SHSU Technology Tutorials | Captivate
To open Captivate, click on the Start button. Then, select All Programs -> SHSU Programs -> Publishing -> Macromedia -> Captivate.
Creating a Captivate Demo
To make a demo, open the program that will be used in the demo. Then, go to Captivate and click on the “Record or create a new movie” link in the main screen.
The New Movie Options dialog will appear. To use an application, click on the Application option button.
Click OK. Another dialog will appear asking which application will be used. Click on the dropdown menu and select the application.
The application will open in the red recording area. Adjust the area to fit the window by dragging the handles or clicking on the “Snap red recording area to fit selected window.” button.
Click the Record button. Then, begin working like you normally would in the window. Captivate will record everything that is being done, ie keystrokes and mouse movements. Once finished recording, press the End key to end the recording.
The recorded steps will be rendered into frames and will appear in Captivate’s storyboard view.
Editing the Movie
The storyboard view shows each frame that was captured during the recording processes. The menu on the left allows you to do tasks such as adding audio, adjusting mouse movements and adding frames.
To rearrange the order of the frames, click on a frame and drag it to the desired spot. The frame will then reorder itself automatically. To edit a frame, either click on the Edit tab or double click the desired frame.
The Edit view allows for more in-depth editing of the frame’s audio, captions and other properties. At the left, you will see a list of frames included in the movie. The center part of the screen is the “stage,” where the contents of the frame are shown.
The top of the window contains a timeline where the frame’s progress can be tracked. Each element has its own space and can be moved around by clicking on the element and dragging it.
To make the element longer, click on the right side of the element and drag it to the desired duration. To edit each element, double click on the button in the timeline or on the object inside the slide.
Adding a Caption
To add a caption, click on Insert and select Text Caption.
The Insert Caption dialog appears. Type the caption in the box below.
To change the font, highlight the text and select the font by clicking on the font and size dropdown menus. Click on the Color button to change the text color. The caption bubble types can be changed by clicking on the “Caption Type” drop-down menu.
To select a bubble style, click on the bubble buttons.
Click OK when finished. The caption will now appear in the stage. Move the caption to the desired place by clicking and dragging the bubble. To change how long the caption appears, click on the right side of the button containing the caption in the timeline. Then, drag it to the desired length.
Changing the Mouse Path
To change the mouse path, make sure the frame is in the Edit View. Then, click on the small, red crosshairs on top of the mouse path line.
Just drag the path to the desired location. To hide mouse movements, right click on the stage and select Mouse > Show Mouse from the menu.
To adjust the mouse click sound, right click on the frame and click on Mouse -> Properties.
To turn off the mouse click sound, uncheck the “Mouse click sound” check box.
To change to a double-click, click on the menu and select “Double click.”
Click OK. The mouse click sound should be applied.
Recording Additional Frames
To record additional frames, click on the Record button in the Toolbar or go the Insert menu and select Record Additional Slides.
Click on whether to start the additional frames at the end or after a selected slide. If the "record after a selected slide" option has been chosen, click on the slide in the list below the option buttons.
Click OK. The red recording box will re-appear. Re-open the window for the application and press the Record button. Once finished, the additional slides will be added to the end.
Previewing The Movie
Captivate has several previewing options available: from the current slide, after a selected frame, the next 5 frames, the entire movie, or in a web browser. To use this feature, click on the Preview button. Select the desired option from the menu.
If the web browser option is not selected, the window will change into a miniature Flash player. The web browser option will open the movie up in your default browser. To stop the movie, click the Close Preview button.
To edit a frame, click on the Edit button.
Publishing the Movie
To publish, click on the Publish button.
Make sure to click on the Flash(SWF) button in the left hand of the dialog. Then, click on the Browse button to find a location for the SWF file.
If you are linking directly to the Flash file, uncheck the Export HTML checkbox in the Output Options section.
If you want the Flash file embedded into a separate HTML web page, click on the Export HTML check box. Click the Publish button. The file or files will be published into the selected folder.