First look at Adobe Acrobat.com Presentations

Yesterday RJ sent a tweet announcing that Adobe Acrobat.com Presentations was available on Adobe Labs, so I thought I would take a look.

Presentations is similar to Buzzword in that it enables you to for free create, edit and best of all just as with Buzzword you can share your files – no need for e-mail attachments here which is very cool to say the least.

Naturally being a Captivate user I want to see whether or not I could insert SWF files into Presentations files. At present you cannot do this (though you could insert an FLV file) so I thought I would add this as a feature request which I did.

Within two hours of sending in my request I get an e-mail back from the Adobe Presentations team telling me that this is something that they will definitely consider.

Straight away I filed another request asking that they also enable a user to import / export Presentations files to PowerPoint format. This would then enable Captivate users to convert a PowerPoint file into an Adobe Captivate project. Just as with the first request, this is something they are also going to look into.

I think that this is another tool that I will be able to integrate into my eLearning production workflow.

A spot of color for Dreamweaver

When designing eLearning course, one of the areas that I really used to struggle with was getting the color scheme right. Now when creating my learning projects I use Adobe Kuler. Adobe Kuler is a web application that enables you to experiment with color variations something that is incredibly useful for designers and developers of all shapes and sizes.

If you own the Adobe eLearning Suite, you find that Adobe Flash CS4 Professional includes a Kuler panel right inside the Flash app. However, it is also possible to add Kuler functionality into Adobe Dreamweaver as well.

Adobe Dreamweaver is included in the eLearning Suite because Adobe has added the CourseBuilder extension. CourseBuilder (first developed as a standalone extension for Dreamweaver MX) has been completely overhauled for the Adobe eLearning Suite and provides web developers with a great way to create web-based learning interactions.

Just in case your interested, CourseBuilder offers compatibility with the latest versions of web browsers, is SCORM compatible and includes the following 3 new interaction types:

1. Matching interaction
2. Sequence interaction
3. Likert interaction
   

To add Kuler functionality into Adobe Dreamweaver, download the free WebAssist extension PalettePicker. PalettePicker is available for both Dreamweaver CS4 and CS3 on Windows and Macintosh platforms.

Interactive or Page Turning Learning

Recently I have been involved in a discussion about Interactive or page turning learning. For those of you unfamiliar with the term page turning learning, this is the kind of learning where an individual listens and watches a concept being explained by an instructor. The only time they get to interact with the training is when they are asked to click a button to move to the next page / slide. In Adobe Captivate terms page turning learning is the kind of learning you would create as a demonstration.

Before going any further, it is only fair to point out that for over 10 years I created page turning learning in the form of video tutorials for the online training company Virtual Training Company. During this period I received countless e-mails thanking me for developing what was then considered to be some of the best video tutorials on my specialist subject Dreamweaver. I am therefore not completely against this kind of learning.

Additionally, at work I still create our feature tours using Captivates demonstration mode.

However the big question is this. Does page turning training enable learners to grasp the concepts you are trying to teach and make those mental connections required to ensure that they recall what they have learned after a certain period of time?

In most cases, to ensure that a learner can fully grasp what you are trying to teach them they need to engage with the training. If you are reading this and think that this type of interaction can be accomplished simply adding a quiz at the end of your course, then be aware that this might not be a good indication that your learners have been successful. Many learners are able to pass a quiz soon after they have completed a training course, simply because they have a good memory.

So if page turning or demonstration-based learning is considered ineffective, what are the advantages of creating an interactive training course?

Below are some reasons why interactive training can be more effective:

1. It can be measured.
   Demonstration based learning does not provide you with a clear indication of how well a learner performed, whereas with interactive based learning you have the ability to track and score every time a learner interacts with the learning.
   
   Adobe Captivate enables you to track and score each interactive object such as a click box, button etc via the Reporting tab. The interactive data can also be published to a Learning Management System or Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional. In fact any interactive learning project can be treated as a quiz, providing the learner with a score at the end using the Quiz Results slide
   


2. Failure is acceptable.
   One of the reasons why I think that interactive learning can be so effective is because it provides learners with a safe environment in which to fail. Whilst failure isn’t always seen as a positive thing - after all who wants to fail at something, right! – making mistakes can be a very effective way to learn.
   
