May 9, 2018
Synchronize video and animated objects
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May 9, 2018
Synchronize video and animated objects
eLearning Consultant, Business Coach and Mentor specializing on Online Training Development: I love learning!
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Refresh your eLearning Project with video

Video is everywhere! Video gets a higher interaction rate on Social Media. Video keeps your readers longer on your website. Video attracts the viewers in stores and at conferences.

And video can also be part of your eLearning project, bringing your topic to life in a totally different way. In a recent project I included a number of short conversations on video to bring a discussion point to the learner in a way that made them feel part of the conversation.

Listening to the two parties engages the learner and helps them to process the pros and cons of a challenging question.

One of the challenges that I faced in creating this project was to incorporate the video so that the timing of the video and of other animated objects on the stage were synchronized.

I used the “Multi-Slide Synchronized Video” option in Captivate 2017 to achieve this.

Objective:

Add a video to a slide that is synchronized with other animated objects on the slide

Step-by-Step process:

1. Create your slide and add the video from the Media Panel.

Captivate Media Panel

2. Select the option for “Multi-Slide Synchronized Video”

Captivate Video Dialogue

3. Browse to your video on your computer. and select Progressive Download in the dropbox.

Captivate Video Options

4. Select how to distribute the video

This is a really important part. In my case, I wanted to show each video on one slide and I did not want Captivate to cut it in pieces and distribute it over multiple slides. For this, select: “Modify slide duration to accommodate video”.

Captivate Video Distribution

Notice in your Video properties that you have very few options. Your video will be set to autoplay (you can make adjustments to that). You can also change the position of the video on your stage. There will not be any video specific play-bar for this video setting as the controls are regulated by the slide play-bar. And this is on purpose as you want the timing of the objects on the slide correspond with the timing of the video.

Captivate Video Property

5. Add your other elements to the slide and define the timing as you need it for the objects to show on the slide at the appropriate time.

The downside to using video

I spoke a lot about the reasons why you might want to use video in your eLearning projects. There is of course also a few disadvantages:

  • Video creation efforts: Creating video can be cumbersome and expensive. In my case I created the initial video conversation using a session on Zoom. I then imported the video into Camtasia and edited it including adding the captions. For me this was a relatively quick process and it allowed me to complete this eLearning project as part of a training course I was taking in a shorter time span.
  • File Size: Video takes more bits and bites. The issue with creating an eLearning project with video is that they file size will increase and that may cause buffer issues or even hosting issues.

One important tip to keep in mind

Ensure that you export the video in an aspect ratio that will fit onto your stage with room to spare around it. This will allow you to position it properly on your stage and maintain access to important objects such as the next or previous buttons. It also will keep the file size smaller.

Last but not least

Video has its benefits and can easily be combined with animated or static slides in your eLearning project. You can even include it in your quizzes and exams. Be creative when it comes to video and you will give your eLearning projects a fresh look.

2 Comments
2018-05-09 19:49:33
2018-05-09 19:49:33

Video is great, but seems to be more difficult and expensive to maintain as a whole. What do you think?

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Todd Spargo
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2018-05-09 20:37:23
2018-05-09 20:37:23
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Todd Spargo
's comment

I completely agree with this, although I find that it depends on how rapidly the content may change, but this results in doing more “good enough” video work rather than investing a lot of time in creating long or high quality videos. On the other hand, it’s often faster for me to create a quick screencast to get the answer out than to spend time creating a job aid, etc. so there’s that. 🙂

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