Setting the recording area

[Noel_Griffiths]

Captivate v5.5

This is most likely a dumb question - so I apologise in advance. I also hope I can explain myself clearly.

The majority of my captivate projects are based on our web based tracking system which means I record onto the slides the majority of what I see on my monitor. I need to record what is inside the red square below, which as you can see is almost everything with the exception of Firefox menu bars at the top and my task bar at the bottom.

How do I start off a new project in Captivate (v5.5) and set the recording area for all slides so it will cover the exact area I want to record (as above) ?

Do I measure the area on the screen and then set the project size to be the same as the recording area? If so, how do you measure the recording area accurately as a ruler on the screen really is not very scientific.

I recall in v4 or maybe v3, you could drag Captivate's the red recording box to fit the area - but I cannt see this option in v5.5

Thanks in advance for any easy to follow help.

NEL

[VikramGaur]

Hello,

Welcome to Adobe Forums.

You need to choose "Custom Size" before you begin the recording :

You can select your desired resolution in those boxes and red box will show you the area which will be recorded

Thanks,

Vikram

[Noel_Griffiths]

Thank you for the reply but when you use custome size you have to know the size of the area you want to record and part of my question was how do you measure the area you want to record if it is not the full screen?

[VikramGaur]

Hello,

You do not need to measure.

You need to know the resolution of your screen, enter that resolution and then use the 6 square box to resize the recording screen manually (Using Mouse)

Thanks,

Vikram

[Noel_Griffiths]

Thanks Vikram,

I got there in the end.

Noel

[VikramGaur · Accepted solution]

Hello,

Glad it worked for you.

Please mark this post as answered.

Thanks,

Vikram

[Captiv8r]

Hi Noel

While I see you managed to "get there in the end", perhaps the following will help?

When you begin to record, you can tell Captivate to record at a specific size. But your goal is to set the browser such that the client area is always at the consistent size, no?

So try these steps.

Open the browser.

Use Captivate's ability to Snap the Application window to a specific Custom size.

Now that you have the outer browser window sized, change the recording settings so they snap to Application Region. That should allow you to get the area you desire. Note that you may need to adjust the right edge if your goal is to avoid capturing the scroll bar area.

Alternatively, you can use a small freeware application called Sizer to assist in placing and sizing the window for you.

( http://www.brianapps.net/sizer/ )

Cheers... Rick

[Noel_Griffiths]

Hi Rick,

Thanks - as always for a brilliant answer and the free app.

To be honest at the time of sending this reply I am still not 100% sure about setting the recording area to the size I require - but hope to have played around today and with the help of the free app. should have got my head around it.

I need to be able to ensure the recording area stays in the exact same loaction as I set it on the screen throught my project. I switch between recording images from the web, then inserting some text only slides then going back to the web to add another web image, and I need to be sure the recording area remains in the exact same location as I set it at the start of the project so I dont end up with having to manually move the recording area over the area I want to record every time I want to capture a web image...a few pixels out here and there can ruin the continuity.

Thanks again..

Noel