The Logical Blog by IconLogic

TechSmith Camtasia: Set the Default Cursor Scale

I received the following comment on a video that I posted to my YouTube channel:

 

I am trying to find out how to make the mouse the size you want in a recording before the recording begins. How to set the default size to something normal. It would be nice to cut this by changing the cursor step out for every recording if you already know what size one wants before a recording. I want my cursor at 100% for every recording during a big project I am working on. Let me know if you know this information. Thanks.

 

Great question! With a Camtasia project open, choose Edit > Preferences. On the Project tab, you can set the default cursor scale by dragging the slider left or right and then clicking the OK button.

 

 

 

Adobe Captivate 2019: Is a Non-Responsive Project Still Mobile-Friendly?

I received the following question from a former student who attended one of my vILT Adobe Captivate training courses.

During the class, you told us how to make a project responsive without creating a “responsive project.” I’ve tried to find that part of your recorded sessions, but I’m not having much luck. Can you remind me of how this is accomplished?

You cannot create a responsive Captivate project without creating a responsive project (File > New > Responsive project). If you work in standard Captivate (File > New > Project), as most people do, the output will not be responsive at all. However, being non-responsive does not mean that your published output will not work on mobile devices. Because you’re publishing as HTML5, mobile support is there by default. However, you need to remember to select “Scalable HTML Content” in the Publish dialog box prior to publishing.

Once you do that, not only will the project work on mobile devices, it will resize automatically to support all screen sizes.

Articulate Storyline 360: Background Audio Now Supported

Earlier this month, Articulate released an update to Storyline 360 (build 3.74.30180.0) that allows you to include background audio in your published eLearning project. 

To add background audio to a Storyline project:

1. Ensure you have the latest update. (To get the latest Storyline update, start Articulate 360. If there's an update available for any of the tools that make up the Articulate 360 suite, you'll be alerted via a drop-down menu to the right of the application name.)
2. Open a Storyline project and open a slide.
3. Go to the Insert tab on the Storyline ribbon and click the Audio drop-down arrow.
4. Hover over Background Audio and choose Create Playlist to open the Background Playlist window.
5. Click the Add Audio icon (the plus sign) and select Audio from File or Media Library to upload your audio. (Note: You can import the following audio formats into Storyline: AAC, AIF, AIFF, M4A, MP3, OGG, WAV, and WMA.)

Your playlist can contain as many audio files as you like. From the Playlist Settings area, it's ideal to fade the music in and out. From the Slide-Related Settings area, lowering the background audio if there's competing audio added to an individual slide is also a great idea. You'll need to experiment with the exact percentage for lowering the audio. In my experience, the default 50% setting isn't always enough. To avoid distractions, I've found that lowering the background audio by 80% or more works best.

If you need to remove audio from the playlist, select the audio from the list of tracks and click the Delete button (the trash icon).

Looking for Storyline training, development support, or mentoring? We've got you covered with vILT classes and one-on-one support.

Adobe RoboHelp 2022: Update 2 Now Available

Fresh on the heels of Adobe releasing update 1 for RoboHelp 2022, there's a new update. Normally, updates can be accessed by going to the RoboHelp Help menu and choosing Check for Updates. You won't get the update that way this time. Instead, head over to the following website and download the update manually: https://helpx.adobe.com/robohelp/using/whats-new-robohelp-2022-release-update-2.html.

After installing the update, you'll know you're up-to-date by choosing Help.

Here's a list of the bug fixes:

Application

• When changing topics on the Style panel, the stickiness of the Preview button does not work as expected. (Bug ID: 11471)

Publishing

    General

• In the German locale, after setting Publish Profiles for File System, the error message "Invalid destination path" displays. (Bug ID: 11482)  

   PDF output

• Sometimes, the PDF metadata is missing after upgrading from Adobe RoboHelp 2022. (Bug ID: 11460)
• A notice about the evaluation version of the PDF reactor is displayed when using the Save As PDF option. (Bug ID: 11473)
• Headings are missing for Front Matter and Back Matter items in TOC. (Bug ID: 11492)
• In the PDF template, the Use Headings up to Level option under TOC Structure is not working. (Bug ID: 11495)

Translation

• Project files (.rhpj), PDF, and Word template files (.plt and .wlt) are not exported during translation. (Bug ID: 11502)

TechSmith Camtasia: Reducing the Size of Video Output

I received an email from someone who recently attended my TechSmith Camtasia virtual classes. She wanted to know some best practices for reducing the size of exported Camtasia projects. That is an excellent question!

To begin, TechSmith says that "larger videos (in resolution) will dramatically increase file size. Limit your video size to no larger than 1280 pixels (width) by 720 (height)."

I completely agree with what TechSmith is saying. In fact, project (canvas) size and recording area size are two concepts that I cover early in my beginner Camtasia vILT class.

You can control the size of your Camtasia project by choosing Edit > Preferences > Project.

Set your project size right away. While it's easy to change the size of your project at any time, once you have added media to the project the new size will likely have a negative impact on media objects already added to the timeline/canvas.

TechSmith also suggests not recording the entire screen unless it's necessary, or consider adding zoom and pan actions in Camtasia. This way, you can still scale down the video but still focus the viewer's attention on a specific portion of the screen.

Here are some other great suggestions direct from TechSmith for lowering the size of the exported video:

Amount of Movement in the Video

The more movement in the video, the larger the file size. Importing PowerPoint slides as images will result in a smaller file size than recording an on-screen video of the PowerPoint presentation. If possible, try not to drag windows around and limit some of the animations in PowerPoint.

Audio Type

It is rare that uncompressed audio is going to make an audible difference to your learners. You can reduce the file size by compressing the audio upon production. The default MP4 format uses AAC audio compression, which has a good combination of sound quality and file size.

Frame Rate and Encoding Mode

The frame rate indicates how many frames per second are shown to the viewer. The custom production settings allow between 1 and 60 frames per second (FPS). The default is Automatic FPS, which is good for most videos. However, for many screen recordings, 15 fps is fine. If you're recording something static, like a PowerPoint presentation, you can drop the FPS down, which will save file size. You can also adjust the Encoding mode to increase or decrease the video quality. The higher the quality, the larger the file size.

The frame rate and Encoding mode options can be changed by choosing Export > Local Legacy Files > Video Settings.

Adobe RoboHelp 2022: Update 1 Now Available

Adobe recently released the first update for RoboHelp 2022. The update contains several improvements, including a redesign of the CSS editor, table header row styles, an additional field for topic notes, a collapsible right panel, integration with DeepL translator, and custom metadata for PDFs. There are fixes for Word import and security-related issues as well.

To get the update, start RoboHelp and choose Help > Check for Updates.

Here's a list of what's new and changed:

• Redesign of CSS editor
  
  • Search and filter styles list
    
  • Style list settings
• Support for @import in CSS
• Non-publishable notes
• Default Location of "My RoboHelp Projects"
• Sticky right-panel
• Table header styling
• Integration with DeepL translation API
• Repeat header rows in the PDF output
• Additional metadata in PDF output
• JavaScript to style PDF output

And here's a list of the bugs that were fixed.

Adobe Captivate: Understand Project Cache and Save Some Cash

When I teach my Adobe Captivate beginner vILT classes, we cover application Preferences fairly early. If you're on a PC, choose Edit > Preferences. If you're on a Mac, choose Adobe Captivate > Preferences. From the top of the Preferences, click General Settings.

You will see two options in the Default Locations area: Publish at and Project Cache.

The Publish At option allows you to specify where your projects are published. That makes sense. The less obvious feature is the role of Project Cache. According to Adobe, the Project Cache folder contains all of your projects' components until you click the Clear Cache button. The cached assets make the process of opening, saving, and working on a project faster.

Note: In the image above, I created a folder named Cache directly on my hard drive. You can create the Cache folder anywhere you like, provided the location is not a network resource. Do not delete your Cache folder (or click the Clear Cache button in the image above) unless you have a project backup. Without the contents of the Cache folder, the steps listed below to recover a corrupt project will not work.

Should your Captivate project become corrupt or get misplaced, and you have the backup file, change the name of the backup file to new_name.cptx and you're all set. If you don't have a project backup and the only version of your project refuses to open, the cached version of the project will come to your rescue. Assuming you know the location of your project cache folder, you should be able to resurrect a project by following the steps below (the xxx in the example below will be different on your system).

Special thanks to fellow Captivate developer Rod Ward, Director of Infosemantics, who had the misfortune (or fortune, depending on how you look at the world) of working with a Captivate project that refused to open. Rod used these steps and was able to get back in the game.

1. Find the project cached folder (for example, C:\Users\your name\Documents\Adobe Captivate Cached Projects\CPDxxxxx\db).
   
   This is the default location of the cached project, and you can change this via the Global Preferences, as mentioned above.
   
   The folder will contain the following:
   
   A folder called Compressed_data. (This folder will contain several cpd files.)
   
