My first offering of voxel cars is with a package that went live on TurboSquid recently. I created a "Starter Kit" featuring four cars I designed myself including one tire model for games and media projects. I offered this to get my work exposed as well as get people started in their projects using some fine voxel models. While this package does not include any machines I've created previously, I do offer my own designs to help people get started and get a feel for my artistic style.
Here is a look at my work:
^ learn more here: Voxel Vehicle Starter Pack - I have finally offered my own voxel car designs to others.
Because this was my first TurboSquid product and because I want this to be a gateway to making more quality material, I am offering this for free. Each of the vehicles I have created are my own designs amd feature versions both with static wheels and with no wheels. The versions with no wheels can be used in programs like Blender in the creation of games and media projects. Since the no wheel versions (obviously) don't have wheels, I have included a tire that can be added to models. The tire model I created features a tire with an attached eight-spoke wheel all made of voxels. Just re-size the tires to fit into the wheel arches. It may look awkward with the rest of the vehicle, but you are at least fitting a nice set of wheels on the car. Of course, you could always make your own tires and wheels and affix them to the car in programs like Blender or something. You can set up the vehicle to have a basic rig setup or try more advanced rigs with suspension setups. No matter what, I have given a unique start to help fuel the dreams of those who love cars with my voxel vehicles.
You're welcome, world. :) For more information on this package, please visit: Voxel Vehicle Starter Pack (TurboSquid). Credit me if you use my work in your projects. Please?
If you loved this package, I hope to offer more material to you all in the future. If you liked this blog and/or this blog post, I hope to offer more blog material to you all. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.
Animated voxel cars? Recently, I experimented trying to rig my voxel model cars. It is very possible to animate even voxel cars. I will explain my work flow and thoughts in this blog post, and I even have plans to share with you all. Be sure to stay with me in this blog post to see all of my plans. I hope you get to enjoy this blog post and all it has to offer.
Voxel Car Animating
"Go where no one has gone before." To many people, these are excellent words to live by. My idea is nothing new. In fact, I can tell you animating voxel cars is not going to set the world ablaze or blow peoples' minds. People have inquired me about my voxel model cars. One of the reasons why I've put aside trying to offer my vehicles for download/sale is because I have been trying to find new ways to implement my machines. Also, I simply wasn't ready to try to offer my material for download/sale.
Previously, all of my voxel vehicles were all static models. This is good enough for making various scenes, but for taking certain cars further in their design and to open new possibilities, you have to make these creations to be worthy of animation. This is what has crossed my mind in trying to make my already interesting creations even more interesting. I considered the possibility of trying to animate my cars after seeing some videos on how to rig cars in Blender 3D. While I know my voxel model cars won't blow away people with their design, I can still use my creativity to design the most interesting-looking cars. And most importantly, I can take my creations and animate them. This will make it good for applications ranging from animations to game assets.
It is time I set the mood by offering many different views on making my voxel cars in better detail than I have previously. Gain my perspective by reading further.
The Inspiration.
I have seen games use voxel vehicles as well as voxel model vehicles for games. When I designed my own voxel model cars, I am influenced mostly by the Gran Turismo series because I had intended on maybe developing a racing game. I started making voxel model cars once I started to follow the work of another voxel artist. This allowed me to come up with my own voxel model cars. As far as variety is concerned in the types of cars, I am mostly influenced by other game series with a variety of cars- such as the Grand Theft Auto series. But in terms of voxel cars in a voxel environment, my biggest inspiration is "3D Pixel Racing." Even though "3D Pixel Racing" wasn't as well-received by gaming fans because of its lackluster game play, I trust that I could be able to make voxel model cars with perhaps another game developer to exceed certain other independent (indie) racing games.
The Experiment.
So at one point, I began to wonder how exactly you rig a car in Blender. I have never attempted to a rig a car prior to taking part in this experiment. I decided to play along with a two-part video series to take car models and make them drivable. The experiment worked as I took on a different kind of modeling method. The animation process began with me taking one of my voxel model cars and doubling the scale of it. I even began to model wheels separately and then import them with my model car. Doing so meant I had to remove the static wheels for a more friendly design for putting on proper wheels in Blender. My more enhanced wheel models were imported into Blender and resized to fit the wheel arches of my voxel cars. This was a snapshot of one of my first attempts to learn how to animate a car in Blender:
^ from: (my MagicaVoxel gallery in my Facebook profile) - Rudimentary as it looks, this was my first attempt to not only learn how to rig a car in Blender, but also to learn how to design my cars to be better made for animating.
Getting better at something means you take more chances and try to sample various other things. Same applies to my efforts to design my old cars and trying to make them better ready for animating. I went with my rudimentary car because I had envisioned making better-looking and more detailed versions of my voxel model cars. I didn't want to ruin any of my original cars trying to learn how to rig cars. That is, until I finally successfully was able to find a way to rig a vehicle. After that, I decided to try my hand at taking one of my existing cars and make it suitable for rigging (namely getting rid of the static wheels). This time rather than take an existing car and doubling its size, I decided to take one car at its original size and simply fit some wheels on them (after resizing the wheels). The end result is this more handsome looking effort:
^ from: (my MagicaVoxel gallery in my Facebook profile) - This experiment involved one of my original voxel model cars at its original size and fitted with my detailed voxel wheels.
Since I was using detailed wheels on a regular scale voxel car, the car does appear pretty awkward in its design, especially around the wheel arches. The more important thing in all of this is the ability to set up a proper model for which rigging is possible. I was fairly happy for the most part with mounting the wheels to the car. I became a good bit happy knowing I mounted a nice set of wheels to these cars. It got me to wonder how I can re-style these cars so they look a bit more handsome when equipped with these extra sets of wheels.
Now to explain my workflow.
The Workflow.