   There are two advantages here:
   
   Firstly, software training learners (especially those new to a subject) don’t have to worry about breaking the software. In the past when I was a classroom trainer, many students on the first day would want reassurance that they couldn’t damage the software before they were prepared to try out the tasks themselves.
   
   Secondly, Interactive training can provide a learner with feedback that can assist them perform the task at hand. In addition, if they repeatedly fail they can be redirected to an earlier part of the course, or at least encouraged to review additional learning before they continue.
   
   In Adobe Captivate you can provide visual feedback using success, failure and hint captions and redirect additional learning using branching. You can also determine what happens if the learners passes or fails the lesson or course.
   


3. Learners can discover the learning for themselves.
   Thanks to the fact that Adobe Captivate includes the ability to branch, your courses don’t have to be linear. Learners can branch from one section of the course to another, enabling them to discover the learning for themselves.
   
   Adobe Captivate has great branching capabilities, enables you to visualize the branching using the Branching view and thanks to the new scripting feature – Advanced Actions and Variables introduced in Adobe Captivate 4 - provides you with a great set of tools for creating advanced interactivity.
   
   If you need to go the extra mile and own the Adobe eLearning Suite, you can create even more complex interactivity using Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, which includes a comprehensive set of Learning Interactions.
   


4. It is self-paced.
   Another benefit of interactive learning is that it enables a learner to learn at their own pace. As creator of eLearning content as well as a consumer, I want to understand the steps being demonstrated before the instructor moves on to even more advanced concepts.
   
   There have been many occasions when watching a video tutorial where I have shouted back at the screen “back up, I don’t get that bit, show me those steps again.”
   
   Yes, you can always just rewind the video and play it again, but that certainly isn’t as effective as being able to try out the steps for yourself before you move on to the next series of steps.
   
   Using the self-paced option built into the Table of Contents feature you can enable learners to dip in and out of a training course.

Can page turning learning ever be effective?

In some cases this style of learning can still be very effective, particularly if you are creating learning for advanced learning where a learner is already very comfortable in the subject matter but just wants to take this to the next level.

It is also fair to say that in the right hands demonstration based learning can be a very powerful tool.

Both Adobe Captivate and Adobe Presenter (part of the Adobe eLearning Suite) can be used to create good quality demonstration based learning.

In some cases even with interactive training it is possible to sprinkle bits of demonstration learning. An example of which in where a learner is already performed a particular task several times earlier in the course and easing of the interactive peddle is possible.

Happy Holidays for Monday

Clearing dat file

Sometimes Adobe Captivate (like any other piece of software) can behave oddly. Instances where the Timeline won’t open or a certain project won’t publish properly are just two examples of the sort of problems I have experienced over the years working with this program.

The blame for many of the issues you experience in Adobe Captivate can be laid firmly at the door of Captivates DAT file.

Many software applications use dat files. In short this file type is used to store some kind of data.

In the case of Adobe Captivate the .dat file is used (amongst other things) to store session preferences. Adobe Captivate has two kinds of preferences. Project and Session preferences.

Project Preferences
These are the preferences that are specific to a project, such as publish or quiz settings. Project preferences are stored in the Adobe Captivate file itself so that they can travel with the project.

Session preferences
Session preferences are ones that are applied to all projects, for example if you change an objects default settings then these are changed for all the projects. It is these kinds of preferences that are stored in the .dat file.

Adobe Captivates .dat file – in the case of Adobe Captivate 4 called captivate_v40.dat - can be found in the following location.

Windows Vista
Drive Letter\Users\UserName\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Captivate

Windows XP
Drive Letter \Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Adobe\Adobe Captivate

Note: You will need to make sure that you have set the Windows Folder option – Show hidden files and folders before you will be able to see the Document and Settings Folder.

It is also possible to peak inside your Adobe Captivate .dat file by opening it up in a text editor. However I would first recommend that you create copy of any application file before attempting to open it.



