Editing methods

[Guest]

I have just been given a project to produce computer based training using Captivate. I find it difficult to lay down clear instructions on the audio and animate each slide at the same time. What I want to do is to first write a script in conversational style, record it, and then import it into Captivate, and then lay the animation and graphics in sync with the audio. How can you do that? I’m very experienced with PowerPoint so have put the program together first using PowerPoint, imported that into Captivate, and importing the audio tack. I found that Captivate will not use the audio in PowerPoint.

[Guest]

I didn't get any help here but I have come a long way since posting that question.

[RoboWizard]

Hi there

Sorry you didn't get any help. Care to expound on what you have discovered so far?

I ask because what you are trying to do is opposite to the way we normally work in Captivate. Normally we get the screen activity recorded, then add the sound later. Similar to the way movies are made. They record the action, then add the audio after the fact.

I figure if you can outline what you have discovered so far, it may help others that are attempting to work in your style.

Cheers... Rick

[Papillon-ch]

Well, if I understand correctly, save your audio files as mp3 or wav (still don't know which one gives better results) and number the audio files to indicate which slides are covered. Then, you add the audio via the menu, believe F6 is the shortcut if you have a pc. Is that what you mean? To avoid image quality loss, record your ppt onscreen instead of importing the slides. I prefer that...

Did you have any trouble importing the animation?

[robertnagle]

Unfortunately, Robowizard, I don't agree with that analysis.

In movies, we start with a script and then add sound and video. (I.e., a script writer does not begin with a storyboard and write 100 miniature scripts to accompany each scene after the scene has been shot).

Also, the Captivate approach (make individual slides, add audio per slide) tends to emphasize the eye candy over illustrating basic concepts. For example, I'm doing a software demo, but the explanation of the interface/mouse gestures is not the crucial part. The crucial part is explaining what is going on under the hood. The Captivate approach forces you to organize the tutorial by your slides than the concepts underlying them.

I had hopes that when I could import audio, I could lay slides on the audio time line. That seemed to work, except that once a slide is laid, you really can't delete or move them out and try again. I got stuck at a place where I had too many extra slides, and I had to reduce the time. But the audio timeline didn't give me any ability to do that.

I even went so far as to delete all the slides after slide 50, and re-import slides number 51-100 (before I even added audio). Even after importing 51-100, I found the audio edit timeline still contains the previous slide references (even after I deleted those slides and even after the newly imported slides contained no such references!).

Unfortunately, the Edit Timing interface doesn't let you rollback tracks or to shorten them once laid. Or perhaps I am missing something? (Therefore, the only way you can edit this way is to keep the slides as brief as possible).

The problem I had with the "Make slide, create audio" approach is that it made the process of producing editing audio very piecemeal. Also, when I record I see only the individual slide, not the succession of slides, so I really don't know what to anticipate next. It seems to require having two monitors (one to have the flash animation for previewing purpose).

Call me a dissatisfied newbie.

Robert

[Guest]

Robert,
I don't understand what you mean when you say recording audio after the fact "emphasizes eye candy over substance" (paraphrasing). I have been creating demos this way for 2 years, and find it allows me to perfectly sync what I am saying with what I am doing.

[robertnagle]

The visual doesn't always drive the narrative; often it is not even that important.

You have to think differently about how you organize your ideas.

I adapted.

I should mention that exporting individual wav files works better than trying to export the entire wav file. Much better!