Let me share with you my workflow as well as different changes in methodology in creating my works.
I am still using MagicaVoxel to model my cars. All of the cars I've made and shared pictures of were made through MagicaVoxel. The latest version as of this post is 0.97.1. I have been using MagicaVoxel to make and edit my cars. In my time, I have shared about 15 of my regular cars as well as a few commercial vehicles and some race cars. So I've released maybe 20+ models in pictures. With so many vehicles, I had broader visions for voxel model machines I have created. One such thing I made mention to was the fact I started modeling tires and wheels to be separate items from the cars. What this allowed for was a number of options to make my already detailed voxel model cars even more detailed. MagicaVoxel only allows you to do so much, so enter the other programs I am using...
VoxelShop is what I use to take my MagicaVoxel designs and convert them to COLLADA format. Originally, I used VoxelShop to convert to a low-polygon format. This is good if you want to make good use of voxel models in a refined package. However, you can't refine the voxel model as much. So one thing I did was try saving in some of the other available formats you can export models to in COLLADA format. Models exported from VoxelShop in COLLADA format can be exported in one of four different COLLADA export settings. The one I found works best for further refinement of models is to save in Legacy format. The most important (at least to me) aspect of saving voxel models in COLLADA Legacy format is the ability to save voxel models in materials. I will explain later what makes this material aspect special later in this section. While models saved under the COLLADA Legacy format offer the most complete and comprehensive design, created models come in with some of the most triangles, a high number of verts, and the largest file size. So something like this may not be too suitable for trying to maintain efficient models.
Now for the final element of my experimental car rigging- Blender. Blender is a powerful program that can deliver amazing results in modeling and animation, granted you know how to use it. My voxel models made in MagicaVoxel and refined in VoxelShop are imported into Blender. This gives me an opportunity to try to further refine my voxel models. What some people may not know about my voxel model cars is that my cars actually have interiors to them. That is because I had intended making a lot of my cars have visible drivers and passengers animated with the cars. Recently, I began re-adding windows and windshields to my cars after trying to go for a non-window approach to my voxel cars. That means taking a certain car color and making the windows that color. Remember what I typed about the importance of saving COLLADA files with the Legacy option and the materials? Well in Blender, you can change the properties of any materials of any model. Every color of a model is its own material. Since the windows and windshield are their own material, I can take that color and make it transparent so you can see through the windows. I set the transparency of the windows in Blender to 0.5 for the best results. The use of colored materials also gave me the possibility of making glowing lights. If you were to combine both the use of transparent materials and materials that emit light, this means many more opportunities and options to design cars with. As I made stylish looking tires and wheels to my models, I imported my wheel designs and applied them to my modified cars. The wheels are resized and carefully mounted to the car.
Modeling/Animation Notes.
Let me share with you some of the different things I have noticed in my attemps to rig my voxel cars. Use these tidbits in case you want to rig your own voxel cars.
• The only real changes I make in MagicaVoxel to my cars is to simply remove the static wheels. The cars will look a bit awkward with fancy voxel tires and wheels, but the wheel arches aren't too bad for the cars to be fitted with the detailed wheels.
• The only thing I really needed to change is to change the orientation of car models in VoxelShop in importing to Blender. With cars facing in the front in MagicaVoxel, I have to use the Mirror Z feature in VoxelShop to flip the car models on the Z-Axis so they'd appear properly in Blender without needing to rotate them in Blender.
• Now that I think about it, I could only export the car bodies to COLLADA Legacy format only to allow for the opportunity to make the windows transparent. I could use the Optimal COLLADA settings for all items besides the car body.
• One problem with importing COLLADA Legacy format models in Blender is that the geometry of imported items is not centered. The models' geometry of COLLADA Legacy models are centered at the bottom as opposed to the center of the model's geometry. This can be easily changed in Blender by setting the origin to the geometry of the model (Ctrl + Shift + Alt + C, then select "Geometry to Origin").
• I import my voxel wheels by first mounting them on the left front side. Previously, I would mount the tires by duplicating the left-front tire and making three extra copies. When I got around to editing various settings to animate the tires, I simply just made that one tire followed by editing its settings. After I did all the editing and parenting, THEN I made duplicates of the tires to all four parts of the car. This just makes the process easier so I wan't have to individually edit each wheel and their settings. Don't forget to parent each of the wheels to the car body. When mounting tires on the right side of the car from the left side tires, rotate the tires by 180°.
• This is an important recommendation in Blender... do NOT use Ctrl + C to copy over wheels. Instead, use Shift + D to duplicate the wheels and mount them accordingly to the car. I stress this because using Ctrl + C to make copies of the wheels somehow makes extra copies of the car body. Duplicating will save you from having to delete the extra copies of your car's body.
• Trying to model for collision is a very tricky process, and I have not yet mastered trying to make a proper car with a sufficient collision system. Trying to give my cars a decent physics system is a success; making the system work properly would be a proper accomplishment. It is something I still need to work on.
And those are the notes I have to share with you on my editing.
Future Experiments.
The next things I want to try to experiment with my voxel model cars are as follows:
• animating cars using armatures/bones
• simulating lights and light systems
• adding visible drivers and passengers
• drivers and passenger animations with the cars
• improved driving and suspension dynamics
If I come up with something interesting, I'll chat about it here on "John's Creative Space." So stay tuned. Finally...
In Case You're Wondering...
Here are the two videos I have seen in learning how to rig cars in Blender. Take a look at them:
In the future (as I mentioned), I want to try to animate cars with armatures/bones as an alternative method to rig cars in Blender. These two videos are what I've used to try to animate cars.
