The Asset Library allows you to access, import, and organize all your project assets.
By default a UI folder automatically created containing some UI assets to use. You can import custom assets, or get more free assets from the hyperPad Asset Shop.
Assets are categorized by type. Each asset has a label with it's asset type below the name. Asset types include: Graphics, TTF Fonts, BM Fonts, Sounds, Particles, Animated.
Get Assets
From the hyperPad asset shop you can get free assets to get you started. The Asset Shop is always being updated with new content, so be sure to check back often.
Multi-Select Assets
From the left sidebar in the asset library, you can press on the checkmark to enable multi-select. Multi-select allows you to select multiple assets and perform actions on each one of them at once.
Tap and hold on any of the selected assets to see all the available options you can perform on each of the selected assets.
When importing animations from the asset library (such as importing frames to a Play Animation behavior), you can select all the assets you want to add, then tap and hold on any of the selected assets to import them as frames.
Create Effects
You can launch the Sound Editor, or the Particle Editor from the Create Effects option in the Asset Library. Optionally, you can tap and hold on a sound or particle asset in the asset library to have an option to edit it.
Import Assets
You can import assets from the Camera Roll, Dropbox, and iTunes. Additionally compatible apps can share content with hyperPad using the "Open In.." dialog in iOS.
Asset Menu
If you tap and hold any asset it will open the Asset Menu. The Asset Menu is used to modify, and perform specific actions on your asset. The Asset Menu contains different options for the various asset types.
Asset Types
Graphics
Graphic assets are just standard images. hyperPad supports all the standard image formats that your iPad supports. You can even import images with transparent elements.
For best results you should use PNG files, as they support transparency and are a lossless format. Image types like JPG don’t support any transparency and are compressed which results in a lower image quality.
For best performance, avoid transparent images with large empty spaces around your graphic.
When creating your graphics you should make sure everything fits within the iPads screen size.
There are 2 resolutions for the iPad, 1024×768 for regular devices and 2048×1536 for retina devices. You should always try to create the graphics for the highest resolution supported as hyperPad will automatically create non retina versions for you. So when creating graphics and illustrations for your projects you should make sure your artwork is designed for 2048x1536 resolution.
Also keep in mind that the maximum image size that can be imported is 2048×2048 pixels.
Animated
Assets with the Animated label are essentially folders that contain Animation Cycles (Animations) within. You can learn more about Importing and Using Animations in the related article.
If you’re working with animations, make sure each animation frame is exactly the same resolution, and the artwork is in the exact center of image or doesn’t move around
Sounds
Any sound or music file imported, or created with the built-in sound effects editor are labeled as a sound. If the sound effect was created with the built-in sound effects editor, you can tap and hold on the asset to edit it.
hyperPad can playback all audio formats supported by iOS. This includes MP3, MP4, M4A, M4R, WAV, PCM, AIFF, and more. For a full list see Apples iOS Developer Library.
Note that if you're using the import functionality of the Asset Library, the audio file will be converted to M4A. If you wish to keep the original file format, then you must "Link With Dropbox", and add your audio through a dropbox app, web browser, or desktop computer. See "Importing Assets" for more info on importing and linking with Dropbox.
Particle
Any Particle Effect created with the built in particle editor will be labeled as a Particle asset. You can tap and hold on the asset to edit it in the particle editor. You can add a Particle asset to your scene by selecting it and dragging it on the canvas like any other asset.
TTF Font
TTF fonts (True Type Font) are vectorized fonts that can have various modifiable appearance settings. If you add a Label object from the Special Objects icon on the Dock (see Object Dock help documentation) you can use any TTF font to change the appearance.
You can also select a TTF font to add it to the dock and drag it onto the Canvas. Dragging a TTF font on the canvas will automatically create a label object with that font automatically selected for you.
You can import custom TTF fonts using Dropbox, or use the built in system fonts by using the Import option on the left panel of the Asset Library.
BM Font
BMFonts (Bitmap Fonts) are similar to TTF fonts, however they use an actual image as the font, rather than vectorized data. This means you can't change the font size from the object properties, and scaling the font object will result in pixelated graphics.
BMFonts are better for performance. If you have a lot of labels in your scene with rapidly changing text, it may be better to us a BMFont instead of TTF Fonts.
To import BMFonts you must link your project with Dropbox and use the Dropbx Sync functionality. BMFonts are comprised of 2 parts. The font image (PNG), and the metadata file (FNT). All BMFonts must include a PNG and FNT sharing the same name. e. MyFont.PNG and MyFont.FNT.
Unlike other image based assets, BMFonts will not generate an SD (Non-Retina) resolution version. If you want to support Retina and Non Retina, you must create your own HD and SD versions. Retina Graphics are typically 2X the size. For a Retina HD version you must use the following naming convention: MyFont-hd.PNG MyFont.PNG, MyFont-hd.FNT, and MyFont.FNT. Notice that the retina version has an "hd" added to the filename. Additionally, the hd is case sensitive. You must use a lowercase "hd" at the end of your name.
You can use tools like "bmGlyph" to generate compatible BMfronts from existing fonts. You can also use any other tool capable of creating a BMfont that is compatible with "Cocos2D".
9 Slice objects (sometimes referred as 9 Patch) are objects with user defined margins that divide an image into 9 sections and change the way the object scales.
Scaling or resizing a 9 Slice object will scale the centre, and move the corners outwards so the edges of the the graphic maintain their shape and appearance. You can learn more about 9 Slice Assets in the related article.
3 Comments