Best Skillset for Captivate

I apologize for the newbness of this question, but I have a co-worker who is now being tasked with developing and maintaining some Captivate based training modules. She ran into an issue which I was able to solve with a little Javascript. However, she isn't a developer and doesn't know any Javascript, HTML, CSS, etc. She has the opportunity to take some training courses; one focuses on (X)HTML and CSS while the other focuses on Javascript and web programming. My question is, which of these technologies are the most useful in becoming an advanced Captivate user? Should she take either of these courses, both, or are we heading down the wrong path entirely?
Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.
-Paco

Hi there
While education never hurts, I'd say JavaScript and Web Programming would be best to enhance a Captivate user. CSS presently won't do a bit of good with Captivate. Knowing a bit of HTML may help in some cases but I'd say JavaScript wins hands down if you are choosing between the two.
Cheers... Rick
Click here for Adobe Certified Captivate and RoboHelp HTML Training
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Best Training For Captivate

I'm looking for recommendations on the best way to get
training on Captivate 3. I'm not a Book Learner more of a hands
on.. So either In Person or Online is fine..
But before I invest 100's of bucks in training I want to make
sure i'm getting something worth the money.. I found some stuff
online for CD's of Training step by steps but When i listened to
samples of it.. There is no way i would spend money on their
stuff.. can't understand the speaker and they were really "boring"
stuttering the whole way through there 2 minute sample.
If training in Person prefer it to be in the Houston Area for
Cost reasons. My company will most likely send me to training
locally when they don't have to fork out additional money for
AirFair/Car/Hotel ect..
Thanks in advance for your recommendation..
PS information about me..
using Captivate 3 ..(i dont' want Captivate 4 training)
New user to Captivate.. (no exp. with Flash) Exp i do have is
with Adobe Pro, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Fireworks
So I need someone that can teach me the ropes in a short
amount of time for what I need to create for my company.
Thanks again in advance for your recomendations!

Hi Starla94!
I've taken a couple of Adobe classes through Lodestone
Digital. They're an Adobe Authorized training facility with a
center in Houston.
http://www.lodestone.com/contact/houston.cfm
They don't have any Captivate 3 classes scheduled right now,
but I'd give them a call and see what they can do.
Another alternative is
http://www.Lynda.com. The training
classes I've taken through them have been excellent.
Hope this helps... ~Anna~

Best Practices for Team Collaboration using Adobe Captivate

With a team of 6 Instructional Designers, how can Adobe Captivate be approached where we can collaborate while producing e-learning material while maintaining a consistent look and feel of the e-learning we produce?
What are the best practices for a team of 6 IDs working and creating e-learning material in Captivate? Is there anything build-in that allows us to connect to the same libraries, templates, etc to share?
Please advise.
Thank you!
Susanne

Only some tips, never collaborated with someone else, being the solo teacher. You didn't mention which version you are using, what I write here is meant for CP7.
Be sure to prepare a theme and/or a template that will be used by everyone. A theme consists of master slides, object styles, skin editor. Master slides can have custom navigation shape buttons. In a template you can eventually also prepare different slides with placeholders, and eventually advanced actions etc. For CP6 and earlier that is the only way to reuse advanced actions, in Captivate 7 you can export shared actions that can be imported in any project for reuse.
A feature that few users know about are the external libraries. You can open the library of any project as an external library in another project. That is a good idea to store assets that you want to use in different projects: images, audio clips, video clips, eventually equations. The shared actions in a library can not (yet?) be used in another project however.
If you are on CP7 you have automatically the roundtripping with source Adobe Photoshop files and source Audition files, both from CC. That can also make collaboration lot easier if those assets are prepared in those applications. Will not expand on that, because I'm not sure you have the Creative Cloud applications.
Those are my two cents.
Lilybiri

Captivate..best choice for Quizzes?

I am wondering if Captivate is the best choice for quiz development. I am used to the creative possibilities with Flash and find the "templated" nature of Captivate limiting and frustrating. I would like some validation from you Captivate users before I spend too much more time trying to get this lame application to work for me. (maybe it's me that is lame but I am frustrated). Do you all think this is a viable application that is worthy of the learning curve and limitations?
Thank you
Rich Gilman

Hi Rich,
I happen to be a big fan of Captivate. I've been using it since it's RoboDemo days and it keeps getting better. That having been said, if your primary need is to develop quizzes, there are better options out there. I tend to use Captivate quizzing only when I want to add a few questions as an integrated part of a course. If I wanted to develop a stand alone quiz, I would turn elsewhere. If you have the Flash skills, there's no reason not to use Flash. There are also programs specifically designed for quiz development.
One person's opinion!
ERR229

Best way to break up audio files for Captivate?