Voxel Car Announcement
There have been people who have inquired me about my voxel model cars. One of the main reasons why I haven't offered my creations for download/sale is because I simply am not ready to release them online. I also have been trying to come up with new ideas to work on them and enhance them. I am simply not going to release anything right now, especially half-hearted efforts. I will offer my voxel cars for download and/or sale when I feel I have designed them to where they can be properly enjoyed and utilized for a number of applications. I never offered any of my voxel creations for sale or download. There are people who offer models without them being ready to be animated. I could offer my creations as they are and leave the dirty work to modelers. However, I sort of feel there is extra incentive in offering static and animated work to others. So I want to try to provide the best possible package to satisfy as many parties as possible.
Since you are reading this right now, allow me to announce my initial plans. I will make voxel cars as somewhat of a "Starter Pack." These will be a few basic models I will create to help you get started as well as give people the opportunity to use my creations. Most of all... my base package of voxel car models I will create will be offered for free. I plan to offer these creations on services like Turbo Squid and OpenGameArt.org. The package I will offer will include my voxel model cars both in static form and in a form with the static wheels removed. The versions with the static wheels removed will feature one set of wheels you can use to mount onto the car through Blender or some other 3D modeling software. If you think this all sounds good, there is a catch- you are going to have to do all of the animation and other advanced driving dynamics if you plan on making videos or games. I'm trusting that the ones I offer my creations to will do a much better job of utilizing the content fully than I [ever(?)] will.
What are my plans after releasing my base package of voxel model cars? I will simply try to re-work some of my existing voxel model cars while also making new models. I also will work to make more voxel tires and wheels for which they can modeled with other cars. In other words... I simply will try to build up my own portfolio of voxel model cars. I even have interest in perhaps making my own Blender animations featuring my voxel model cars. These will be for promotion purposes, not to mention simply making my own video content. Unlike my "Starter Pack" of voxel model cars, my existing creations will be offered for a fee. Machines of a certain category or group may be offered as bundle packages for a fee. This will only bring everything together and offer more options for the modeler.
All of these machines are different from any of my previous creations. So in other words, you'll be getting completely original models apart from my already existing
A Note About My Re-Working of Cars.
The cars I've already created will be re-worked and may appear much different. These are all in trying to get the cars to look a bit more presentable. Future posts on "John's Creative Space" will feature my models in new forms. So the re-worked cars may look a bit different from the old picture where I combined most of my voxel cars into one picture.
Most of what I wanted to discuss is now over.
Special Message
I would like to thank everyone who has supported my work for the longest. I'm glad you all have enjoyed my work. I am sorry I've taken so long to try to address the availability and offers of my voxel models. One thing I am sure of is that you probably won't regret me making my material available to all of you. Once again- thank you all who love my work.
As of this initial post, I have not yet made my "Starter Pack" available. Once I do great a set of vehicles to include into my package, I will let all of you know and let you be able to access my creations. You will then finally get to enjoy the various voxel cars I've created. For now, I thank you for reading this post on John's Creative Space! Take care and be well.
Some people record game videos. Programs like FRAPS, Bandicam, CamStudio, and OBS among others allow people to make and record videos to upload online. I recently entertained the thought of making my own game videos. So for this blog post, I will discuss the different options as well as my ambitions of making and uploading videos.
By the way... I can't believe I introduced this label yet...
Blog posts in this category relate to the production of videos. It includes video-related posts as well as different thoughts on making videos of various kinds.
Gaming Videos
First of all, why would you want to make videos on games? There are many- tutorials, simple gameplay, walkthroughs, long plays, fail videos, trolling,... you name it. A good amount of reasons are there for anyone to even attempt wanting to make and post videos of games. People want to share their love of gaming and showcase it in special ways. Among the popular names in gaming and game videos are the likes of CaptainSparklez, PewDiePie, iHasCupquake, and others. Regardless, you want to be able to provide gaming videos with your own sort of charm to them.
So how do you get started? Well first, you need screen capture software and/or hardware. Consider the latter for recording videos from console to your PC/Mac.
Gaming Videos: Hardware.
You don't need anything spectacular if you plan on recording from a console to PC on the hardware front. For example, you could simply get one of those USB capture card devices that have multi-out ports to record from the Multi-Out of consoles. You could get something like a VHS to DVD or VHS to USB kit and use the different inputs to capture media. This is great mostly for those who don't have HDTV units for which to record media from. One of the real negatives of using these devices is that you can't have HD-quality video and sound in your recording unless you you try to stretch out the regular video or something. This is still an effective and efficient method for capturing some simple game videos.
If you want to record from devices that have HDMI inputs, you are going to need a capture card device capable of reading HDMI input. A capture card capable of HDMI input will allow you to post high-definition videos of games. However (and as you would imagine), HDMI devices can be quite expensive, not to mention also taxing on your PC/Mac space trying to record such videos. What you get can be quite amazing once you put it all together. Two of the most popular options for capturing HDMI video of games today are HDMI capture cards from the likes of Elgato (like the Elgato Game Capture HD) and Hauppauge (like the Hauppauge HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition). There are other options (including better offerings from the brands I mentioned), but this gives you a start in regards to wanting to record game videos.
Gaming Videos: Software.
If you prefer your game videos through software, consider any number of programs to help you to record your finest gaming moments. Sad thing is that there are not many quality programs for screen capturing, game capturing, or even game streaming (to be discussed in the next section). FRAPS has long been a favorite of screen capturing for some time. Unless you get the paid version of FRAPS, you are going to be severely limited to how much you can do. There have been many other programs trying to offer their own appeal in the screen capturing and recording department. There was a program used with some early videos called Hypercam. Some old videos have had "Unregistered Hypercam" as a watermark in the top-left corner of videos. One of the more enticing screen capture programs is Bandicam. Bandicam, for what it is, is an excellent program at capturing game video. However, you'll need to buy Bandicam to take full advantage of its capabilities and to be able to edit without having so many restrictions. Even though it an open source program, you will have a tough time trying to make videos using CamStudio unless you find quality codecs and do a good amount of tuning. The good news is that you don't have to pay anything to get the full power of CamStudio. You also don't have to pay anything to use the full power of another free program- OBS (Open Broadcast Software). OBS is more catered towards streaming, but you can still create some quite good screen capture videos of games and programs. I have been using OBS the past few days to envision the possibility of making game videos. For the most part, I want to use OBS to make some videos using the racing game rFactor. Most of my testing has gone pretty well. Only thing is that I wish I can make something proper and complete to provide some quality video material on YouTube.
