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Basic Features Your Next Multimedia Authoring Tool Must Have

If you are looking for a multimedia rapid authoring tool for your business, you must choose one that is appropriate for your business requirements. Since no two organizations’ requirements are the same, you would waste your time if you based your decision on what a competitor was using. A more effective way would be to make your decision based on the features you are looking for.

This blog lists some of the basic features that are popular and may be worth considering based on your needs.

Audio Capabilities:

A successful eLearning course takes different learning styles (kinesthetic, audio, visual) into consideration. In this respect, you would need a tool with audio capabilities. Some of the common audio features that are sought after include capabilities to:

  • Embed audio files
  • Trigger audio in interactions
  • Set audio quality
  • Record audio narration
  • Perform audio editing
  • Store audio files in a library
  • Export recorded audio to MP3
  • Add links to external audio files 

Assessment Capabilities:

In the absence of an instructor, assessments form an important part of eLearning courses. This is so that managers and trainers can assess with accuracy, a learner’s level of understanding of the course and the success of a course. Some of the essential features include capabilities to:

  • Use a wide variety of question types in a course
  • Make all questions in an assessment, mandatory
  • Create randomized questions
  • Format question pages as desired
  • Shuffle answers
  • Randomize questions from question banks
  • Track assessments 

Branching and Navigation:

These features make a course interactive and user-friendly, and enable learners to freely navigate through a course. Features allow developers to add:

  • Simple branching
  • Complex branching
  • Custom navigation 

Graphics and Animation:

These features enable developers to add animations, built-in characters, and interactivities to a course, thereby enhancing the instructional value. No developer can do justice to a course without these basic graphic and animation features that let you:

  • Make objects on the screen interactive
  • Animate screen elements
  • Edit images
  • Insert HTML5 animations
  • Choose from multiple transitions (fade in, fade out, etc.)
  • Insert Flash animations
  • Insert text animations
  • Use built-in characters 

Features that Support Video:

Videos are the new best thing in eLearning. While they have been around for decades, the importance of videos as a learning tool has been gaining immense importance of late. If you are going to embed videos in your course, look out features that will allow you to:

  • Embed video files
  • Trigger video in interactions
  • Link to external or web video files
  • Set video quality
  • Record screen videos
  • Export recorded videos
  • Pan and zoom
  • Store videos in a library
  • Perform basic video editing 

Format Templates, Themes, Skins, and Text Features:

These features help personalize an eLearning course and are much in demand. Most users look for these features and how they can be used.

  • Use numerous text formatting options (styles, bullets, justification, etc.)
  • Customize how interactions look and feel
  • Create own customized themes
  • Create own custom templates
  • Create master slides or pages
  • Customize built-in player skin
  • Choose from player skins
  • Choose from built-in themes 

Support and User Community Features:

While there are tools that are easy to use, there aren’t. Developers need help. Also, it’s always nice and important for them to be a part of a community of users to enable them to pick up tips, tricks, and ideas that can be used. Developers look for an active user community that provides:

  • Easy user support
  • Free intro-training modules

Integration with Social Media:

Courses must be integrated with social media tools, and developers look for tools that enable them to integrate their courses with:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Other social media 

Publishing Options:

Once created, courses will need to be published in different formats, to meet the needs of all learners. Developers often look for tools that can publish tools to:

  • Mobile Web (e.g. HTML5)
  • Flash
  • Video
  • PDF

So here you are – a list of some of the most sought after features of multimedia tools. Each multimedia authoring tool has its own set of features, and new features are added occasionally, to strengthen it. There are some features that are necessary and others that are nice to have. Do you know what features you are looking for?

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