Hi guys, I have a dilemma here. I am getting ready to record the audio clilps for Captivate and I'm wondering how I should break up the audio. For example, the first slide has
First textbox with title "Introduction"
Second textbox with title "Learning Objectives"
Third textbox with "In this lesson you will learn: a) how to do something b) how to define something"
Fourth textbox with "It will take you 5 minutes to complete this lesson"
So, how does Captivate play the audio? Do I record only one audio file for all the text on screen and add the audio to the slide? Or, do I record smaller chunks (for each textbox) and add the audio file to each of the textbox? In which order will Captivate play the audio? I'm assuming if all the textboxes have separate pieces of audio, Captivate would play those at the same time.
Thanks

Hi. My recommendation would be to create one audio file for the slide, then use the timeline if necessary to time the text captions (and other objects) to appear/disappear to match the slide audio. If you record audio for each text caption, the audio will begin to play as soon as the text caption becomes visable on the slide. If you have more than one text caption appearing at the same time, both will play their audio at the same time.
Hope this helps.
Mister C.

Best practices for setting up projects

We recently adopted using Captivate for our WBT modules.
As a former Flash and Director user, I can say it’s
fast and does some great things. Doesn’t play so nice with
others on different occasions, but I’m learning. This forum
has been a great source for search and read on specific topics.
I’m trying to understand best practices for using this
product. We’ve had some problems with file size and
incorporating audio and video into our projects. Fortunately, the
forum has helped a lot with that. What I haven’t found a lot
of information on is good or better ways to set up individual
files, use multiple files and publish projects. We’ve decided
to go the route of putting standalones on our Intranet. My gut says
yuck, but for our situation I have yet to find a better way.
My question for discussion, then is: what are some best
practices for setting up individual files, using multiple files and
publishing projects? Any references or input on this would be
appreciated.

Hi,
Here are some of my suggestions:
1) Set up a style guide for all your standard slides. Eg.
Title slide, Index slide, chapter slide, end slide, screen capture,
non-screen capture, quizzes etc. This makes life a lot easier.
2) Create your own buttons and captions. The standard ones
are pretty ordinary, and it's hard to get a slick looking style
happening with the standard captions. They are pretty easy to
create (search for add print button to learn how to create
buttons). There should instructions on how to customise captions
somewhere on this forum. Customising means that you can also use
words, symbols, colours unique to your organisation.
3) Google elearning providers. Most use captivate and will
allow you to open samples or temporarily view selected modules.
This will give you great insight on what not to do and some good
ideas on what works well.
4) Timings: Using the above research, I got others to
complete the sample modules to get a feel for timings. The results
were clear, 10 mins good, 15 mins okay, 20 mins kind of okay, 30
mins bad, bad, bad. It's truly better to have a learner complete
2-3 short modules in 30 mins than one big monster. The other
benefit is that shorter files equal smaller size.
5) Narration: It's best to narrate each slide individually
(particularly for screen capture slides). You are more likely to
get it right on the first take, it's easier to edit and you don't
have to re-record the whole thing if you need to update it in
future. To get a slicker effect, use at least two voices: one male,
one female and use slightly different accents.
6) Screen capture slides: If you are recording filling out
long window based databse pages where the compulsory fields are
marked (eg. with a red asterisk) - you don't need to show how to
fill out every field. It's much easier for the learner (and you) to
show how to fill out the first few fields, then fade the screen
capture out, fade the end of the form in with the instructions on
what to do next. This will reduce your file size. In one of my
forms, this meant the removal of about 18 slides!
7) Auto captions: they are verbose (eg. 'Click on Print
Button' instead of 'Click Print'; 'Select the Print Preview item'
instead of 'Select Print Preview'). You have to edit them.
8) PC training syntax: Buttons and hyperlinks should normally
be 'click'; selections from drop down boxes or file lists are
normally 'select': Captivate sometimes mixes them up. Instructions
should always be written in the correct order: eg. Good: Click
'File', Select 'Print Preview'; Bad: Select 'Print Preview' from
the 'File Menu'. Button names, hyperlinks, selections are normally
written in bold
9) Instruction syntax: should always be written in an active
voice: eg. 'Click Options to open the printer menu' instead of
'When the Options button is clicked on, the printer menu will open'
10) Break all modules into chapters. Frame each chapter with
a chapter slide. It's also a good idea to show the Index page
before each chapter slide with a progress indicator (I use an
animated arrow to flash next to the name of the next chapter), I
use a start button rather a 'next' button for the start of each
chapter. You should always have a module overview with the purpose
of the course and a summary slide which states what was covered and
they have complete the module.
11) Put a transparent click button somewhere on each slide.
Set the properties of the click box to take the learner back to the
start of the current chapter by pressing F2. This allows them to
jump back to the start of their chapter at any time. You can also
do a similar thing on the index pages which jumps them to another
chapter.
12) Recording video capture: best to do it at normal speed
and be concious of where your mouse is. Minimise your clicks. Most
people (until they start working with captivate) are sloppy with
their mouse and you end up with lots of unnecessarily slides that
you have to delete out. The speed will default to how you recorded
it and this will reduce the amount of time you spend on changing
timings.
13) Captions: My rule of thumb is minimum of 4 seconds - and
longer depending on the amount of words. Eg. Click 'Print Preview'
is 4 seconds, a paragraph is longer. If you creating knowledge
based modules, make the timing long (eg. 2-3 minutes) and put in a
next button so that the learner can click when they are ready.
Also, narration means the slides will normally be slightly longer.
14) Be creative: Capitvate is desk bound. There are some
learners that just don't respond no matter how interactive
Captivate can be. Incorporate non-captivate and desk free
activities. Eg. As part of our OHS module, there is an activity
where the learner has to print off the floor plan, and then wander
around the floor marking on th emap key items such as: fire exits;
first aid kit, broom and mop cupboard, stationary cupboard, etc.
Good luck!