Gaming Videos: Streams.
I will admit- I have no experience in game streaming. All I do know is that for people who are on Twitch and post game streams, you obviously want to consider some hardware and software to stream effectively. People who stream videos of games online need to consider things like resolution, connection speed, audio and video, and other factors to effectively provide quality streaming media of gaming. Again- I have no experience or any recommendations to anyone in this category.
Once you consider all of these things, be sure to make the most of your experience making game videos.
Game Videos: Resources
Most of what I wanted to discuss has been discussed. What I want to do here is offer you all some resources in case you enjoyed this blog post. Feel free to take a look at these links and items to help start your own adventures in game videos. I would appreciate your business if you looked into some of these items.
Now for you game capturing folks... consider this a gift from me to you for reading my blog post. Help yourself to these items in case you're interested (availability may vary):
Happy shopping! :)
Best wishes to all of you either wanting to make your own gaming videos or your own gaming channels. I'm glad you took time out of your day/night to visit my blog here. I hope you enjoyed your time here. Subscribe and Follow to get more of my work and to know when it is released. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.
Voxels offer only so much detail. I recently took a voxel car I modeled and decided to look for new details to test out. I wanted to try some sort of transparent window illusion with a visible interior. So what I did was take a muscle car I created and deleted all the windows. The interior of the car is all a silhouette- just like some old games that have had visible interiors with silhouette drivers. Since my car is a mini-spec model, some black parts are clearly visible in trying to offer somewhat of a silhouette appearance.
For reference, here was the original car before the editing:
^ from: (my MagicaVoxel gallery on Facebook) - Deleting the windows and adding a silhouette interior is a unique design study I conducted.
What does my edited car look like? Take a look:
^ from: (my MagicaVoxel gallery on Facebook) - Deleting the windows and adding a silhouette interior is a unique design study I conducted.
Part of my interest in designing such a silhouette interior comes from certain old racing games. The one that came to mind for me was SEGA Rally Championship. I just got rid of the windows and made the interior all black. For the driver in the car, that driver is represented with some tall piece inside. I even colored the driver so that it seems a bit realistic to see the driver in the car. For this design study, though, everything inside is a silhouette. This design method doesn't work for certain styled cars, but you tend to get the general idea of how windshields and windows are styled for a car.
Never be afraid to experiment with any of your work.
Bonus Comments: Why I Haven't Offered My Work Online...
A long time ago, I wanted to try to offer my 3D work for sale. The reason why I haven't offered anything is because I was trying to make the models for use with Unity3D. I haven't converted or worked on anything to be made functional through Unity3D. This also includes making certain models rigged for animation. I never got around to making models for animation either. So in case any of you are interested in my work, that is why things have been so slow in that department. I apologize for this.
One thing I will NOT apologize for, however, is offering great content for you to read and enjoy. I hope this blog post qualifies to you as "great content." Please Subscribe to my blog(s) if you enjoy my content. Have yourself an amazing day/night. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.
(UPDATED: January 6, 2016)
I joined Bandcamp recently! Bandcamp is an online community where people share (and even sell) their music online. I long wanted to test the waters of Bandcamp with some of the music I've produced. Various artists and groups have offered their music to be heard on Bandcamp. After researching heavily, I finally put together a profile on Bandcamp for which I hope to offer music for your listening pleasure. I was actually considering joining both Bandcamp and SoundCloud previously. For now, I'm on Bandcamp. I'll talk more about my decision to ultimately join and what I hope to accomplish on Bandcamp with this blog post you are reading now.
(LATEST UPDATE(S)/REVISION(S):
JAN 6 2016 - edited post and included some extra items
Bandcamp
It's time I talk you through my Bandcamp experience.
Bandcamp: A Simple Introduction.
Bandcamp is used by a handful of artists and groups ranging from various independents to some that are pretty big deals. For the most part, Bandcamp is fairly about independent artists, groups, and labels. Full soundtracks to certain indie/independent games are featured on Bandcamp. Games such as Double Dragon Neon, Elliott Quest, and Shovel Knight are on Bandcamp among others. People who aren't proper recording artists or proper music producers are on Bandcamp simply to offer their music to others. Those who join Bandcamp can join as artists, fans, or labels. I am on as an artist (obviously). Music can be offered for free or for a fee- ranging from specific prices to letting customers name their price. Music from Bandcamp can also be downloaded in a number of formats ranging from MP3 to OGG and more.
Joining Bandcamp.
What got me to join Bandcamp? Actually, I was first exposed to Bandcamp when I heard the music of C418. C418 should be familiar to fans of Minecraft because he composed the music for Minecraft. Being the inspired dreamer I am, I imagined myself making my own music and offering it online for all to hear and enjoy. I didn't initially get into joining Bandcamp because I wasn't yet serious about trying to build up a music collection to let others hear. That desire to produce music exploded and became infectious once I started envisioning songs in my mind as well as humming in my sleep songs.
As of Now...
