eLearning Livestream - Exciting News Coming to a Computer Near You | June 12th, 2019
Tune in on Wednesday, June 12th at 10 AM EDT for some pretty exciting news.
Tune in on Wednesday, June 12th at 10 AM EDT for some pretty exciting news.
To view this livestream on YouTube and participate in the live chat visit https://youtu.be/rW9c-s3uQng
What Computer Should I Buy?
I recently went through the process of considering a new computer, researching my needs, and buying a new Dell XPS 15 and I thought I would share my decision-making process in the hopes it would help all of you as well.
The actual specifications for Adobe Captivate are relatively low. For Windows, Adobe recommends a 2 GHz or faster Intel processor, and you should be running The 64-bit version of Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 Or newer. For Mac OS, you need a multicore Intel processor, Mac OS X v10.13.5 (or later). Regardless of which platform you choose you will need 8 GB RAM, 10 GB of available hard-disk space, a display capable of 1024x768 resolution, although Adobe recommends 1280x1024, and the video card needs to be compatible with WebGL Graphics.
Those specifications are what I would describe as the bare minimum. When I buy a new computer, I do so with the future in mind. I want my computer to be able to run well for at least three years of new versions and software updates, preferable though, I want it to last five years.
And while Adobe Captivate is the core application for me for eLearning development, eLearning designer, developers often have to wear many hats. For example, you might be called upon to record your webcam for an explainer video at full 30 fps HD (something Captivate 2019 can't do). You also may need to edit and publish the resulting video in Premiere Pro CC, an application that is hugely processor hungry and requires a much higher set of specifications and who knows what else. You need to prepare for these types of requests. Don't forget that at the time I'm writing this article the most up to date version of Adobe Captivate in 2019 update 1. It's safe to assume that there will be a major release before the year is through and several more over the next three years.
So my short answer is to buy the best computer that your budget will allow. If a hundred more dollars will make a difference, then bite the bullet and go a little beyond budget but if spending a bit more right now can stay off the purchasing of your next replacement by a year or more, it might be worth it.
I just completed this exercise, and here was my decision-making process. Three years ago I purchased an HP Pavilion with a 17" display. I made some wrong choices when I bought this machine. I bought it with the thought that I wanted a desktop computer but in a portable package since I couldn't afford both. The reality was that a 17-inch laptop is difficult to use when going mobile. I only travel for work about three or four times per year, but there is nothing more exhausting than lugging around a giant notebook from your hotel room to a conference facility. Unfortunately, I'm not important enough to always get a place in the same hotel as the conference. I know, first world problems. This time I decided to return to a 15" display and in as small a package as I could get.
The first decision was Mac or PC. If you do a lot of video demos and software simulation and the desktop you need to be capturing is a PC, this makes the decision easy. Another factor is cost. While Macs are designed to be beautiful, they usually cost about $1,000 more than the PC equivalent. Since the money for any equipment for my company comes out of my pocket, the decision is pretty easy for me.
My previous laptop came with a 2GB hard drive, which I soon replaced with a 500GB SSD. This time around, I wanted an SSD right from the start. I looked for SSDs that used the M.2 standard, which is significantly faster than the SATA III SSDs from a few years ago. Ideally, I wanted a 1tb M.2 NVMe drive, but I knew I could get away with 500gb and upgrade later.
I knew I wanted at least 16GB of RAM. Again, this is an area you can upgrade but the machine needed to start at 16GB. A lot of YouTubers are also serious video editors for apparent reasons. Many spoke and upgraded to 32 right from the start. Knowing that video editing is part of my workflow, I will be keeping an eye on RAM prices and jump on a reasonable price when it comes along.
Again I was willing to give up my 17" display for the advantage of something portable. I want quite prepared to go for a 13" but I knew I used to have 15" for many years.
When I purchased my 17" HP Pavilion, I choose it because it was an intel core i7 processor. I learned after the fact that not all i7 processors are the same. The HP used an i7 6500U, which is only a two core processor and somewhat underpowered. I started looking at laptops that had the i7-8750H. While not the latest chip from Intel or the fastest, it is up there. It's a six-core processor that runs at 2.21GHz with a max turbo frequency of 4.1GHz, so I expected to see an improvement with multitasking and performing tasks like rendering my edited videos.
