Many people build systems to smooth the experiences of minting NFTs. A candy machine is among the best in the market. This blog walks you through how to create an NFT Candy Machine in simple words. Scroll down for further details!
What is a Candy Machine?
In this digital era, NFTs have become a popular form in art exhibitions, online auctions, and the gaming industry. To ease the process of building an NFT, many pioneer technology firms step in and create superior NFT-minting products.
Candy Machine v2 is an NFT-minting tool based on the Metaplex CLI. Also, it can connect a picture and relevant metadata to the NFT token with a setup of a fair auction comprising two separate components.
What are Solana NFTs?
Solana is among the top favorite crypto. – Source: Forkast
Solana, a blockchain platform, hosts scalable applications with a decentralized system. It was set up in 2017 as an open-source project by the Geneva-based Solana Foundation. Some advantages that Solana has over its rival blockchain such as Ethereum include faster transactions and lower transferring fees.
Instead of being only a blockchain , Solana has its own cryptocurrency having the same name with a ticker symbol SOL. It rocketed around 12,000% in 2021 and had a market capitalization of more than $66 billion. SOL became the top 5 largest cryptocurrencies at that time.
The crypto bloodbath of 2022 did not leave SOL as an exception. Its market capitalization dropped to around $11.2 billion, making it 9th place in this term in the market.
What is Metaplex ?
Metaplex is an ideal ecosystem for NFT development.
Metaplex is a Solana-based ecosystem for marketplaces, games, arts, and collectibles. It offers principles and tools to smoothen the development of NFTs , such as smart contracts. There are four main contracts in the Metaplex network, including Token Metadata, Token Vault, Auction, and Metaplex.
Besides, it allows developers to mint Solana NFTs having a decentralized system with powerful toolkits. So, you can feel free with the customization while having a smooth experience of NFT creation.
Yet, one of the biggest edges that Metaplex has over other networks is that it is free to use. You do not have to pay any cost to access this ecosystem.
How to Mint an NFT Candy Machine with Metaplex
A detailed guideline on how to create an NFT Candy Machine
An Initial Setup
Before using the NFT Candy Machine v2, you need tools such as Git, Nodes.js, yarn, and TypeScript node (Ts-node).
- Git supports the clone of the repository.
- Node.js works as a Javascript runtime.
- Yarn smoothes the installation of the compulsory dependencies.
- Ts-Node is in charge of an execution environment.
A little side note for those who use an Apple M1 chip is that they need to install additional dependencies (“brew install pkg-config cairo pango libpng jpeg giflib librsvg”).
After preparing all the tools above, you can clone and install Metaplex by accessing the URL in the Metaplex docs or the code provided by third parties such as Moralis and QuickNode.
Build Your Local Solana Wallet
NFT Candy Machine works on the Solana blockchain so you need to have a Solana wallet with the required amount of SOL to pay for transaction fees. Solana Toll Suite supports the creation of a local wallet without any effort.
The recommendation is not to keep the greater amounts of funds than the required level for the development. So, you can save your money and wallet from thieves.
We will walk you through the steps to create your local Solana wallet.
- Access the “Solana-version” command into your terminal.
- Fill out the “Solana address” command.
- Enter the “Solana balance” command.
You can find a guide on your Solana address and the setup of your new devnet wallet in the Metaplex docs.
In the case of focusing on the Solana devnet, you can earn SOL for free. As a result, you just need to enter the “Solana Airdrop 2” command for two SOL tokens in your wallet.
Yet, if you want to take your NFT Candy Machine to the Solana mainnet, it is essential to have real SOL. So, it requires the usage of a reputable exchange for the purchase and transfer of SOLs to your wallet.
Configure Your NFT Candy Machine V2
You can use Moralis or Quick Node to access the cloned project. For example, Moralis uses Visual Studio Code (VSC) so it can be a shortcut to following the lead in the case that you use the same IDE.
The configuration can be found in the file “example-candy-machine-upload-config.json”. You can use Arweave or many other reputable alternatives for the storage of assets.
Prepare for the Assets Such as Images and Metadata
Two main types of assets for NFT building are images (e.g. PNG), the tangible part of NFTs, and metadata (in the JSON files), providing the details for minting.
Make Your NFT Candy Machine and Upload Your Assets
Once you create your assets, you can upload your assets to a cloud service like Arweave. All you need to do is to copy the command in the Metaplex docs and edit the paths to match the cloned project.
The command lines mean that you use your NFT Candy Machine on the Solana devnet. Hit “enter” once you apply all the necessary tweaks. Then, you finish the upload of all the assets and the creation of the instance in the NFT Candy Machine program.
Candy Machine and NFT Collections
You can now build up your NFT collections. Typically, you can find the command line in the Metaplex docs to have a collection for all your assets, as part of your NFTs’ details in the mint process.
Having the Asset Upload Verified
Although this step is not mandatory, it is advisable action to have a proper and secure process of asset upload on the platform.
Minting Solana NFTs
The Video Tutorial of Minting NFTs – Source: Moralis
Once you complete all the stages above, your Solana NFTs are now created. The smooth process can take place thanks to the insightful design of Metaplex as you can copy the standard command lines in the Metaplex docs.
There are two options that you can adopt to mint Solana NFTs. The first way is to have Solana NFTs minted individually while the second approach is to have a batch or bulk minting, indicating that you can create several NFTs in only one transaction.
It can take your assets in the form of NFTs to finish this minting process. After that, the Solana explorer is unable to view the details of those NFTs.
In Conclusion
It is crucial to learn about Solana and Metaplex so that you can fully understand how to create an NFT candy machine. This blog briefly shares the overview of these terms to build a strong base and shares the details of every step in the process. We hope it can ease the minting process of NFTs.
