Toolkit: Adobe Captivate 2019 Features Make a Big Difference

Lastmonth I gave an overview of the Adobe Captivate 2019 features andfocused on the new Virtual Reality option. This month I will cover six more newfeatures that may make a big difference in how you create your learning.

1.       True interactive videos with overlay slidecapability

I love how easy and versatile interactive videos are inCaptivate 2019. Choose either the new Interactive Video toolbar option or theolder Media > Video option (set to Slide Video) and then insert a video fromyour computer or paste in a YouTube link. See Figure 1.

Figure 1: Interactive Video Options

You’ll see that above the video on the timeline are two newlayers. The first layer lets you set bookmarks in the video and the second letsyou choose slides that will overlay the video. Click the timeline at any pointand you’ll see two icons appear there. See Figure 2. At each point in time inthe video, you can choose to insert a bookmark, an overlay slide, or both. 

Figure 2: The new Bookmarkand Overlay layers

Click the square Bookmark icon, then name your bookmark. SeeFigure 3. Later, you can jump back to this bookmark at any time—for instance,as the result of the learner answering a knowledge check incorrectly. I’ll showthis in a moment. 

Figure 3: Setting a bookmark

If you click the diamond-shaped Overlay icon in the timelineas seen in Figure 2, you’ll be able to choose a slide already on your timeline toact as an overlay. Acceptable overlay slides include all except quiz and videoslides, though Knowledge Check slides are fine. When the overlay is reached onthe video timeline, the video will pause and blur and the overlay slide willshow on top of it. If the overlay slide uses the project background color, thatbackground will be transparent.

Depending on the kind of slide you choose to insert as avideo overlay, you have a lot of options as to what happens as a result. Forinstance, note the three different overlay slides in Figure 4.

Figure 4: An overlay slide with options, a Knowledge Check overlayslide, and a simple image overlay slide

In the first overlay slide, a Knowledge Check questiondisplays. If the learner answers the question correctly, the questiondisappears and the video continues. If the learner answers it incorrectly, thenthe wrong answer feedback is displayed (it’s an option you can turn on or off),after which I’ve set Captivate to jump to a bookmark (see the next paragraph).

In Figure 5 you’ll see that I’ve set the Knowledge Check’sLast Attempt option to Jump to the Bookmark and set the bookmark to How_Bees_Fly(Figure 3). When learners see the feedback and click the slide, they will bebrought to the moment in the video where that bookmark is placed. This allowsyou to repeat a portion of video that learners need to review to answer thequestion correctly, or jump ahead to another portion of the video.            

Figure 5: The new action Jumpto Bookmark

The second overlay slide shows a picture of a lion and itscub. When it appears, it will show the image for the amount of time to which it’sset on that slide’s timeline, then the video will continue.

In the third, there are simply two star-shaped buttons. Thefirst is named Continue, and in fact its action is set to Continue, so when the overlay timeline ends, the video willcontinue. The second is named Jump, and its action is set to Go to the next slide, so if the learnerclicks it, Captivate will jump to the slide that comes after the video and allits overlay slides, skipping the rest of the video.

You’ll also see the slides you chose as overlays fallbeneath the current slide in the timeline. They will be smaller to indicate theyare overlay slides, not normal slides. As overlay slides, they are not shown aspart of the regular filmstrip, only when called upon by the interactive video.See Figure 6. 

Figure 6: A video slide withoverlay slides below 

This may be my favorite new feature in Captivate. There areso many cool ways to use interactive video to help learners grasp materialfaster and in more engaging ways.

2.       CSV question import (in addition to GIFTquestion import)

Every time I teach a Captivate class or conduct a Captivatetips session, I find that one of the least known features is that of usingGIFT-formatted text files to import quiz questions of all types quickly andeasily.

Another option that Captivate has offered for years is thatof importing questions and question pools from other Captivate files, anotherbig time-saver.

Captivate 2019 has added a third option to import questions,that of using comma-delimited files, which usually use a CSV (comma-separatedvalues) extension. These files are often created in Microsoft Excel, thoughseveral other applications also support exporting to a CSV format.