   A folder called Objects. There should be a file within the folder called objects.cpo. The size of this file should be greater than 0 kb.
   
   A folder called uncompressed_data.
   
   A file called audio.cpad.
   
   A file called info.cpi.
   
   A file called text.cptd.
   
   A file called thumbnails.cpth.
   
   
2. Select the files named above and use them to create a zip file.
   
   Note: There may be other folders and files in the db folder mentioned above. Be careful to not include any other files in the zip other than those listed above. According to Rod, "the other files that might be there seem to be files used in locking the project so that you cannot inadvertently edit two of them at the same time."
   
   
3. Change the extension of the zip file to cptx and the file should open in Captivate.
   
   "Captivate saves one of these db folders each and every time you save a project file," said Rod. "If you don't have success with the first one you try (possibly because it is too corrupted), you can always try another one further down the list by looking at the time the folder was added."
   
   Rod went on to say: "The naming structure of the folders provides no clue as to which CP project corresponds to which cached folder. If you happen to be working on several projects simultaneously, it can take a bit of digging to find the one that you want. You have to keep creating and opening these zips until you get lucky. This, of course, is not a problem if you know the exact time when you happened to be saving a particular project."

"Adobe Captivate 2019: The Essentials" 4th Edition!

It's coming...

Adobe Captivate 2019: New Text-to-Speech Voices

Last week I told you about an awesome (and free) update to Adobe Captivate 2019. In that post, I told you how Adobe removed most of the outdated (Flash) SWF features. But there's more to this update, and I'm loving it. Specifically, Adobe has enhanced the Text-to-Speech feature.

Choose Audio > Speech Management to open the Speech Management dialog box.

 

At the bottom of the dialog box, you'll see a note about ReadSpeaker. If you're a veteran Captivate developer, you'll notice that Captivate used to rely on NeoSpeech. ReadSpeaker voices replace NeoSpeech.

Click the Download new and enhanced voices link. (Note that the download is nearly 4 GB, so if your internet speed isn't fast, prepare for a long wait while the package downloads.)

Exit (quit) Captivate, extract the downloaded file, and run the installer. Once the voices are installed, restart Adobe Captivate.

Choose Window > Slide Notes, create a new note, and then write some text into the note area.

From the upper right of the Slide Note, click the uppermost check mark and then click the Text-to-Speech icon.

The Speech Management dialog box reopens.

From the left of the slide note, click the voices drop-down menu.

The original NeoSpeech voices are still available, such as Paul and Kate. However, you'll see plenty of new voices like Adam, Ashley, and Mark. 

Select the voice you'd like and click Generate Audio.

You can preview the audio by clicking the Play icon.

If you'd like to learn more about Captivate, check out these training opportunities. If you need development support or one-on-one mentoring, I'm an email away.

Adobe Captivate 2019: New Update Removes Flash Output

While the world awaits the all-new Captivate to be released (the new version, currently called Project Charm, is in beta), Adobe continues to support version 2019.

A new update, 11.8.1, was recently made available, and you'll find it via Help > Check for Updates. Once the update is installed, you can confirm you have the latest build by choosing Help > About Adobe Captivate.

Beyond some tweaks to the overall look and feel of the interface, this update finally removes references to SWF output in the Publish dialog box (File > Publish).

Also, the Preview options no longer include SWF in Web Browser. While it's nice that Adobe removed the SWF preview option, I'm not happy that both the Preview from and Preview Next 5 options were removed.

And there are some additional assets, too... but Adobe needs to up its game here and include more varied assets seen with competitors like Articulate and TechSmith. I'd love to read your thoughts on that in the Comments area.

Also note that while many Flash options were removed from this build, you can still add non-HTML features such as Rollover Captions.

It's still a good idea to run the HTML5 Tracker and ensure you're not adding anything unsupported in the HTML5 output. (Project > HTML5 Tracker.)

Adobe RoboHelp 2022: Reusing Image Alt Text and Titles

When adding images to a RoboHelp project, it's a best practice to add Alternate Text and an Image title to every image.

Alternate Text serves two purposes. The alternate text appears in the published output if the image cannot be displayed to the user for any reason. For visually impaired users, assistive devices such as screen readers read the Alternate Text out loud, making alternate text critical if you're trying to meet or exceed Section 508 standards.

An Image title is a brief description of the image. This title appears when the user runs their mouse over the image.

If you plan to reuse an image in multiple project topics, I've created a short video demonstrating how to repurpose the image, the image title, and its alternate text all in one shot. (Spoiler alert: the copy and paste command is your best friend!)

Looking for RoboHelp training or support? We've got you covered with our classes and virtual mentoring.

TechSmith Camtasia: Timeline Zooming and Disabling Snapping

When I teach my TechSmith Camtasia vILT classes, we spend a lot of time working on the the Timeline. If you need to select a small amount of time between two media objects or position the playhead in a very specific area, things can get tedious because of Camtasia's snapping feature.

Here are two quick tips that will help with selecting tiny areas of the Timeline:

1. Zoom in.
   
   The closer you zoom in on the Timeline, the easier it will be to select tiny areas of video media.
   
   
   
   
2. Temporarily disable Timeline snapping.
   
   When trying to position the playhead, you'll notice that it snaps to areas along the Timeline. This snap behavior is great until it isn't. You can temporarily disable the snap feature by pressing [ctrl] on your keyboard as you drag the mouse. By disabling the snap feature, you will easily be able to position the playhead in a specific location along the Timeline.

Pressing the [ctrl] key to temporarily disable Timeline snapping works on the Canvas as well. If you resize a Canvas object, the resizing process snaps to a canvas grid. Press [ctrl] on your keyboard while resizing an object on the Canvas, and you'll bypass the canvas grid snapping.

I've created a quick demonstration of both zooming the Timeline and disabling the snap feature. Check out the video here.

Adobe RoboHelp 2022: Expanding Text

Given the speed of today's internet, modern users help fast when they need it. And gone are the days when help topics bloated with too much text are acceptable.

Instead, users expect easy-to-read topics that are short and to the point. If your RoboHelp topic is long and you are truly unable to cut content, expanding text might be a viable option. Using expanding text, the content remains but only appears "on-demand" should a user click a link.

1. To create expanding text, highlight the content you want to expand and cut it to the clipboard.
2. Select the text that you want to be clickable.
3. On the toolbar, click Create Expanding Text.
   
   
   
   
4. Paste the clipboard contents over the expanding text placeholder content and you're done!

To see expanding text in action, check out this video demonstration.

If you need training on Adobe RoboHelp, check out our vILT options.: https://www.iconlogic.com/instructor-led-training/software-title/robohelp.html. Prefer a RoboHelp mentor or help with development, we've got you covered there, too: https://www.iconlogic.com/consulting-development-design/consulting-mentoring-services/consulting-and-mentoring-all.html,

TechSmith Camtasia: Device Frames = Awesomeness

Using TechSmith Camtasia, you can easily add or record software demonstrations, add them to the Timeline, and export as a video or interactive eLearning. You learn to do this in the early stages of my Camtasia virtual classes.

To add even more context to your software demonstrations, you can quickly and easily apply an awesome Visual Effect--Device Frames.

In the image below, I've imported a video demonstration to my Media Bin and added it to the Camtasia Timeline.

With the media on the Timeline selected, select Visual Effects, right-click Device Frame, and choose Add to Selected Media.

In the image below, notice that my video media is automatically overlayed on the default Device Frame.

Even cooler? You can quickly change the type of Device Frame via the Properties panel... and even download additional frames.



Want to see Device Frames in action? Check out this quick video.

Adobe FrameMaker: Symbols, Superscripts, and Character Formats

I recently mentored someone on Adobe FrameMaker. As a follow-up, I received the following request for help regarding working with symbols and baseline shifts.

I hope this email finds you well. I’m still improving upon my FrameMaker skills, thanks to you! I’ve been searching for a way to change the baseline of a character. In the legal copyright and trademark statement, I want a symbol such as a copyright but have it large enough for the general public to read. I can set my character designer at a larger font; however, it is too high. Does Framemaker have the ability to change the baseline of a character?

Here is one quick solution:

Choose Format > Character > Designer and set the window to As-Is. (The As-Is option will let you select which specific attributes get included with the new style.)

From the lower left of the dialog box, select Superscript.

Create a new style called something like Copyright symbol.

Type some text in the FrameMaker document and then go to the Insert menu and choose Symbols > Copyright.

For the moment, the symbol is aligned with the text. But not for long.

Choose Format > Character > Catalog.

Select the symbol and then, from the Character Catalog, click your new Copyright symbol character style.

The selected symbol is now raised above the baseline.

Articulate Storyline 360: Indexing Scenes

When I teach my vILT Articulate Storyline 360 classes, we tackle scene creation right away. As the project grows and more scenes are added, students quickly realize that the scene numbers can get out of numeric order. For instance, scene 6 might end up becoming the starting scene and be listed first in Story View, scene 4 might be the next scene, followed by scenes 3, 5, 1, and 2.

