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Mastering Adobe Captivate 2019

By : Dr. Pooja Jaisingh, Bruyndonckx

3.6 (10)

Mastering Adobe Captivate 2019

3.6 (10)

By: Dr. Pooja Jaisingh, Bruyndonckx

Overview of this book

Adobe Captivate is used to create highly engaging, interactive, and responsive eLearning content. This book takes you through the production of a few pieces of eLearning content, covering all the project types and workflows of Adobe Captivate. First, you will learn how to create a typical interactive Captivate project. This will give you the opportunity to review all Captivate objects and uncover the application's main tools. Then, you will use the built-in capture engine of Captivate to create an interactive software simulation and a Video Demo that can be published as an MP4 video. Then, you will approach the advanced responsive features of Captivate to create a project that can be viewed on any device. And finally, you will immerse your learners in a 360o environment by creating Virtual Reality projects of Adobe Captivate. At the end of the book, you will empower your workflow and projects with the newer and most advanced features of the application, including variables, advanced actions, JavaScript, and using Captivate 2019 with other applications. If you want to produce high quality eLearning content using a wide variety of techniques, implement eLearning in your company, enable eLearning on any device, assess the effectiveness of the learning by using extensive Quizzing features, or are simply interested in eLearning, this book has you covered!

Preface

Preface

Who this book is for

What this book covers

To get the most out of this book

Download the example code files

Download the color images

Conventions used

Get in touch

Reviews

Free Chapter

Getting Started with Adobe Captivate 2019

Getting Started with Adobe Captivate 2019

Getting Captivate

The Captivate perpetual license

The Captivate subscription

Captivate in the Technical Communication Suite

A first look at a typical production workflow

Step zero – the pre-production phase

Step one – creating the slides

Step two – the editing phase

Step three – the publishing phase

Exploring the Captivate interface

Using the Advanced Interface Mode

Working with panels

Creating a new workspace

Extra credit

Renaming and deleting custom workspaces

Workspaces in normal mode

Joining the Captivate community

Exploring the sample applications

Experiencing the Encoder demonstration

Experiencing the Encoder simulation

Experiencing the Encoder Video Demo

Experiencing the take the train sample application

Experiencing a Responsive Project

Previewing a responsive project on your mobile device

Experiencing a Virtual Reality project

Experiencing the Introduction to Fluid Boxes project

Summary

Meet the community

David Kelly

Contact details

Working with Standard Objects

Working with Standard Objects

Creating a new Captivate project

Choosing the right project size

Applying a theme to the project

Working with placeholders

Adding slides to a project

Working with the Properties inspector

Exploring the objects of Captivate

Working with the Text Caption object

Creating new Text Captions

Resizing and moving Text Captions

Formatting a Text Caption

Working with Smart Shapes

Drawing a simple Smart Shape

Formatting Smart Shapes

Creating your own Smart Shapes

Modifying a custom shape

Saving a custom shape

Adding text inside Smart Shapes

Duplicating object

Extra credit – creating additional Smart Shapes

Working with images

Inserting an image

Using the image editing tools of Captivate

Inserting a picture slide

Inserting Character images

Working with SVG images

Working with Text Effects

Summary

Meet the community

Damien

Pooja

Anita Horsley

Contact details

Working with Multimedia

Working with Multimedia

Preparing your work

Inserting external animations in the project

Inserting animated GIF files into the project

Inserting HTML5 animations into the project

Working with video

Working with audio

Adding audio to the objects

Adding background music to the entire project

Adding audio to the slides

Recording narration with Captivate

Setting up the sound system

Recording the narration

Editing a sound clip in Captivate

Importing an external sound clip

Using Text-To-Speech to generate narration

Installing the Captivate speech agents

Working with the Slide Notes panel

Converting text to speech

Using the Advanced Audio Management window

Summary

Meet the community

Damien

Pooja

Alice Acker

Contact details

Working with the Timeline and Other Useful Tools

Working with the Timeline and Other Useful Tools

Working with the Library

Using the Library to remove assets from the project

Importing external assets into the Library

Reusing Library items

Importing objects from another Library

Deleting unused items from the Library

Laying out the objects on the slides

Using Smart Guides

Using the rulers and the guides

Extra credit – aligning the image legend

Alternate ways to create guides

Using the Align toolbar

Selecting multiple objects

Extra credit – aligning the other objects of the slide

Grouping objects

Working with the Filmstrip

Hiding and showing slides

Locking and unlocking slides

Grouping and ungrouping slides

Working with the Timeline

Using the Timeline to select objects

Using the Timeline to lock and unlock objects

Using the Timeline to show and hide objects

Using the Timeline to change the stacking order of the objects

