How to Make a Physics Game like Angry Birds with the Story Tellers iOS / tvOS Starter Kit 2
Read moreThis quick video will show you how to make a physics game (similar to Angry Birds) with zero programming using the kit . You can create levels visually right within Xcode, then using simple properties define point values for collisions. If the player exceeds a certain score, they can move…
Adding video to a Page in the Story Tellers iOS Starter Kit 2
Read moreThis quick lesson discusses how to add and play video in the kit. One fun aspect to adding video, is the ability to layer it within other elements in your page’s scene. So for example, you can precisely size the video, rotate it, and give it a z depth beneath…
Pick Images from the Camera Roll and Mask them for an iOS Childrens Book App
Read moreThis video discusses some amazing new features in the Story Tellers iOS Starter Kit 2 that allow your readers to pick a photo or take a new one to incorporate into their story. The image can be masked, and edited within the mask (by position, rotation, zoom, squash and stretch)…
Adding Lights and Rotating the Camera in the Space Page in the Story Tellers iOS Starter Kit 2
Read moreIn this video we'll look at Xcode 7's new features for laying out sprite nodes in the Scene editor, and even add lights with shadows you can preview during development. We'll also look at some fun property settings that make this particular scene rotate and move, using the Story Tellers…
Unlocking / Locking Pages with the Story Tellers iOS Starter Kit 2
Read moreYou can lock pages, or mini-games, in your Story Tellers Kit 2 based app using simple properties discussed in this video. In short, we will check if a variable name (of your choosing) equals or does not equal a specific value (again of your choosing). So you might check for…
Text-to-Speech Options and Adding a Language Preference Menu to your iOS Story Book App
Read moreThis video discusses how you can add a menu to your app where the reader can choose their preferred language. This is a bit more flexible than adding localization to your iOS app, since the Language value can be anything you want: Klingon, Elvish, Fairy, whatever. The Language value can…
Refining Thumbnail Menus with Separate Open and Close Buttons (Map demo part 3 of 3)
Read moreIn this video you'll see how to use separate Open and Close menu buttons to view a pan-able row of thumbnails to jump to other pages. This is a bit more refined than other pages in the demo, as it uses actions to move up and down the menu items,…
Collecting / Saving Inventory Items (Map demo part 2 of 3)
Read moreIn this video tutorial, you'll learn how to collect things in the Story Tellers iOS Starter Kit 2 by having a main character intersect with a particular item, which will then send the item to an empty Inventory Slot. And to be exact, in this example, a separate icon representing…
Changing/Saving Characters and Following Paths (Map demo part 1 of 3)
Read moreThe Story Tellers iOS Starter Kit 2 makes it incredibly easy to change characters by cycling through different animations. If the reader closes the app and returns laters, their character choice will be the same as before. So in the example above, the reader can choose a different vehicle (car,…
Make a Stackable Physics-Based Puzzle or Game in the Story Tellers iOS Starter Kit 2
Read moreThis video shows all the properties in the Story Tellers iOS Starter Kit 2 that make a physics based stacking puzzle. You can drag rocks around, collide them with other rocks, and pan around the scene (with parallax fx) to possibly search for more rocks to build with. The rock…
Video Guide to Making a Traditional Puzzle in the Story Tellers iOS Starter Kit 2
Read moreThis video shows all the properties in the Story Tellers iOS Starter Kit 2 that make a traditional puzzle come to life. You can drag pieces around, collide them with other pieces, even attach particle emitters to pieces to add some extra flare! If you haven't seen the demo yet,…
A Short Video about Parenting in the Story Tellers iOS Starter Kit 2
Read moreThis quick two minute video discusses the power of parenting one child inside another in the Scene editor of Xcode 7, and how that applies to The Story Tellers iOS Starter Kit 2.
Adding a Scrollable Menu to Jump to Pages in the Story Tellers iOS Starter Kit 2
Read moreYou can create unlimited scrolling menus to jump around pages in your book app using very simple properties. These video details how using the Story Tellers iOS Starter Kit 2
Fun with Physics – Drop a Quarter into a Gumball Machine using the Story Tellers iOS Starter Kit 2
Read moreThis video discusses the properties used to set up the gumball machine example in the Story Tellers iOS Starter Kit 2. The user can drop a quarter into the coin slot, turn the crank and the quarter drops out. Okay, okay, thats not exactly how a gumball machine works, a…
CartoonSmart student proposes marriage with a side scroller game!
Read moreThis might be the best usage of a CartoonSmart starter kit yet! Alex Miclea had no plans of ever submitting this game to the App Store. His measurement of success:  a “yes” to marriage.  Congrats Alex! You found the princess! Now I’m off to get ordained online so I can program an in-game pastor and…
Cartoon Smart, Star Wars, and Year 11 of the 100 Year Mission.
Read moreJustin here. Founder of CartoonSmart and general worker bee. My contribution to the hive (today) is somewhere between revamping the Affiliate program, sending out a newsletter before 5pm and hopefully recording new tutorials today. And yet, here I am about to write what will probably be way too long of an article…