ADOBE CAPTIVATE: Free Matching Images and Videos

by Kevin Siegel, COTP, CTT

During the first day of my Adobe Captivate Beginner class, attendees learn how to import and work with both images and videos. During the video portion of the class, we import a Flash Video (flv) which students love because without the background color in the video, it's possible to include an animated guide throughout a lesson. The problem with Flash Videos is that they can be difficult to create on your own and, worse, there isn’t a surplus of Flash Videos available on the web (free or otherwise). Even if you managed to find a video, it's unlikely that it matches the other images you've already used in your project. Fortunately, the eLearning Brothers have come to the rescue. You’ll find matching cutout people and videos. Best of all, the assets are free if you’ve got Adobe Captivate 9 or 2017. To access the assets, from within a Captivate project, click Assets on the toolbar and then click Get Free eLearning Assets. If this is your first time accessing the assets, you’ll need to either login with your free eLearning Brothers account credentials or create an account.

Once you’re on the Assets page, click Cutout People. If you scroll down to the bottom of the available assets, you’ll see a category that you’ve likely overlooked on previous trips to the Assets area: Videos.

Here is where things get pretty awesome: I searched the assets for a character that I've used before: Melanie.   Not only did I find my character posed in both business and casual attire, but there were videos as well. While at first glance the videos looked similar to the images, this was surely wishful thinking on my part.

After downloading the image I needed, I focused my attention on the videos. I quickly discovered, much to my delight, that Flash Video (flv) is one of the available download formats.

In the picture below you can see the image asset that I downloaded on the left; the downloaded Flash Video on the right. (Because Flash Videos do not have a background color, they works perfectly just about anywhere.) And how awesome is it that the image and video are of the same image and.. and... wearing the same clothes?

I swear it's as if I spent a lot of money and/or invested a ton of time on this. (I mean, how much would it cost to hire the actor, get the pictures, create the video, and remove the backgrounds?) However, nothing could be farther from reality. Honestly I spent maybe five minutes grabbing both assets and adding them to my Captivate project. And I never even pulled out my credit card.   Thanks Adobe... and thanks eBros!

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Kevin Siegel, CTT, COTP, is the founder and president of IconLogic and ICCOTP. Following a career in Public Affairs with the US Coast Guard and in private industry, Kevin has spent decades as a technical communicator, classroom and online trainer, public speaker, and has written hundreds of computer training books for adult learners. He has been recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide.