Hi kleventhal, and welcome to the Captivate (and RoboDemo, I
guess) User Community!!
Going to a higher quality setting for the slide background -
as you have by using the "Optimized" setting - is/was the only way
to correct a problem once the recroding is made.
The problem is that RoboDemo is trying to accomodate more
colors than its palette can handle, thus the color-shift, or
"washout" you see. Often, you can get by with increasing video
quality on just a slide or two in front of the ones with the most
noticeable color propblems - but sometimes the whole movie must be
optimized, if the color shift is a widespread problem. And "Yes",
increasing color or video quality will increase file size a great
deal.
You can help to minimize the problem by minimizing the colors
on your desktop (of the machine being used for recording). For
instance, use Windows "Classic" desktop color schemes instead of
hte default "XP" with its many, many colors. NOTE: This is almost
certainly the reason why your boss isn't having as much trouble as
you are - he or she is using Win2K and I suspect, the "XP"
gradients are not available on his/her machine.
To change your own PC to fewer colors, right-click the
desktop and select "Properties", then open the "Appearance" tab and
select "Windows Classic Style" from the Windows and Buttons"
drop-list. Then go to the "Advanced" button and eliminate the
two-color schemes from all title bars etc.
RoboDemo 5 is years old now, and so out of date that the
programmers for it are long gone, and there are just a few of us
left who still have it, or can remember it's quirks and foibles. I
strongly recommend an upgrade to Captivate 2, but if you choose not
to, we will do the best we can to help you right here.
Have a nice day!!
.