Captain Captivate

Captivate 5 New Features Webinar

Posted on 26. May, 2010 by captivatehero.

Join me for a free 2 hour webinar on all the new features of Captivate 5. Will two hours be enough time? The Captain is going to do his best to knock it out!

Date: June 11

Time: 12-2PM EST

Space is limited to the first 100 registrations - so sign up now!

Click to register and get all the details.

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Adobe Captivate 5 and eLearning Suite 2 Announced!

Posted on 04. May, 2010 by captivatehero.

Today Adobe announced the update to Adobe Captivate 5 and eLearning Suite 2. This is a detailed list of all the new features and my own commentary.  This release is defiantly a game changer for rapid eLearning development, and will really spice up my Captivate 5 training classes.

Captivate 5 New Features :

Optimized User Interface

• If you have been using any of the CS4/CS5 products then this new interface is going to feeling like home. You will be able to fully customize the layout of panels in Captivate 5 and save it out as your own custom Workspace. This is really going to help Captivate users who are working with multiple monitors. Also, the new Property Inspector will seem foreign to those of you who just use Captivate, but over time will become indispensable as you build your content. Finally, there is paste board/scratch area so you can have content off the screen, or partially on the screen. This is going to come in handy for introducing content with the new Animation Effects (see below).

Collaborate via Acrobat.com

• The integration of Captivate 5 and Acrobat.com will be a nice added benefit for anyone who can use the Acrobat.com service. Send Captivate review files to Acrobat.com for a Shared Review, and notify your team members with an e-mail blast right from Captivate 5. All of your files will be accessible to team members across the internet, and you will be able to track changes remotely.  You can post Captivate development files to Acrobat.com for backup or share them with a team member. With 5 gigabytes of storage for free - there is a lot of space to work with.

Rich Animation Effects

• Captivate 5 now has the ability to animate your objects using the new Effects panel. There are over 130 of pre-built animations that you can take advantage of by just choosing the effect from a menu and setting the timings. Multiple effects can played in sequence and some can even be played concurrently. One of my favorite effects is the motion path. You click on a small icon that appears in the lower right corner of your object and a motion path editor become enabled. This is a feature really should be put in Flash for aspiring animators. Now for you advanced Flash jockeys out there - you will be able to export your Motion XML files and use them as a Custom Effect. This is going to allow for the easy expansion of animation capabilities in Captivate 5.

Open Multiple Projects and New File Format

• You can now have multiple projects and Captivate Libraries open at the same time. Gone are the days of having multiple versions of Captivate open at the same time! Copy and paste assets between files with ease and drag and drop Library elements from different files. You will notice that there is a new file extension: .CPTX.

Object Styles

• Design Templates in Captivate are no more. They have been replaced with new Object Styles feature. You will now be able to select an object in Captivate 5 and format it visually with a default style or something that you whip up. Some formatting options of objects include Character, Text  Format, Fill & Stoke, and Transition.  Here is a big one: Quiz question elements can now set up with styles including the progress indicator.  Once you make a change to a Captivate Style it will easily propagate those changes throughout your entire Captivate development document. The Object Styles Manager panel will be intimidating at first, but once you get the hang of it will prove to be one of the most powerful new features in this product.

Track & Report via Acrobat.com

• Attention all small and medium businesses… you now have a way to track your courses without a learning management system! This is all done by using the new Adobe Captivate Quiz Results Analyzer, or what I would like term ACQuRA - pronounced just like the car. All you need is an account to Acrobat.com and you are in business. When you set up reporting for your Captivate 5 files just pick Acrobat.com for eLearning reporting, and your student results are then written to the Acrobat.com cloud. The “ACQuRA” desktop application then kicks in an analyzes the files and will generate a report for you. Also, it has the ability to download to a file, export to .CSV, customize reports and hook up to external servers. This feature alone would sell me on an upgrade to Captivate 5. I can only imagine how many users are going to be praising Adobe for this functionality.

Multi-Video format Support

• With Captive 5 you will now be able to use FLV, F4V, AVI, MP4, MOV and 3GP for all your video needs.

Master Slides

• This feature is for all of you who have been saying to yourself, “I wish that Captivate had Master slides like PowerPoint.” Master slides in Captivate 5 allow you to add elements and set up a layout. You can have multiple Master slides in a project, and create new slides based upon a Master slide. Changes to a Master slide will update all slides based upon that Master. Using Master slides with Captivate Templates is going to be an amazing one-two punch for eLearning development.

Span & Synch Video

• This includes placing one video on a slide, or having your video span across multiple slides. The new Video Timing panel will give you precise control over when your video plays and the timing of other Captivate events. Another new feature is the ability to place video on the Table of Contents using the Video Timing Panel. Your TOC will slide down to reveal a video for the slide and then slide back up when the video is done playing.

Expanded Asset Library

• Get a larger set of prebuilt widgets, playbars, skins, stock animations, images, text captions, and buttons with superior aesthetics and usability.

Adobe Captivate Twitter Widget

• I have yet to use this widget so I really can’t say too much other than it’s going to be nice to have a hook into a social media site like Twitter. I would imagine that this will close feedback loops when students have comments on a course.

