Adobe Captivate is one of the most popular eLearning development tools in the world. As your class begins, you’ll get comfortable with the Captivate interface by exploring an existing Captivate project. You’ll learn to use the Filmstrip, explore the inspectors, and poke around other areas of the Captivate interface. After exploring a bit, it’s time to roll-up your sleeves and get to work. You’ll create a soft skills eLearning lesson from scratch (soft skills eLearning includes, but is not limited to,  onboarding, conflict resolution, and compliance training). You’ll work with themes, add slides, work with placeholders to add text and images. You’ll even add interactive buttons that will allow the learner to control the pace of the lesson.

Once you’re comfortable creating projects, tap into Captivate’s powerful recording features and create both software demonstrations and interactive software simulations. And you’ll leverage Captivate’s multi-mode recording features to record three lessons at the same time (one demo and two simulations).

You’ll learn to add, modify, and control the timing of objects such as text captions, images, and highlight boxes. You’ll learn to record, import and edit audio, and how to further enhance the learner experience by adding interactivity via click boxes, buttons, and text entry boxes.

Engage your learner by adding rollover captions, rollover images, rollover slidelets, zoom areas, quizzes, and knowledge checks to a project. And you’ll leverage and enrich existing Microsoft PowerPoint presentations by importing them into Captivate.

Finally, you’ll learn how to distribute a finished Captivate project to the widest possible audience by publishing SWF, HTML5, and PDFs so that your content can be consumed by learners on virtually any device including desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smart phones.

LESSONS COVERED DURING THIS 2-DAY CLASS

Note: The lessons outlined below comprise activities typically covered in a class of this skill level. The instructor may, at the instructor’s discretion, alter the lesson plan to meet the needs of the class.

ELEARNING AND CAPTIVATE

As your class ramps up, you won’t just learn how to start Captivate and click each tool, you’ll begin the process of creating eLearning lessons from the ground up. You’ll not only learn how to create effective eLearning, but why those lessons will be effective.

• Explore the Captivate Interface
• Zoom and Magnify
• Navigate a Project
• Preview a Project
• Create a New Project

RECORDING DEMOS AND SIMS

Recording your desktop actions is one of Captivate’s key features… and you’ll cover the hottest recording modes: demo, assessment, training and custom.

• Rehearse a Script
• Edit Recording Settings
• Set Recording Keys
• Record a Demonstration
• Record an Assessment
• Record a Training Simulation
• Record a Custom Simulation

CAPTIONS, STYLES AND TIMING

Once you’ve recorded your lessons, the real work begins. During these lessons, you will learn how to add text caption, set object styles and control the timing of slides objects.

• Insert, Resize and Move Text Captions
• Modify Text Caption Properties
• Edit the Default Caption Style
• Change a Callout Type Used by a Text Caption
• Control Slide Timing
• Control Slide Object Timing
• Check Spelling
• Align Slide Objects

IMAGES AND DRAWING OBJECTS

Adding images to your project will enhance the lesson. These lessons will teach you how to add images, manipulate them and manage them.

• Insert, Resize and Restore an Image
• Transform an Image’s Size and Position
• Use the Library
• Manage Unused Project Assets
• Crop and Rename an Image
• Remove a Background Color
• Insert a Cloud Callout
• Create an Image Slideshow

POINTERS, BUTTONS AND HIGHLIGHT BOXES

If you’ve created a demonstration, that pesky mouse can sometimes have a mind of its own. You’ll learn how to tame that wild mouse during these lessons. Then you’ll learn how to add some basic interactivity to a lesson via buttons.

• Add a Visual Click and Sound
• Modify the Mouse Pointer
• Insert and Format a Text Button
• Set a Button’s Pause After Timing
• Work With Image Buttons
• Insert and Format a Highlight Box

ROLLOVERS AND ZOOM AREAS

Rollovers and Zoom Areas enhance the eLearning experience by encouraging interactivity (rollovers) and grabbing the learners attention (zoom areas). Learn them both during these lessons.

• Insert a Rollover Caption
• Insert a Rollover Image
• Insert a Zoom Area
• Insert and Format a Rollover Slidelet
• Format the Rollover Area
• Add a Caption and Image to a Rollover Area

AUDIO

eLearning lessons that contain voiceover audio and sound effects are more effective than lessons that don’t… and that’s just a fact! Learn how to add, edit and record audio during these lessons. And if that’s not enough, you’ll also learn how to convert Text-to-Speech, which is just cool!

• Import Audio onto a Slide Object
• Import Background Audio
• Add a Slide Note
• Calibrate a Microphone
• Record Slide Audio
• Import a Voiceover onto a Slide
• Edit an Audio File
• Insert Silence
• Convert Text-to-Speech

VIDEO, ANIMATION & EFFECTS

In a word, Flash Video is cool! Learn how to add Flash Video to your eLearning lessons. There are lessons for adding Animation and special effects too.

• Insert a Flash Video
• Set Flash Video Properties
• Add Animation to a slide
• Insert Text Animation
• Apply an Effect to a Slide Object
• Apply a Glow Filter Effect
• Modify Effect Properties
• Save and Import Effects

CREATING SIMULATIONS OUT OF DEMONSTRATIONS

Interactive eLearning is generally thought to be more effective than passive demonstration videos. During these lessons, learn how to convert an existing demonstration into a highly engaging, interactive powerhouse.

• Hide the Mouse
• Replace Phrases
• Insert a Click Box
• Insert a Text Entry Box

WORKING WITH MICROSOFT POWERPOINT

Often times the eLearning project begins in Microsoft PowerPoint. Why not use that content in your Captivate project? These lessons will help you master the PowerPoint to Captivate workflow.

• Import PowerPoint slides
• Resize One Object and Apply to All
• Round-Trip PowerPoint Edits
• Synch With Source
• Rescale a Project

INTRODUCTION TO QUESTION SLIDES

Captivate sports some robust quizzing tools. You’ll learn how to setup, create and edit question slides.

• Edit Quizzing Object Styles
• Set the Quiz Preferences
• Insert Question slides
• Format a Question slide
• Add an Image to a Question slide

PUBLISHING

No project is finished until it’s published so that it can be consumed by your learners. Learn the best publishing format to use for the widest audience (including SWF and the new HTML5 output). Learn how to add a TOC to your lessons and the ideal settings for publishing.

• Create a Link to a Web Site
• Apply a Skin
• Edit, Save and Delete a Skin
• Create a TOC,
• Check Publish Settings and Add a Loading Screen
• Publish a SWF and PDF
• Run the HTML5 Tracker
• Publish as HTML5
• Export Captions
• Perform a “Round Trip”