As of this initial blog post (January 1, 2016), I have only one album, and it is nothing real special. It is more like a simple portfolio of songs I've produced in the past. The first album of mine simply features a bunch of songs in my past in publishing music. In the future, I will take advantage of making more music and making more albums showcasing a great variety of music and a great variety of songs. Let me let you in on something, though... there are a few songs in my first Bandcamp album I never shared with you if you've heard my music on YouTube and elsewhere. So this is a chance for you to hear a few of my unreleased songs for the first time! Bandcamp is simply yet another creative outlet for me just like most of my other work.
(ADDED: January 6, 2015)
If you would like to sample my work, please take a look at this item below. This features the songs I uploaded for my first-ever Bandcamp album. Have a listen:
Want to visit my Bandcamp page? Be sure to click on the link below:
The site and the content are all works in progress. Just like any of my work and all of my work, I greatly appreciate the love and support from all of you worldwide. Please be sure to help support me in this venture apart from my others.
I'd like to thank you all for visiting "John's Creative Space"- the blog featuring my own creative works. If you enjoyed your time here, feel free to Subscribe and Follow to keep up with the latest material from me. Share my material with your friends and family so maybe they can enjoy my content as well. Success is a total team effort. Let's make it happen! Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.
As a first-time eBook author, Proof Positive is my first eBook and first eBook series. It is a self-help series where I offer advice concerning various general issues along with advice to help produce and boost positivity. This blog post here will fill you in with more information about this project of mine. You will get a lot more insight on me coming up with this series and what it is all about. Welcome to "John's Creative Space!"
Oh, and what do you know... this is *officially* my 50th post on "John's Creative Space!" Welcome to my golden (50th) post on this blog!
The "Proof Positive" Series
Let me tell you more about this eBook series I created. But first, here is a picture to help identify this post...
The "Proof Positive" series (styled as "Proof Posi+ive") is an eBook project I started in trying to offer positive and encouraging thoughts to help people be and feel more positive about life and society. My method of offering advice is to provide a snapshot of a certain situation and then try to offer advice to help people deal with the certain issue and become stronger. I feel offering calming words and speaking with passion are ways to help people feel better. My hope is to motivate and encourage others with my advice to certain life issues. While Proof Positive is a self-help series, I also want to make things interesting by featuring self-help on certain issues outside of living life. For example, I was considering installments in regards to sports and sports fans. I want to mix things up a little bit while not losing focus of the main matter of Proof Positive.
Because I mention a bunch of life issues in my main blog, I feel the need to maximize the usefulness of my advice by creating an eBook. I take my blogging experience to try to create something people can access and (hopefully) profit from my work. I feel I could reach out to more people and feel like I am offering a service by making eBooks. I feel you can put more powerful content in an eBook than most blog posts (and even most videos) have. In the early development of my first eBook, most of my time was spent trying to learn how to make an eBook. This took away from me concentrating on making actual content. In fact, I actually spent more time trying to practice making eBooks before trying to actually make one. I even went as far as to purchase an Amazon Kindle eReader to practice and test my eBook on a Kindle (let alone a proper eReader). So this has been the work of about three or so months before eventually releasing my first ever eBook.
When I made my first eBook from an ODT text file in LibreOffice, my manuscript came out to 14,425 words using 80.426 characters. Now that I released my first eBook, I have the confidence to make more. I found a suitable workflow I can use to make eBooks quicker (content notwithstanding). A big part of this creation of an eBook was thanks to a program called Alkinea. Alkinea is a beta program used in the creation of EPUB and MOBI format eBooks taking ODT text files made using either OpenOffice or LibreOffice.
Timeline of Events.
Here are a few highlights of mine in making and releasing my first eBook (as of December 15, 2015):
• September 11, 2015 - made a folder dedicated to eBooks; includes sample eBooks as well as test material
• [circa] October 29, 2015 - made first practice eBook focusing exclusively on HTML coding
• [circa] November 27, 2015 - made second practice eBook, code named "Tormenta"
• [circa] December 9, 2015 - made third practice eBook, using a program called Alkinea, used actual eBook project made in LibreOffice
• December 11, 2015 - released first eBook on Amazon, later to other services with Draft2Digital; uploaded EPUB version of eBook
• December 13, 2015 - first sale of eBook on Amazon
To be honest, I actually was supposed to release my work on December 10; but since it was getting late when I submitted my work in the early morning hours, I settled for that Friday afternoon to release my work and do all the different editing to get my work live. Once I released my eBook, I felt accomplished. I was all on social media and such promoting my work from sites that took my work live online. You can imagine how proud I was of everything.
Here is a look at my first eBook and its content...
Proof Positive: Happy Beginnings.
Here is the description I offered for this eBook:
"Our lives and society are ripe with negativity. With so much negative in our lives, it can be tough to think positively. Proof Positive by John B. Marine is a supplement to help people think about things to be positive about. It is a collection of basic thoughts as well as advice to common and uncommon life issues. The Proof Positive series will take on a number of individual topics. The first installment, "Happy Beginnings" looks at positivity and negativity in general, and it also focuses in on basic thoughts and items to help people begin to think positively. All thoughts are expressed on a personal, passionate, and calming level in plain English. It is time to defeat negativity in our lives and in society with positivity and positive thinking."
This installment of Proof Positive is about starting out trying to think positively and starting out generating positivity. I focus on a few basic things people can think about to be positive about right now. All of the material featured are all mostly different snapshots of life coupled with my advice to help people deal with certain issues. Do not expect a masterpiece of formal writing and literary awesomeness, but I do offer my own thoughts on a personal level and from a standpoint only I feel I can provide.
Future installments will feature a number of thoughts to help people out with a number of other issues. As of December 15, 2015; I am working on my next installment of the Proof Positive series. The first book in the series is on providing positive insight on a few basic things. The next installment (and you read this first!) has to do with making yourself positive as well as discuss matters of being self-positive. The issues basically relate to certain things that circulate in our mind in trying to be happy and positive. I will be sure to further elaborate on the next installment once it goes live online.