Above is an example of the type of information stored in the Adobe Captivate 4 .dat file.

Why the .dat file sometimes becomes corrupted is unclear but the good news is that removing this does seem to solve many of the problems you may encounter.

Replacing the .dat file

Replacing the .dat file is incredibly straight forward. Start by closing Adobe Captivate and then rename or move the captivate_v40.dat file outside of the Adobe Captivate folder.

The next time you start Adobe Captivate, the program will automatically re-create the .dat file for you.

Removing the Captivate file bloat

Have you ever noticed that copying original slides and objects from an existing project to a new one can dramatically reduce the file size of the new project?

Manoj from the Adobe Captivate team has recently provided some insight on why the copy paste trick is so effective.

[Quote]From a programmers perspective this is what is happening.

Earlier versions of Captivate had some inaccuracy in cleaning up resources.

A resource ( there are many which are internal and not visible to the user other than those in Library) is always linked to some captivate object. When this object was deleted or changed then the corresponding resource use-count should go down.

This resource should be removed once the project is saved so as to maintain proper resources.

With the number of workflows it turned out that the use-count of these resources are not 0 even though these are no longer being used.

Once this happens captivate sees a particular resource with use-count > 0 and keeps loading/saving it all the time, slowly increasing the size of the project.

How does copy-paste help us out ?

When you copy paste, the items is copied and pasted with exactly the only resource its using, Thus the new file need not bother about unused internal resources. Hope this clears the mystery surrounding this trick.

Why has this not been done already ?

If this has to be corrected then every time a project loads we might have to check for all resources' mapping with objects in the project, without looking at the use-count. This will lead to unreasonable project load times.

A repair tool can be made, but the workaround being so simple it better be left as it is. [/Quote]

Removing Unused objects
Another great way to ensure that your Captivate project files are kept small is to select all of the unwanted objects in the Library panel by pressing the Select Unused Items button and then pressing the Delete button.



By default in Adobe Captivate 4 when you first open a project, you will also be notified of any unused objects that are present in your file project.

If project bloat is something that you would like to see addressed in the next version of Adobe Captivate then please file an enhancement request via the Adobe Captivate Feature Request/Bug Report Form. According to Manoj since Captivate is currently being overhauled for the next version (Adobe Captivate 5) now is the best time to get this kind of request from the Adobe Community.

Adobe announces beta for Captivate for the Mac

Ok so it is official. Adobe has announced the first of the software builds for Captivate for the Mac. This is a momentous occasion and therefore something I just had to blog about. If you own a Mac and can put some time into testing the first ever build of Adobe Captivate for the Mac OS then complete the Adobe Prerelease form

Adobe Captivate 4 Success Story

In many of my posts you will have noticed that I tend to write about examples of work that I have created for my employer WebAssist.com so I though in today's post I would share the link to the Adobe Captivate success story we had the privilege to create for the launch of Adobe Captivate 4

You can read how as training manager for the company I (and others) use Adobe Captivate in our day to day lives. WebAssist Adobe Captivate 4 Success Story

The case of the disappearing Captivate objects

Recently I have been working on updating a number of existing Captivate projects, most of which have the following type of ending slide.


Having made the required alterations to the first project when I previewed this in Adobe Captivate 4, I noticed that everything (part from the slide background) on the last slide disappeared after the playback head had reached the end of the project.

How strange I said to myself (or words to that effect) and tested this with another project – same result. Maybe the original project file had become corrupted I thought and proceeded to create a new blank project and copy all the slides to this new file. Yet again when I previewed, low and behold all the objects on the last slide behaved the same way.

After some head scratching I found that if I set the duration of all the objects on my last slide to “Rest of project” and select the “Place object on top” check box then all the images, text captions etc remained on screen.



Happy that I had managed to find a solution, I applied this duration setting to the rest of the objects on the last slide of all my projects and carried on working.

Once I had finished the task at hand, I then decided that it would probably be a good idea to file this as a bug.

Yesterday I received an e-mail back from the Adobe Captivate team with another solution to this problem. Instead of setting the object duration to Rest of Slide, setting the Slide exit navigation menu to “No Action” also resolves this issue.



