Experiencing the Encoder simulation

You will now open another sample project. Actually, it is not a real other project, but another version of the Encoder demonstration you worked with in the previous section:

1. Use the File | Open menu item to open the Chapter01/encoderSim_800.cptx file situated in the exercises download.
2. Once the file is open, click the Preview icon on the Toolbar and choose the SWF In Browser option.
3. The project opens in the default web browser and starts playing automatically.

This project is made of exactly the same slides and assets as the demonstration you saw in the previous section. When the project reaches slide 3, it stops and waits for you to interact with the course. This is the main difference between a demonstration and a simulation.

In Captivate, a simulation is a project where the learner is active. In a simulation, the Mouse object is hidden, as learners use their own mouse to click around the screen and progress toward the end of the course. The fact that the students are active implies a new level of complexity; the learners can perform either the correct or the incorrect action.

In each case, the course must react accordingly. This concept is known as branching. This means that each student experiences the course module based on their own actions.

4. Follow the onscreen instructions and try to perform the correct actions, as described in the demonstration project of the previous section.
5. If you ever perform the incorrect action, a red Failure Caption is displayed on the screen.  Failure captions are one of the most basic forms of branching. The caption shows only if the student's answer is incorrect.

6. On slide 11, you will fill the new width of the video file. Type 400 and press Enter to continue to the next step.
7. When you are done, close your browser and return to Captivate.

This second sample file features pretty much the same Captivate objects as the demonstration you completed in the previous section. Both typing and mouse actions are replaced by interactive objects. The Mouse is replaced by Click Boxes and a Text Entry Box replaces the typing object on slide 11. These interactive objects can stop the course and wait for the learner to interact. Using the interactive objects of Captivate will be covered in Chapter 5, Developing Interactivity.

Both the Encoder demonstration and simulation are based on the same screenshots. To create these sample courses, the first two steps of the production process described earlier were used:

• In step one (the slide creation step), the actions were performed in the actual Adobe Media Encoder. They were recorded by Captivate behind the scenes.
• In step two (the post-production step), the course was edited in Captivate. Audio and Closed Captions were added, the title and ending slides were created, timing was adjusted, and so on.
• Step three (the publishing step) has not yet been performed on these files.