Extra credit – aligning images

Using the Timeline to set the timing of the objects

Tips and tricks for great syncing

Using the Sync with Playhead feature

Extra credit – adjusting the timing of the other slides

Working with effects

Applying and removing effects

Applying other effects

Extra credit – adding effects to the remaining slides

Summary

Meet the community

Josh Cavalier

Contact details

Developing Interactivity

Developing Interactivity

Working with Buttons

Formatting the Buttons

Using Smart Shapes as Buttons

Extra credit – Creating the Continue button on Slide 4

Branching with Buttons

Preparing the buttons

Creating the other buttons of the slide

Creating the Branching scenario

Working with Text Entry Boxes

Working with multi-state objects

Working with the built-in states of buttons

Working with the Visited state

Creating the Visited state of the other buttons

Working with custom states

Creating the custom states

Using Buttons to change the state of an object

Customizing the Normal (Default) state

Working with the Go to Next State action

Working with Drag and Drop interactions

Using the Drag and Drop Interaction wizard

Using the Drag and Drop panel

Customizing the feedback messages

Working with Interactive Video

Inserting an interactive video

Working with Bookmarks

Modifying and deleting bookmarks

Using the Jump to Bookmark action

Creating the remaining buttons

Working with Overlay Slides on the video

Preparing the Overlay Slide

Adding the Overlay Slide on the Interactive Video

Modifying the Overlay Slide

Working with Learning Interactions

Working with the Accordion interaction

Using the Rollover objects

Summary

Meet the community

Damien

Pooja

Joe Ganci

Contact details

Crafting the Graphical Experience with Styles and Themes

Crafting the Graphical Experience with Styles and Themes

Importing the colors

Using the imported colors

Working with styles

Managing styles with the Properties inspector

Resetting a style

Creating new styles

Applying styles

Modifying a style

Applying styles automatically

Working with the Object Style manager

Renaming styles

Exporting a style

Importing a style

Creating a style in the Object Style Manager

Working with fonts

Using web safe fonts

Working with System Fonts

Working with web fonts

Syncing a second Adobe Fonts web font

Working with Themes

Applying a theme to an existing project

The elements of a Theme

The Master Slides

Creating slides based on Master Slides

Changing the Master Slide of an existing slide

Inserting a blank slide in a themed project

The Styles

Creating a custom Theme

Customizing the Master Slides of the Theme

Customizing the Main Master Slide

Changing the background of a Master Slide

Adding a Master Slide to the Theme

Adding more Master Slides to the theme

Adding Styles to the Theme

Styling the titles

Adding placeholders to the Master Slides

Adding Title Placeholders to the other Master Slides

Saving the Styles in the Theme

Working with Templates

Creating a Template

Adding Placeholder Slides

Adding the last slide

Saving the Template

Creating a new Captivate project from a Template

Summary

Meet the community

James Kingsley

Contact details

Working with Quizzes

Working with Quizzes

Introducing the Quiz

Creating Question Slides

Inserting the first Question Slide

Using the Multiple Choice question

Understanding the basic question properties

Working with Partial Scoring

Branching with Question Slides

Discovering the other options of the Quiz inspector

Customizing the feedback messages

Importing Question Slides from a GIFT file

Importing Question Slides from a CSV file

Deleting the Question Slides

Inspecting the CSV file

Importing the CSV file in Adobe Captivate

Creating CSV files for importing in to Captivate

Working with Matching questions

Working with Short Answer questions

Working with True/False questions

Adding the remaining Question Slides

Working with the Fill-in-The-Blank question

Working with Hotspot questions

Working with Sequence questions

Creating surveys with Likert questions

Previewing the Quiz

Understanding the Quiz modes

Understanding Pretests

Exploring the Quiz Preferences

Setting the passing score of a Quiz

Working with Question Pools

Inserting questions in a Question Pool

Inserting Random Question Slides in the project

Styling the elements of the Question Slides

Reporting scores to an LMS

Understanding SCORM, AICC, and xAPI

Enabling reporting in Captivate

Reporting options at the Question Slide level

Reporting other types of interactions

Setting up the project-level reporting options

Creating a SCORM manifest file

Testing your SCORM enabled projects with SCORM Cloud

Working with Knowledge Check Slides

Using the object states to customize the feedback messages

Creating the Correct feedback message

Using Knowledge Check Slides with Interactive Video

Summary

Meet the community

Rod Ward

Tristan Ward

Contact details

Capturing Onscreen Action

Capturing Onscreen Action

Choosing the right resolution for the project

Describing the problem

Resizing the project after the initial shooting

Downsizing the application during shooting

Using the Panning feature of Captivate

Using the Scalable HTML Content feature

Using a Responsive Project

Conclusion

Recording the first project

Preparing the application to record

Rehearsing the scenario

Resetting the application

Recording the movie

Enabling access to assistive devices (Mac users only)

Preparing Captivate to record the sequence

And action!

