Captivate – Page 17 – The Logical Blog

August 23, 2011

Adobe Captivate 5 & 5.5: Nudge and Nudge Plus

by Kevin Siegel

Ever been nudged? In life, getting nudged might be a good thing or a bad thing. In Captivate, it's a good thing.

You can always move an object by simply dragging your mouse. But dragging an object with the mouse might prove frustrating if you only wanted to constrain the drag (only move the object up or down, but not left or right).

As an alternative to using the mouse to drag an object, nudge it. Select an object and press any one of the four arrow keys on your keyboard to move the object a few pixels at a time. This technique is particularly handy if the object is close to its final destination and using the mouse would be too tedious. Plus there is the added bonus that nudging an object will constrain the movement to one direction at a time.

Go ahead and give nudging it a try. Notice that the up and down arrows move the object up or down; the left and right arrows move left or right.

Nudge Plus…

When nudging, you will notice that the speed at which an object nudges can be a bit slow. With that in mind, I present you with Nudge Plus (that's not it's official name… and it's also known as Super Nudge). Instead of pressing just the arrow keys, press the [Shift] key on your keyboard combined with any of the arrow keys. You'll notice that the object jumps across your slide at twice the speed as before. Nice!

I'd write more but I just got nudged.

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Looking to learn Adobe Captivate 5 or 5.5? We offer Beginner and Advanced classes. Both Windows and Macintosh developers can attend these classes.

August 17, 2011

Adobe Captivate: Closed Captions for the Slide Videos

This nifty article will show you how to add closed captions to slide videos instead of just to slides containing audio.

August 16, 2011

Adobe Captivate 5 & 5.5: Change the Mouse Pointer Project-Wide

by Kevin Siegel

A seasoned Captivate developer contacted me with a small dilemma. It seems that he was new to Captivate 5.5 (but had been using Captivate for nearly 4 years).

He needed to change the appearance of his mouse pointer throughout the project. In older versions of Captivate, changing the appearance of the mouse pointer was as simple as double-clicking the pointer on any slide (to open a properties dialog box), selecting a different pointer shape and then clicking the Apply to All button in the lower left of the dialog box.

In Captivate 5 and 5.5, most of the dialog boxes have been replaced by the Properties panel (also known as the Properties Inspector) and the available options are organized into groups.

He found the ability to change the appearance of the mouse pointer easily enough on the Properties panel. With the mouse pointer on any slide is selected, he chose a different pointer shape from among those available on the Options group. However, what he missed was the pesky Apply to all items of this type command. In the image below, notice that the command is just a bit hard to see in the upper right of the Options group.

Adobe Captivate 5 & 5.5 Apply to All option.

After letting the developer know about the Apply to all items of this type option, he sent me a nice email letting me know that he had not even noticed the option. He thanked me for my time and that was that.

The rest of the story…

Shortly thereafter, I received another email from the developer. He apologized for emailing again so soon but was sure he was missing something. He said that clicking Apply to all items of this type didn't appear to be working. It certainly worked as expected for other pointer properties, but not for the appearance of the mouse pointer.

I tried it myself and sure enough, the Apply to all items of this type command did not change the pointer shape. My first thought was that it must be some kind of a bug. But then I realized that it isn't a bug at all… it's a feature. Every pointer option you can change on the Properties panel will be applied when you click the Apply to all items option–except the mouse pointer shape. To change the mouse pointer shape project-wide, first change the appearance of any mouse pointer on any slide. Then right-click the pointer and choose Use the current mouse pointer for all slides.

Use mouse pointer on all slides.

And now you know… the rest of the story.

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Looking to learn Adobe Captivate 5 or 5.5? We offer Beginner and Advanced classes. Both Windows and Macintosh developers can attend these classes.

August 10, 2011

Adobe Captivate 5 & 5.5: Add Some Status to Your TOC

by Kevin Siegel

When you add a Table of Contents to a Captivate project (Project > Table of Contents > Show TOC), the default settings include Show Duration. With this option selected, the duration of each slide in the lesson will be shown to your learners.

Show duration option is on by default.

The Duration column is perfectly useful if your lesson is a simple demonstration. However, if your lesson is an interactive simulation, it doesn't make much sense to show a slide duration since the exact amount of time spent on the interactive slide is up to the learner. I'd suggest replacing the Duration option with something far more useful: a Status Flag.