For a Fee?
Because I feel I can better benefit offering eBooks for a fee, I can only provide only so much a preview for all of you. I don't want to spoil too many fine details in any of my blogs. I feel that the amount of content I provide and the sort of professionalism I consider in building this eBook series is of great quality. To be honest, I am actually working on this as a business outlet. When I wanted to build a game for the OUYA and for Android devices, I had in mind making some paid material. I have only so much to try to make any sort of material.
Just know that when I create something for sale, you can be assured I've given my best effort and that it will have value. I would never release anything I felt did not have any sort of value or usefulness to it. That is my philosophy with blog posts, and the same goes for any sort of paid content I consider. So you definitely have my word that my material is of exceptional quality and something I am proud to release and share.
Want to Use Resources?
Here are some resources I used in the creation of my eBook:
• LibreOffice - used in making an ODT text file
• Alkinea - makes eBooks straight from ODT files in EPUB; free for personal and commercial eBooks
• KindleGen - used to convert EPUB to Amazon's MOBI format; use with Alkinea to generate EPUB and MOBI copies
• Sigil - free program useful for editing
• Calibre - free program useful for editing, especially for adding metadata and refining EPUB, also manages eBooks.
• FBReader - a very good eBook app for PC and Android mobile devices. To me, it is the most accurate as far as eBook apps are concerned.
Good luck to any of you who are aspiring eBook authors.
Well, that's it. Thank you for checking out my work! Let me give you a little advice before I close this post... you can do a whole lot for me by Subscribing and Following my work. Stay in the know when I post new material. Get social with me to show your further appreciation of my work. That's all. Just saying. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.
My ambition to make eBooks was expressed here on "John's Creative Space" and even in "John's Blog Space." This blog post here on JCS offers a look at some projects I am working on or considering in making eBooks. This is a chance for you to see what concepts I am working on or may consider in the future. I will also share some thoughts on the eBook process and how I am going about it. Any loyal readers that may want to offer suggestions or something are free to comment.
Anything eBook (or e-Book) related will be featured in these blog posts. These include both some of my own work and even eBooks in general.
eBook Projects: General Thoughts
The eBook allure lies in making material more detailed. As a blogger, I feel some material may be better suited towards blog posts and videos; however, some material would be better suited in an eBook. Not to mention being able to financially profit from your work. A number of eBook authors offer their work for free. Some others feel they can financially profit from their work, so they offer their eBooks for a certain price. To say one makes a financial living on charging their work for a fee can basically mean someone cares more about making money than expressing oneself. I certainly don't want to carry that mentality in some peoples' minds. But in a way, this is still a business at the end of the day, so people often have to take a business approach to things.
Having said all of this, here is a chance for me to share with you some projects I am working on or considering for when I seriously try to make eBooks. But before I share my project ideas, I want to give you a little background.
eBook Projects: My Considerations.
An important aspect in publishing anything is to consider your audience and what you want to target. There are different kinds of eBooks catering to different audiences. Most of my work will mostly be of the average text variety. So if you prefer eBooks that you can read on your e-Reader device or in an eBook app, that is what I am mainly targeting. I am taking most of my blogging style and offering it to the realm of eBooks. I look at eBook development kind of like making blog posts, only that
Because I intend to sell some of my work online, I am mostly targeting EPUB eBooks as well as the proprietary MOBI format for Amazon Kindle readers. I actually want to get a Kindle eReader for testing purposes. I mostly want to get the basic Kindle e-Reader, though I wouldn't mind having the more popular Kindle Paperwhite. The reason why I want to get the Kindle readers is so I can properly test my eBooks with the Kindle devices. None of the other Kindle devices (such as the Fire series) interest me at all. I don't need all of the extra functionality of those devices since I am only trying to make eBooks.
eBook Projects: Challenges.
The biggest challenge (or fear) I face is in my eBooks not coming out properly. Most of my process is in trying to find a proper workflow to where I am most confident developing eBooks and putting them together. This is why I presently haven't made anything as of yet. I am basically using Notepad++ to develop my HTML pages from scratch to make eBooks. I have various programs capable of managing and developing eBooks- Sigil, Calibre, and even Mobipocket Creator. I am still learning as I go in trying to make eBooks. However, I feel confident enough in my work that I may finally develop something amazing for an eBook.
Despite my optimism, I feel I can only do so much until I get myself an eBook reader. I am mostly fixated on getting an Amazon Kindle reader. Just a base Kindle reader will do for me, even though I wouldn't mind getting the more popular and better favored Amazon Kindle Paperwhite.
Now on to the more important bits.
eBook Projects: Projects Explained
Here is a look at some of the material I have planned. Official names or any other media will be undisclosed until the proper material has been announced and released. Some of the projects described in this section may or may not actually be released.
eBook Project: Life Issues and Advice.
When I first considered making an eBook, one of the first topics I wanted to focus on were on life issues. I tried to build it all at once, but I then thought it would probably be better if I made this a series. This eBook project features a variety of different life issues I thought of and want to offer advice about. It is not definitive advice, but it is at least my own take on things. The reason why I am considering this is because I feel the lives we live are full of negativity and hate. I want to be able to offer something positive to read. Certain personal issues are also featured for insight. Basically... this is a self-help deal based on personal experiences and personal thoughts.
eBook Project: Gaming Thoughts.
This project I haven't started on offers thoughts of mine regarding various aspects of video and computer games. Here is a sample topic- what do I think about people regarding graphics and sound more than actual game play? What do I REALLY think about the independent/indie gaming scene? This is about the same sort of project as the one you just read about. Only difference is that I focus my thoughts on certain aspects of gaming. In one way, it would be silly to offer an eBook on something like gaming when I could probably post certain material in a blog post or something. Conversely, it is better to compile various thoughts on one certain category into an eBook and offer deep details that no blog post or video can express.
eBook Project: YouTube Thoughts.