I looked at many models of machines. Some important choices were the Razorblade 15; It was slim and had all the specs I was looking for; several gaming laptops had a great video card and the aforementioned i7-8750H processor, but they were bulky. I started to notice that when looking at various machines, I was always comparing them to the Dell XPS 15 9750. I decided that instead of trying to find a less expensive version of the Dell, I should buy the darn thing. I was lucky and noticed a few ways to justify making the purchase right away. First, it went on sale for about $250 of the regular price. Second, signing up for email notifications on the Dell website for me a further 10% off. Also, Dell offers 12 months no interest if you pay it off within that period.
The XPS 15 arrived this week, and as you can tell from unboxing video, I was very excited to have my new hardware. I hope this article helps you with your decision-making process whenever you need to make it.
Disable the Progress Bar in Adobe Captivate
In this tutorial, I show you a solution initially created by Michael Barshinger to disable the progress bar in your Adobe Captivate eLearning projects. This gives your learners the advantage of seeing their progress without allowing them to scrub forward and skipping valuable content.
In this tutorial, I show you a solution initially created by Michael Barshinger to disable the progress bar in your Adobe Captivate eLearning projects. This gives your learners the advantage of seeing their progress without allowing them to scrub forward and skipping valuable content.
Here is the original article with the details on how to do this.
First Look at Social Learning in Adobe Captivate Prime
In this video, I walk you through my first impression of social learning in Adobe Captivate Prime.
In this video, I walk you through my first impression of social learning in Adobe Captivate Prime.
Adding New Users in Adobe Captivate Prime
In this video tutorial, I show you how to create new users in Adobe Captivate Prime.
In this video tutorial, I show you how to create new users in Adobe Captivate Prime.
Captivate Software Simulation Roundtripping with Photoshop
In this video tutorial, I'll show you how you can roundtrip between your images in your software simulation and Photoshop CC.
In this video tutorial, I'll show you how you can roundtrip between your images in your software simulation and Photoshop CC.
Download and Install Adobe Captivate
In this video tutorial, I show you my process of downloading and installing Adobe Captivate 2019. This process applies to other versions of Captivate as well.
In this video tutorial, I show you my process of downloading and installing Adobe Captivate 2019. This process applies to other versions of Captivate as well.
Fluid Boxes on Your Adobe Captivate Master Slides
In this tutorial, I show you how you can create fluid boxes on your Adobe Captivate master slides so that the fluid boxes are inherited by your regular filmstrip slides.
In this tutorial, I show you how you can create fluid boxes on your Adobe Captivate master slides so that the fluid boxes are inherited by your regular filmstrip slides. I will also show you how you can add child level fluid boxes on the regular slides but still maintain the layouts from the master slides as well. There are some things to be aware of when you create fluid boxes on your master slides so watch the video for the full details.
Online Learning Live - Ask Me Anything | April 29th, 12:00 EDT
Join me on Monday at noon for another ask me anything session of Online Learning Live. Get your Adobe Captivate or eLearning questions ready.
Join me on Monday at noon for another ask me anything session of Online Learning Live. Get your Adobe Captivate or eLearning questions ready.
Follow this link if you wish to set a reminder to the live event, or if you wish to participate in the live chat. https://youtu.be/uoCXc0fg0DI
Understanding the Position Panel in Adobe Captivate
This video will cover the use of the position panel when your slide objects are either unlocked from fluid boxes, or if you are using Breakpoint responsive design mode.
You can still design responsive design using Breakpoints in Adobe Captivate 2017 and newer by switching from the default of Fluid Boxes to Breakpoints. You can do this from the Project drop down menu and selecting Switch to Breakpoint Mode. In Fluid Box Mode you can continue to use unlocked objects on your slide in much the same way as in Breakpoint Mode. Personally, I refer to this mode as Single Point Mode and it offers some nice advantages over the other two responsive design methods. Mostly it centers around the ability to still have objects over top of one another, but also offers the advantage of designing with a single view as in non-responsive projects (Blank Projects).
