File-Size Considerations for Captivate Demonstrations and Simulations
pipwerks.com » Blog Archive » How I build my eLearning courses
An argument for designing e-learning using web standards for better quality, accessibility, portability, and maintenance.
<strong>Most eLearning tools do not promote the creation of effective courses, do not promote web standards, and do not promote accessibility; they merely make cookie-cutter course development easier for technically inexperienced course developers.</strong>
Adobe - Developer Center : Using animations to extend Adobe Captivate for right-click capability
It's always been irritating when creating software demos in Captivate that you can't ask users to right click. I've always just animated those actions and done a demo before, but this tutorial shows a way to actually have users do the right click and even score it. The Flash file to embed is included with the tutorial.
Adobe - Developer Center : CaptivatePlayer: Delivering Macromedia Captivate Content on the Web
Captivate tutorial & sample file to create a Flash menu to link multiple Captivate files.
elearninglive.com » Captivate Audio Output Settings Comparison - Part One - Encoding Bitrate
Results of an experiment on the encoding bitrate for Captivate. Mark Siegriest is trying to find the best audio settings to balance sound quality and file size.
The most surprising finding in this is that at the lowest bitrates, the file size actually went up, not down. 32kbps was the smallest file size in his sampling.
So basically from what I can see there is no point in ever going below 32kbps as you’re gaining filesize and losing quality.
How-to: Non-Linear Navigation in Captivate Using rdcmndGotoSlide
Jump to a specific slide in Captivate using a Flash wrapper. I've wanted to be able to do this several times when linking multiple Captivate files and never could figure out how.
How to Build Quick Elearning Demos for Your Portfolio « One-Stop Resource for Instructional Designing
Rupa discusses common reasons why instructional designers don't have work for a portfolio and suggests how to put together some quick demos in Captivate or Camtasia to show off your skills.
Creating Custom Buttons in Captivate 3
Directions to create custom buttons in Captivate, with the required file names and location to put the finished files
I Came, I Saw, I Learned...: Adobe Captivate 3: 508 Compliant Image Buttons Are Possible...
Nice tip on creating image buttons in Captivate that can be read by screen readers
In the Middle of the Curve: Tackling a New Captivate Project
Wendy Wickham walks through her whole process of planning & creating software tutorials with Captivate. A number of good tips in here too.
I Came, I Saw, I Learned...: Development Times for Captivate eLearning
Estimates for the production part of Captivate development. A large project (80-150 slides) should take 8-10 hours to produce. That doesn't include storyboards, scripts, voiceover scripts, or creating templates or skins. One hour of Captivate e-learning is estimated at 200-240 hours of total development time.
MoodleTuts | 5 Minute Moodle Tutorials
Quick tutorials on Moodle, including info on SCORM and making Captivate play nicely with Moodle
Adobe - Adobe eLearning Suite 2: 3 Ways to Try
Download the full version for 30 days or try it online without needing to install it.
AdobeTV
Adobe tutorials on creating e-learning, including a collection on advanced functions in Captivate
Creating Accessible Flash Course – Course Introduction – 1 of 7
Free resource on how to create accessible content using Flash, from the US Department of Veterans Affairs
Adobe Forums: Creating one LMS Scorm package from...