In the example below, notice that the third scene is numbered 2, and the second scene is numbered 3.

I've never been bothered by scenes that are out of numeric order. However, I know that this bothers other Storyline developers. The Index tool allows you to quickly renumber your scenes.

Here's how it works. I've selected the last scene in the image below, titled Second Scene.

I want the selected scene to be treated as the second scene by Storyline and assigned the number 2.

On the Home tab of the Ribbon, Scenes group, I clicked the Index tool drop-down menu and selected 2. Remember, just previous to this, I selected the third scene. By choosing the number 2 from the Index menu, I'm telling Storyline to change scene number 3 to scene number 2.

And here's the re-indexed scenes. Note that non of the slide-to-slide jumps have been negatively affected by reindexing vs. cutting and pasting scenes.

Check out this short video to see the Index feature in action.

TechSmith Camtasia 2022: The Freeze Region Effect

During a recent TechSmith Camtasia vILT class, a student asked if it was possible to remove alert messages that always seemed to appear when she was recording her screen. She felt that the pop-ups were, at best, distracting for her learners or, worse, ruined her screen recordings.

I've found the Freeze Region Effect in Camtasia 2022 to be one of the best Camtasia features... ever... period!

1. On the Timeline, position the playhead just before the distraction you'd like to cover.
2. Select the media.
3. From the Visual Effects area, right-click the Freeze Region Effect and choose Add to selected media.
   
   
   
   
4. On the Canvas, resize and reposition the Freeze Region so that it covers the distraction.
5. On the Timeline, change the starting and ending point of the Freeze Region.
   
   

You're done! Sounds too simple, right? Check out this video and see for yourself how easy to use the Freeze Region effect!

Adobe RoboHelp: Searching Made Even Better

When I teach RoboHelp, I tell my students and the three main areas users will rely on to get help in a help system are the table of contents (TOC), Index, and Search. Of the three, Search wins the award for being the most used feature.

One thing to avoid in a TOC is bloat--a TOC that has so much content that it's difficult, if not impossible, to find anything quickly. Because users will first rely on Search, keeping the content on the TOC streamlined is a great idea. However, if a topic is not on the TOC or referenced by a link or cross reference by something on the TOC, the topic won't be searchable. This presents a conundrum. If you want to keep your TOC streamlined, but the TOC is tied to Search, what's a RoboHelp developer to do?

The solution is to create an extra section on the TOC. Put anything you want to be searchable in that section. (You can add all of your topics if you'd like.)

On the Content Properties panel, select Hide in output.

Generate the output. The "hidden" TOC content will not appear on the TOC, but will be searchable.

Check out this video demonstration of the process.

Adobe RoboHelp: Microcontent

One of the most powerful features in any Help System is Search. In my experience, more people will use the Search feature to quickly try to find answers to questions than will use the Table of Contents or Index combined.

Search has been an essential part of RoboHelp's output for years. If a searched word is contained within a topic, and the topic is included or referenced on the TOC, the topic will be shown to the user. However, it's possible to use RoboHelp Microcontent feature and allow the user to pose questions to the Search feature using full sentences. You can prepare for those questions and create short bursts of information--microcontent--and have that content appear onscreen.

Here a quick video that shows Microcontent in action.

And if you're looking for vILT classes on RoboHelp, look no further!

 

Adobe Captivate Mac: Fix the Missing Themes Error

I was mentoring a client on Adobe Captivate for the Mac. She received the following theme files error message when starting Captivate 2019.

According to Adobe support, here is the fix:

1. Close Captivate and all other Adobe applications.
2. Choose Go > Applications.
3. Open the Adobe Captivate 2019 folder.
4. Open Gallery > Layouts > 11_8 > En_US.
5. Copy the available Themes under the En_Us folder.
6. Choose Go > Documents.
7. Open Adobe Captivate Project folders > Layouts > 11_8 > En_US.
8. Paste the copied themes in the En_US folder.
9. Start Adobe Captivate again and the error message should be resolved.

Note that if you are using more recent versions of the Mac OS, you'll need to ensure that your version of Captivate is up to date. Here's a link to the most recent build on my Dropbox.

"TechSmith Camtasia 2022: The Essentials" Workbook

Learn to Use TechSmith Camtasia 2022 in Just One Day!

"TechSmith Camtasia 2022: The Essentials" is a hands-on, step-by-step workbook that will teach you the essential TechSmith Camtasia skills you need to quickly get up and running with this powerful eLearning development tool.

During the real-world, hands-on activities in this book, you will learn how to create eLearning projects from scratch, how to edit existing Camtasia projects, and how to leverage existing PowerPoint presentations as eLearning.

You will learn how to use Camtasia's powerful screen recording features to create software video demonstrations.

You will use Camtasia to add animations, record and edit voiceover audio, add graphics, background music, text annotations, closed captions, quizzes, and more.

Learn to export your finished Camtasia projects so learners can access them using desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. You will export a project so it can be hosted on a web server, report results to a Learning Management System, upload to YouTube, Screencast.com, and more.

This book features:

• All of the Camtasia projects, images, audio files, videos, and other assets needed to get started (Download and install the free Camtasia 30-day trial from the TechSmith website and jump in.)
• Dozens of step-by-step, hands-on activities
• Confidence Checks to challenge your new skills
• Hundreds of supporting screenshots

Note: You will need to download the book’s data assets that have been created specifically to support this book (instructions for downloading the data assets are in the “About This Book” section at the beginning of the book). The TechSmith Camtasia software does not come with this book. The software can be ordered directly from TechSmith.

Purchase Options:

1. Amazon.com as a physical book or Kindle
2. VitalSource as a PDF

TECHSMITH CAMTASIA 2022: Cursor Path Creator

I'm hard at work on my new Camtasia book, "TechSmith Camtasia 2022: The Essentials." As I poke around the new features, I'm loving one that I just found: Cursor Path Creator.

If you create videos using Camtasia, the cursor in the resulting TREC files can be modified in the Camtasia Editor (you can add highlights, sounds, etc.). However, if you create a video demo in another recording tool and forget to turn on the mouse pointer, you're out of luck... until now.

Using the Cursor Path Creator in Camtasia 2022, you can now add a mouse and control its path even if the cursor wasn't in the original video.

Check out a recording I made of the process in the video below.

 

 

CENARIOVR: Set an Initial View

When a learner first enters a scene, they’re seeing a default initial view. You can easily control what the learner sees onscreen by editing the initial view.

To set the Initial View, click open a scenario with CenarioVR and select a scene.

On the Scenes list, right-click the scene's thumbnail image and choose Set Initial. (As an alternative to right-clicking, you can also click the Set Initial View icon just above the thumbnail image of the scene.)

Drag the Canvas until you're happy with the view.

Click the Done button.

Looking for CenarioVR training? Check out our virtual instructor-led course.

CenarioVR: The Essentials (Book and Training)

We are proud to offer a full-day training course on CenarioVR.

Learn to create awesome virtual reality projects complete with text, images, interactive hotspots, motion paths, timed events, actions, quizzes, and more!

This beginner CenarioVR course will introduce you to the core CenarioVR skills necessary to develop awesome virtual reality projects.

As your class begins, you’ll learn about the CenarioVR interface by importing and exploring a finished project. After exploring a bit, you’ll create a project from scratch. You’ll add scenes, 360-degree images, regular images, hotspots, and audio to a scenario.

Once you’re comfortable creating projects, it’s on to the cool stuff. Add panning jumps, actions, conditional actions, motion paths, quizzes, and more.

Finally, you’ll learn how to publish a finished project for the widest possible audience (you’ll learn to publish as both HTML5 and SCORM) so that your content can be consumed by learners on just about any device, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

The course includes a digital copy of our book, “CenarioVR: The Essentials.”

Adobe Captivate 2019: Error Message "Update required - Your browser or operating system is no longer supported"

I was mentoring someone on Adobe Captivate 2019 today and when attempting to start Captivate she received the alert message: "Update required - Your browser or operating system is no longer supported."

Here's what her IT team did to resolve the issue:

1. Close all Adobe applications
2. Use this link to download a file named AASIapp.exe
3. Once downloaded, copy AASIapp.exe and paste/replace at this location: C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\OOBE\PDApp\P7
4. Restart Captivate

Articulate Storyline 360: Beyond the Essentials (Third Edition) Now Available

My latest and greatest is now available on amazon.com: "Articulate Storyline 360: Beyond the Essentials (Third Edition)."

This version of the book has up-to-the-moment lessons that support the newest Storyline 360 build including virtual reality (360-images) and screen recordings (interactive software simulations).

ACCESSIBLE COLORS FOR ELEARNING: Strategies for Selecting Appropriate Color Palettes

I was teaching a virtual Camtasia class recently and, while selecting colors for a canvas annotation, we had a robust discussion about colors. Specifically, which colors work for learners who are color blind?

