Adding equations to captivate

[Fred Schenkelberg]

Hi all,

Getting started with Captivate and want to animate (motion path and other transitions) the derviation of an equation -- basically show the transformation of a couple of formulas to a useful one to solve a particular engineering problem. One idea is to have each step fade in (equation as an image object) down the page with a voice over discussing the steps involved. Another idea is to show the algrebra with individual terms of the equation (motion path) moving to the new location - and during one type of exercise use the drag to target type quiz...

The issue is in creating or importing the formula images.

First, it appears that (I'm on a Mac) Mathtype or MS's equation editor do not work easily with Cp. The internal Cp ability to create summations, brackets, interals, etc is non-existant.

Second, creating the equation images with Mathtype does let me save to a gif (not good quality), png or PICT format - and when I import to the stage - the image is huge - more than the size of the stage.... and difficult to control the 'font' size of the equation elements.... difficult workflow.

Third, doing the creation of the content in PPT then doesn't permit the fine control of animations and motion that is available within Cp.

This has to been solved before.... what is an efficient way to use math equations either as text or images that permit the timing and animation control within Cp? Or, is there a recommended way to work with equation objects/images and animation that is incorporated with Cp?

Thanks for you help and advice (searching did not find any useful information - and I may have been searching for the wrong things -- math, equation editor, equation images, math fonts, math editors, etc.)

Cheers,

Fred

[MrMathType — Retired]

Hi there Fred,

Not a Captivate user, but since we just released a new version of MathType for Mac, I wanted to try it. So, using MathType 6.7 for Mac with Captivate 5.5, here's what I found:

• Although MathType 6.7 now has PDF as an output format for copy & paste or for saving equations as files, Captivate has no capability to paste, insert, or import a PDF, so that's out.
• The only way I know of to successfully add an equation to a Flash project is to save the equation as a GIF, then insert the GIF. I figured this would probably work in Captivate too, and it did. I had best results when increasing my resolution to 300 dpi (in MathType > Preferences > Web and GIF Preferences), then scaling down the GIF once it's inserted onto the slide. If you want, you can use the Library to upload a bunch of GIFs at once, then drag them from the Library to your slide.
• The GIFs will probably look a bit "blocky" while in Captivate, but once you publish the project (or preview it), they should smooth out. You can also smooth them out by clicking the Update button in the Library.
• Also tried a PICT, and had the same result as you -- a huge equation. I was able to scale it down though (using the Properties panel helps), and once I did that, it looked pretty nice. An issue with doing this is that the variables are no longer italic. If you use GIFs, the variables will remain italic.

Hope that's enough to go on. I'll update our info page on the website about Using MathType with Adobe Captivate, adding this information.

Bob Mathews

Design Science

[Lilybiri]

Hello,

Thanks a lot for this information, I'm not a MathType user, but will store your link in case other questions pop up.

Could I ask one extra question? You did save as GIF and that means transparency is preserved, is using PNG24 (which has also partial transparency) also functional in the same way?

Lilybiri

[MrMathType — Retired]

You did save as GIF and that means transparency is preserved, is using PNG24 (which has also partial transparency) also functional in the same way?

I really need to answer this as 2 questions, even though you only asked one.

1. When you save a MathType equation as GIF, you're correct that the format supports transparency, as does MathType. However, this is a user-selectable option, and is not selected by default. There's a checkbox in MathType's Web and GIF Preferences where you can select this option.
   
   
2. Our current versions of MathType do not support PNG, so the answer to your question is no. However, we plan to add this capability in a future release, and I suspect MathType's PNG support will include transparency. We don't yet have a timeframe for this release.

Bob

[Fred Schenkelberg]

Thanks - the orginal try with gif's was very blocky images. And, it is better with 300dpi and after saving. And, the hint to use the properties panel is easier to get PICT down to size and lined up. I'll play with both to determine which is a easier workflow and best results. Thanks again for the help.