Tag: software simulations

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Articulate Storyline: Action Fine Tuning

Storyline does a great job recording software simulations. During my vILT beginner Storyline classes, we cover all of the recording modes and the many options.

Once you've recorded a simulation and added it to a scene, you will likely notice that Storyline captured too much. In a recent recording, I noticed that Storyline showed the student where I clicked by highlighting the menu item. I was okay with the menu item being shown when demonstrating the steps. However, in the "let me try" version of the course, I didn't want the learner to see the "click hint."

This is the perfect use case for Storyline's Action Fine Tuning.

Right-click the slide that needs to be tuned and choose Action Fine Tuning.

In the Capture Action Fine Tuning dialog box, click the Previous Frame button to remove the unwanted click visual.

Action Fine Tuning

Click the OK button, and you're done.

Check out this short video I created and posted to YouTube to see how the Action Fine Tuning feature works.

Looking for Storyline support or mentoring? We've got you covered: https://www.iconlogic.com/consulting-mentoring-services.html.

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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!

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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.
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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.
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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.
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ADOBE CAPTIVATE: Getting Past the DPI Awareness Error

Creating software simulations has always been one of Captivate's core strengths. From the Home screen, double-click Software Simulation, select the area of the screen or application to record, select your mode (or modes), click the Record button, and away you go.
 
The recording process is seamless, except when it's not. These days I'm seeing a particularly frustrating error appear for more and more of my students. After double-clicking Software Simulation, instead of seeing a Recording Area and a control panel, users are seeing an error message about DPI Awareness. Specifically, the message says "Capture is disallowed since High-density displaying was detected. Please set 'DPIAwareness = 1' in AdobeCaptivate.ini and restart the application."
 
 
Fortunately, the error only seems to affect people running a recent version of Windows 10 and only developers who are using a PC with a Retina display (such as a Microsoft Surface Pro). Unfortunately, there are more and more people with Retina displays who are reporting the error.
 
You can manually locate the AdobeCaptivate.ini file mentioned in the message by looking in the Adobe Captivate application folder. You can then edit the file in Notepad and change the DPI Awareness from 0 to 1 (and then restart Captivate).
 

 
After changing the DPI Awareness and restarting Captivate, the Captivate software will be pretty small. However, you'll be able to move forward with recording the software simulation.
 
While it's not difficult to edit the ini file, I'm betting if you're like most people, editing a support file in Notepad isn't something you're anxious to do. If so, I have a few alternatives for you.
 
First, close Captivate. Then right-click your desktop and choose Display settings. From the Scale and layout area, choose 100% from the Change the size of text, apps, and other items drop-down menu.
 
 
Return to Captivate and try to create a software simulation. If the DPI Awareness issue is gone, great. If not, exit Captivate, right-click your desktop and choose Display settings again. From the Scale and layout area, click Advanced scaling settings.
 
 
From the Fix scaling for apps area, turn off the option that allows Windows to try to fix apps so they're not blurry.
 
 
Return to Captivate and try again to create a software simulation. If things still aren't working, don't panic… I've got one more trick up my sleeve. With Captivate once again closed, right-click the AdobeCaptivate.exe file (located in the Adobe Captivate application folder) and choose Properties.
 
 
On the Compatibility tab, select Run this program in compatibility mode and choose Windows 8 from the drop-down menu.
 
 
Click the OK button and restart Captivate. While the program itself may look tiny, you'll be able to move forward with your software simulation.
 
Until a better solution is made available from either Adobe, Microsoft, or both, one or a combination of the steps above will likely work for you. If you have a better workaround, please share via a comment.
 
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