Breakthroughs: Webcomics LIVE with FILM LOOP
I just discovered this new online software called FILM LOOP– It’s the premiere photocasting tool , allowing you to either setup your own photostreams, or have shared photostreams allowing your readers to add their own images–
Download it now and subscribe to my Yirmumah Comic Loop, it’s free and safe:
This sort of thing could be pretty big for webcomic or independent comics– especially for users who don’t have much knowledge of web design, this pretty much does it for you– when you want to add a new image or page to your stream, you just drag and drop it over. It automatically gets delivered to subcribers desktop browsers– also, when they click the thumbnails in the stream, it opens in it’s own browser windo that becomes it’s own archive of next and previous buttons, which allow users to comment on the entries, etc.
A creator without much web experience could create his sample feed and enourage people to subscribe to new issues– Right now, it’s for non-commercial use, but you could possibly charge access to a new issue feed, and add the persons e-mail to the invite tab of a private feed.
I’m thinking about having a CLUB feed for my club members, they get to see the newest strips I do in my buffer in my forum currently, but it would be even cooler just to have a drag and drop action that would allow readers to open up the loop browser and check for new content remotely.
There are also several other types of feeds available, and I guess you can add RSS photo feeds to the service as well.
The program itself is pretty broad, with lots of possibilites for the creative. There’s also little neat options enclosed, that allow users to have the streams play as their screensavers, etc. Pretty neat stuff. I expect many other webcomics to use this sort of technology in the future. I have seen other small groups attempt this same sort of thing to no avail– but this service seems like it’ll be used ALL Over the internet soon, so get in and learn about it while it’s hot.
I found a similar service a few weeks ago called Slide (www.slide.com). I think that a tool such as these could become a kind of “funny pages” for websites, allowing individual sites to collect a large number of comics within the reader’s visibility (like newspaper comic pages).
For example, the entertainment section of a news site could have one of these image-strips along the top of the page and allow the rest of the page’s real estate to be filled with written articles.
And if this does happen, I can see comic collectives like Boxcar Comics and Blank Label Comics offering FilmLoop/Slide webcomic packages that include their member comics to client sites.
Comment by Keith — March 7, 2006 @ 4:48 pm
I started looking into Slide again. (It seemed friendlier than Film Loop, if only because it didn’t block part of the ticker for those who were not members.) Turns out they added in a “multiple tooncast” feature like the one I described.
Now you can have Slide incorporate images from an RSS feed into its ticker. I created a special RSS feed and Slide ticker for Local Heroes to see if multi-tooncasting can work. Check out the final version here on the Local Heroes archives index: http://www.localheroes.us/archives/
I ran into one bit of trouble while experimenting with Slide: The ticker feed code they supply doesn’t work. I assumed the broken code was actually supposed to be the same as the working code that Slide used on their own page. I copied the working code to my site and the ticker started working properly. Still some bugs to work out, but then again it *is* still listed as a “beta.”
Comment by Keith — March 13, 2006 @ 1:17 am
Yeah, I checked out SLIDE, I don’t like that you can’t control moving the images back and forth or reversing it. With filmloop, it lets you use a slider on the bottom– and it allows you to leave comments on your image, etc. Another bonus of FilmLoop is the alert system, i don’t see that in SLide anywhere, or I might have missed it… but when a new image pops in the loops, it blinks like an instant message.
One more thing, playing with both of them, I kinda like the neat drag and drop of filmloop a little better for updating the loop. It’s SUPER fast and I can do it from my desktop instead of having the image already hosted online somewhere.
One thing I hope FilmLoop ads is the ability to showcase a sample stream with the scroll bar on the bottom, and also has the frame actions, so people can jump to certain strips in the archives of sites like you have yours setup.
Comment by DJ — March 13, 2006 @ 2:00 am
Enjoyed your blog this morning. MonicaX
Comment by MonicaX — April 25, 2006 @ 11:09 am