by Kevin Siegel
During the recording process, Captivate typically does a wonderful job of creating screen captures on processes you perform within an application. I said "typically" because there are occasions when Captivate fails to create some of the screen captures and you are left in a bit of a pickle. You won't know Captivate missed an important screen capture until you stop the recording process and begin producing the lesson in Captivate. By then, the missing screen(s) may require you to record additional slides.
Assuming you are using Captivate's Automatic recording mode as you record a series of clicks on your computer, Captivate is supposed to automatically create a single slide (screen capture) every time you click your mouse. Alternatively, you can use Captivate's FMR mode during the recording process. Using this mode, Captivate will create a Full Motion Recording (FMR) video if you drag your mouse instead of individual screens. You will end up with fewer slides, but you'll have less flexibility since videos are harder to edit than individual slides.
What if you wanted to record your mouse pointer, along with the pointer path, as you pointed at screen objects? You weren't planning to click anything, you were just going to point at screen objects. Since Captivate's Automatic recording mode requires you to click your mouse to create a screen capture, you're stuck. If you don't click, you won't get that all-important screen capture. You could record an FMR, but you don't want a video. What's a developer to do?
To get around the problem, you can create the screen captures on your own–manually. First show Captivate's Preferences dialog box (Adobe Captivate menu if you are using a Macintosh; Edit menu if you are using Windows). Select theKeys category and make a note of the shortcut required To Capture a Screenshot. (If you don't like the default key, you can click in the field and type your own preferred keyboard combination.)
During the recording process, press the Manual Recordingkey on your keyboard whenever you want to capture the screen. Every time you press the Manual Recording key you will create one screen capture, just as if you had clicked your mouse.
There is one final thing thing to think about when it comes to screen captures. During the recording process, I have heard from developers that the Automatic recording type simply doesn't work (often times there is only a single screen captured during the recording process). While Captivate records the screen actions in most applications, some applications don't appear to get along with Captivate. In that event, I'd suggest using Captivate's third (and least-used) Recording Type: Manual. Just prior to recording the lesson, select Manual from the Recording Type area.
Using the Manual recording type will require you to press your keyboard shortcut each and every time you want a screen capture. If you forget to pull the screen capture you'll be out of luck since Captivate won't do anything for you at all. While this Recording Type will certainly require a significant amount of discipline on your part, your finished recording will contain every screenshot you were expecting.
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