Previewing the rushes

The inner workings of the Captivate capture engine

Understanding the FMR mode

Controlling Captivate during the recording session

Exploring the Preferences

Exploring the automatic recording modes

Exploring the recording settings

The Video Demo preferences pane

Recording the other versions of the project

Previewing the second rushes

Recording with System Audio

Automatic and Manual Panning

Responsive capture

Rescaling a project

Modifying the object properties

The Highlight Box object

Working with the Mouse

Understanding mouse movements

Formatting the Mouse object

Working with Click Boxes

The Text Caption object

Modifying the content of a Text Caption

Summary

Meet the community

Damien

Pooja

Akshay Bharadwaj

Contact details

Producing a Video Demo

Producing a Video Demo

The Video Demo recording mode

Selecting the Video Demo recording settings

Changing the background of the webcam feed

The Video Demo interface

The post-production phase of a Video Demo

Resizing and repositioning the webcam feed

Changing the webcam background image

Masking the Video and Webcam layers in the Timeline

Deleting unwanted portions of the Video Demo

Adding objects to a Video Demo

Inserting images in a Video Demo project

Extra Credit – inserting the end image of the Video Demo

Inserting objects in a Video Demo project

Removing unwanted popups

Adding Pan and Zoom

Adding Transitions

Publishing a Video Demo

Publishing to YouTube

Summary

Meet the community

Damien

Pooja

Paul Wilson

Contact details

Creating a Responsive Project

Creating a Responsive Project

Responsive Projects

Creating a Responsive Project

Resizing the Responsive Project

Fluid Boxes

Adding Fluid Boxes

Adding objects to Fluid Boxes

Using the Fill option for Fluid Boxes

Modifying the properties of Fluid Boxes

Marking Fluid Boxes/objects as Optional

Modifying the text properties

Enabling Uniform Text Scaling

Distributing objects equally

Marking Fluid Boxes as Static

Using Fluid Boxes with Master Slides

Exploring the possibilities

Converting a non-responsive project to responsive

Switching to Breakpoint Mode

Summary

Meet the community

Richard Vass

Contact details

Creating Virtual Reality Projects

Creating Virtual Reality Projects

Creating a Virtual Reality project

Adding 360 images and videos

Adding Text Labels

Adding Hotspots

Adding Hotspots to display text

Extra credit – Adding another display text Hotspot

Adding Hotspots to display images

Adding Hotspots to play audio

Adding quiz questions

Working with slide 3 – the Question Slide

Working with the Quiz Results Slide

Guided and Exploratory options

Previewing and publishing VR courses

Live Device Preview

Adding 360 slides to normal projects

Summary

Meet the community

Debbie Richards

Contact details

Using Captivate with Other Applications

Using Captivate with Other Applications

Integrating Captivate with PowerPoint

Converting an existing presentation into a Captivate project

Viewing the presentation in PowerPoint

Creating a Captivate project from a PowerPoint presentation

Round Tripping between Captivate and PowerPoint

Updating a linked PowerPoint presentation

Inserting a PowerPoint slide into a Captivate Project

Localizing a Captivate project using Microsoft Word

Importing a Photoshop file into Captivate

Round Tripping between Captivate and Photoshop

Editing audio with Adobe Audition

Editing SVGs with Adobe Illustrator

Exporting the project to XML

Summary

Meet the community

Damien

Pooja

Phil Cowcill

Contact details

Creating Accessible eLearning

Creating Accessible eLearning

Enabling accessibility in Captivate projects

Adding accessibility text for slides

Adding accessibility text for objects

Assigning keyboard shortcuts

Setting the tab order

Adding Closed Captions for slide narration

Viewing the Closed Captions

Closed captioning a video file

Summary

Meet the community

Damien

Pooja

