Full Motion Recording files

Report · Dec 15, 2007

I use Captivate in tandem with other eLearning products, like Articulate Presenter. Or at least I did.

With version 2, I found I could export my captivate movie or sim as a single .swf file. (I didn't use the _skin.swf file, just the main .swf) Now I'm trying to use version 3 to finish up a project and I'm seeing that each of the full motion recording files exports as a separate .swf... I have 5 .swfs when I expected to see 2.

Is there any way to get Captivate 3 to embed full motion recordings into the "main" .swf?

Report · Dec 15, 2007

So few have noticed, or rather, complained. But yes, Karl, that bothered the heck out of me, too, for a while. Since the skin began requiring its own SWF file (unless you know how to work around that), it seems that Adobe has taken more and more liberties with creating "extra" SWFs as part of a project. I believe that decision is what prompted the current mandatory creation of a separate folder for output files. Sounds like I don't like the trend, but in fact ...

... it's a great idea. Because along with the organizational aspects which are a big help to many, Adobe engineers also gave us the ability to look at each full-motion slide as a separate event or entity. It can also be separately edited. None of which helps you.

If this is actually a problem for you, my recommendation is to eliminate full-motion entirely. Just turn it off as a recording option. For scrolling, just click the light portion of the scroll elevator to show scrolling - many of us scroll by that method anyway, as opposed to the click-and-drag method. And for dragging an object from one location to another, perhaps a slidelet can do the job as well or better(??). Or just a separate and smaller Captivate SWF inserted as an "animation"(??).

In any case, Karl, I don't believe there is a way to take a normal full-motion (FM) slide and embed it into the master SWF ... just cannot be done, except as noted above.

Have a good day - hope the information helped, though I'm sure it wasn't what you were hoping for.
.

Report · Jan 04, 2008

As to having all "full motion recordings" save as external SWF files:
CatBandit,
Having 10 SWFs instead of the single file I expected has sent my file management out the window.
Where I had 30 quizzes to manage for a single class, now I'll have 333 files to deal with every few months? For a full semester, I'll go from under a hundred to thousands? As for sending single, clickable file to a client for approval, now I have to send a stack with instructions? (I'm tired of teaching ZIP to the technically challenged.)

-- "...organizational aspects which are a big help to many," I think would be more "are a big headache to most."
-- "Adobe engineers also gave us the ability to look at each full-motion slide as a separate event or entity. It can also be separately edited."

Granted, this would be a GREAT OPTIONAL feature in some situations. (You could already insert a re-record.) Same for the forced Save to New Folder ""feature."" Sometimes that would help, but I suddenly have LOTS of folders only one file deep and must spend a stupid amount of time file managing the Adobe out of it. (There is still the "make new folder" checkbox that worked just fine before IF you wanted this functionality.)

Is it really so hard to make "improvements" optional, rather than frustrating us with relearning everything all the time and removing wheels that rolled just fine? Please pass to developers.

Thanks,
Mankx
(driving down the highway in San Diego, with the unremovable snow chain on my new car.)

Report · Dec 16, 2007

Im am having this exact same problem. I am trying to create trainings for Articulate Presenter. I actually recorded most of my trainings already and they are in full motion mode. I noticed I could play just the main swf that contained my recording. The problem is this file will not play on other computers without the other swf files. If I try to play this main swf file on another computer I can hear my audio but not see the video. I did create one of these trainings in demonstration mode and can use this ones main swf file just fine. It plays on other computers and can be uploaded into Articulate to play. Is there a way to convert the already created full motion trainings into demonstration mode without having to redo all my trainings? I looked thru the recording/publish options but couldnt get anything to work.

Report · Dec 16, 2007

Sorry, r2...
A full-motion SWF cannot be changed to a normal Captivate demo-style file. You will have to record it again.
.

Report · Dec 16, 2007

thanks for getting back to me so fast. Is there a way I can export all the audio from my already created projects into 1 audio file (mp3). I know I can export them all into separate mp3 files but was wondering if I can export to one file.

Report · Dec 16, 2007

Hi r2x68 and welcome to our community!

Adobe has a Technical Note that should show you how this is done. You may view it by clicking here.

Happy HannuChristmaKwanzaaYule! Rick

Report · Dec 17, 2007

Hi,
Just want to add my thoughts. I had a similar issue where I need to embed captivate swfs into PDFs. Basically I found I need a single swf, or perhaps my knowledge of Acrobat is too limited.

But back to the topic. I found that to get around the full motion swfs was to edit the project file by adding a blank slide where the full motion swfs are, then insert the swf onto the blank slide, delete the full motion slide and then re export.

That way you get full motion and a single swf.

Report · Dec 17, 2007

Hi kiwikangaroo

Indeed that is a definite workaround! Fellow Adobe Certified Instructor and Adobe Community Expert John Daigle has been working on that and I've been working with him to beta test same procedures. I'm pleased it works for you and puzzled at why a few others have reported it doesn't work for them.