According to Dr. David Nichols, University of Connecticut, approximately "one in 20 people are colorblind in some way."

When someone is colorblind, "one or more of the types of cone cells in the eyes — the cells we use to detect color — does not work normally," said Nichols. "A person who is colorblind sees a reduced color space; two colors which appear distinct to a person with normal color vision may appear to be the same to a person who is colorblind."

Nichols went on to say that "most people who are colorblind have some form of red-green colorblindness, such as deuteranomaly, deuteranopia, or protanopia."

"It can be difficult or impossible to distinguish whether a given color is red or green, and shades of red and green may have very low contrast. Instead of using a color palette of red and green, consider using a similar magenta and green color palette instead," stressed Nichols.

When adding colors to your eLearning projects, Nichols suggests using accessible color palettes. Here is an example as seen on the "Coloring for Colorblindness" website.

You can learn more about accessible colors here. And check out this awesome color contrast analyzer. The tool is helpful when adding colors to your Camtasia, Storyline, and Captivate projects.

ISPRING SUITE 10: Now with Text to Speech

iSpring continues to improve its eLearning development suite of tools. The latest improvement is Text to Speech and it works really well.

To use the Text to Speech feature, first, add the voiceover script to the slide notes. (You'll be able to use this script along with the Text to Speech feature. No retyping, no extra work.)

Select the iSpring Suite 10 tab on the PowerPoint ribbon and click Manage Narration.

Click the Audio drop-down menu and choose Text to Speech.

From the lower left of the dialog box, click the Insert text from notes button.

The script you added to the slide notes earlier appears in the main area of the window.

Select the language and voice from the menus as appropriate. If you'd like, preview the voice by clicking the Preview voice button.

Click the Insert button, select the slide you'd like to receive the audio, and then click the Insert button again.

The audio appears on the Timeline. You can edit the audio clip as you would any other audio file. And you can preview the finished audio here as well.

If satisfied with the results, click Save & Close to return to the project.

***

If you'd like to learn more about iSpring Suite 10, check out our step-by-step workbook: iSpring Suite 10: The Essentials.

"TechSmith Camtasia 2021: The Essentials" Workbook Now Shipping

Learn to Use TechSmith Camtasia 2021 Skills in Just One Day!

"TechSmith Camtasia 2021: The Essentials" is a hands-on, step-by-step workbook that will introduce you to the essential TechSmith Camtasia skills you need to quickly get up and running with this fantastic eLearning development tool.

Using Camtasia, you can create software video demonstrations and soft skills eLearning videos. This book will teach you how!

During the real-world activities in this book, you will learn how to create eLearning projects from scratch.

You will learn how to create software video demonstrations using the Camtasia Recorder.

You will use the Camtasia Editor to add animations, record and edit voiceover audio, add graphics, music, annotations, closed captions, quizzes, and how to import slides from existing PowerPoint presentations into a Camtasia project.

Learn to export your finished Camtasia projects so they can be accessed by learners using desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. You will also set up published content to be hosted on a web server, LMS, YouTube, and Screencast.com.

This book features:

• All of the Camtasia projects, images, audio files, videos, and other assets needed to get started (Just download and install the free Camtasia 30-day trial from the TechSmith website and jump in.)
• Dozens of step-by-step, hands-on activities
• Confidence Checks to challenge your new skills
• Hundreds of supporting screenshots

Order from amazon.com here.

Taking Legacy Flash eLearning to HTML5

Adobe threatened to sunset Flash for years but each year, the death sentence was commuted.

Just when we thought that Flash would go on, along came December 2020. Adobe followed through and ended support for Flash on December 31, 2020. Many eLearning developers didn't panic because the end of Flash simply meant that, while the Flash output would continue to work, it would likely be blocked on more and more systems.

Like the lyrics from that song by the Rolling Stones, "Well, time is on my side, yes it is... time is on my side, yes it is..."

Ummm, no it wasn't.

In early 2021, Adobe started blocking Flash content from playing through most browsers, computers, and devices. Given that development, Captivate developers began scrambling to ensure their legacy projects continued to work.

One way to know if your Captivate project has Flash content is to run the HTML5 Tracker (Project > HTML5 Tracker). If anything shows up in the HTML5 Tracker, it needs to be remediated (deleted or replaced with something non-Flash). That sounds easy but, in reality, remediation might be impossible or take a bunch of time.

Adobe's Allen Partridge wrote an awesome article back in April 2020 titled "Migrating Legacy Flash eLearning Content to HTML5." Partridge's article is as relevant today as the day he wrote it.

Some of the big takeaways from Allen's article:

Factors to consider when updating:

• Is the content still relevant?
• Is the content appearance dated? Does it look old?
• Does the content contain a lot of audio, video, animation, or custom complex interactions?
• How important is updating this content to your overall learning strategy?
• How much budget (in time and resources) do you have to handle the update?
• Would conversion of older content to video suffice?
• Should you leverage the conversion as an opportunity to unify the content with your newest brand standards and learning design strategy?
• Should you take advantage of the update to add support for mobile devices?

Should you remove some of the content?

According to Partridge. "If your content is more than 24 months old, it is highly likely that you should consider seriously either replacing the content with more recently created content, or should revise the content to ensure that it is timely and addresses the actual needs of learners in your organization today. Content grows stale very rapidly. Laws and regulations change frequently, and more than ever before, technologies related to the workplace are substantially altered at an alarming rate."

Steps to Conversion Success

The article includes step-by-step instructions for migrating legacy SWF content to HTML5 including using a stepped approach to upgrading legacy projects, using SVG icons available in the Assets area instead of dated images, and a clever suggestion to make a video out of the project and make it an interactive video in Captivate 2019.

Here's a link to the full article,

And if you've got a project loaded with Flash content that needs to be replaced, send me an email ([email protected]). I've got experienced developers who can help!

 

TECHSMITH CAMTASIA: Sharing Projects with Fellow Developers

If you work with other Camtasia developers, it’s likely that you will be asked to share your project with team members so they can edit the project. Sharing projects among Camtasia developers is not the same as using the Export menu to create output for a learner. To share Camtasia production files with other Camtasia developers, follow these steps:

Mac to Windows: If you want to share a Mac-based Camtasia project with someone who is using Camtasia 2021 for the PC, choose File > Export > Project for Windows.

Windows to Mac: If you want to share a PC-based project with someone who is using Camtasia 2021 for the Mac, choose File > Export > Project for Mac.

Share Projects Mac to Mac: Sharing a project with other Mac developers is simple. When saving the project, ensure that you select Create standalone project.

Send a team member the project file (the cmproj file), and you’re set. The cmproj file is a self-contained collection of all project assets. If team members have the same or newer version of Camtasia as you, they’ll be able to open and edit the project.

Share Projects PC to PC: When saving the Camtasia project, ensure that you select Create standalone project.

Send the resulting folder to the other Camtasia developer. The folder will likely contain several assets so zipping the project is suggested. Those steps follow.

The steps below are for PC users only. Mac users can save and close the project and then skip ahead to the next module which begins on page 115.

1. Choose File > Export > Zipped Project.
2. Browse to an appropriate Save destination.
3. Click the Save button

The resulting zip file contains the Camtasia project and all of the project’s assets. Assuming the recipient of the zip file has the same version of Camtasia as you, developers can extract the zipped contents, open, edit, and export the project as needed.

Looking for Camtasia training, check out these live, online TechSmith Camtasia classes.

HANDS-ON, LIVE ONLINE TRAINING: Creating eLearning Scripts for Software Simulations

We are proud to announce a new class: Creating eLearning Scripts for Software Simulations

If you create eLearning that includes software simulations and video demonstrations, you've likely heard about the need for a recording script. It's also likely you're not sure how to create an appropriate script.

Here's the only class you'll need: https://www.iconlogic.com/storyboarding-scripting-elearning.html

If you create software simulations or video demonstration eLearning in Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, or TechSmith Camtasia, this class is for you!

iSPRING SUITE 10: No Faster Way to Go From PowerPoint to eLearning

I've recently wrapped up work on my iSpring Suite 10: The Essentials step-by-step book. And as I created eLearning in the iSpring tool, I was struck with just how easy it is to take existing PowerPoint presentations to eLearning.

For those of you who aren't familiar with iSpring Suite, let me fill you in.

It’s likely that you’ve used Microsoft PowerPoint at least a few times. As far as I’m concerned, PowerPoint is an awesome program, and you can easily create visually stunning presentations with the tool. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the presentations created with PowerPoint are not very good. I’m betting that you have seen your fair share of presentations containing too many slides packed with as much text and clipart as possible. There’s often an obnoxious use of colors and fonts. The layouts are predictable and boring. Most of the slides have a main headline, a subhead, a bulleted list, clipart images, and copious amounts of animation (the bullets fly here, there, everywhere. There’s a name for those kinds of presentations: Death by PowerPoint. 