Choose Project > Table of Contents.
In the lower left of the Skin Editor, click the Settings button.
From the Runtime Options area, deselect Show Duration and then select Status Flag.
Click the OK button and then preview the project.
As you complete the interactivity on each slide, a green check mark will appear in the Status column.

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Looking to learn Adobe Captivate 5 or 5.5? We offer Beginner and Advanced classes. Both Windows and Macintosh developers can attend these classes.

August 9, 2011

Integrating Adobe Captivate eLearning with Adobe FrameMaker

Last week it was my pleasure to lead a 60-minute webinar for Adobe where I demonstrated how to integrate eLearning with Adobe FrameMaker. During the session I recorded an interactive simulation in Captivate, published it and then imported it into FrameMaker. Then I created an interactive PDF from FrameMaker that included both the print materials and images from the document, and interactive eLearning. To top it off, I showed the audience how to create conditional build tags in FrameMaker that allowed me to single source two versions of the document: one for print and one for online viewing via PDF. If you missed the session, no worries. You can check out the recording here.

August 3, 2011

Adobe Captivate 5 & 5.5: Blur it Baby

by Kevin Siegel

You've captured a series of screens using Adobe Captivate. During playback, you realize that there is something on some of the slide backgrounds that you simply don't want the learner to see. Maybe you captured a sensitive URL in a browser window, or maybe there's a name or data being shown that would be a privacy violation.

You can easily edit any Captivate background with a graphics program like MS Paint and erase the problem areas. However, if the problem exists on several slides, you would be looking at a lot of editing. An easier approach might be to simply use Captivate's blur effect to make a sensitive background area impossible to read. Here's how:

Right-click the slide needing the blur effect and choose Find Background in the Library.
Drag the selected library image onto the slide.
You now have two identical background images. The one on top (that you just dragged from the library) can be cropped and receive the Blur effect.
Using the Crop Image button on the Image Edit group of the Properties panel, crop out everything on the background except what you want to blur.
On the Timing group of the Properties panel, set the Display For timing of the cropped image to rest of slide.
Position the cropped background over the area of the background that needs to be blurred.
And now to add the blur effect…
Right-click the cropped image and choose Apply Effect.
Click the Add Effect button (located on the lower left of the Effects pane).
Note: In Captivate 5, the Effect button is simply a lowercase fx. In Captivate 5.5, the words Add Effect have been added to the button.
Choose Filters > Blur.
On the Effects pane, stretch the Blur effect so that it lasts as long as the Image.
From the Properties area of the Effects pane, experiment with the Blur X, Blur Y and Quality settings until the effect meets your needs. (To test the effect, preview a few of your slides.)

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Looking to learn Adobe Captivate 5 or 5.5? We offer Beginner and Advanced classes. Both Windows and Macintosh developers can attend these classes.

July 31, 2011

Adobe Captivate 5 & 5.5: Export Audio

by Kevin Siegel

I received an interesting email last week from a Captivate developer asking where imported audio was physically stored on the computer. She had edited much of the audio from within Captivate and needed to share some of the edited clips with team members in her office.

Once audio clips are imported into a Captivate project, they are embedded within the project and are not stored externally. While this might seem like a deal-breaker if you need to hand off those audio files to someone, there is a way to export the audio files.

Choose Audio > Audio Management to open the Advanced Audio Mangement dialog box.
From the lower left of the dialog box, select Show object level audio so that you can see all of the project's audio files (even those attached to objects on your slides).
Select some or all of the audio files.
Select either Include MP3 files in export or Include WAVE files in export (or both).
Click the Export button.
Create a folder (or open an existing folder) and click OK.
Navigate to the folder and you'll find your audio files.

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Looking to learn Adobe Captivate 5 or 5.5? We offer Beginner and Advanced classes. Both Windows and Macintosh developers can attend these classes.

July 29, 2011

Add Clouds to Captivate or PowerPoint Projects

Adobe's Allen Partridge has documented the steps necessary to add Clouds to both Captivate and PowerPowerPoint projects.