As you have seen, Acrobat does expect a single .SWF and cannot handle the multiple .SWFs. Hence the reason behind why John was searching for a possibility.

Good on ya! Rick

Report · Dec 17, 2007

I am one of those for whom the idea has been completely unsuccessful in implementation, however great the concept might be. kiwikangaroo, if you still have the source files (including the original CP, the full-motion SWFs, and the resultant (final) CP), I would love to see them. I will be happy to provide a link so that you can upload them to me. Let me know by email at:

[my first name] AT [captivate-tips] DOTCOM

Thanks!
.

Report · Dec 18, 2007

Hi,
OK, couldnt find the specific demo, so I created a new one. This time I had problems at first but basically I resolved it. I got white screens here and there initially.

Here is what I did to get it to work, and bear in mind I havent done a lot of tests so this is what I did.

Did the recording. Publish to get all the swf files for the FMR's.

Next insert a blank slide where the FMR slide is.
Insert "Animation" and select the FMR swf.

Set as "No Transition" and set for "rest of slide" (not duration of animation as you get white screens).

I then deleted the FMR slides, and also deleted the FMR's from the library.

I then published, I chose Flash Player 7 and no HTML, but I dont know if that matters.

Larry, I will send you the files, and when I get a chance I will put them on my blog.

Report · Jan 04, 2008

addendum:

and as an added bonus: the Captivate quiz I just recorded, for some reason, took the app's actions between my "start full motion" and "stop full motion" and made 4, yes 4, animations out of it. (possibly an oversensitivity to what the recorded app was doing.)

Mankx.

Report · Jan 04, 2008

mankx,
WHOA!! You are changing my words, or misunderstanding their intent, then arguing with the new meaning you have put on them. My comments were specifically regards the creation of a new directory for the publishing function. In the context of your problem, that is, the wild creation of additional SWF files, I completely agree with you - couldn't agree more. So please reread my posts, or at least accept my word that what you seem to have gotten from my post(s) was not what I intended to convey. Sorry I didn't make myself more clear earlier.
.

Report · Jan 04, 2008

quote:

Originally posted by: CatBandit
mankx,
WHOA!! You are changing my words, or misunderstanding their intent,

OOPs, Sorry.
Your reply was right after the original problem post and I didn't catch the subtle twist in topic.

My apologies.
I hate to ever offend anyone who puts as much time into helping people out as you senior members.
Thanks!!

Mankx

Report · Jan 04, 2008

as to work around...
kiwikangaroo, Genius! That was some creative troubleshooting!

BUT...some additional notes for those who stumble upon this thread and need this solution:

The numbers in the swf names don't correlate to the slide number, but they do seem to match the animation number in the library. If you are viewing in EDIT mode, (v. storyboard) Rightclick to access "Find in Library". (only available with a Rclick on slide in center, not on gallery thumbnail) The library name number should match the number in the swf name you want to import. (oddly, 10 additional swf files were created in publishing, but the library shows 25 animations???)

1. Select the slide thumbnail of the animation you want to "fix"
2. Insert a blank slide.
3. Insert menu > animation > browse to folder & swf file with matching number.
4. play both to be sure you got the right one. (previews may not look EXACTLY the same, as they seem to show only every 5th frame or so.)
5. delete animation slide (the one with the little video camera icon)

PROBLEM: The only problem I had was that the inserted swfs faded in and out, making the final product unusable. I checked the properties of the slide and it showed "No Transition". To be sure, from the Rclick menu I selected Transition>"No Transition". No help.
OK, here's the thing.
I was right-clicking on the thumbnail. If you right-click on the slide in the main viewing area, under properties, "Options" tab, you can see it is actually set to fade in and out. Changing it here will eliminate the fades.
(though there are some pretty harsh hiccups at the 4 "seams" Captivate inserted into my full motion captures.

Now Publish gives only one swf, YEAAAA!!! Besides the playback hiccups and the extra 2 hours a single captivate took me, I'm happy I was able to get something usable. (Way to go Adobe, is it too late to get my money back?) Hopefully, Captivate 4 is decades away.

Good luck,
Mankx

Report · Jan 08, 2008

I experienced the same problem with the full motion recording files and this solution worked great. When I inserted the swf files into the blank screens though, I just dragged them from the folder they were created in and onto the blank slide- it worked much easier and automatically resized to fit. The nice part about when the full motion swf files are created is that they are auto-numbered in sequence (e.g., '...Fullmotion1', '...Fullmotion2') so when I replace the full motion slides with the blank slides, it is easy to know which order to insert them.
Thanks, everyone for your help!

Report · Jan 22, 2008

quote:

though there are some pretty harsh hiccups at the 4 "seams" Captivate inserted into my full motion captures

I got these as well. I was able to workaround it with the following steps:

- Right-click the slide prior to the inserted SWF file and select Copy Background
- Right-click the slide with the inserted SWF file and select Paste as Background

Also, I hid the slide with the original full motion recording instead of deleting it and that seemed to work fine.

Hope this helps!
-Jarrod