“Adobe Captivate 3: Script Writing and Production Guide” Now Shipping

About The Book:

I’ve been teaching Captivate for years. At the end of a two-day class, my students have all the skills they need to create highly interactive computer-based training simulations (CBTs) using Captivate.

Some time ago a student, just prior to leaving class the last day, asked how she could focus her writing skills and create clean, step-by-step documentation she could use for her Captivate storyboards. She said she had searched and searched and could not find a class designed specifically for creating step-by-step documentation.

I had another student ask me if I had a style guide he could "borrow" so that he could create a corporate style guide to be used for all of their Captivate CBTs. Based on those conversations, I created this book. Part 1 of the book is designed to focus your writing skills and help you create concise step-by-step documentation. Part 2 of this book is the Style Guide and Process document I created for use at IconLogic.

Here is what is covered in the book:

Part 1: Script Writing

The Process | Ignorance Is Not a Dirty Word | The Audience | The Subject Matter Expert (SME) | Find and Promote the "Wow" Factor | Rules for Writing and Tools of the Trade | Hard-News Writing | Feature Writing | Technical and Script Writing | Avoid Plagiarism | Writing Style Guides | So Many Guides, So Little Time

Grammar Workshop

Comma Inside or Comma Outside the Quotation Mark? | Less is More, But is Fewer Very Much? | Led/Lead/Leading/Leading | When We Join Things, Are They Always Plural? | Commas Between Adjectives | Hyphens

Writing Workshop

Active vs. Passive Voice | Death to Deadwood | Writing Concisely | Writing Narratives | Writing Step-By-Step Procedures | Sample Script

Part 2: Production & Style Guide

The CBT Development Process

Adobe Captivate 3 Preferences | Global Settings | Recording Settings | Full Motion Recording Settings | Recording Keys Settings | Custom Recording Mode Settings | Display Settings | Screen Resolution | Desktop Wallpaper and Icons | Windows XP Display Properties | Windows Vista Personalized Settings | The Recording Phase | Download the Template | Record a Project Using a Template

Production Phase

Version Control | Project Settings | The Cleanup Process | Slide Properties | Text Captions | Buttons | Click Boxes | Text Entry Boxes | Audio/Narration | Publishing Audio Scripts | Importing Narration Files | Pre-Publish Settings | Project Start and End | Project Background Audio | Project Skin | Project Info | Publishing Projects | Publishing for an LMS | Publishing for a Web Server