From my YouTube experiences, I have learned many things and have had many thoughts on simply being a YouTuber. Honest feelings and thoughts are the primary focus of this eBook project. I haven't come up with any draft, but I do feel a bit like there are some honest feelings concerning why I haven't exactly enjoyed very much making videos and interacting with YouTubers. I will express some of those thoughts if I do make an eBook about this topic.
eBook Project: (a comic eBook?)
Could I possibly attempt making a comic-type eBook? I actually was thinking of making comic-style videos for YouTube, but I may consider something similar for an eBook. This will require that I design a bunch of images and put them together into a comic style eBook. The first book I ever bought as an eBook was a comic-style eBook- "I Am Pusheen the Cat." That was basically a series of images to make up an eBook. So I basically know it is possible to come up with an eBook consisting of a bunch of images put together into a book. Would I make one? It's possible. Nothing right away comes to mind as any comic project.
eBook Project: (a Mature or Adult-Oriented project?)
Never am I known to try something totally ambitious. I think I am too much of a nice guy to want to try making material laden with raunchy and explicit material. However... it is a thought I [surprisingly] might entertain. The best reason to consider a project like this would be to show the broad range of one's material. You know, basically to try to offer something to different audiences. It is much the same way you have movies rated by the Motion Picture Association of America with "G" that the an entire family can enjoy, and then you have those movies rated "R" Rated movies. Even worse are those rated "NC-17" by the MPAA that are even raunchier than R-rated movies.
So what is meant by "mature" or "Adult-Oriented?" It could range anything from profoundly violent and offensive material, or it may even involve raunchy romantic and sexy material. I don't have anything planned for this. I may, may not, or may never attempt to make something that I think far exceeds what a general audience would consider too extreme for normal reading.
You now have an idea of some of the different eBook projects I am either working on or considering. I am not sure if there are any topics that could I could possibly take into consideration as far as topics or categories people feel I can take on in making an eBook.
Amazon Kindle Readers (Bonus Section!)
As a way of saying thanks to you for reading this post and to speak of the Kindle readers, why not treat yourself to one if you're an eBook reader? The Kindle Fire and stuff personally don't interest me. So I'm with the e-Reader Kindles. Have a look at these and feel free to take a further look at these if interested:
Feel free to support me and my work any way you can. I thank you for it. Also... happy shopping! :)
I may attempt any number of different projects if I get on some kind of roll creating eBooks. I may even think of certain other projects outside of these mentioned here. Just remember that I will try to push my material. I hope you can support my work any way you can. I will surely announce my material to you all and where you can get it when I do publish material. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.
My MagicaVoxel voxel adventures now involve mechs and robots recently. Conceived as possible projects I want to start with Minecraft, I've been making certain robots and mechs. So I decided to show some of my work with you. This is the latest in a series of models I've been trying to create to further expand my profile of voxel models I have created.
A Special Announcement...
Unless you haven't visited my main blog, "John's Blog Space," I have a new Weebly page showcasing my creative works. I will use that space to feature some of my creative works with all of you. Some of those works include various voxel creations of mine that you've seen here on "John's Creative Space" previously. To visit my Weebly page, you are invited to come here:
Thank you if you do visit. I would appreciate your cooperation.
My Voxel Robots
In recent times, I been compelled to design robot voxel models. If you are expecting something like Gundam, Titanfall, Metal Gear, or anything like that in terms of robots or mechs, look elsewhere. There was a good bit for me to learn in creating these voxel robots.
One of my goals was to design these robots to populate Minecraft as part of a new world I want to create in Minecraft. These robots would be part of a story with this new Minecraft world I want to create. These robots try to merge in with a world already populated with humans and creatures. The world I am envisioning in Minecraft and its story revolve around humans feeling threatened by a combination of its own humans, various creatures, and robots. It kind of draws influence from Final Fantasy, but not deeply entrenched in Final Fantasy. Each class- humans, creatures, and robots- will have one or more characters massive in size and serve as boss characters. Some even may be rare and/or legendary enemies.
The robots I have conceptualized are a combination of various passive and hostile robots. While the models themselves seem out of place for something like Minecraft, they represent models unique to my own style of art and voxel modeling. I want to eventually design a number of robot models of different kinds and sizes. I even envisioned one or more robots to be boss-type characters that are massive in size and capable of massive damage and devastation.
My First Voxel Robot.
^ from: (my MagicaVoxel album on Facebook) - This robot has average claws meant to grasp various objects and even to pierce into intruders.
One look at this robot, and one might think this is a fairly old school robot. And in senses, it is. This is a robot who is meant to be a hostile mob. About as tall as an Enderman, this robot has claw hands meant to grasp people and objects. It has two laser cannons in its hand units to attack from longer distances. Mounted on its chest are two lights to see in dark conditions as well as be able to light up dark areas. There is a big battery pack installed on its back.
This model is another hostile mob. It has two basic gun turrets. Its main purpose is to defend turf from invaders. They are fairly standard issue protection and fairly basic enemies. These robots are about as tall as the main player model in Minecraft.
This model looks pretty wicked, doesn't it? Can't complain when you have eight legs and tote TWO chainguns! This robot doesn't have a technical name, but its hypothetical name is the "Arachne Class." This is a hostile mob that has the same sort of mobility as the basic Spiders in Minecraft, but rather than jump at you, it fires plasma lasers from its two chainguns. It has another mode of attack in the form of a laser beam from its chest. Needless to say, this robot is a total war machine. It is also possible to ride this machine and use it for transportation and battle.
Now you have a little peek at my creations.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post and my work. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.