When learners are threatened with Death by PowerPoint, most will either avoid the presentation or quickly click from one slide to the next to end the misery as soon as possible. There’s typically little interaction in those deadly presentations beyond clicking forward and back buttons. 

Given how PowerPoint gets most of the blame when someone presents a Death by PowerPoint, it’s easy to be a PowerPoint hater. However, I am not a hater. I happen to think that in the hands of a creative person, PowerPoint can be used to develop great presentations. While I love PowerPoint, it cannot be used to create compelling, engaging eLearning—asynchronous training content is available online, 24-hours per day, 7 days per week.

Why can’t you create awesome eLearning with PowerPoint? First, PowerPoint does not feature the kind of interactive tools necessary to engage learners. I know, you can animate anything and everything, and you can add interactive buttons to a PowerPoint slide. But animations and/or forward and back buttons do not constitute a high level of learner engagement. In most PowerPoint presentations, there’s little to no opportunity to gauge learner comprehension of the content because most versions of PowerPoint do not include scoreable quizzes. Recent updates to PowerPoint do finally allow you to add quizzes via Forms, but the feature is limited.

When the time comes to deliver content created in PowerPoint to learners across the globe, there’s no HTML5 output to allow for seamless viewing over a web browser. Learners either need to have PowerPoint installed on their computers or download the PowerPoint player from Microsoft. And although you can upload a PowerPoint presentation into a Learning Management System (LMS) as a course asset, there is no way to make the presentation SCORM or AICC-compliant so that learner progress can be tracked by the LMS or administrators.

So what do you do when the boss tells you to use PowerPoint to create the company’s flagship eLearning course? You get yourself an eLearning development tool, and that’s where the iSpring Suite comes in. The suite is a collection of awesome tools that work with PowerPoint to help you create killer eLearning courses. 

After installing the iSpring Suite on your computer and then starting PowerPoint, you’ll find that there’s a new tab on the PowerPoint Ribbon: iSpring Suite. The image below shows the iSpring Suite 10 tab, along with its specific set of eLearning tools.

At the far left of the iSpring Suite 10 tab, you’ll find recording tools for both audio and video. As you move right, you’ll see tools for adding interactions, characters, and more. You’ll learn to use most of the tools on the tab, along with some of the standard PowerPoint tools, as you move through the guided activities in my book.

Seriously, if you need to create eLearning and you've already got the PowerPoint content, iSpring Suite makes quick work out of the eLearning creation process. You've just got to check out this tool.

ADOBE ROBOHELP: In Search of RoboHelp Use Cases

Adobe is looking for examples of RoboHelp projects out in the real world.

If you've used RoboHelp to create any of the following, Adobe would like to hear from you:

• Knowledge Bases/Self-Service Portals
• Online Help (including In-App Help)
• Policies & Procedures
• Micro Content for Chatbots/Virtual Assistants

Send your name, project details, and a link to the output on your public-facing website or portal to [email protected].

Adobe Captivate: Free 2019 Update For Mac OS Big Sur

I love keeping my Mac up-to-date, but I rarely install major software updates when they are first released. And when OS 11, otherwise known as Big Sur, became available, I waited. After several months, my Mac began pestering me to get the update. When 11.1 became available, I finally upgraded.   Did I mention that I always caution people against upgrading their operating systems until ensuring that existing software continues to work? Yeah, about that... after upgrading my Mac, this is what I saw when choosing Apple > About This Mac.

Everything worked on my Mac wonderfully after the upgrade... except Captivate 2019. The program would start and then immediately close. Upon checking the Adobe website that supports Captivate, I learned that Captivate would not work with Big Sur. Yikes.   Fortunately, Adobe now has a free update for Captivate 2019 that allows Big Sur users to continue using the software. You can download the update here: https://assets.adobe.com/public/ff298ded-060f-4ee3-48f8-6599d7b9cc11.   Before installing the update, Adobe recommends that you uninstall Captivate first. From the Applications folder, open the Adobe Captivate 2019 folder and open Uninstall Adobe Captivate 2019.

TechSmith Camtasia: A favorite new feature

While there's plenty to love about Camtasia 2020, the feature I'm highlighting this time is Favorites.   Camtasia is loaded with tools. If you think I'm exaggerating, here's a list of the tools available in Camtasia 2020, Mac:

There are so many tools, you might need to click "More" to see all of them (the "More" option automatically appears if your window size is too small to display all of the tools or your screen resolution is low).   And clicking a tool, such as Annotations, often leads to multiple categories leading to even more tools. In the image below you can see what I'm talking about when it comes to the Annotations tool. There are 6 related tools (Callouts) grouped with the main Annotations tool.

I am not suggesting that TechSmith should remove tools from Camtasia. I say bring on more tools, TechSmith (I look forward to seeing a dozen more tools in Camtasia 2021). However, if you're like me and you use several eLearning development tools, remembering where your "go-to" Camtasia tools are located can be a challenge.   Which brings me to Favorites.   Find a tool you use frequently (any tool). Right-click the tool and choose Add to Favorites.

Once a tool has been added as a Favorite, the tool gets a gold star. And from now on, the tool will be shown in the Favorites area of the toolbar.

Right-clicking a Favorite is going to be the easiest and fastest way to work with the tool. And should you no longer want a tool as a Favorite, a quick right-click allows you to delete the tool as a Favorite (but does not remove the tool from Camtasia).

Looking for Camtasia training? Check out these live, online, instructor-led training classes (all Guaranteed to Run).

ADOBE CAPTIVATE 2019: The Fastest Way to Start a New Project with Content and ID

Adobe Captivate makes it possible to rapidly create new eLearning projects. The process is as simple as File > New Project > Blank Project.   If you go that route, you'll get a new project with a single slide that looks like this:

It's a simple thing to add text to the slide (double-click the placeholder and type the new text). And adding slides to the project is simple too (Insert > New Slide from). However, if you're not an instructional designer, it's likely that you're not clear on the structure of the course or that the project should include standard slides such as an overview slide and a lesson review slide. If you're not a graphic designer, adding some cool visuals to your project may be out of your comfort zone as well.   And that's where Captivate's Project Assets prove invaluable.   From the top right of the Captivate window, click Assets.

From the list at the left, click Projects. From here, you can add single slides to your existing project or create a whole project, complete with instructional design ideas.   In my example, I selected Projects. Then I selected the Earth project and clicked the Open as a New Project button.

The resulting project is as complete (45 slides containing images and placeholder objects) as it is visually stunning. There are instructional design suggestions, navigation slides, interactive slides... everything you need to get your new project out of the starting gate and moving at a full gallop.   In the image below I edited the text and replaced the placeholder image in about 10 seconds.

Give the free Captivate assets a try and I'm betting that you'll agree that there's no faster way to get new eLearning projects up and running.

***

If you're looking to learn Adobe Captivate, we've got a nice collection of live, online Captivate classes (all of the classes are taught by certified trainers who are also experienced eLearning developers).

ELEARNING DEVELOPMENT: How Many Levels of eLearning Are There?

When it comes to determining the level of effort (LOE) needed to develop eLearning content, I'm seeing a lack of clarity.

 

Generally speaking, you should budget approximately 4 hours to develop each minute of finished eLearning if you use Adobe Captivate or Articulate Storyline as your development tool. If you use TechSmith Camtasia or a PowerPoint plug-in (such as Presenter or iSpring Suite), you should budget approximately 2-hours to develop a single minute of eLearning.

 

Why the large gap in development time between Captivate/Storyline and Camtasia/PowerPonit plug-ins? Captivate and Storyline can create more interactive eLearning than the other popular tools. That enhanced interaction is great for your eLearning students but comes at a cost at twice the development time (if not more).

 

In my experience, the eLearning development LOE is dependent upon several factors including, but not limited to:

 

1. The total amount of eLearning content needed (measured in minutes)
2. The amount of usable, original content there is (will you need to develop a voiceover script, the level of support (subject matter experts, writers, designers, developers)
3. As mentioned above, the tool to be used for the eLearning development
4. The level of eLearning

 

I'm going to focus this article on the last item in the list above: eLearning levels. It's widely accepted that there are three eLearning levels and they're named, appropriately enough: Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3. And while you can google "eLearning levels" and find plenty of articles on the subject, finding two articles that agree on what the levels mean can be difficult, especially when it comes to level 3 eLearning.

 

Level 1: Video-based eLearning with little to no learner interaction

 

Level 1 eLearning would include the videos you'll see on streaming servers such as YouTube or Vimeo, and the eLearning content offered on Lynda.com. This type of eLearning allows learners to play the lesson, mute the audio, pause, and rewind, but that's about it for interactivity.

 

Level 1 eLearning can be created with PowerPoint or any of the eLearning development tools on the market today. This level of eLearning could include self-recorded voiceover audio and a quiz. It can also be enabled for tracking via SCORM and/or AICC LMSs.