Enhanced Rich Media Support

• Better support for Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 animations.

Community Help

• There is a new Adobe AIR application that will search the Adobe help files and specific related sites that have a wealth of information. You can think of this as a hyper focused Google search with a nice interface. It’s nice to have an organized way tap into the user community for knowledge.

Enhanced Custom Widgets

• There’s a large amount of  new widgets that will expand the functionality of your courses. Some of them include: webcam access, volume control, external video link, timer, text area tied to a variable, custom caption, data table, slide numbering, quote of the day, print, podcast link, new playbar designs, help link, hangman game, send email, open web browser and ask the expert/send an email.

Macintosh Version

• Captivate 5 is now available for the Macintosh OS. Welcome Mac enthusiasts to the world of Captivate!

Screen Recording Workflow

• Brand new countdown and interface to start a recording. The quality of panning has increased, and there are other tweaks under the hood that are going to give you cleaner recordings.

Audio Recording/Editing Workflow

• There ’s a new audio recording window and edit window for you to take in. You have just about the same functionality as the previous version of Captivate, but this new interface will speed up your audio production. It’s going to be a breeze for those of you who add closed captioning.

eLearning Suite 2 New Features:

1. Round-tripping between Adobe Captivate 5 and Adobe Soundbooth CS5
2. Round-tripping between Adobe Captivate 5 and Adobe Flash Professional CS5
3. Round-tripping between Adobe Captivate 5 and Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended
4. Multi-video support and Synchronization leveraging Adobe Media Encoder
5. Application capture in Adobe Flash Professional CS5
6. Domain-specific HTML templates
7. No LMS Required: Tracking and reporting of Learning outcomes
8. Optimized user interface of Adobe Captivate 5
9. Easy/ Enhanced Multi-Module SCORM / AICC LMS Integration

I’m really looking forward to these new products and all the options for creating amazing eLearning content.

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Displaying the Slide Label on the Screen in Captivate 4

Posted on 11. Mar, 2010 by captivatehero.

Time for some system variables in Captivate 4! Who’s ready?

You are going to use the System variable – cpInfoCurrentSlideLabel - to display the name of the Slide Label on each slide. This will save you a tremendous amount of time if you need to put a custom title on each screen.

1. Create a blank .CP file
2. In the Filmstrip – navigate to slide 1
3. Double click slide 1 and add the Slide Label: Main Menu
4. Click OK in the Slide Properties dialog box
5. Create a new Text Caption in slide 1
6. Double click the caption to edit it
7. From the Text Edit toolbar above the work area – click on the Insert Variable button
8. In the Variable Type drop down menu choose System
9. In the View By menu select – MovieInformation
10. From the Variables menu select the cpInfoCurrenSlideLabel variable
11. Set the Maximum Length to 50. This will allow for really long slide titles
12. Click the OK Button

You now see the Variable displayed in the Text Caption. To display the title on every screen you will need to change the properties of the Text Caption

1. Right click the text caption
2. Select Properties… in the contextual menu
3. In the New Text Caption dialog box – select the Options Tab
4. Set the Following:

1. Click the OK Button to set your text
2. Test you work by Previewing the Project

You will now see the title “Main Menu” appear in you slide. Try duplicating this slide a few times and change each slide label. When you preview your project - the variable will now update with each slide’s label information.

The Captain loves these variables!

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Useful Captivate 4 Variables

Posted on 15. May, 2009 by captivatehero.

The Captain noticed a great post today on the Adobe Captivate blog that lists all the Captivate 4 system variables, their default values, and a description. This is a great supplement to the Captivate 4 Help file - which only lists the older RoboDemo variables that begin with the prefix “rd”.  I think one of the challenges of using the variables is the time it takes to test them out to validate functionality. This list is going to help decipher what these variables are used for.

Here’s a list of some of the variables that I find interesting, and that will most likely be used in my Captivate 4 projects:

This is only the tip of the iceberg. There are many more variables that allow you to:

• Control the Captivate movie
• Pull Captivate movie information
• Grab Captivate movie metadata
• Grab System information
• Display Quiz information

In my next few posts, the Captain will be diving in deep with examples on how you can use Captivate 4 variables to extend the capabilites of your next course.

Until then - happy Captivating!

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Captivate 3 Tip: Using a Highlight Box as a Cover

Posted on 03. Dec, 2008 by captivatehero.

Most Captivate developers encounter a Highlight box for the first time as part of a Demonstration Recording. This faint flash of color to draw the user’s attention is great for simulation recordings, but there is another way that you can take advantage of this Captivate object.

Here’s a dirty little secret: a Highlight box can be used to cover up square areas of your screen temporarily or even permanently.

A good example would be an application that has yet to be rolled-out, and you have been tasked with building an eLearning module for that app. (I’m sure I just heard some groans.) Guaranteed that some system function will be stripped away before an application is released.

Let’s say that the development team decides to remove a check box from the application, and you have 80 background screens in Captivate with that check box. Now, that’s a problem. Along comes the Highlight Box to save the day.