Kevin Siegel

Contact details

Variables and Advanced Actions

Variables and Advanced Actions

Working with Variables

System and User-defined Variables

Exploring System Variables

Generating text dynamically

Using User-defined Variables

Creating a User Variable

Capturing values with Text Entry Boxes

Using User-defined Variables to dynamically generate text

Working with Advanced Actions

Using Standard Actions

Using a Button to mute and unmute audio

Step 1 – Creating the Mute button

Step 2 – Finding out which action to create

Step 3 – Creating the Action

Step 4 – Assigning the Action to an event

Using Conditional Actions

Extra Credit – Creating a Closed Captions toggle button

Using Shared Actions

Programming a conditional Button

Step 1 – Creating the necessary variables

Step 2 – Creating the Shared Action

Step 3 – Using and reusing the Shared Action

Reusing the Shared Action

Reusing Shared Actions across projects

Hiding and showing objects using Advanced Actions

Geolocation in Adobe Captivate

Inserting an extra slide

Detecting the location of the learner

Creating a custom Geolocation variable

Altering content based on the learner's location

Enabling Geolocation capabilities

Working with JavaScript in Adobe Captivate

Generating random feedback messages with JavaScript

Creating Captivate Variables

Creating pools of messages

Creating the pickMessages() function

Understanding the Common JavaScript Interface for Adobe Captivate

Displaying random feedback messages

Extra Credit – Randomizing feedback messages in the Quiz

Summary

Meet the community

Damien

Mark DuBois

Contact details

Finishing Touches and Publishing

Finishing Touches and Publishing

Finishing touches

Checking the spelling

Exploring Start and End preferences

Exploring other project preferences

Exporting project preferences

Customizing the project's Skin

Customizing the Playback Controls bar

Working with Borders

Adding a Table of Contents

Applying the same Skin to other projects

Publishing a Captivate project

Publishing to Flash

Using the Scalable HTML content option

Publishing to HTML5

Using the HTML5 Tracker panel

Publishing the project in HTML5

Publishing a Responsive Project

Using the Mobile Palette

Publishing a Responsive Project

Publishing a Virtual Reality project

Publishing an eLearning-enabled project

Publishing the SCORM package in HTML5

Extra credit – Publishing the Flash version of the SCORM package

Working with the MultiSCO packager

Creating a SCORM package from the Video Demo project

Creating a single course package from multiple SCOs

Publishing to PDF

Publishing as a standalone application

Publishing as a .mp4 video file

Publishing to YouTube

Publishing to Microsoft Word

Extra credit – publishing to Word

Publishing for devices

Summary

Meet the community

Rick Zanotti

Contact details

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Exploring System Variables

Enough talking for now! Let's go back to Captivate to start our hands-on exploration of Variables by performing the following steps:

Open the Chapter14/takeTheTrain.cptx file.
Use the Project | Variables menu item to open the Variables dialog.

Open the Type dropdown, and choose System (see 1 in the following screenshot):

When selecting System in the Type dropdown, the list of available System Variables appears in the main area of the Variables dialog (marked as 2 in the preceding screenshot). Notice the View By dropdown (see the arrow in the preceding screenshot), which filters the Variables by their category.

Open the View By dropdown, and take some time to examine the available items. When you are done, select the Movie Information category.

Only Variables pertaining to the Movie Information category are now displayed in the Variables dialog.

Select the CaptivateVersion variable.

The upper area of the Variables dialog now displays the...

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