Best practice for responsive projects

Does anyone have tips on best practices for responsive project?
I understand that 3 different layouts can be created. What happens if a learner is not using one of the 3 devices that were set up in a responsive project, and their screen size is different from any of those

Jay,
Dr. Pooja Jaisingh offered very valuable tips for good practice in responsive design last week in her webinar. 'Do's and Don'ts of creating Responsive Projects with Captivate 8'. I don't see the recording yet On Demand, but keep an eye on it.
Did you test a responsive project with F11 (Preview in Browser)? You will be able to change the resolution of the browser window and see that the content, if well designed (you can have absolute positioning, size as well) will move, shrink to adapt. The break points (3 devices) allow you to make more invasive changes at those points: dragging some objects out of the stage in the scratch area because they take up too much space for phones is one example. Or replacing a big screenshot with many details by a zoomed in detail screenshot for the mobile breakpoint. That is my way of explaining, responsive is not just have the three layouts for devices, it is also adapting between those breakpoints.

Google Maps widget for Captivate 4

Hi people,
I am planning to create a google maps widget for captivate 4. Something like it will load a map of the location(longitude,latitude) set by the project author in the published SWF at runtime.
If you like the idea, then please give your suggestions and options which you would like to see in the widget. Then what kind of controls you want to have in the widget.

Hey there,
Take a look at this web address
http://blogs.adobe.com/captivate/2009/03/use_world_in_your_elearning_co.html
This includes a Google Map widget created by the Adobe Captivate team.
Best - Mark
Visit the macrofireball blog

Best browser for HTML5 support on Android

Can anyone recommend a browser that actually works with Captivate HTML5 output on android devices? I get a variety of problems across Firefox, Chrome, Dolphin, and Ninesky. The main problem I get is no sound, but on some of them I get sound but the nav buttons don't work. I am using very simple slde sounds - one per slide. Also, does anyone know if there is an Android version of Safari?
Best, Steve

Thanks for sharing this.
- Community Manager Sony Xperia Support Forum
If you're new to our forums make sure that you have read our Discussion guidelines.
If you want to get in touch with the local support team for your country please visit our contact page.

Bit rate standards for Compressing video for Captivate

I have been trying to decide whether rto use constant bit rate or a variable bit rate when compressing my video to embed in Captivate.
I have been told by Connect support that a constant bit rate is better for deploying video in Presenter but I am wondering if anyone has information as whether that is also true for Captivate. We are using captive as a means to offer a series of video question and answer sequence for a client of ours, and I am interested in getting the best quality with the smoothest performance in a progressive download flv format
For a simple talking head I am tempted to use a variable bit rate but, I cannot find anything in the seaces I have made that talk about the spec or any pros an cons to that quetsion for Captivate.
Doee anyone have any expereince with that?

I have always used constant bitrate for videos imported into Captivate and that has worked fine. However, I never tried using variable bit rate so I don't know if it will work better or worse.
My guess is that it would be better to go with constant bitrate though because Captivate do have some funny issues with FLV's sometimes and it's probably better not to "stress" captivate ;o)
/Michael
Visit my Captivate blog with tips & tricks, tutorials and Widgets.

Is connect the best lms for captivte?

My company is going to be using adobe captivate for its online training for our distributors. Is adobe connect the best when to monitor scores and tests for that? What is the cost on this as well?

