Control over Published Files?

[bkneebone]

I loved Adobe Captivate 2.0. It used to be that everything would build into a single .SWF file (with of course a SWF skin and HTML and Javascript file).

I'm testing Adobe Captivate 3.0 in trial for compatibility with my Mac Pro running XP SP2 (in bootcamp of course). Things look lovely, except I can't seem to get the output to generate into a single SWF file. It compiles into several different "fullmotion.swf" files which is problematic, especially the files that have decided to name themselves with "Copy Of" with whitespaces. Presenting issues with the webserver I need to upload after.

How can I suppress the "Copy Of" and enforce no whitespace chars?

How can I get everything back into a single SWF file?

I'm hoping I don't have to record my project all over again. I'm a little desperate for help. I'd like to buy the new software, but unless there's control over this it limits me quite severely.

[Captiv8r]

Welcome to our community, Brian

Yes, Captivate 3 certainly changes the playing field with this. For starters, I'd like to enlist your help by asking you to complete a wish form. Click here to view the WishForm/Bug Reporting Form.

Only by alerting the development team about the need for single .SWF output are we likely to see it!

Now, for a way to coax these full motion .SWFs into a single file.

What I'm about to put forth was developed by fellow Adobe Certified Captivate Instructor and fellow Adobe Community Expert John Daigle. John discovered a way to get a single .SWF by performing the following steps:

1. Publish your existing output to a temporary folder. Just a folder where you know where to find things.
2. When publishing, ensure the output is targeted to Flash 7. Choose Flash 8 or 9 and the process fails.
3. Just before or after each full motion slide, insert a blank slide. Time it to match the full motion slide.
4. Insert the matching full motion slide from the temporary folder.
5. Delete the original full motion slide.
6. Rinse and repeat until all full motion slides have been replaced.
7. Publish again. And again, ensure Flash 7 is the target.

Give that a go and see how you fare... Rick

[bkneebone]

Wow, thanks for the quick response. Well I'll give it a try below, but that's a lot of work for me (about 150 slides). To be honest, if Camtasia has no such limitation, I may just lean on this product instead or go back to recording on my old hardware which was compatible with 2.0.

I'll fill out the wish-list, but this is a pretty serious limitation which isn't very Unix friendly. If there's no immediate plans to resolve, I may just be best to move on. I hope it gets addressed before my trial of 3.0 expires - that will be the decision point for me ! :)

Thanks for the quick reply. Just a lot of work by the looks of it for something so simple...

[Captiv8r]

Hi again

Are all 150 slides full motion slides? I would expect maybe five or six. Unless, of course, you elected to record in full motion all the way mode. In that case, you will likely see issues bigger than having multiple .SWF files. Also, if that is your intent, you may well be better off using Camtasia. It is designed for a total full motion capture, where Captivate prefers the screen capture and stitch together approach.

Cheers... Rick

[bkneebone]

You're a life saver! Camtasia is exactly what I need. Don't get me wrong, Captivate is amazing, but for what I'm doing Camtasia is a much better fit for me and the price is quite reasonable. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll keep my Captivate 2.0 platform on my old machine for those odd times I need it. I can definitely see a use for both. Take care ...

[Captiv8r]

Hi again

Yeah, I'm a fairly dyed in the wool Adobe fan, yet I'm flexible and like you, easily see both products having a place in my toolbox. Each has its strengths and weaknesses and I'm willing to acknowledge that both are useful, depending on the need.

The same goes for another product I'm very fond of. SnagIt. I'm very anxious for the next version of SnagIt to arrive and see what the reaction will be.

Cheers... Rick