Even though sometimes Adobe Captivate 4 does seem to behave oddly, it is always reassuring to know that 9 times out of 10 if you report a possible bug to the Captivate team, they are able to provide you with a workaround solution.

You can report bugs as well as make feature requests using the Adobe Captivate Feature Request/Bug Report Form

Photoshop Product Manager Blogs about CSS Designer Starter Kit

John Nack, Product Manager for Adobe Photoshop has very kindly blogged about the WebAssist CSS Designer Starter Kit for Photshop. You can read what John had to say on his blog.

Although this was the last project I worked on in Adobe Captivate 3, we did recently updated this interactive training package to include some detailed information on helping learners visualize the box model so I did manage to add some advanced actions, including an image toggle button, which I will blog about another time.

CSS Menus Starter Kit

Today sees the launch of the latest Adobe Captivate project I have been working on for my employer WebAssist The CSS Menus Starter Kit for Photshop. This was the first project I worked on in Adobe Captivate 4 so it was great to be able to take advantage of some of the new functionality version 4 has to offer including being able to take advantage of the Adobe Captivate 4 Aggregator.

The Adobe Captivate 4 Aggregator enables you (finally) to combine published files (SWFs)and includes a table of content plus other features such as "self paced learning" and a really nifty Search option. I have to be honest and say that at one point I didn't think that we were going to be able to use the Aggregator.

You see by default in Firefox when you load the published Aggregator (SWF)it loads and plays the audio (my voice over) from each of your published tutorials (SWFs)which as one of my colleagues pointed out:

"What a lovely cacaphony of Fletchers! A veritable flight of Fletchers, if you will. The new Aggregator certainly is making quite the impression"

Thankfully we managed to address this issue by disabling the Auto Play option, which can be found in the Start and End category of the Project preferences. Though you have to do this for every single project file - which did prove to be a bit of a pain. Also bear in mind that once you do disable the Auto Play option when you publish you then just get a Play button appearing in the center of the screen.

However, the good news is that you can add your own background image. Below is the screen shot of the background image we are using in this and all future starter kits.

Oh, just one final point, the style of the Play button you have seen in this blog post is determined by the style of skin you choose for your Playback Control.

You can learn more about the CSS Menus Starter kit available for both Photoshop and Fireworks then please visit this web addresses.

CSS Menus Starter Kit for Photoshop
CSS Menus Starter Kit for Fireworks

VTC Hat Tip

I used to work at VTC and had the pleasure of creating quite a few Dreamweaver instructional videos. I left VTC in 2006 to meet new challenges and broaden my horizons at Web Assist and again like at VTC I work in a great friendly environment filled with talented individuals who have a real passion for what they are doing.

Since leaving VTC they have continued to create intuitive titles and the latest Dreamweaver CS4 training video is worthy of a mention. The videos are created with the beginner to Dreamweaver CS4 in mind or anyone upgrading to CS4 from a prior release. Feature by feature Dreamweaver CS4 is the most significant release of the program since Adobe acquired Macromedia. The real beauty of these training videos is that they are split up by subject, so for those of us who already have a some background with Dreamweaver (or design in general) it’s easy to skip the introductory stuff and get right to the new features and upper level techniques.

Beginners Dreamweaver CS4 Tutorial Video

Adobe announces Adobe Captivate 4 and the eLearning Suite

Today sees the launch of both Adobe Captivate 4 and the eLearning Suite. As Training Manager for WebAssist I need a tool box that enables me to deliver rich and engaging eLearning experiences whether you want to deploy your eLearning content to the web, desktop, mobile device or an LMS the Adobe eLearning Suite is right on the money.