From my main blog, I have expressed interest in making eBooks recently. I have done a little literature here on "John's Creative Space" before, but never any eBooks. Will you support my work if I make eBooks? This blog post is an opinion-based post regarding my desire to try to make eBooks.
I have been blogging for perhaps a decade. My blogging has been done on Myspace even before Blogger/Blogspot. There is a certain science to designing blog posts such as this one. When it comes to doing eBooks, however, this is a different monster. I think an eBook requires a different level of attention and focus apart from blog posts. A lot of eBooks are offered for free, but many people offer their eBooks for sale on services such as Smashwords, Lulu, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iBooks, and more.
Likenesses of Blogging and eBooks.
Allow me to discuss these two items as a blogger.
Both blogging and eBooks are the same in terms of speaking your mind and expressing yourself any way you please. At least anyone who takes blogging seriously knows the importance of expressing oneself through the means of typing stuff up. Same goes with eBooks. When it comes to making eBooks, you have to express points in a cleaner way than with blog posts. You also have to present material in a way that people will care about it and maybe even justify paying good money for your work.
I am not saying that blogging lacks professionalism, I am just saying that making an eBook is a bit more professional. You have to build your eBook more like a real book with a cover and chapters and such. These are more professional pieces that require a little extra attention to detail than usual. You can offer your eBook work for free, or you can offer your work for a fee. Then again, that's how a lot of freelancers operate with various works.
What Will You See with my eBook Work?
Expect some of the same sort of commentary served up the way I usually do. I will try to bring my opinionated work to the light in my own special way while making sure to express myself as best as possible. The various works I may create can range from personal material to certain entertainment pieces. Regardless, I know what I am trying to do in trying to create material I am hopeful people can find enjoyment in. If you like my blogging, I'm sure you'll find something to love with my eBook work.
Free or Fee?
Most important to me is speaking my mind and offering something to others. While I do want to financially profit from my work, I care more about offering a service and my voice rather than feel like ripping people off. People are going to spend more time with an eBook than with a blog post. An eBook is going to have to offer material that is deeper and richer than most blog posts. People are probably going to download and use your eBook more likely than maybe saving HTML or text copies of your blog posts. So in my view as a publisher, it is probably best to capitalize on your work by making and selling an eBook for profit. I will charge a good bit of my eBook work for a fee, mostly because of the level of importance and detail I think eBooks offer. And believe me- I wouldn't charge anything for any of my work if I didn't feel there was a certain level of importance and opportunity in making eBooks.
Since I never made an eBook prior to this blog post, I'll offer something for free just to make test eBooks. Maybe spread it around and get some reaction. I also will need to make a habit of having devices at the ready to test eBooks on various devices. Once I get a general feel for designing eBooks, I will become a bit more serious and more aggressively offer and create material to sell online. So until I create more proper material warranting for a fee, I will mostly offer material for free.
My eBooks and JCS.
I will probably use JCS to offer some ideas on any book projects I may be working on. Ideas may fall under project names and explained further in individual posts. Those posts may later be updated if I release a proper eBook. The title of the blog post may also change to reflect the name of my eBook(s).
My eBooks and Social Media.
If you feel there are topics you may want to see me try to cover in blog posts or eBooks, then please let me know. I may be able to come up with something interesting if I like your idea(s).
Be sure to stay with my blogging work to see my latest material when they all become available. I hope you all are able to help support my work all the further. You will see bits of my work scattered across my blogs for you to download. So be sure to check out the sidebars, certain links, and stuff like that to see my work being offered to you. Thank you for reading! Take care and be well.
Matilda is a Maltese puppy and Charity's friend. As much as Charity cares about making the world and society as happier places, Matilda has about the same passion. The two got to know each other as Charity helped out Matilda was down on her luck. Feeling as if she owes her one, Matilda decided to join in on the mission to help make the world a more positive place.
Here is Matilda (prototype):
^ from: (my MagicaVoxel album in my Facebook profile) - Matilda is Charity's friend. She is also the first voxel dog I've created. This voxel animal model was created using MagicaVoxel.
Though Charity and Matilda have the same goal, the methodologies of doing so among the two are different. Charity doesn't entirely feel she can make the world better just by doing cute acts and by working to solve problems. Matilda is a bit more serious and doesn't really try to be overly cute. In fact, Matilda would probably say Charity seems too reliant on being cute and trying too hard to win over the respect of people around her.
Creation Notes.
I seem compelled to try to make animals other than cats. As much as I love cats, this was my first attempt at making a dog. I actually am scared of dogs. While I don't know my dogs that well, I do admit that Maltese puppies are lovely dogs. The model I created was loosely based on my model of Charity. I didn't know how to design a Maltese puppy to the best of my ability. So I took a few different pictures and made my own interpretation of a Maltese puppy. I almost thought of giving Matilda a red collar, but I wanted to offer some difference between Charity and Matilda. So I gave her a blue dog collar.
So that is a rather brief look at one of my other original characters.
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When I am not blogging, I am trying to make content to my creative works studio I call "JohnMarineDesigns." Donations can help me to provide more content and even finance getting certain programs and licenses. Would you like to donate to support my creative work on ? Donations to JMDesigns are voluntary, but would be appreciated:
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Creative Links
You can now find MANY Creative Resources by clicking here: Creative Resources!
All of the work that I've produced for this blog and elsewhere are my own property. It is very much okay if you use my work, but be sure to give credit back to me. Plagiarizing isn't cool. Most of the material I've created is basically my own original work. Sure, I am inspired by lots of things; but for the most part, most of what I have created is (to my knowledge) very original.
If you would like to use my material in creative works or projects, please contact me. I may not respond directly or be able to efficiently work with you, but I will try to work with you to make both of us happy.
Yours truly is an eBook author! If you would like to take a look at my eBooks, please use this section to take a look at my eBooks. I would appreciate your business should I interested you in my eBook work.
