About Captivate

• Presentation Software
  • Showcase work
  • Interactivity can be added
• Screen Capture
  • Software simulations
• eLearning
  • Testing and Assessment
  • Track scores, provide feedback
  • Report via SCORM, lms, etc. - can also email user with feedback.
  •  

Native file extension: .cp

Getting Started

Slide Properties

• Title the slide
• Set the time for the slide
• Transition (fade between)
• Color (background or custom - "add to custom colors" or use eyedropper)
• Navigation - choose action that follows the slide
• Slide notes
  • Can be used for accessibility - put in text for screenreaders
• Audio tab

Adding Images

• You can add an image and crop it or resize it.
  • Does cropping remove the information?
• Options
  • Transparency
  •  Use transparency background color (alpha?)
  • You can set playback options for images (to appear and disappear within slide, etc.)
  • Add sound to image
  • Use coordinates / number values to place and size slides
• You can access the object properties by double clicking on the object.

Highlight Boxes

• Frame and Fill Color
• As you work in Highlight Box options you can choose "Apply" and see changes on the stage.
• "Fill outer area" - blocks out everything else but the highlight area (like a mask) <-- could be cool :)
• Options - for visibility / presentation
  • In demo - why did he choose a highlight box?  Is there not a shape tool ?
  • research what the highlight box does

Text Captions

• Used to add text to presentation
• Alignment has vertical as well
• Symbol library - has special characters
• Caption type
  • you can make it transparent if you just want to add text as you would a text box
  • highlight option...
  • Time the text
  • Add audio to text
  • Autosize Captions - will make text contrain to box size

Duplicating and Aligning Objects

• Select the object to which you want to align other objects
• Distribute vertically
• Grid
• Snap to Grid

Creating a Custom Background

• You may want to create a slide background that is consistent throughout the presentation
• Create a backup save because it's hard to undo
• Click starting with backmost and merge, two at a time...right click then select "merge into background"
• If you try to use undo it will make objects disappear...(why is what he's showing me better than just using your own slide?)
  • Maybe the graphics are cleaner / smaller
• Doesn't work well with antialiasing

Finishing and Previewing Your Project

• Preview screen
  • Preview whole project, etc.

Project and Slide Properties

• Storyboard view
  • You can doubleclick on to slides, will take you into edit mode
• Captivate is created to make self running presentations - you have to tell it to do otherwise in Project > Preferences
  • If you change default to an existing project, it does not effect previous slides.
  • You can change it slide by slide (you can also click "Apply to all I think) and you can shift select all the slides to change settings
• More project preferences
  • Start and End
    • Fade in on first slide
    • Fade out on last slide
    • Action (at end...stop project, close, open a URL, etc. send information...)
  • Preview your project before publishing to make sure it does what you want it to do. (?)

Animated Text

• None, fade between (cross dissolve), fade, etc.
• Use Text Animator you can apply different effects
  • Options
  • Timing, looping, transition

Zoom Areas

• Use Zoom Tool, you can import from file or library
  • Zoom From
  • Zoom To
  • This is kind of like Power Point.
  • Zoom area - you can change the frame and fill colors they exist by default.

Timeline Bar

• You may not see all the objects represented, you must expand the timeline.
• To have stage / timeline view change "Zoom" to "best fit"

Timeline & Timing

• Slide duration will change if you exceed the slide timing

Setting Up a File for Interactivity

• Create a backup
• Set Preferences

Creating Buttons

• Button Tool
  • On success
  • Slide
  • Allow user attempts
  • types of buttons -
    • text - text button
  • IMPORTANT: Make button stop the presentation
    • i.e. - a next button will have a stop