Here’s an easy way to get rid of a that problematic interface element:

1. Identify object or area to cover.
In this case - the area is the check box and label “Remember me on this computer.” The screen capture is part of an image on the slide background.  For the best results, the new Highlight Box must be in the layer above your background.

The highlight box will be above the slide background.

Select the Pick color tool and click your application background color for a perfect match.

2. Create the Highlight Box.
From the Main Menu select Insert > Highlight Box (SHIFT+CTRL+L)

Set the following attributes in the New Highlight Box window :

• Frame color: White (This can be any color!)
• Fill Color: Match your application background color with the eyedropper tool.
• Frame Width: 0
• Fill Transparency: 0%
• The Fill outer area box is unchecked

Select the Options tab and set these values:

• In the Timing Area set these values: Display for: rest of slide - Appear after 0.0 seconds.
• In the Transition Area set the Effect to no transition.

Click the OK button.

3. In the timeline, click and drag the new Highlight Box above the Background Layer.
You can never have visual content below the Slide Background – that’s impossible in Captivate.

4. Resize the Highlight Box and cover the checkbox and label.
You may have to lock a few layers down to do this depending upon the complexity of your Captivate slide.

5. Select Preview > Next 5 slides from the Captivate Tool Bar.

Good-bye offending interface element! Remember this techniques works well in situations that a visual element may or may not be a part of the final movie. Those developers may come back and say, “Hey - can you put that check-box back?.”

A couple quick notes:

• You can always remove the Highlight Box cover if functionality returns to the application you are recording.
• You can copy and paste the Highlight Box to other screens if needed.
• Right-click the Highlight Box and select Merge to Background if you want this to be a permanent change.

I have been using this same technique for years and it has never failed me. Now you have one more tool in your Captivate tool belt.

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Adobe Learning Summit Activities

Posted on 10. Nov, 2008 by captivatehero.

It’s not all work for the Captain.

After practicing our presentations at the Adobe Learning Summit the speakers made our way over to Gorden Biersch for some food, drinks and fun. It was nice to meet the marketing power behind Connect and other Adobe learning products.

The files from my presentation can be found here:
Captivate 3 Work Flow Presentation Files

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Adobe Learning Summit 2008

Posted on 16. Sep, 2008 by captivatehero.

The Captain will be speaking at the Adobe Learning Summit in San Jose on November 10, 2008. Don’t bother looking for me in my costume - I’ll be in my civilian clothes talking about Captivate 3 Workflow Strategies.

I’m looking forward to this event. It will be my first eLearning Summit, and DevLearn conference. There will be tons of sessions on Captivate, Flash, and mobile learning. This looks to be a great conference.

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Adobe® eLearning Challenge

Posted on 29. Aug, 2008 by captivatehero.

Adobe recently announced the Adobe® eLearning Challenge.

As the tagline reads: “Show your Adobe eLearning skills and you could win attendance to the Adobe eLearning Summit in California and Adobe software!”

All you have to do is create a video, or sequence of images of your eLearning work and post it to the BrickFish website. There are numerous categories that you can win in including best video, best image, best blog, and most viral.

You can use any Adobe tool for your content creation - Captivate, Flash, Presenter, Connect, Dreamweaver, or even Director.  The contest is running until October 5, 2008.

Upload your best work to win!

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Adobe Announces Flex 3.0 and Air 1.0 – Why Should You Care?

Posted on 26. Feb, 2008 by captivatehero.

The Captain is excited about this one.

Adobe Flex has matured into a real development tool for all web based applications. It has had it’s bumps in road with version 1.0 and 2.0, but the Flex 3.0 release is just amazing.

Some of the features that I like:

• It is open source. Yup. There’s a Software Development Kit (SDK) ready for download. This will allow for full customization of the tool, and foster innovation.
• Smaller SWF files.
• Better Web Service integration.
• OpenType Font support. — Excellent.
• The ability to export Flex formats from other CS3 tools like Photoshop and Flash. Great Designer/Developer work flow item.

And finally – the ability to publish to AIR 1.0.

Now for those of you who are not familiar with AIR – just think of it as a rich internet application for your desktop. You will be able to run E-bay and Amazon– with better usability and improved functionality. Wow – image that.

Ok – so why should you care about AIR 1.0?

I know there is a tremendous movement right now towards eLearning content management systems (ECMS). With multiple delivery channels and mediums out there – it’s getting pretty darn tough to keep up with it all. So it’s inevitable that systems will be built to handle the massive quantities of training materials that need to be produced. So the vision here is that we will eventually have an ECMS on the back end that will feed into an AIR front end on the desktop.

I feel that Adobe AIR will be that technology that brings eLearning back to the desktop. Yes—I said it—back to the desktop. Can you imagine – PDF’s, Flash Movies, HTML, Video, Audio, etc. in a framework that actually makes sense. I wouldn’t be surprised if the LMS vendors are investigating it right now. Take a look at this eBay demonstration to see what I’m talking about:

You can download the application and try it yourself.
(Please keep in mind that to see this application run you will be asked to install the AIR client!)

It’s going to be awhile before we see anything to market, but my bet is on AIR bringing eLearning desktop delivery back.

Be prepared IT departments!

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