June 15, 2018
Captivate capabilities question
Comments
(5)
June 15, 2018
Captivate capabilities question
Newbie 1 posts
Followers: 0 people
(5)

I’m a designer and brand consultant not using Captivate. I’ve been asked by the client to consult on the look of their Captivate learning modules. I’ve worked with Flash developers and HTML developers for a long time developing different types of modules, so I understand how various programs have their layout limitations. I just need to get up to speed on some specific items and limitations in Captivate. I hope someone can answer a few specific questions. Just going to Lynda.com is not an option, just yet. I don’t need to know how Captivate works or be trained on it, I need answers on specific capabilities of the application.

–Is there a nudge function in Captivate, and if so, is the increment customizable, or is it one pixel, or?
–Is there a leading/linespacing control? Meaning, right now they are running the lines of text together tightly, with ascenders and descenders running into each other. The font itself with its long ascenders is a particular problem. In layout programs, I would just increase the linespacing 2-3 pixels between lines. Can this be done in Captivate?
–Is there a way to do what’s called “space after” meaning a few pixels of space after a paragraph? This makes paragraphs look nicer, and not so scattered-looking as when you put a full paragraph return after lines. If it’s not available, do you just do it by making separate paragraphs and manually spacing them?
“Next” arrows – are there only a few pre-made choices or can you do any graphic and make it a button?
–What kind of art format is accepted (jpg, png, svg, ai etc)
–What is the increment for type — Flash is mostly in pixels and points, how about Captivate?
–Can you mix fonts within a line of text?
–Is there a limit on number of fonts, or any other type of database limit to be aware of?
–Can you do what’s known as hanging text, where you have a bullet on a sentence, then the sentence starts at a tabbed point, and the lines of type wrap below, lining up with the first letter rather than the bullet?

I imagine at this point you are thinking what about accordions, fades, responsive and all that. This is in an industry that has absolutely NO mobile devices, so these learning modules are glorified Powerpoints.

Thank you in advance for pointing me in the right direction!

5 Comments
2018-06-17 15:18:12
2018-06-17 15:18:12

Thank you very much for your answers so far. I’ll just expand that I am not the e-learning component, the client is doing the e-learning build internally. However, the manager is not comfortable with the brand look and has engaged me to correct the actual design to be within brand guidelines. I’m trying to make it at least doable for the poor instructional specialist who has to make the changes I’ll recommend. For instance, the top VP hates the question mark in the brand font, therefore in the Flash modules we had changed the font. The above questions are just about how to convey to the instructional specialist clearly what needs to be done, without over directing her. I know some things “can’t be done” however, in some cases, some things will just need to be “done” as in create separate blocks for each paragraph, since “space after” is not available. If you’re thinking about the effort and cost involved — Price is not an obstacle at this point.

Like
(1)
(2)
>
sharkayak
's comment
2018-06-17 15:44:07
2018-06-17 15:44:07
>
sharkayak
's comment

Will you be using a Typekit font?
Space after: I did tweak that a little bit. Leading is set in the Spacsing field. If you set it for two lines, you have a space after paragrapht. But for full control multiple text containers (use shapes, more flexible than captions) can be indicated.
Another idea, which I sometimes use is to create the text in Illustrator, and convert to SVG to import in Captivate. Problem is editing text will always need Ilustrator. I evenhad vlients who created everything in Photoshop, text included.

Like
>
sharkayak
's comment
2018-06-17 23:57:22
2018-06-17 23:57:22
>
sharkayak
's comment

I don’t have full information on their assets, I assume they are using Typekit or others, but since they are a massive organization with tight IT security control, maybe not. I’m sure they are embedding fonts. I cannot tell you the entire situation, due to contract obligations, however, trust that all my questions are legitimate, I am a mature graphic designer with 30 years experience, and 20 of those doing animation and instruction. This isn’t an instructional problem. The instructional problem is being solved just fine by the instructional specialist. However, the design issues (largely in the text) are severe and the managers feel the pressure to get the look to be on brand, and they trust me to manage that part of the process. I am actually looking for a partner to assist on the execution since I’m new to Captivate’s capabilities, but the partner must be local and based in the US Midwest and so far have not found them.

Like
(1)
2018-06-15 22:18:52
2018-06-15 22:18:52

You xill have to wait for my answer, because I put some links in it, and that means it has to be approved. Not sure how long this will take.

There is no limit in number of fonts, but it is not considered good practice to have too much fonts from design point of view. Captivate uses themes and a theme consists of a Theme Colors palette, Object Styles, Master Slides, Skin and Recording Defaults. Some of your text questions can be positively answered, others not. You have to use websafe fonts anyway and/or buy an extended plan for Typekit fonts. If you have CC, you already have the portfolio plan.

Captivate has roundtripping with Photoshop, Audition and you can directly edit a SVG with Illustrator.

Like
2018-06-15 21:59:50
2018-06-15 21:59:50

Think you better offer them InDesgin projects. None of your questions is related to anything about eLearning, just seems like you want a desktop publisher.
One example: ‘nudge’ for what? You can use shortcut keys to move/resize objects, but also in the TImeline panel to move and resize timelines. Those are two totally different situations.
There is a sort of leading but not to the same extent as in a desktop publisher. Text is certainly not the most efficient eLearning asset, and the majority of your questions is about text. Nothing about interactivity and the way to engage learners.
Captivate is an eLearning authoring tool, which means it has aspects of a lot of other tools, but is not a dedicated desktop publisher. No hanging indents.
It accepts GIF, JPEG, BMP, PNG, SVG, HTML animations, video, audio… You can create animations in CP (called effects), you can create games. It is possible with a point-and-click programming system to create engaging interactions. It has a Library, and you can use external libraries, which can contain reusable scripts.
Shapes can be filled with images, and shapes can be connverted to buttons. They have 4 InBuilt states, and you can add custom states as is the case for all objects, even for video. It has a powerful Drag&Drop feature, system variables in several categories. One of those categories allows you to create very simple scripts, like toggling a TOC On/Off.
Have a look at a ‘simple’ example in this interactive movie:
http://www.lilybiri.com/published/SharedActions/index.html
Or as a newbie look at this blog post (interactive movie will be published in the near future):
http://blog.lilybiri.com/challenges-for-starters

Like
Add Comment