This video will cover the use of the position panel when your slide objects are either unlocked from fluid boxes, or if you are using Breakpoint responsive design mode.
You can still design responsive design using Breakpoints in Adobe Captivate 2017 and newer by switching from the default of Fluid Boxes to Breakpoints. You can do this from the Project drop down menu and selecting Switch to Breakpoint Mode. In Fluid Box Mode you can continue to use unlocked objects on your slide in much the same way as in Breakpoint Mode. Personally, I refer to this mode as Single Point Mode and it offers some nice advantages over the other two responsive design methods. Mostly it centers around the ability to still have objects over top of one another, but also offers the advantage of designing with a single view as in non-responsive projects (Blank Projects).
Background images
When you add an image that is appropriately sized for desktop layout to a slide in either Breakpoint mode or what I’m calling my single point mode it looks fine. If you switch to another Breakpoint or resize your layout preview to another view, it becomes obvious that the image needs different settings in order to be a background image across a wide range of device screens. This is where knowing how to work with the position panel is helpful. By default, an image comes into Captivate with a width measured in percentage of the screen width and a height set to auto to maintain the aspect ratio. Because the width changes as the screen size is reduced, the height doesn’t cover the entire screen. Instead it shrinks down as to view the project on smaller or more narrow screen layouts.
My solution to this problem is to change the settings in the Position Panel for images intended to be used as background images. I will change the value of my width to be measured in pixels and set it at the maximum value for a Desktop view. For example, if I have a Desktop view of 1024 x 627, I will set the Width of my image to 1024 px.
By default, images are aligned with the left-hand side of your slide. When you set the above background image to a fixed number of pixels, the left-hand side of the image will always be present. On screen sizes that are smaller than the maximum width the image the right-hand side of the image will disappear. You can change this by changing the image position from Left 0.0 % to Right 0.0%. alternatively, you can open the Advanced section of your Position panel and check Align Center horizontally on the slide if you want the image to always display the center of the image on the center of the slide. Your decision will depend on the composition of the image you’ve decided to use as a background image. You will discover that knowing where the slide is in relation to the background image becomes difficult on the smaller screen layouts since the background image will covering up your entire stage. You can turn on a preview of the slide outline by selecting your slide and navigating to the Properties inspector and checking the Device Height option under the Style tab.
Company Logos
When designing organizational training, we often must include brand logos. Brands often have very precise rules over how their logos are displayed. Adobe Captivate has some features in the Position Panel that can help with this.
Rules About Space
Because of the importance of your company’s logo, there are often rules about it’s use. For example, company’s will dictate safety space around their logos to ensure prominence. You can apply these rules to your company logo in Captivate. The object position can be set to be a certain percentage or number of pixels from the top, left, bottom and right of the slide edges. For example, if your company logo must be 10 pixels away from the top left edge you can change the Top and Left Fields in your Position panel to pixels and enter values of 10 pixels in each field.
Another aspect about space between objects can be enforced using Smart Position. Smart Position isn’t on by default but it’s useful for ensuring that objects don’t get too close to one another when the screen size is smaller. If you check the Smart Position check box, your objects that are not centered one way or the other will now have two lines extending out from the object and what I call anchor points attached to either the top, left, bottom, or right edges of the slide. These anchor points can be clicked and dragged away from the edges of your slide and attached to any other object on your slide. You are then setting that object to not appear a certain distance from the edge but instead setting that object to appear a certain distance from other objects. I often will use this feature to ensure that the body of a slide is always below the title of the slide. It will help you make sure that objects don’t encroach on other objects and is helpful in designing your layout to be consistent across as many displays as possible.
Size Rules
Another rule about your company logo is its size. You might find that as you shrink your slide preview down to smartphone size, the logo becomes so small that it’s unrecognizable or lacks prominence. Captivate can help you with this as it allows you to set the minimum and maximum height and widths for each object as well. For example, your company might have a rule about the brand logo not being smaller than 80 pixels tall. By entering this value in the Min-Height field you can ensure that your logo remains larger for small screen sizes and continues to showcase its importance.