Trouble incorporating Captivate movies into RoboHelp HTML projects

[TW97]

This is for RH 7 HTML.

I have been trying for quite a while now to add some Captivate tutorial-type videos to my help projects. I have recently been able to do this, however, the video additons greatly increased the size of my help file (it went from probably 7 or 8 MB up to 29 MB).

Here's how I added the movies.

• Created a new topic just for the multimedia movie
• Inserted the video (which was saved as an .SWF - Flash - file, since this is what the help file instructs you to do) and added it to the new topic
• Created a link to this new topic in the topic from which I wanted to launch the video and chose to have the video open in a new window
• Saved everything and tested it out to make sure the video would run when called

The video runs OK, though it is a little on the large side and is still a bit blurry/fuzzy. I've also had to provide special instructions to any users who wish to view the videos (maximize the RH display window, make sure the resolution on the monitor is set to at least 1024 x 768, choose to allow blocked content if prompted, etc) So, the main questions I have are,

• What's the best way to add these videos to a help file without having the file size go through the roof and so they'll still display properly (clear and legible)?
• Is there a smaller, more compressed format that can be used that will still allow for a clear display?
• Should I embed the videos in the actual help file or place them somewhere else and link to them externally?

I would greatly appreciate any insight, advice, and expertise in this area, since my manager is a huge proponent of having these videos incorporated into the help files.

Thanks very much in advance for any guidance you can provide.

Sincerely,

Dave

[Willam_van_Weelden]

Hi,

To lower the filesize of your movies, you can lower the quality of your movies, but that may not be what you want. You can also Daisy chain your movies, see: http://www.gooberguides.com/Mary/DaisyChain.htm. Your demo's can simply be too large to play correctly. Rick can tell you more about Captivate though.

The way you insert movies in RoboHelp seems correct. And saving as an .swf is the way to embed the movie.

• Should I embed the videos in the actual help file or place them somewhere else and link to them externally?

That's your choice. Personally, I embed the images in the project, but not in a topic. The navpane is in the way and you have to have larger resolutions.

I create a HTML file outside of Robo and place the image in the top left corner, without any whitespace. Then, I import the movie and the HTML file into Robo as a baggage file. Finally, I call the movie in a popup (window.open javascript) so it appears in a popup. It's a little more work, but allows the help and the demo to be viewed separate.

Greet,

Willam

[TW97]

Hi William,

Thanks for all the info on this subject so far. Sorry I haven't responded on this until now, but I had to put this on the back burner for a while due to other projects/issues taking precedence.

At any rate, I'm back to working on this a bit and was curious what you used to create the HTML file (outside of RH) in which you embedded your video before importing this new file into the RH project as a Baggage File. I think if I could do this, allow the help and demo to be viewed separately to keep from having to use such high resolutions, this may provide a possible solution to my issue. Also you say at one point, "I import the movie and the HTML file into Robo as a baggage file." I assume you mean the HTML file with the video embedded.

Thanks Much,

Dave

[Captiv8r]

Hi Dave

Hopefully Willam won't mind my chiming in here.

When you publish a project from Captivate as SWF, you also have an option to allow Captivate to create an HTML page for you. In fact, the option is typically enabled by default and you have to specifically disable it. At that point Captivate warns you that the movie may not display correctly if you do this.

So if you want the HTML page all set up, you just leave that option selected in Captivate. Then in RoboHelp, you import both the Captivate created HTML page as well as any files such as SWF or FLV you need.

Hopefully this helps... Rick

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[Willam_van_Weelden]

I'll let you get away with it this time, Rick

Captivate can output html files for you. Personally, I create a separate file in Notepad to embed the movie, that give me the idea of being in control

Greet,

Willam