Discussion on how to daisy chain multiple Captivate projects into one big project. Includes a comparison of Aggregator projects versus Multi-SCORM
<p id="function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}" ondblclick="" onkeydown="" onkeypress="" onkeyup="" onmousemove="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" onmouseup="" title="function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}" lang="function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}">The Multi-SCO tool is designed more specifically for LMSs in that it allows you to take two or more individual SCORM-compliant modules created in Captivate and package them all together into one big module for your LMS. The tool creates a new imsmanifest.xml file that lists all the component modules in the package so that the LMS can build it's own menu of links in its SCORM player. Users just click these links to launch each lesson module. Each lesson can have its own TOC if desired, but the menu of links in the SCORM player is all you get for a TOC that shows all modules. That's the way SCORM was originally designed to work.</p><p id="function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}" ondblclick="" onkeydown="" onkeypress="" onkeyup="" onmousemove="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" onmouseup="" title="function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}" lang="function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}"> </p><p id="function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}" ondblclick="" onkeydown="" onkeypress="" onkeyup="" onmousemove="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" onmouseup="" title="function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}" lang="function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}">The Captivate Aggregator on the other hand was designed to take multiple Captivate published outputs and merge them together in a single large project with a hierarchical merged TOC that listed the contents of all projects. I don't believe the original intention of the Captivate team was for aggregated projects to be used in LMSs but some Captivate developers have managed to get this to work by setting up all the individual projects as SCORMs and then hacking the imsmanifest.xml file to fool the LMS into thinking this was a single large SCO.</p>
Tiny Timeline Tidbits - lilybiri's posterous
Tips and shortcuts for the Captivate timeline
I Came, I Saw, I Learned...: Adobe Captivate 5: Make Quick Work Out of Adding Audio to a Project
Tips for streamlining the process of adding multiple audio files to Captivate
Course Companion for Adobe Captivate « Rapid eLearning | Adobe Captivate Blog
Captivate widget that provides learner analytics--course completion, quiz completion, time to complete, slide navigation, time per slide, etc.
Accessibility of Authoring Tools (PDF)
Table comparing the accessibility features of Captivate, Lectora, and Articulate Storyline
Infosemantics.com.au | Guide to Learning Management System (LMS) Compatibility with Adobe Captivate
Notes on compatibility with Captivate and a number of different LMSs (Blackboard, Moodle, Saba, SharePoint, SumTotal, etc.)
New Course + Quiz Template using the Power of Adobe Photoshop! « Rapid eLearning | Adobe Captivate Blog
How to create a Captivate template in Photoshop, including notes on all the elements needed and tips (like saving captions as BMPs)
Our Thoughts on Articulate Storyline | E-Learning Uncovered
Podcast comparing Articulate Storyline with Articulate Studio, Captivate, and Lectora in multiple categories, explaining the advantages and drawbacks of each.
I Came, I Saw, I Learned...: Adobe Captivate, TechSmith Camtasia Studio, Articulate Storyline: Production Times
Kevin Siegel's estimates for production times in several rapid development tools. This is for production only, after a script has been written and recorded. He doesn't specifically say, but it sounds like this is for software simulation/demonstration content, not soft skills.
I have extensive experience using Adobe Captivate and TechSmith Camtasia Studio. In my experience, it will take you approximately <strong>2 hours of labor</strong> to produce<strong> 1 minute of eLearning playtime</strong> if you use Adobe Captivate. If you use Camtasia, your labor will go down a bit (<strong>1.5 hours for every 1 minute of playtime</strong>). If Articulate Storyline is your tool of choice, developers who use that tool have told me that Storyline is on a par with Captivate. In that case, you should plan on <strong>2 hours of labor</strong> to produce every <strong>1 minute</strong> of Storyline eLearning.
Free eLearning Development Calculator
Calculate your time to complete development in Captivate. The calculator is a free PDF download, but it requires registration.
How To Choose An Authoring Tool For Your HTML eLearning Development | The Upside Learning Blog
Comparison of Lectora, Storyline, and Captivate. Some good details I haven't seen elsewhere, like how each program loads the framework and content and how that affects performance. A few inaccuracies (you can still create a non-ADA compliant course in Lectora even if you check the 508 box, for example).
I Came, I Saw, I Learned...: eLearning: Determining the Best Size for Today's Lessons
recommendations for Captivate screen sizes including for YouTube
The ALL NEW Adobe Captivate 8 Blends Authoring Ease with Game-Changing Mobile Support « Rapid eLearning | Adobe Captivate Blog
Adobe's summary of new features in Captivate 8, including responsive design for mobile learning and a major user interface change
My review of Adobe Captivate 8 - dbr-Training EN
Review of Cp8, focusing on the interface changes and new features for mobile learning
Updated E-Learning Authoring Tools Comparison - E-Learning Uncovered
Diane Elkins (E-Learning Uncovered/Artisan E-Learning) ranks tools based on price, ease of use, graphics, animation, interactivity, quizzing, power/flexibility, ADA, mobile, and software simulations.