Book Image

Mastering Adobe Captivate 2019 - Fifth Edition

By : Dr. Pooja Jaisingh, Damien Bruyndonckx
Book Image

Mastering Adobe Captivate 2019 - Fifth Edition

By: Dr. Pooja Jaisingh, Damien 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!

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Table of Contents (17 chapters)
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
1
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
2
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
3
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
4
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
5
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
6
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
7
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
8
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
9
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
10
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
11
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
12
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
13
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
14
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
15
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
16
Other Books You May Enjoy
Other Books You May Enjoy
Leave a review - let other readers know what you think

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:

  1. Open the Chapter14/takeTheTrain.cptx file.
  2. Use the Project | Variables menu item to open the Variables dialog.
  1. 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.

  1. 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.

  1. Select the CaptivateVersion variable.

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

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