Captivate 4: Produce Interactive Simulations and Demonstrations

Center for Instructional Technology

http://cit.jmu.edu/training

Adobe Captivate 4 software allows you to author eLearning content with software and scenario
simulations, and other engaging experience – no programming or multimedia skills required.
Captivate 4 allows you to record a sequence of events on your computer in order to demonstrate
a specific piece of software or other electronic resource.

Captivate represents a much better way to think about software demonstrations and screen
captures. Traditionally, screen captures are video files that are just an exact linear recording of
the actions that took place. Digital video files are not the most Internet friendly distribution
method due to their file size and often have to be scaled and compressed so much that they loose
their ability to convey the proper information. When Captivate records you, it’s intelligently
analyzing your actions and using that information to create a highly detailed recreation of those
events in a very small, easily distributed Flash file. This Flash file can be played by around 95%
of all Web browsers in use today. And since its Flash based, it can also include interactivity and
branching, allowing your presentations to have a greater impact on your viewers.

Basic Screen Capture

Creating a basic screen capture.

1. Complete a test run of the process you intend to capture on your computer. (This will let
you move dialog boxes and find any problems we may not be expecting.)

2. Resize any windows you will be using to smaller dimensions. (The new dimensions will
be perfected before you begin recording.)

3. Move any dialog boxes that appear inside the window you will be recording.

4. Open Captivate.

5. Select Software Simulation to start a new

project or Open a recent project. See Figure 1.

6. The New Project Options dialog box will

appear. See Figure 2.

Figure 1

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7. Select the type of project you would like to record choose an application from the
dropdown box to record an open application on your computer or choose Screen Area to
record everything that happens on your screen. Be sure to set the size of the window you
would like to record. Figure 2.

* Note - In general, you should try to keep your window no bigger than 760 x 420 so as to
play well in a browser running at 800 x 600. However, this is not absolute and can be
worked around later.

Figure 2
8. Click OK.

9. A rectangular area with red borders called the recording window indicates the recording
area. You will see the Recording Settings Icon box appear. See Figure 3. Choose a
recording mode to alter the settings to customize your project Be sure to select Record
Narration in your Recording Mode Setting if you wish to narrate while recording!

*Note: we will be using the defaults for Automatic Recording but once you have gained
some experience with Captivate, it is worth looking into these to optimize both the file
size and quality of your presentation.

Record

Automatic Recording (recommended)

Full Motion Recording

Manual Recording

Exit back to main menu

Figure 3

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10. After all settings have been made, click the Record button.

11. Captivate is now recording your every move. Demonstrate what you wish to record.

*Hint - Be sure to make your movements slow and deliberate. This will let Captivate do a
better job analyzing your capture, as well as keep you from going too fast for your
viewers. You should also wait for a few seconds at the beginning and end, just to let
things “sink in”.

12. When you are finished, press the End key on your keyboard to stop the capture. (The End
key is located above the arrows on your keyboard.)
*Note: Alternatively, click the task icon or the system tray icon to stop recording.

13. A Save Project Files dialogue box will appear. Type in the project name and specific
project directory, and then click ok. See Figure 4.

Figure 4

14. Captivate will generate the frames necessary to recreate your actions and open them in
the Storyboard window.

15. To view the project, click the Preview button in the toolbar and click on the project
option. See Figure 5.

Figure 5

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The Storyboard View
The Storyboard window shows you each key-frame in your project. Key-frames are specific
instances in your project where Captivate records the state of things exactly at that point.
Everything that happens between two key-frames is not actually recorded, but instead recreated
each time you watch. This is how Captivate is able to make such small files. It is also the key to
how you will edit your project. See Figure 6.
Figure 6

On the left, you should see the Storyboard tools. Highlights include:

 Audio – There are three ways to add audio to any frame in your project. It is possible
to record your narration at the time of capture. You can also create your narration in a
separate session and then add the narration to your project through the import or
record feature. Captivate also gives you many options for adjusting the timing of the
audio at the project level or the frame level.

 Mouse – Since the cursor movement is animated, you can really have any type of
mouse cursor doing the action. You can customize this here. You can also use this to
improve the reality of your capture (by adding hour-glass cursors etc).

 Properties – Adjust properties of the frame as whole. Notice that you can also change
aspects that are found in the other tools as well (such as Audio). Captivate is filled
with crossover in terms of menus. Also, notice the label area where you can give each
frame a name. This is useful for your own organizational purposes as well being
crucial for interactivity. Also, note the accessibility button, which will allow you to
add subtitles for section 508 compliance.