Adobe provides a CSV Question Creation Excel file to make iteven easier to create quiz questions to be imported later into Captivate. The followingquestion types are supported: True/False,Multiple choice, Matching, Fill in the Blank andShort answer.

3.       Screen recording with webcam with chromakeycapabilities

When creating video demos of screens in Captivate 2019, younow have the option to record yourself concurrently through your webcam. Thiscan adda personal touch while narrating the steps to take in the screenrecording. In addition, you can use chromakey to make your background disappearand replace it with your own. In Figure 7 you can see the two steps involved.In the first, you select yourself and in the second, you can choose abackground to place behind you.

Afterrecording, you can resize the webcam video to any size you wish and you canmove it to any location on the stage. See Figure 8.

Figure 7: Recording a video demo with webcam

Figure 8: Webcam videoresized and repositioned

The following three features all focus on responsively designedmobile learning.

1.       Easier fluid boxes for responsivelydesigned lessons

Fluidboxes were a breakthrough in Captivate 2017, making it easier tocreate responsively designed lessons that resize more smoothly betweendifferent screen resolutions. That being said, Captivate 2019 has added severalnice improvements.

• When you move your cursor over a fluid box, ithighlights it, and you’ll also see it highlight in the Fluid Box Selector.
• When you move your cursor in the Fluid BoxSelector, it highlights the line, and you’ll also see it highlight thecorresponding fluid box on the stage.
• The Fluid Box Selector now includes an icon nextto each fluid box showing you the flow direction (horizontal or vertical) forthat box.
• The Fluid Box Selector also includes a Deleteoption for each fluid box, making it simple to know exactly which fluid box youare deleting. See Figure 9.  

Figure 9: Fluid Box improvements

• In addition to the improvements above, Captivate2019 has added the ability to resize fluid boxes numerically, by stagepercentage or number of pixels, allowing you more precision now. See Figure 10.

Figure 10: Change the size of a fluid box by percentage or pixels

• There is a new option in the Properties panelthat will let you distribute fluid boxes evenly and also the objects in a fluidbox evenly. If you choose a parent fluid box, for instance, and click theDistribute Objects Evenly button, it will make each of its children the sameheight or width fluid box, depending on whether its flow is horizontal orvertical. If you choose one fluid box and click the Distribute Objects Evenlybutton, it will distribute each of the objects within that fluid box evenly.See Figure 11.

Figure 11: Setting Fluid Boxes Evenly

• Finally, Static fluid boxes, which can containobjects that overlap, have been improved. In Captivate 2019, you are notlimited to having the static fluid box objects aligned center and middle any longer.You can now choose to align the content of a static fluid box in various ways.

Captivate 2019 now lets you import PowerPoint slides into aresponsive project. If you choose to import standard landscape PowerPoint slides,be aware that they will resize but keep their aspect ratio intact, meaning thatobjects within the PowerPoint slides will not reposition as objects in fluidboxes do. I generally avoid importing PowerPoint slides because I find iteasier to recreate them in Captivate, which also gives me more control overeach object.

3.       Automatic device preview

The Layout preview bar over the stage now has a play button.The same play button can be seen in the Properties panel next to the Wrapoption. The Play button will play for you a short movie that illustrates howthe fluid boxes will change and flow as the stage becomes narrower and thenwider to full width again. It’s a great way to see quickly if you need to makeany adjustments to your fluid boxes so that that they will resize and positionthe way you wish for different resolutions. Try it!

Conclusion

The added features and improvements in Captivate 2019 madeit an easy decision for me to upgrade. The two new features of virtual realityand interactive video alone, used judiciously, open a lot of new options toprovide better learning experiences to learners. The added features to importCSV questions and the ability to record through the webcam when creating videodemos are pretty sweet. Finally, all of the improvements to fluid boxes arevery welcome. Did I see all of the features and improvements I wanted in thisnew version? Of course not, but I can say without a doubt that I’m very happywith this new version.