That question is more difficult to answer than it may seem. Connect does a great job of tracking and monitoring scores with Captivate content, but it shouldn't be called an LMS... Maybe LMS light is a better term.
Captivate should report well to any LMS though, so the better question is do you need an LMS, and how big is your budget for an LMS? I won't get into pricing here, as that is not a forum appropriate conversation, and you shouldn't say your budge here .
I'll contact you off forum and we can discuss how Connect may or may not fit into your plans for Captivate.

Best practices for setting up users on a small office network?

Hello,
I am setting up a small office and am wondering what the best practices/steps are to setup/manage the admin, user logins and sharing privileges for the below setup:
Users: 5 users on new iMacs (x3) and upgraded G4s (x2)
Video Editing Suite: Want to connect a new iMac and a Mac Pro, on an open login (multiple users)
All machines are to be able to connect to the network, peripherals and external hard drive. Also, I would like to setup drop boxes as well to easily share files between the computers (I was thinking of using the external harddrive for this).
Thank you,

Hi,
Thanks for your posting.
When you install AD DS in the hub or staging site, disconnect the installed domain controller, and then ship the computer to the remote site, you are disconnecting a viable domain controller from the replication topology.
For more and detail information, please refer to:
Best Practices for Adding Domain Controllers in Remote Sites
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc794962(v=ws.10).aspx
Regards.
Vivian Wang

I've only had my iphone 5s for a week. I keep getting an error message of "Server has stopped responding." I need the server to work. Does anyone know if there is a "fix" for the problem? Other wise, I probably best return for a refund and get a Samsung.

I've only had my iphone 5s for a week. I keep getting an error message of "Server has stopped responding." I need the server to work. Does anyone know if there is a "fix" for the problem? Other wise, I probably best return for a refund and get a Samsung. Thanks

sandyzotz wrote:
Other wise, I probably best return for a refund and get a Samsung.
Unlikely. Based on the complete lack of detail of the issue provided it is entirely possible the same issue would occur.
Unless and until the user provides some actual details of the problem, there is nothing the indicate that the issue is with the iPhone.

Best-practice for Catalog Views ? :|

Hello community,
A best practice question:
The situtation: I have several product categories (110), several items in those categories (4000) and 300 end-users. I would like to know which is the best practice for segment the catalog. I mean, some users should only see categories 10,20 & 30. Other users only category 80, etc. The problem is how can I implement this ?
My first idea is:
1. Create 110 Procurement Catalogs (1 for every prod.category). Each catalog should contain only its product category.
2. Assign in my Org Model, in a user-level all the "catalogs" that the user should access.
Do you have any idea in order to improve this ?
Saludos desde Mexico,
Diego

Hi,
Your way of doing will work, but you'll get maintenance issues (to many catalogs, and catalog link to maintain for each user).
The other way is to built your views in CCM, and assign these views to the users, either on the roles (PFCG) or on the user (SU01). The problem is that with CCM 1.0 this is limitated, cause you'll have to assign one by one the items to each view (no dynamic or mass processes), it has been enhanced in CCM 2.0.
My advice:
-Challenge your customer about views, and try to limit the number of views, with for example strategic and non strategic
-With CCM 1.0 stick to the procurement catalogs, or implement BADIs to assign items to the views (I experienced it, it works, but is quite difficult), but with a limitated number of views
Good luck.
Vadim

Best Practice for Securing Web Services in the BPEL Workflow

What is the best practice for securing web services which are part of a larger service (a business process) and are defined through BPEL?
They are all deployed on the same oracle application server.
Defining agent for each?
Gateway for all?
BPEL security extension?
The top level service that is defined as business process is secure itself through OWSM and username and passwords, but what is the best practice for security establishment for each low level services?
Regards
Farbod

It doesnt matter whether the service is invoked as part of your larger process or not, if it is performing any business critical operation then it should be secured.
The idea of SOA / designing services is to have the services available so that it can be orchestrated as part of any other business process.
Today you may have secured your parent services and tomorrow you could come up with a new service which may use one of the existing lower level services.
If all the services are in one Application server you can make the configuration/development environment lot easier by securing them using the Gateway.
Typical probelm with any gateway architecture is that the service is available without any security enforcement when accessed directly.
You can enforce rules at your network layer to allow access to the App server only from Gateway.
When you have the liberty to use OWSM or any other WS-Security products, i would stay away from any extensions. Two things to consider
The next BPEL developer in your project may not be aware of Security extensions
Centralizing Security enforcement will make your development and security operations as loosely coupled and addresses scalability.
Thanks
Ram

Best Skillset for Captivate

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