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The Edit View
The Edit window is a full sized view of the current frame. This is where you will do the bulk of
your editing (surprise!). Click on a frame to open it in the Edit window. On the left you’ll see a
list of all the frames for quick access. At the bottom of your frame you will see a timeline that
represents the progress of that particular frame. Each element has its own space in the timeline
and can also been seen in the frame itself above. You can adjust the timing of each element by
grabbing the right-hand side of the object in the timeline and pulling it right to make it longer
and left to make it shorter. See Figure 7.

Figure 7

Enhancing Your Project

The first thing you’ll probably want to do is edit the captions. Captions are the text narration to
your project, and Captivate adds them automatically to describe what you are doing. Sometimes
it works really well, but there will always be at least one that doesn’t quite work. It’s also usually
a good idea to give the text more personal details.

Modifying Text Captions

1. Find a frame with a text caption.

2. Single-click on it to highlight it. Notice that you can resize and move the caption box
all around the frame.

3. Double-click on it to edit the text of the caption box. To see the properties of the

caption, click on the Show Properties Dialog icon . You will use the properties
to change the look of the box and the text in the box. Additionally, you can change
how the box appears and disappears and attach audio to the box. Also, notice the
checkbox that allows you to apply changes to all of your caption boxes for
consistency.

*Some captions have balloon arrows that can “point”. Make use of this when you can to show your
viewers exactly the area you are referring to in the project.

4. Follow steps 1-3 to modify other captions in your project.

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Insert a Text Caption
You can also add captions to frames. This can either be used to point out a secondary thing in
the image, or to add a caption to a frame that does not currently have one.

To add captions:
1. Click on the Insert menu and choose Standard Objects.

2. Select Text Caption.

3. You will be given a properties menu, make additional settings and add text.

4. Click OK. The caption will be added to the currently selected frame.

Insert a Highlight Box

Use highlight boxes to spotlight areas within a slide. Highlight boxes focus the user’s
attention on the required areas of the slide.

To add the highlight box:

1. Click on the Insert menu and choose Standard Objects.

2. Select Highlight Box.

3. Adjust the properties and click OK.

4. You will probably want this to appear at the same time as your caption, so look at the
caption on the timeline to synchronize them.

5. Captivate will create a Highlight Box of a generic size in the center of the screen. Just
resize and drag it to the desired position.

Insert a Blank Slide

1. Click on the Insert menu and choose Standard Objects.

2. Select Blank Slide.

3. Your blank slide will be inserted after your currently selected frame. Drag it to the
beginning of your project.

* Note - The numbering of your slides will change as you move them around and are therefore not a
good way of identifying slides. Add a label in the Properties dialog to keep track of your slides.

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Insert an Image
1. Choose Insert from the top menu bar.

2. Select Image.

3. The Open dialog window will appear. Navigate to the image you wish to insert.

4. Click Open.

5. If the image is bigger than the size of the frame (it usually is), double click the image
to open the Image dialog box to either crop the image (remove the excess area) or
resize (make the current image fit).

6. Click OK.

7. Right click on the image and choose Merge into Background. (You will not be able
to alter this image after it is merged.)

* Note – You can do this more quickly by choosing Image Slide… from the Insert menu and choosing
other slides, but when you do this you can not adjust the image to fit the proportions of your
presentation as precisely.

Insert a Button

1. Click on the Insert menu and choose Standard Objects.

2. Select Button.

3. The New Button dialog box will appear. Adjust the text of the button near the top of
the dialog box.

* Note: The New Button dialog gives you a great number of options (far too many to discuss
here). The important ones are all found on this first tab. The first tab defines what
happens when someone clicks on the button. In our case, the default “Continue” works well,
but you can use Jump to Slide along with the frame labels mentioned earlier to create
branching presentations that can have different content based on the answers. We are
using the basic text button that looks like a standard Windows XP button. To make
custom buttons you will need to create the three image files required in a separate
program, like Photoshop.

4. In the New Button dialog box select the Options tab.

5. Make sure the Pause After… box is checked (it should be by default).

6. Make sure the length of the Pause After… is half the length of the slide (normally
the default). This will allow the slide time to fade in and out. See Figure 8.

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Figure 8

7. You can also add captions to the button that give instructions about the button. Add a
hint caption and click OK.

8. The button and the hint caption will now appear on the slide. Remember that the hint
caption will only appear when your mouse is over the button on the finished product.