"I love word clouds. You know, those cool clusters of words that give instant summary of concepts by making words bigger and bolder the more times they are used somewhere," said Partridge. "I thought it would be fun to show you how you can make wicked cool word clouds based on your Adobe Captivate (and even Microsoft PowerPoint) projects in just a few minutes. The coolest part? It's totally free, totally simple and you'll impress your friends with your ability to spin a context appropriate graphic out of thin air."

Click here to learn more.

July 26, 2011

Writing & Grammar: Checklists, Part III

by Jennie Ruby

This week I am featuring two different kinds of checklists from readers. One kind is a planning checklist with slots for recording the date each task is done. The other kind is a list of tasks for converting training materials from Captivate 4 to Captivate 5. Reviewing other people's checklists is a good way to develop your own.

Skills & Drills reader Kelly Schaub writes:

I work as a fiction manuscript editor both freelance and for a small publishing house. Every time I receive a query for the publishing house, I print up a checklist and fill it with dates as I go along:

Query for the publishing house check list.

Kelly goes on:

If that project goes to contract I have a second checklist to attach to it. I'm tracking multiple such projects across three to nine months at a time, so marking each step is crucial. I made up these forms based on the various steps we need to do as editors, and they have both evolved over time as the company has grown and procedures changed.

Tracking multiple projects checklist.

Dealing with multiple bosses

Kelly also filled us in on dealing with multiple bosses (or clients):

Since each "boss" in my freelance career wants a different set of things done, I have a different checklist for each, but every project for each "boss" is tracked the same way in my system. I have dropped few balls yet, and I can see when too much time has lapsed while my project is on someone else's desk.

Added to that I make a weekly "to do list" with all the little fiddly things that need to be done in both my home business life and my household wife/mother duties. I inevitably forget things if I don't.

I love a good checklist!

Completing a complex procedure

Mary Welby, another Skill & Drills reader, has been dealing with converting Captivate projects:

We are using a checklist for converting CP4 to CP5. As you surely know, the transition is not as smooth as we would all appreciate, although recent updates have improved some of the formerly impossible situations.

I love checklists and find them absolutely necessary when publishing Captivate lessons and certainly with SCORMing them!

Checklist for converting Captivate projects.

I hope these checklists give you ideas for what to include on your own checklists. But whatever complex task you are doing, I wholeheartedly recommend using a checklist!

See also: Checklists Part I and Part II.

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About the Author: Jennie Ruby is a veteran IconLogic trainer and author with titles such as "Editing with Word 2003 and Acrobat 7" and "Editing with MS Word 2007" to her credit. She is a publishing professional with more than 20 years of experience in writing, editing and desktop publishing.

July 20, 2011

Adobe Captivate 5.5: Change the Background, Keep the Objects

by Kevin Siegel

A fellow Captivate developer sent me an email asking for advice. It seemed that he had just completed a slick eLearning lesson in Captivate. But as soon as he published the lesson, an email arrived from his application developer informing him that the application had just been updated. There were "minor" changes to the interface that needed to be included in the eLearning lesson.

I was asked if there was anything that the developer could do to show those "minor" updates short of re-recording and re-producing the lesson. (He had spent 40 hours producing the lesson and didn't have another 40 hours to spare.)

I asked him if the interface changes were, in fact, minor.

"Yes."

I asked him if he had included a significant number of buttons, text captions and other objects in the original project.

"Yes."

and "Oh yes!"

One final question from me: Was it possible to record the new lesson using the same width and height of the original?

"Yes."

After his final yes, I had a "yes" of my own. If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, you will love the following.

Record the new lesson (being sure to capture the lesson using the identical width and height of the original, and the same script used for the original lesson).
With the new lesson open, copy the first slide's background to the clipboard.
Open the original lesson.
Right-click the first slide and choose Paste as Background.

The slide background in the original lesson will now look like the new interface. However, any slide objects, actions and timing that existed on the slide or its objects will remain intact. Nice!

You would simply repeat the process on any sides needing to be updated. While it may seem like it's going to be a laborious process, you'll be able to move through a large project very quickly… much quicker than re-recording and re-producing the entire lesson.

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Looking to learn Adobe Captivate 5 or 5.5? We offer Beginner and Advanced classes. Both Windows and Macintosh developers can attend these classes.