 

Level 2: Interactive eLearning with higher-end visuals

 

Level 2 eLearning is significantly more interactive than level 1 eLearning. Content at this level often includes custom graphics (such as iconography to minimize screen clutter) and professional voiceover audio.

 

If created in Adobe Captivate or Articulate Storyline, this kind of eLearning likely includes interactive buttons, hotspots/click boxes, text entry areas, branching scenarios, multiple scenes, layers, rollover effects, learner interactions (such as dials, sliders, and drag and drop interactions), and random quizzes.

 

Level 3: Gamification or virtual reality, worlds, or fantasy games

 

Level 3 eLearning is beyond the scope of the vast majority of eLearning developers. This level of eLearning involves the creation of virtual settings where learners can interact with virtual characters, pick up items, and use those items throughout the course.

 

If not virtual worlds or scenarios, this level of eLearning often includes intense gaming scenarios that require complex advanced actions (Adobe Captivate) or triggers (Articulate Storyline).

 

While tools such as Storyline and Captivate cannot easily create the virtual worlds as I've described above, they could be used to create complex games, etc. Nevertheless, the time to create those games would make them cost-prohibitive.

 

Fellow eLearning developers, I need your help. What are your thoughts on the levels of eLearning as I've described them above? How would you describe the eLearning levels? Would you add more levels than the three I've mentioned here?

ARTICULATE STORYLINE: Inserting Web URL Hotspots

Just about every eLearning course you've ever used or created has contained at least a button or two that, at a minimum, allows for learner navigation.   Storyline allows you to insert buttons. But there's also a hotspot feature. What's the difference between buttons and hotspots?   Hotspots are similar to Buttons in that they can be interactive. Unlike Buttons, which are typically visible to the learner on the slide, hotspots are transparent. You insert hotspots over slide assets or areas of a slide and then use triggers to make the hotspot interactive.   To insert a hotspot, click the Insert tab on the Ribbon and, from the Interactive Objects group, click Hotspot.

On your slide, draw a hotspot shape over the area of the screen that you'd like to be clickable. In the image below, I've drawn a hotspot over the web address and globe icon. Next, I'll create a trigger that links to the Chesapeake Stables website.

With the hotspot selected, click Create a new trigger on the Triggers window. Change the Action to Open URL/file.   Note: The Open URL/file Action is in the More group; you’ll need to scroll down to find it.   In the File or URL field, type the website address you'd like learners to visit and then press [enter].

Next, test the link. With the Trigger Wizard still open, move your mouse over the web address that you just typed.   At the right of the web address, click Check URL/File.

The target website opens. The ability to check a URL from within the Trigger Wizard is a nice feature because links to websites aren’t fully functional until you Publish. In fact, if you Preview the slide and click the hotspot, you'll see the Link alert as shown in the image below.

And that's that... between buttons and hotspots, adding interactivity to your eLearning cannot get much easier.

***

Looking for training, consulting, mentoring, or development on all things eLearning? We've got you covered. Give us a call at 877.754.2662. You can learn more about our eLearning classes on the IconLogic website.

TECHSMITH CAMTASIA: These 2020 Features are Magnetic!

TechSmith recently announced an update for Camtasia from version 2019 to version 2020. Some of the top enhancements you'll find in the Camtasia 2020 update include templates, placeholders, replaceable media, reversible transitions, a detachable Timeline, the ability to control callout text resizing (the feature can be toggled on or off), and magnetic tracks.   In the next few newsletters, I'll delve into some of the new Camtasia 2020 features. To begin, let's focus on the detachable Timeline, magnetic Timeline tracks, and reversible Transitions.   In the image below notice that I've added some media to the Camtasia Timeline. Gaps between Timeline objects aren't ideal, and I have two gaps as indicated by the orange annotations in the image.

One awesome new feature in Camtasia 2020 is the ability to instantly remove Timeline gaps via magnetic tracks. To enable this feature, click the magnet icon to the left of the track as shown in the image below.

The gaps between Timeline objects are instantly removed. And now that the track is magnetic, there won't be any gaps in the track moving forward.

Speaking of enhancements, do you notice anything strange in the image of the Camtasia 2020 interface below?

By default, the Timeline is anchored to the bottom of the Camtasia interface. In the image above, the Timeline is detached. Detaching the Timeline is helpful if you want to position it someplace specific on your display or on a second monitor. To enable the feature, choose View > Timeline > Detach Timeline.   Should you lose track of the Timeline (it can easily go behind the Camtasia main window), choose View > Timeline > Attach Timeline.

Last, but not least, you can now reverse Transition effects. In the animated image below, I've added the Cube Rotate transition to some media on the Timeline. Check out how I can make the cube rotate the opposite direction simply by clicking Reverse on the Properties panel.

***   Looking for Camtasia training? Check out these live, online, instructor-led training classes (all Guaranteed to Run).

***

Kevin Siegel is the founder and president of IconLogic, Inc. He has written hundreds of step-by-step computer training books on applications such as Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Adobe RoboHelp, Adobe Presenter, and TechSmith Camtasia. Kevin spent five years in the U.S. Coast Guard as an award-winning photojournalist and has three decades’ experience as a trainer, publisher, technical writer, and eLearning developer. Kevin is a Certified Master Trainer (CMT), Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+), Certified Online Professional Trainer (COTP), and a frequent speaker at trade shows and conventions.

eLEARNING DEVELOPMENT: Dude, Watch Your Aspect... Ratio!

When creating eLearning in TechSmith Camtasia, Adobe Captivate, or Articulate Storyline, one critical consideration is the physical width and height of your project (also known as the canvas size).   The size of the project is measured in pixels and if you don't get this right from the start, changing your mind later could lead to some unintended consequences. (Objects being resized out of proportion is one of the biggest concerns.)   When I teach any of my eLearning courses, I encourage learners to consider their end-users when determining the size of the canvas. These days, most users access eLearning content on anything from a desktop computer to laptops to mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones.   In my experience, most devices used to view eLearning are shaped more like rectangles than squares. For that reason, I think the eLearning canvas should be set up to use a 16:9 aspect ratio as opposed to 4:3.   The aspect ratio of an eLearning canvas designed to be viewed on its side, or in landscape mode, is the ratio of its longer side to its shorter side. If you go with a 4:3 aspect ratio (4 pixels across for every 3 pixels in height), you're working with a shape that is tending toward a square. If you go with 16:9 (16 pixels across for every 9 high), the shape is very much a rectangle.   Once you decide on the shape of your canvas (again, 16:9 is a strong rectangle shape), the exact size you use depends on your design and/or the needs of your users. Both 1024x576 and 1280x720 are 16:9 ratios. (Here's a handy list of 16:9 aspect ratios.)   So how do you ensure your aspect ratio is a 16:9 aspect ratio as opposed to 4:3. Read on!   Because eLearning often begins in Microsoft PowerPoint, let's start there. Go to the Design tab on the Ribbon and, from the Customize group, change the Slide Size to Widescreen (16:9).

In TechSmith Camtasia, click the drop-down menu just above the Canvas and choose Project Settings. From the Canvas Dimensions drop-down menu, choose a size from the Widescreen group. All of the sizes in this group are set to an aspect ratio of 16:9.

In Articulate Storyline, the default aspect ratio for new projects is 4:3. Go to the Design tab on the Ribbon and, from the Setup group, click Story Size.   From the Story Size drop-down menu, choose 720:405 (16:9) and then change the Width and Height as needed. Select Lock aspect ratio to ensure you're maintaining a 16:9 aspect ratio as you change the size.

In Adobe Captivate, when creating new projects, select Blank Project and then, from the Canvas drop-down menu, choose an appropriate 16:9 aspect ratio. If you need to change the size of an existing project, choose Modify > Rescale Project and change the Width and Height as appropriate.

***

Looking for training, consulting, mentoring, or development on all things eLearning? We've got you covered. Give us a call at 877.754.2662. You can learn more about our eLearning classes on the IconLogic website.

ADOBE CAPTIVATE: Updating Images Project-Wide

Adding an image to an Adobe Captivate project is simple: use the Media tool on the toolbar or import the assets into the Library and then drag the imported assets onto Filmstrip slides.   But what if you've imported an image into Captivate and then the image is updated outside of Captivate. How can you get the updated image into your project and have the image update across the entire project?   In the image below, notice that I've imported an image of a city skyline. I'm using the image on multiple slides. The image's slide location and size are different on each slide.

I originally imported the image from my corporate server. The designer edited the image in Photoshop by adding a filter.

I received an email alerting me to the change and was instructed to use the updated image in my Captivate project. I opened the project. Sadly, the image did not update automatically on any of my slides. No worries. On the Library, I right-clicked the image and chose Update.

I then clicked the Update button.

And like magic, the image in the Captivate Library updated--and every instance of the image throughout the project updated too.

Looking for live, virtual Captivate training? We've got you covered with these classes (all guaranteed to run).

REMOTE TRAINER CERTIFICATION: Become a Virtual Training Pro!