Insert a Rollover Caption

1. Click on the Insert menu and choose Standard Objects

2. Select Rollover Caption.

3. Format and type text in the New Rollover caption dialog box.

4. Click OK.

5. A highlight box that goes with the caption will appear. This is the rollover
area, which may be resized. Wherever the highlight box is placed will activate the
rollover caption. See Figure 9.

Figure 9

* Note: The highlight box was

placed around the animations
toolbar. When the viewer rolls over
the toolbar, the caption will

2. Click Preview to test the interactivity in your project.

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Insert Audio

1. Choose a frame in which you wish to add audio. Click Audio from the top menu bar
and select Record.

2. A Record Audio window will appear. Click Record to record narration to this frame.

1. To import a sound file that has been pre-recorded, select Audio from the top menu
bar, then choose Import.

*Note: Don’t forget to adjust the duration and position of the slide components so that when the audio
plays, the slide displays both before and after. This gives the audio a little “visual padding”. See Figure
10.

Figure 10

Other Options
A few other things you can do in Captivate that might be useful.

 Deleting and Rearranging Frames – If there is any part of your project that you don’t
want in the finished product (say moving a dialog into view), you can delete frames by
clicking on the frame and pressing the Delete key on your keyboard. You can also
rearrange frames by dragging them around in the menu on the left. Just make sure that
your project still makes sense when you do this.

 Import PowerPoint Files – You can import a .ppt file and then use Captivate to create a
more web-friendly version with narrations and such. These are generally preferred to the
HTML export option in PowerPoint.

Saving Your File

Let’s assume you have been saving your file this whole time (you have, right?). What you have
been saving is a Captivate file (.cp) which is perfect for picking up where you left off while
creating your presentation, but is not the file you will distribute to viewers. The Publish function
takes care of that and will guide you through each step. Just choose a format to get its particular
options. See Figure 11. Highlights include:

 Flash (.swf) – This is the best choice most of the time and the clear choice for distributing
your project on the Internet. Captivate will also create the HTML web page with the
presentation already embedded and will zip the two together for you. This is necessary to

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use the files directly in Blackboard. Just upload as a package and choose the html file as
the entry point.

 Standalone– Standalone presents you with three options (Executable, Linux Projector or
Macintosh Projector), which turns your project into programs that can be run just by
double clicking. This is a good option for distributing on a CD, but requires you export
all three versions if you want everyone to be able to watch.

 Word – The Word option is a way to look at the contents of the project away from
computer. It exports each frame as an image and adds the frame notes (added manually
using the Frame Properties dialog). I find this one most useful as a backup for you and
less as a distribution method.
Figure 11

2. Enter a project title.

1. Choose a format.

5. Make additional
settings with the
Preferences… button.

3. Locate a destination
to save your movie file.

4. If desired, choose
additional output options.

6. Click Publish.

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Uploading a Captivate Presentation to JMUtube and Blackboard

Your project can now be uploaded and delivered from any webserver. Using JMUtube to post the
presentation on Blackboard is a great choice for delivering your project as well. The first step is
to upload the project to JMUtube. Make sure you made use of the Zip option when publishing
your project in Captivate and then do the following.

1. Go to the following web address: http://jmutube.cit.jmu.edu.

2. Click the Sign In button, then log into JMUtube using your JMU e-id and
password.
3. Select the Upload tab.
4. Select Browse, find the zipped file on the computer, then select Open.
5. Click Submit.

When you are ready to post the project to Blackboard after uploading it to JMUtube, follow the
steps below.

6. In JMUtube, select the Presentations tab.

7. Find your presentation in the list, then right-click on the Link option.
8. Select the Copy Shortcut or Copy Link option.
9. In Blackboard, select Add External Link in any content area from the Control
Panel.
10. Enter the Name, then right-click and Paste the link into the URL field.
11. You may also want to add a description of the presentation in the Text field.
12. Click Submit.

Facilities

Adobe Captivate is available at JMU in several different ways. In the Center for Instructional
Technology’s Carrier Library location there is a mini recording studio with everything you need
to make a Captivate project including a high-quality video camera and microphone in a sound
controlled environment. There is also a recording studio in the Center for Instructional
Technology’s East Campus Library (ECL) location. You also have the option of checking out a
portable recording studio from either the East Campus Library (ECL), or the Dean’s office in
Zane-Showker.

For more information about recording online presentations, you can contact:
Jamie Calcagno-Roach at calcagjm@jmu.edu or by calling 540-568-6578 or
Joshua Mathews-Ailsworth at ailswojl@jmu.edu or by calling 540-568-4840.

Center for Instructional Technology ♦ Carrier Library (87061) & East Campus Library (84836)
a Division of Libraries and Educational Technologies