Recording training and demo simulations in a virtual machine (VMWare)

[shawninvancouver2]

Hello everyone,

I am wondering if it is possible to record a software simulation in a VM (VMWare) without requiring Captivate (v4) to be installed inside the VM?

A while back someone had suggested that it was possible to record a software simulation by connecting to the VM via RDC (Remote Desktop). I tried RDC, however, I found that I had to manually capture each slide and Captivate does not recognize mouse or keyboard actions. The resulting simulation required me to manually add in all mouse and keyboard actions. Obviously, that isn't very time efficient.

Must I install Captivate in the VM or is there another way to record simulations (and their associated actions) in a VM?

Thank you

[shawninvancouver]

Any suggestions?

My next step is to try unity mode.

Failing that, I guess I am left with installing a demo copy of Captivate on the VM.

[arorobaz31]

I do record trainings and demo on a VM using RDC (the print screens are recorder automatically).

I have Captivate 4 installed on my computer (and not in the VM).

I only don't know why you can't... sorry if my answer is useless, I just wanted to tell you that it must be possible.

[shawninvancouver]

When you record simulations via RDC, does Captivate correctly record all the details (contextual information) about each click? I don't think that information can be transferred through a RDC connection.

[arorobaz31]

What do you mean with "contextual information" ?

When I click, it records the click and its position. When I type ENTER, I have a box in my .CP file : Type ENTER. When I type text in a box, it is also recorded...

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

I'm guessing that what Shawn means is that he's not seeing Captivate understand certain fields. For example, if you were recording clicking menu items in Windows notepad, you would see Text Captions such as "Click the Edit Menu". But because that information happens in the VM, Captivate isn't necessarily recognizing that the Edit menu has been clicked. Perhaps it registers the click, that should work, but it doesn't know that a caption should be inserted.

But only Shawn can say whether this is what he meant.

Cheers... Rick

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