Start-to-Finish: My Little Pony Interactive

May 19, 2012

David Anderson
By David Anderson

Admittedly, I couldn't tell Twilight from Applejack two weeks ago. That's changed. Ever since my 3-yr old discovered the Little Pony characters, I feel like I've known them my entire life.

To show her that Storyline isn't just for grown-ups, I worked in some of her toys to create a simple, yet practical, interaction.

Published

Source files

Video tutorials:

  1. Overview
  2. Customizing the slide master, inserting images and naming timeline layers
  3. Inserting slide layers and adding content
  4. Inserting hotspots, adding triggers and slide transitions
  5. Inserting and editing audio on slide layers
30 Replies
Nancy Woinoski
almost 11 years ago05/20/12 at 12:58 am (UTC)

I can't believe I'm saying this but you've made me a fan of my little pony. The voice really makes this special.

Save, I did notice one little odd thing when playing it on my iPad2. When I returned to the player library after viewing the demo, I can see the green hotspot outlines around the ponies on the title screen (the one with the big play button on it). 

David Anderson
almost 11 years ago05/21/12 at 3:03 am (UTC)

Hi Nancy!

I see what you're talking about. You'll also see it on the launch page when you first click the link on the iPad. That's the auto-generated thumbnail.

You can select the starting thumbnail from the Publish > Project Info window:

In my case, I only have one slide and the slide includes the hotspots. I could see where we would want to exclude invisible items from the thumbnail so I'll send that in as a feature request.

You can swap out the auto-generated thumbnail using one of your own by going into the published output and updating the thumbnail.jpg file:

Jill McNair
almost 11 years ago05/21/12 at 11:01 am (UTC)

David,

This is so awesome.  Some day soon I can see your daughter telling you to move because it's her turn to use Storyline.    

Regarding lining up the ponies:

I love to line things up precisely, and I was thinking of a way that might make it easier to line up the ponies.  Do you think this would work?    

  1. Instead of using the background that contains the ponies, place an image of the keyboard/desk area without the ponies onto the Master slide.
  2. Add the pony images to the Master slide, one at a time. Right click on each, select 'Size and Position', and write down the exact horizontal and vertical coordinates for each pony.  
  3. When placing the pony on each layer, go to the 'Size and Position' menu again and add the corresponding position coordinates.  Voila!  Perfectly precise pony positioning!
David Anderson
almost 11 years ago05/21/12 at 11:18 am (UTC)

@Stephanie - Yup! She works for ponies, Legos, Olivia books and puppies. Those are her terms--they're negotiable every 15 minutes.

@Jill - This type of project is a little fussy since it's based off a flattened photo. If you used a tripod to balance the camera both without ponies and with ponies, your way would be ideal. Great idea!

Bruce Graham
almost 11 years ago05/21/12 at 12:36 pm (UTC)

Montse Posner Anderson said:

Bruce Graham said:

A fabulous tutorial - loved it.

My version

Bruce


LOL!!!!! That was hysterical!  My child is way cuter and she can do an English accent.  It's what happens when you read Beatrix Potter! Oh dear, I sense a challenge coming on... "Ellie! come here real quick!"


I cannot do a very convincing boys voice, but I am CERTAINLY up for a challenge

Bring it on....

Bruce

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