Setting new slide default to High 24 bit quality ?

[Noel_Griffiths]

Captivate v5.5

I am adding some slides to an existing project that was originally created in v4.

I have now opened it in v5.5 and I am recording some new material to the project.

Currently I am adding slide by slide with images from our website - but each slide is appearing in the project with Quality setting "Low (8-Bit)" and all my other slides are Quality High 24 bit.

How can I ensure all new slides take the High 24 bit quality setting ? I have looked in preferences but cannt see anything.

Noel

[Lilybiri]

Easiest way is to override the slide quality settings on publishing

I do not really know a way to have all new slides set to High, and would not use it myself. Either I want everything to be 'High' and then use the described way. To have this setting while editing, I select all the slides in the Filmstip (CTRL-A) and adjust the quality in the Properties panel. But when filesize is important I tend to choose individually the slide quality, depending on the objects on the slide.

Lilybiri

[Noel_Griffiths]

I am sure this is going to sound stupid to you and those who know better - but why would you not want to have all your slides set to the same level of quality from the start of a project ? Surely setting one standard to be applied to all slides be they existing or new is the way to go ?

For example - Audio.  I want all my slides with audio to have the same audio setting that I create in preferences. I hope I dont have to check and change each slide's audio as i go or before I publsih as well

I must be missing something here I am sure.............

Noel

[Lilybiri]

Depends on the type of the slides. Pure text slides do not need High quality, as do Question slides. But if you use quality images, or images with transparency you'll need High or Optmizied. And if you do not have to bother about bandwidth, filesize you are free to choose highest for everything, audio etc. But same for audio: voice overs do not need the same settings as does music.

Lilybiri

[RodWard]

Lilybiri is correct.  You usually set the video quality to the lowest setting that will still allow sufficient quality according to the content on each slide.  Using lower quality settings on as many slides as possible, and using high quality ONLY where necessary, can have a huge impact on your published filesize.

[Noel_Griffiths]

I hear what you are both saying but am now confused.

What you both are saying is...use the lowest quality whenever possible and ONLY use higest quality where necessary. Surely that is the wrong way around when you are trying to create something that looks and sounds good.

Is there a guide / rule of thumb / something to help in regards when to use lowest and when to use highest ?

I have worked on the simple assumption that if there is an option in standard of quality - use the highest at every opportunity.

I do this with the slides and also with my audio.

Where am I going wrong ?

Noel

[RodWard]

Noel, it's really quite simple:

• If quality is all that matters, your end-user bandwidth is unlimited, and filesize / loading time is unimportant, by all means use the highest quality settings.
• If on the other hand bandwidth is limited, and filesizes must be kept minimal to avoid excessive loading times, then use the lowest quality settings that still allow your content to look and sound acceptable.

In practice, working out these settings is always a compromise between quality and filesize.  Since bandwidth for some users is almost always limited, download times for multimedia e-learning can be highly variable.  You can often halve the filesize and thus double the download speed of an e-learning module just by sensible experimentation with the quality settings for video and audio.

It's just a matter of striking the right balance.

[Noel_Griffiths]

You are right Rod,

Bandwidth and filesize are important.

Based on what you and Lilybiri have said, I will consider the content of each slide and use the lowest quality settings where applicable.

Noel