I’ve been using Sencha Touch for some time now and really love it. Sencha has other frameworks and software that don’t much interest me, but I have been intrigued with their mobile-animation offering, Sencha Animator. Primarily because it promotes the use of CSS3 animations over Flash.
I have been rolling my own CSS for around 12–13 years so WYSIWYG tools aren’t a part of my arsenal. But CSS3 animations are pretty time consuming to code by hand, so I decided I’m going to give it a go. And it has particular relevance to me because I am working on a new version of my mobile app for kids, Creature Mixup, in which I am considering some animation.
While pondering the use of Sencha Animator I discovered this awesome article which showcases use of a CSS3 animation in an iBook. For years I’ve been fascinated with the possibility of seeing video and animation in news articles and books. Not just embedded videos that you can click to watch, but moving pictures as seen in the Daily Prophet in the Harry Potter movies. And CSS3 animations are the answer. Especially in the world of mobile.
If “living” newspapers and books are among your dreams, check out Luca Candela’s “How to Embed Interactive CSS3 Animations in an iBook” for a glimpse into how to bring them to fruition. And watch the brief video below which shows a CSS3 iBook animation in action.
