Work this month has been entirely focused on two primary aspects of the e-Storybook.
The initial effort was to assure the technical functioning of the digital book. Since this is an illustrated book, it is very heavily laden with artwork. That fact has made the total size of the digital files quite large, at least that was the initial situation, until I compressed the files. Well, before I discovered that I could reduce the file size, there was a a problem with buffering when the file was loaded into an e-pad or smartphone. So my solution to that problem was to divide the files into smaller segments. This meant that the files needed to be linked so that they function seamlessly. Other than the requirement that one must click on the link to keep moving forward or backward between sections, that works wonderfully.
But this brought another issue to light. The background page design.
(I'm posting from my phone, so graphic examples do not post easily. I will add them when I am at a desktop computer)
Well, I added a design element to the cover pages and it looked so good that I added it to the preface and appendix pages, which amounted to maybe a total of thirty or so pages for the three volumes. But the, unfortunately, the body of the book, nearly eight hundred pages, looked unfinished. So I basically had no choice but to add the new background to the entire e-Storybook. There were alignment issues as well, so I basically had to redo the entire book as it pertains to the background page. There are still some minor alignment issues, because I added the new background to each individual file separately. Now that I think about it, I should merge the book into one file, change the background, and split the file up again, that will eliminate the alignment issues.
So there are also DRM issues. DRM is Digital Rights Management. I have designed the e-Storybook so that any attempts to copy it will destroy the files. I did not spend the last 27 years (and a huge amount of time & money) developing this project to have it given away over the internet or copied by people for free.
I wish I could give it away, but this happens to be an investment in my "retirement" (a concept which, to my mind, occurs when a person becomes old enough that their mind and body begins to want and they need to have sufficient resources to take them to the end of the parade).
So, there are a number of factors contributing to the functionality of the e-Storybook. But as it stands now, it looks and works great. I'm beginning to think that I can merge some of the files back together, since, as an example, when I compressed a file that was close to 500 meg, it dropped to around 10 meg! After I test a few various files for buffering delays I'll know better in that regard.
Another ongoing issue is proof-reading. Even after proofing this thing, literally hundreds of times, I have still found mistakes that need to be corrected. It's crazy! And now that it is in the final stages of assembly, corrections are more difficult and complex, involving multiple applications, versions files, imbedded information and operating protocols. Yikes!
As I said before, we have more artwork to do. But since the layout and technical structure for The Industry Review Edition is essentially finished, other than assembling the package to include the Business Plan, it's time to focus on the art department.
I'll address those activities on the IMS Virtual Studio blog; www.imagemindag.blogspot.com
That's all for now. Still kick'in. AG