More and more companies are embracing virtual classes. That's great. But leading an online class isn't as easy as it sounds.

• What are some tactics for ensuring that your virtual class gets off on the right foot?
• How can you engage remote attendees, keep them awake, and help avoid distractions?
  
• What are the ideal ways to prepare your materials for online delivery?
• How can you improve the look of your onscreen visuals even if you're not a graphic designer?
• Zoom. WebEx. Connect. GoToTraining. Teams. What's the difference between the top virtual platforms? What are their strengths and weaknesses?
• What's your backup plan?
• When teaching online, what's the best "voice" to use?
• If you need to create a quiz to support your course, how can you ensure that it's written as effectively as possible?

 

Attend the Certified Online Training Professional (COTP) course and learn the answers to these questions, and much more.

 

Sponsored by the International Council for Certified Online Training Professionals (ICCOTP), the COTP course helps ensure that virtual meetings, training events, and conferences provide high-quality, memorable, enjoyable, and, most of all, effective learning experiences to participants.

 

Learn more about the Certified Online Training Professional course at www.iccotp.com.

ADOBE ROBOHELP: Master Projects and Merging Help Content

You've got two RoboHelp projects. The projects have been maintained independently for years, but now you need to combine them.   One strategy for combining multiple RoboHelp projects into one is to simply import all of the assets from one project into the other. If you go that route, one of the original project(s) would no longer be needed.   However, if you want to keep the projects working as independent projects but have them share content, a TOC, and an Index, you've created the perfect scenario for project merging.   To merge projects, create child RoboHelp projects as you normally would. In this example, I've created two child projects. One project is about dogs. The second project is about cats. The goal is to combine the child projects into a third project called Cats and Dogs. The third project is the master or parent project.   In the image below you can see a sample Cats project I created with placeholder content. The project includes a small Table of Contents. Because this project is going to be added to a master project, let's call it Child 1.

In the image below you can see a simple Dogs project. It also has placeholder content and a simple Table of Contents. This is Child 2.

Now for the master or parent project. A master project does not need much content. Keep in mind that its main role is to allow you to combine content from child projects.

To allow the master project to combine assets from child projects, I went to the Table of Contents panel and clicked New Merged Project.

In the Merged Project dialog box, I opened each child project. You can see in the image below that I've loaded the Cats project. I repeated the process for the Dogs project.

On the Table of Contents for the master project, the child projects are shown as merged project icons (as shown in the image below).

Generate and Publish the master project.   When you browse to the published destination, you'll see that RoboHelp has automatically created a mergedProjects folder. This folder is key. All that you need to do now is publish each chlid project into this folder.

Back in each child project, access the Publish settings, create a new Server, and publish each child project to the mergedProjects folder for the master project.

When you open the start page for the parent project (from the Publish destination folder), the three projects have been merged into one. On the TOC shown below, the first page is the only topic that was in the master project. The remaining content on the TOC came from the child projects.

***   Looking for Adobe RoboHelp training? Check out these live, online, instructor-led training classes (all Guaranteed to Run).

***

Kevin Siegel is the founder and president of IconLogic, Inc. He has written hundreds of step-by-step computer training books on applications such as Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Adobe RoboHelp, Adobe Presenter, and TechSmith Camtasia. Kevin spent five years in the U.S. Coast Guard as an award-winning photojournalist and has three decades’ experience as a trainer, publisher, technical writer, and eLearning developer. Kevin is a Certified Master Trainer (CMT), Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+), Certified Online Professional Trainer (COTP), and a frequent speaker at trade shows and conventions.

TEACHING ONLINE: Teachers are Going Online. Corporate Trainers Could Learn from Their Experience

As teachers in many areas of the country struggle to take their classroom activities into the virtual training world, here’s what we’re finding.   Many are familiar with online teaching tools that they have been using in their classrooms: tools such as Quizlet, and Kahoot!, and Quizziz, and Swivl. Collaborative tools such as Google Docs are also in use. (These are all tools that bear a look by business trainers as well!)   Students log in through their iPads, tablets, or laptops and participate online in the midst of the classroom. They can access these tools from home as well, to complete assignments or do independent learning.   But with many school systems going completely virtual basically overnight, many teachers are struggling to translate the classroom experience itself into the online world. Sound familiar? Our business classes are doing the same.   The first question is what online platform can I use? Some school systems already have virtual learning systems set up: Blackboard, Canvas, Google Classrooms, and so on. Businesses may already have Adobe Connect, Webex, Microsoft Teams, or even Skype for Business.   Other teachers need a low-cost online solution—as many in the business world do as well—and they need it now.   Here are a couple of our favorites, with a quick look at costs, features, and limitations.   Zoom: It seems as though the whole world has been holding meetings on Zoom for the first time in the past week! Churches, synagogues, book groups, writer’s collectives, families…and teachers. Zoom certainly was in the right place at the right time. Here are the details:   Cost:   Free version meet with one person for free, for as long as you like Meet with 2 – 100 people, but with a 40-minute limit   14.99/month version: Meet with up to 100 people, with no time limit   Webex Personal: If you are familiar with the corporate version of this software, with its rather high costs, you may be surprised to learn there is a free version! It does not look and function identically to the corporate version—it lacks a whiteboard feature, for example. But other functions will be familiar. Teachers—It has a great Webcam feature, a fabulous “hand raise” tool, chat, and other tools that are very useful for teaching.   Free version Meet with up to 100 people, with no time limit Call-in users may have to pay—but computer audio works fine for free!   13.50/month version Meet with up to 50 people Call-in included Has many other business-related functions, such as scheduling   As both school teachers and business trainers alike are thrown into the virtual world, we are finding a lot in common. Teaching methods, the need for student engagement, the need for ways to interact online with our participants—these are universal.   Recently, IconLogic has been teaming up with the certification council for online training, ICCOTP, to offer minicourses based on the curriculum of the full online trainer certification course. These courses are free to school teachers and are being offered at a low price for business trainers. As we all go virtual, let’s find out how we can help each other and share our knowledge.   Check out the minicourses on virtual training.

***

Jennie Ruby, CMT, CTT, COTP, is a veteran eLearning developer, trainer, and author. Jennie has an M.A. from George Washington University and is a Certified Technical Trainer and Certified Online Training Professional. She teaches both classroom and online courses, and has authored courseware, published training books, and developed content for countless eLearning projects. She is also a publishing professional with more than 30 years of experience in writing, editing, print publishing, and eLearning.

ARTICULATE STORYLINE 360: Text-to-Speech to Final Voiceover

While working on a recent eLearning project in Articulate Storyline 360, there was a delay in getting the voiceover audio back from our voiceover professional. The dealy was particularly problematic because several slides had image builds that had to be synchronized with the voiceover audio. While these kinds of delays are common, they don't need to derail the entire development process.   To keep the project moving forward, I copied the voiceover script into the Notes window on each Storyline slide.

Next, I opened Storyline's Text-to-Speech window by going to the Insert tab on the Ribbon and, from the Media group, choosing Audio > Text-to-Speech.

From within the Insert Text-to-Speech window, I clicked the Copy From Slide Notes button. The voiceover script text that I had previously pasted into the Notes window was added to the Text-to-Speech window.

From the drop-down menu at the left, I selected English (US); and from the next drop-down menu I chose a voice. I was then able to listen to a sample of the voice by clicking the icon to the left of Preview Voice.

Once I'd settled on a voice that I liked, I clicked the Insert button to add the audio to the slide. (Inserted slide audio appears as an audio icon at the left of the slide.)   To preview the finished Text-to-Speech audio, I right-clicked the audio icon and chose Preview Audio.

Thanks to the Text-to-Speech audio, I had a reasonable placeholder for my finished audio and I was able to move forward with adding and synchronizing the animations.   When the audio finally arrived from my voiceover talent, all I needed to do was replace the Text-to-Speech audio with the "real" audio. On the Timeline, I right-clicked the Text-to-Speech audio file and chose Replace Audio > Audio from File.

Using Text-to-Speech as a placeholder for finished voiceover audio wasn't a perfect process. Because my voiceover person spoke a little slower than the voice I selected in the Text-to-Speech window, I did have to go back and tweak the timing for some of the animations. However, this was a small price to pay to keep the project on track and on budget.

***   Looking for Articulaste Storyline 360 training? Check out these live, online, instructor-led training classes (all Guaranteed to Run).

***

Kevin Siegel is the founder and president of IconLogic, Inc. He has written hundreds of step-by-step computer training books on applications such as Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Adobe RoboHelp, Adobe Presenter, and TechSmith Camtasia. Kevin spent five years in the U.S. Coast Guard as an award-winning photojournalist and has three decades’ experience as a trainer, publisher, technical writer, and eLearning developer. Kevin is a Certified Master Trainer (CMT), Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+), Certified Online Professional Trainer (COTP), and a frequent speaker at trade shows and conventions.

