Recommendations for a CD project

[deidrelynn]

I have a big project and I am a new Captivate user. I need to create 3-4 separate demonstrations, and add music and video just for professional presentation. I was wondering if anyone would like to advise me on my approach?

Should I use Captivate for the entire CD project (music, video, narration and demonstration)? If so, I am wondering if it is better to create separate files and link them, rather than create one large file? And finally, is if best to export as a Flash file and burn to a CD? Since most browsers have Flash players these days I am hoping to just have some sort of autostart file on the cd.

I apologize upfront for my ignorance. I really am pretty smart but I am not sure about the techie lingo. 🙂

[KCWebPlaza-5meuTi]

I read you post in the Adobe forums about your Captivate project, and wanted to say YES - you can absolutely use Captivate for your entire project. I would suggest that you create a custom HTML page to serve as a main menu for our users. You can place an autostart text file in the root of your CD to bring up this main menu. Your users can then select which of the Captivate movies they would like to play (and don't have to go through content they do not wish to see). I do this type of thing all the time - msg me if you'd like more details.

[deidrelynn]

Hi there. I am replying to your advice from 3/25 regarding my CD project. I have created the main menu on an html page and have prompted the menu to open upon completion of the introduction show. Seems to work great. I just posted a message in the Export forum and then remembered you offered to help me! 🙂 YOu mentioned I should add an autostart text file to the cd. Can you tell me how to do that? And can you tell me the best way to publish each file to then burn to the CD? I have some options I am not familiar with. I am assuming that the file size is not an issue as long as the total fits on a CD? I so appreciate your guidance on this. I love this program and am having a blast creating this, but it is my first project.

[Captiv8r]

Hi deidrelynn

Of course I'm not KCWebPlaza, but maybe I can help. For CD distribution, you need a file present that is named quite simply autorun.inf. When a Windows PC senses a CD-ROM has been inserted, it normally looks for this file to start an application. Keep in mind that this only works on Windows based PCs. I don't believe it will work if the PC is an Apple or LInux machine. Additionally, some administrators may disable the autorun function because they see it as a security risk.

If you are using Captivate 1, only the .EXE output has the option for creating the autorun.inf file. For Captivate 2, the option exists for both .SWF and .EXE outputs.

If you are going down the autorun path, you should know or realize that you need to be a tad persnickety with your naming conventions. You should avoid using long file names for your Captivate movie that launches initially. I've seen it happen regularly where autorun is trying to launch something named perhaps My Favorite Movie In the Whole world and it fails. But when that movie is renamed to something like MyFavMov it begins working just dandy. You are safest if you stick with something called "The DOS 8.3 naming convention". This means you use 8 characters for the main part of the file name, and 3 characters for the file extension. (normally the extension is either .SWF or .EXE, so you are pretty safe there. All you need to worry about is really the 8 character File Name).

So once you have it all in one place, you simply copy the group of files to the CD and you should be set.

Cheers... Rick

[deidrelynn]

Thanks for the advice. Is there a different way to do this so it will open on both a PC and a MAC? This is my first Captivate project and I am in a bit over my head!

[Captiv8r]

Hi again

Hmmm, I've never used Mac equipment before, so I'm unsure whether Mac supports any form of an autostart as the PC world does.

Cheers... Rick

[JPratt_-_SIS]

Hi!

I have made a 'project,' and it follws like this:

Introduction : A captivate file, published as .exe, that is ~4-5 slides, with autorun enabled. it is set that when the last slide plays, it opens the main menu (used menubuilder to create) which is also a .exe file

problem : after the introduction, the system gives an error "$ is not a valid integer" and the introduction does not close. The main menu opens, but the error is still there, and is a bit of a pest.

The rest of the files are .exe's and they work fine from the menu.

Am I doing something goofy, that I get the error? I set up for it to open up the main menu on the slide properties for the last slide.. should I try something different? Thanks for the help in advance!

-Jeremy Pratt

[deidrelynn]

Hi. It has been a while since I first asked about a CD project, but I have created all my shows and I am ready to burn them to a CD. But I have a couple issues. In order to get the show to look good, I placed each of the swf files into an htm page. So each component is now an htm doc. I created a custom htm menu. I have the show set to automatically go from htm page to htm page, with a link on each page to take them to the main menu if they want. Anyway, the problem is that every time I open the page, I get an Adobe Flash Player Security Warning pop up. Also, in Explorer it won't load the swf unless I say Allow blocked content. My concern is that others will have the same problem when they load the CD to watch it. Do you have any suggestions?

I thought perhaps I should just save each project as a standalone project for the CD, period. But that apparently requires me to publish each of my 9 projects as a stand alone EXE file. Then, I have to go back and somehow set the END feature to open the consecutive EXE file, right? Any help with this at all is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

[Captiv8r]

Hi deidrelynn

It sounds like you are using Captivate 1? I say this because Captivate 2 doesn't have the "Click to activate" message that we see with version 1 output. The main reason is because of a new JavaScript file that is included. standard.js.

The Flash Player security message is happening because of the links. And you only see it if you run the content locally. But I see you are talking about CD delivery, so you do have a concern with this. You might be able to gain some good info on this by clicking here.

There is a related thread at this link.

Cheers... Rick

[eholz1]

Hello CD exporters and Captiv8tr,
I have yet another question/problem. I am trying to use an html page as a menu to other exe files on a cd.
My problem is that the html file will not open from the cd. I am using an autorun exe (Captivate 3 project).
When the autorun exe completes I am using the "open file" method from the slide navigation dropdown. I specify the name of the file there. the full path is "D:\BlendedLearning\www\Standalone\swf_nav.htm"
When the autorun exe completes the html page does not open. The test computer system gives a gentle beep, the screen flashes for an instant, and no page, ie no open, etc.

How do I get an html file to open on a computer

tnx,

eholz1

[Captiv8r]

Hi Eric

Autorun expects to launch some type of executable. This is why .EXE format is popular for CD deployment. I believe some trickery is involved when pointing to a .HTM page. You have to coax Internet Explorer (or possibly simply Explorer) to open and display the page. You can't simply point at a .HTM page and expect Windows File Association to handle it.

You might try using the Autorun option for HTM pages that is built into Captivate. See how they are attempting to do it and see if you can then adapt it to your own situation.

Cheers... Rick

[Newsgroup_User]

eholz1,

You could try something like this:
http://www.learningconsulting.com/examplefiles.htm#Other

(look for the Autorun application).

It was something I built a long time ago in Visual Basic. You don't have to
use the Autorun I built - but could do something similar in a host of other
tools. Alternatively...

You could try to launch a browser (e.g. iexplore.exe
"D:\BlendedLearning\www\Standalone\swf_nav.htm") from Captivate, but that
would only work if they are using Internet Explorer and IE is found in the
directory path. You could try multiple atttempts - such as launching
FireFox, too.

Regards,

Andrew

[deidrelynn]

No, I am actually using Captivate 2. That is weird.