The first application that you will explore is a project that uses the screen capture feature of Captivate to create a screenshot-based course module:
- With the Chapter01/encoderDemo_800.cptx file still open, click the Preview icon on the Toolbar.
- From the drop-down list, choose the Project item to preview the entire project.
Captivate generates a temporary file and opens it in the floating Preview pane. Follow the onscreen instructions to go through the project. This puts you in the same situation as a learner viewing this eLearning content for the first time.
This first sample project is called a Demonstration. As the name suggests, a demonstration is used to demonstrate something to the learner. Consequently, the learner is passive and simply watches whatever is going on. In a demonstration, the Mouse object is shown. It moves and clicks automatically. If the learners move their own mouse, it will not affect the content in any way.
This particular demonstration features some of the most popular Captivate objects, including Text Captions, Highlight Boxes, and Smart Shapes. The audio narration was generated by Captivate's Text-To-Speech tool. We have simply typed the narration in the Slide Notes panel, and Captivate turned it into audio files using the voice of a predefined speech agent. You will learn more about audio and Text-To-Speech in Chapter 3, Working with Multimedia.
Another popular feature in Adobe Captivate is the ability to add Closed Captions to the audio narration. You will learn more about Closed Captions and Accessibility in Chapter 13, Creating Accessible eLearning.
- When you reach the end of the project, close the Preview pane.
- Take some time to take a closer look at the Preview icon as shown in the following screenshot:
This is one of the icons you'll use the most during this book and when you design your courses. It has seven options that control which part of the project you want to preview, and how you want to preview it. Note that each of these options is associated with a keyboard shortcut that will be different depending on the system you work on (macOS or Windows). Place your mouse on top of each of the items to see the associated keyboard shortcut in a tooltip.
When in a Responsive or in a Virtual Reality Project, the preview options will not behave exactly as described in the following list because those projects can only be published in HTML5. Responsive Projects will be covered in Chapter 10, Creating a Responsive Project, and Virtual Reality projects will be covered in Chapter 11, Creating Virtual Reality Projects.
Let's now describe the options of the Preview icon in more detail:
- Play Slide: This option plays the current slide in the Captivate interface. It is the only preview option that does not open the default web browser or a floating preview pane. Because of that, the Play Slide option is not able to render all the features of Captivate. Previewing a single slide is a good option to quickly test the timing of the objects.
- Project: This option generates a temporary Flash file and plays the entire project in the Preview pane.
- From this Slide: This option generates a temporary Flash file. Captivate opens the Preview pane and plays the project from the currently selected slide to the end.
- Next 5 slides: This is a great option to quickly test a specific sequence of the project. Captivate opens the Preview pane to play a temporary Flash file containing five slides, starting from the currently selected slide.
- HTML5 in Browser: Using this preview option, you can see the project in a context very similar to the one that will be used by your learners. It generates the project in the HTML5 format. The project is then played in the default web browser. Note that some features and objects of Captivate are not supported in the HTML5 output. If you plan on publishing your project in HTML5, make sure you use this preview option to ensure that the features, animations, and objects you use in your project are supported in HTML5.
- Preview in SCORM Cloud: You can use this preview option to test the reporting features of your course. It generates a temporary HTML5 file of the project and uploads it to SCORM Cloud. When the upload is complete, you can see your project in a special preview pane, along with a log of all communications exchanged between the LMS and your content. You will learn more about SCORM, LMS, Quiz, and reporting in Chapter 7, Working with Quizzes. Note that this preview option is the only one that is not associated with a keyboard shortcut.
- SWF In Browser: This option is very close to the HTML5 in Browser option described above. The only difference is that Captivate publishes the project in Flash (rather than HTML5) before playing it in the default web browser.
In Captivate, a panel can be floating or docked. When a panel floats, the tools and switches on the other panels are still active. But when the Preview panel is open, only the buttons of that panel are active, while the tools of the other panels are no longer active. The Preview panel is said to be a Modal floating panel because it disables every tool situated on other panels. Also, note that the Preview panel cannot be docked.