So, for a while, I've been trying to make "anikomas" (animated interactive comics) a thing. And for the most part, I've worked out all the necessary kinks in the visual side, for the app that I've chosen to use.
https://www.newgrounds.com/projects/movies/4762701/preview
There remains one particular bugbear: Sound.
Not so much adding it, but controlling it once it's in there. Fading in to a specific volume, fading out/stopping, getting it to loop, changing out music, and not overlapping/overstaying when I need the panel to move on.
And it's only gotten harder, with the switch from the coding language actionscript 3 for Flash to Javascript for HTML5, to the point where I had to reformat my comic style to work with HTML, and Sound has gotten even more cumbersome to implement.
Plus, because of the nature of anikoma AND interactive entertainment development:
There aren't a lot of easily accessible resources or educators. This isn't like learning animation/3D, where there's just a high skill floor. Now there are barely any resources for self-ed.
Here's what I need to bounce off of you guys:
Do you think it would be cool to simply restrict Sound to the fully animated versions of the comics I intend to release, and leave the anikoma silent?
(at least temporarily, while I find a way to learn what I need to; more later)
Alt Fail Solution 1: Use a different software:
No creative app integrates visual art and interactive experience creation like Adobe Animate. It's also time lost learning a new software before learning how to make it do what I want.
Alt Fail Solution 2: Time out for Self-Ed:
As an independent artist trying trying to grow/maintain an engaged audience, I can't afford to disappear for an indeterminate amount of time to teach myself a minor addition to my repetoir.
Alt Fail Solution 3: just work in only animation/only comics:
Leaving my own passion aside, I do plan on releasing animated shorts/comic strips. But anikoma help bridge the gap between them, and it would be a shame to burn that bridge.
Note: I am working on self-ed for sound, just at a slower pace. I do think omitting sound is handicapping myself, but I can't dedicate the same kind of energy/resources as I did to 3D due to the wildly different learning mindsets.
So, what do you guys think?
Do I need need sound?
Can it wait?
Do you have/know any sources for learning HTML5/AS3 programming?
Do you know anybody still working in HTML5/AS3?
Sound off!
