I really need some help please.

Report · Jun 28, 2008

Hi. I have wasted a Saturday playing with Captivate 3 with little success. I have two questions please:

1) How can I make more than one slide appear in the time line at a time? I can only get one to appear. I want to have the end of one start the beginning of another. It is making me nuts.

2) I imported a PowerPoint presentation and I want to add a voiceover to the entire presentation but it is not clear how to advance from one slide to the next while speaking.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Frank

Report · Jun 28, 2008

Hi Frank, Welcome to the Puzzle Palace.

Here's my take on your two questions: Can't be done.

With regards to your slide display, one has to completely finish it's display time before the next slide is allowed to start loading.

For the audio, there is no project audio you can record. You can only record audio for individual slides.

Maybe someone else has a solution, but I haven't seen one in my time with Cap3.

Regards

Report · Jun 28, 2008

Welcome to our community, Frank

Jimmy is correct for the first question. If you want a single slide that is essentially two slides combined, you will need to copy the objects from one slide to the other, then extend the timeline for the desired longer slide. Then adjust timings to your satisfaction.

For the second question, I have to respectfully disagree that no way exists. In my opinion there are a couple of approaches you may wish to take.

1. Record the narration separately, then import it into Slide 1. At this point Captivate would see that the narration is longer than the slide and prompt you for an action. You could then set the break points for where it should split onto the remaining slides.

2. You could record narration beginning at slide one. Choose Audio > Record > Project. Once you do that (In Captivate 3 anyway) you have an option to choose "Continuous Play". You watch the playback in a smaller window and you record your narration while it plays back.

Cheers... Rick

Report · Jun 29, 2008

Thanks to you both for your answers. I think I was unclear in stating one of my problems. I understand that two slides can not be placed over each other and I know this must seem like a very basic question, but my biggest problem is in figuring out how to place one slide after the other and have them both appear in the time line in succession. I seem to only be able to display one slide at a time on the timeline and what I want to do is drag and drop slide two to start after slide one and slide three after two and so on. But I want them to all appear in the timeline view at once and in succession. Seems reasonable enough right? Is there a simple switch I am missing?

I recorded the sound track using Soundbooth and have that as a few sound clips that total about 2 hours of speaking time. I will play that in the audio track and time the individual slides to start and stop (using fades) at the appropriate time. I will also clean the sound track.

The person doing the presentation used 48 slides in powerpoint and the recording is what I want to place in Captivate as the voiceover. The idea of course is to then place this (perhaps in 2 or 3 parts) on the web so everyone in my company can play it on demand.

Thanks again.

~ Frank

Report · Jun 29, 2008

Hi again Frank

Captivate doesn't work like that. Each slide has its own Timeline. This keeps things simple.

If you already have your audio, try importing the first segment at slide one and choosing the second option from the ensuing dialog. This should then provide an overall view that might be what you are looking for. The view should show all slides (the overall timeline) and allow you to choose where the breaks should occur.

Once you have all that finished, don't be too surprised if Captivate either corrupts your project or other problems ensue. Two hours is an extremely long time for a Captivate. Most of the Captivate projects you see are just a few minutes in duration. Perhaps 3 - 5 minutes.

Cheers... Rick

Report · Jun 29, 2008

Thanks Rick. I will try to do that later this evening. Can you (or anyone else who happens to read this) suggest a better application to use to add a voiceover to a powerpoint slide presentation? I am hoping to chop the overall session in 20 or 30 minute segments and since there is no mouse movement and only slides, fades and voice, I was hopeful that Captivate might do the trick. What do you think?

Frank

Report · Jun 29, 2008

Hello again Frank

I'm not sure what you are asking. You said:

Can you (or anyone else who happens to read this) suggest a better application to use to add a voiceover to a powerpoint slide presentation?

Are you asking for a way to add voiceover to a PowerPoint that remains as a PowerPoint with no Captivate in the picture? Or is it instead to ask if there is an easier way to take a PowerPoint and import it into Captivate, then add the voiceover?

Cheers... Rick

Report · Jun 29, 2008

Hi Rick. What I was asking is if there is perhaps an application other than Captivate that might be mor appropriate for adding a voiceover to a power point presentation. It would be a program similar to, but different than Captivate 3. I asked that since you seemed to be saying that for a long piece such as this one, Captivate might have problems. Thanks again.
Frank

Report · Jul 02, 2008

This is a long thread.

Captivate has an option for converting powerpoints into captivate slides, and i my experience is much better for editing sound. Each individual sound clip relates to each slide however, so will need to be recorded individually.

Powerpoint itself has a facility for recording narration, but not as good as captivate in my opinion, see PP helpfile.

My last suggestion is Webex, through web-ex you can record narration over a powerpoint. This can either be presented live, with your participants 'dialling in' from their desks and watching/listening to your live presentation, or you can record the presentation and then provide a link to it via email, so anyone can view it any time.

Downside with Webex is no sound editing capability, so if you stuff up, its back to the beginning and start again, not good if you have a speech that lasts for hours!

Captivate is the best choice for implementing sounds and slides together, no doubt about it.

Report · Jul 03, 2008

FrankCap, go to Articulate and download their "Presenter" application ( click here for link). I think that might more accurately answer the actual question you asked.

The current version of Captivate is a great product, but specifically with regard to synchronizing audio in Power Point presentations, I think you might want to give the Articulate family of products a try. Building Flash presentations while working with Power Point is what they are all about, while Captivate offers interaction with PPTs almost as an afterthought to the main purpose of "life-like" application training.

~good luck in your search my friend.
Larry

Report · Jul 03, 2008

> My last suggestion is Webex, through web-ex you can record narration over
> a
> powerpoint.

And you can do similar with Adobe Presenter.

Steve

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