MICROSOFT POWERPOINT: Convert Text to Shapes Using the Fragment Tool

Let’s say you’re creating icons for some eLearning and you’d like some letter icons. You might approach this by drawing a circle and layering a text box over the top of it or by typing the letters directly onto the shapes. For some applications, this approach might be perfectly fine, but there are a few instances where you may find this approach has shortcomings.

Shortcoming 1: You want the letter to be cut out of the icon’s shape so that you can see the background through the icon. (For example, maybe you have a gradient background and you want to see that through the icon.)

Shortcoming 2: You want to resize the icon, without saving it as a picture, and have the letter resize proportionately. Here’s what it looks like if you resize this icon with standard text on it:

Shortcoming 3: You want to fine-tune edit how the letters look, perhaps down to the point level. Maybe you like your font but you wish the characters were a bit shorter and wider. Maybe, like in this example, you also want to edit one of the characters to have a long “tail” to match the diagonal design element elsewhere on the slide.

The best way to accomplish any of the above is to convert your text to shapes using PowerPoint's Fragment tool. Here’s how.   First, insert your shape.

Insert your text box with text. For this task, you’ll want to use a text box vs typing directly onto the shape.

Select your first icon’s shape, hold down the control key, and then also select the text box. From the Format Shape tab of the ribbon, find the Insert Shapes area and choose Merge Shapes > Fragment.

Each item will become its own separate shape. In the case of this example, you’ll have three pieces.

Now you can resize the icon as one shape and even edit the points of your letter to customize to your heart’s content.   Have any PowerPoint PainPoints (see what I did there?) for which you’ve been dying to find a solution? Shoot them over to me and I’ll see if I can help and share them in a future newsletter article!

*** AJ Walther, COTP, is IconLogic's Chief Creative Officer (CCO), a seasoned online trainer, eLearning graphic designer, and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials." AJ made her own interdisciplinary studies major, focusing on writing and art.

ADOBE CAPTIVATE: Recording Screen Actions on a PC with a High-Density Screen

So, you got a fabulous new Windows laptop. It’s light! It’s compact! And it has a beautiful High-Density screen. The screen’s resolution is so sharp that you’ve got it set up to display at 150% or 200%, because otherwise the icons and text are so tiny and sharp that you can barely read them.   Then you try to do some screen-capture work in Adobe Captivate, and you are hit with an error message: Screen capture with high density monitor not allowed or perhaps something about DpiAwareness. The net result is that you cannot record the screen, either in software simulation or in video demo recording mode.

In the past, the fix was to manually update the AdobeCaptivate.ini file. You had to venture deep into the Adobe Captivate program files and find that .ini file. Then you had to edit it with a text editor and change the DPI setting to 1. Then you had to battle your Windows setup about permissions and file names and passwords even just to save your changes to the .ini file. Even after all that, many developers report that while recording works, the Captivate software itself becomes so teeny-tiny that it's impossible to use.   As an alternative to fighting with the .ini file, I've got two easy plans of attack for you (neither involve editing any sort of support file):   Plan A: Right-click your desktop and choose Display Settings. Change the size of text, apps, and other items to 100% (even if not recommended) and then close the Display Settings.

Restart Captivate and see if you can record a software simulation. If yes, all is right with the world. If you still cannot record the screen, it's time for plan B.   Plan B: Find the Captivate.exe file (it's usually in Program Files > Adobe > Adobe Captivate 2019), right-click and choose Properties.

From the Compatibility tab, click the Change high DPI settings button.

Check the checkbox for Override high DPI scaling behavior. Ensure that Application is selected in the Scaling performed by drop-down.

Click OK to each of the two dialog boxes to confirm your changes.   And that’s it. You should now be able to record screen actions on your high-density monitor with no problems.

***   Jennie Ruby, CMT, CTT, COTP, is a veteran eLearning developer, trainer, and author. Jennie has an M.A. from George Washington University and is a Certified Technical Trainer and Certified Online Training Professional. She teaches both classroom and online courses, and has authored courseware, published training books, and developed content for countless eLearning projects. She is also a publishing professional with more than 30 years of experience in writing, editing, print publishing, and eLearning.

***

Looking for Adobe Captivate training, consulting, mentoring, or development? We've got you covered. Give us a call at 877.754.2662. We've got an awesome collection of live, online classes. You can learn more about our Captivate classes on the IconLogic website.

ISPRING SUITE 9: Video Demos with Annotations Equals Awesomeness!

If you have content in Microsoft PowerPoint and need to use it for eLearning, you'll be happy to know that the top eLearning tools (Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, and TechSmith Camtasia) allow you to import PowerPoint content and then output HTML5 or videos. In the case of Storyline, the imported PowerPoint content can even be edited from within Storyline post-import.   But what if you wanted your PowerPoint content to stay in PowerPoint and still be able to add eLearning-type features such as a quiz and interactive objects? Unfortunately, while PowerPoint excels at visually stunning presentations, it's not an eLearning development tool. Fortunately, tools like Adobe Presenter, Articulate Presenter, and iSpring Suite allow you to add eLearning capabilities to any PowerPoint presentation.   I've spent a significant amount of time over the past few months using iSpring Suite, a PowerPoint-based authoring toolkit that allows developers to create mobile-friendly eLearning courses complete with slides, quizzes, dialog simulations, software video demonstrations, selfie-videos, and other interactive learning content. The finished course can quickly be published as HTML5 or as a video and uploaded to a web server, Learning Management System, or to video services like YouTube or Vimeo.   In the next few articles, I'm going to delve into some of my favorite iSpring Suite 9 features. I'm also rolling out an iSpring Suite book ("iSpring Suite 9: The Essentials") and an iSpring Suite 9 instructor-led class!   This week I tested iSpring's ability to create a video demo similar to what you can do in Captivate, Storyline, and Camtasia. During my testing, I was happy to see that iSpring even adds Annotations to the recording (automatic text captions).

To begin, I visited the iSpring tab on the PowerPoint Ribbon, Insert group, and then clicked Screen Recording to open iSpring Cam Pro.

I clicked New Recording which opened a recording area with controls similar to the other top eLearning development tools.

I clicked the red record button and within seconds had an awesome video demo.

When the recording was complete, I expected a standard video just like the other tools. However, the resulting Recording Complete screen offered a nice surprise--the check box Add annotations to the screen recording (shown circled below).

Of course, I selected the Add annotations option clicked the Continue button. I was surprised by how awesome the resulting text was (almost no editing needed).

I was also happy to see that, like the other competitors in the eLearning development tools space, there's a Timeline allowing me to quickly change when the annotations appear onscreen, and for how long.

I was able to edit the annotations and change the way they looked via the Formatting toolbar. All-in-all, this is awesome!

Next time: Dialog simulations.

***   Looking for iSpring Suite training? Check out these live, online, instructor-led training classes (all Guaranteed to Run).

***

Kevin Siegel is the founder and president of IconLogic, Inc. He has written hundreds of step-by-step computer training books on applications such as Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Adobe RoboHelp, Adobe Presenter, and TechSmith Camtasia. Kevin spent five years in the U.S. Coast Guard as an award-winning photojournalist and has three decades’ experience as a trainer, publisher, technical writer, and eLearning developer. Kevin is a Certified Master Trainer (CMT), Certified Technical Trainer (CTT+), Certified Online Professional Trainer (COTP), and a frequent speaker at trade shows and conventions.

ARTICULATE STORYLINE 360: Recolor and Crop Content Library Images

During our beginner Articulate Storyline classes, we emphasize the importance of using images in a project instead of relying on dense, text-heavy slides. Of course, finding good images can be a challenge unless you are a subscriber to Articulate 360. Subscribers have access to an millions of assets in the Content Library loaded with downloadable Characters, Illustrations, Icons, Videos, and Photos.   While recently working in Storyline, I was in need of a photo of a horse. The project I was creating was about horse health and I was specifically looking for a horse showing as many teeth as possible. (The wider the grin, the better.)

I visited Storyline's Insert tab on the Ribbon and, from the Content Library, I clicked Photos.   From within the Search Photos dialog box, I typed horse teeth and I was pleasantly surprised when several candidates appeared. (Given that I was needing horse grins, I wasn't expecting even a single decent photo to appear and was fully prepared for a trip to a photo-supply website.)

I selected the photo shown above at the right and then clicked the Insert button. By default, the photo was inserted in the middle of my slide.

The other images I'd used throughout the project were black and white and I wanted to keep that theme. Unfortunately, the computer I was using did not have an image editing program. No worries, you can recolor an image without leaving Storyline.   I selected the Picture Tools tab on the Ribbon, clicked Recolor, and selected Accent color 3 Dark.

I also needed to crop the image. That wasn't a problem either. At the right of the Picture Tools tab, I clicked the Crop tool.

I dragged the cropping handles from both corners to crop everything out of the image except those awesome teeth.

And here's how the finished image looked on the slide.

***   Looking for Articulate Storyline 360 training? Check out these live, online, instructor-led training classes (all Guaranteed to Run).