Here is what is included in the Suite

• Adobe Captivate 4
• Adobe Flash CS Professional with Learning Interactions
• Adobe Dreamweaver CS with CourseBuilder Extension
• Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended
• Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro
• Adobe Presenter 7
• Adobe Soundbooth CS4
• Adobe Bridge CS4
• Adobe Device Central CS4
• SCORM Packager
  

Learn more about the eLearning Suite and what I think of this incredible new suite of applications

Podcasting and Edit Timing

During my recent tour with Adobe UK demonstrating Adobe Captivate and Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional, I was asked whether I ever used the Captivate audio feature Edit Timing. Well I have to be honest and say that until now this one of those features that I have hardly used. However, like many Captivate users I am always looking for ways to cut down on my workload and any opportunity I get to re-purpose content I welcome with open arms. Which brings me nicely to the topic of podcasting.

As recently appointed training manager for WebAssist I'm always on the look out for new and creative ways to offer informal learning to our users; and one way of doing this is to use podcasting.

Now when it came to creating the podcasts I naturally turned to Adobe Captivate and looked for a way to take the voice-over from the existing feature tours (demonstrations) and use this in my podcasts.

Now if you are sitting there thinking well surely that is simple enough, you just export the audio you recording when you first captured your screen action! Then let me explain how I create my voice-over.

Firstly, I don't use Adobe Captivate, whilst the recording and editing tools present in the applications are fine for many users; they just don't offer the power that I need. Instead I use Sony Sound Forge to record and edit my voice-over. Oh and in case you are wondering I don't use a headset either. I currently use a Sure SM 58 microphone - yes I am one of those Captivate users. Once I have recorded my audio I then import this on to each of the appropriate slides.

Anyway back to podcasting. So here I am with maybe 30 audio files scattered through my entire project. So how do I get them all back into one single file? The answer is to use Captivates Edit Timing audio feature.

Here are the steps....

1. Start by opening the Adobe Captivate project file you wish to extract the audio from
2. Insert a new blank slide (Shift + Ctrl + J)
   
3. Move the new slide to the very start of your project.
4. Double-click on the slide background and set the duration to say 120 secs
   Note: If you don't set the duration to a high value you won't be able to move all the audio segments to just a single slide.
5. Choose Edit > Edit Timing > Project
6. Select the first of the slide markers and drag it to the first slide - your new blank slide.
7. Now do the same for the rest of the slide markers
   Note: If you find that you cannot move a marker, go back to the blank slide and extend its duration.
   
8. Once all the markers are all located on the first slide click OK.

Now using the Thumbnail view you should find that only one slide has audio attached to it.

The final task is to export the audio. To do this:

1. Choose Audio > Advanced Audio...
2. In the Advanced Audio dialog box select slide that has the audio
   
3. Select the option - Include MP3 files in export
4. Click Export
5. Click OK
6. Specify where the audio file should be created

Then it is simply a case of creating the project file you want to use for the podcast and importing the just exported audio.

WebAssist Success Story

Earlier this year Adobe Systems Inc wrote a success story based upon the tremendous impact Adobe Captivate has had upon our business. This study is also featured in the e-Learning Guilds new ebook "The eLearning Guild's Handbook of e-Learning Strategy."

Announcing Adobe Captivate 3

The wait is over, Adobe have today announced the latest version of Captivate, Adobe Captivate 3. Over the next few weeks I will be blogging about many of the new cool features (and some extra little bits) but for now here is the list of new features:

• Multiple recording modes
• Automatic rerecording of web applications (MS IE 6 only)
  
• Random Quizzing and Question Pooling
• Cut, copy and paste slides
• New Questions Slides
• Hot-spot
• Sequence
• Zooming in and out in Branching view
• Slide groups
  
• Answer Shuffle
• Rollover Slidelets
• New Slides transitions
  
• Microsoft PowerPoint Import - Now Adobe Captivate can convert PowerPoint slides into SWF files whilst retaining the animation effects
• XML file export and import for easy localization
• Preview project while recording audio
• Find and Replace
  

You can ready about all of these features in more details from the Adobe Captivate 3 features page at Adobe.com

Adding XML data in Adobe Captivate Projects

I am always looking for ways that I can extend my Adobe Captivate projects but not only so that I can include cool features but also to save myself some time. One of the time saving features I have been looking at recently is integrating XML (Extensible Markup Language) into my project files. Let me start by painting my requirements picture. WebAssist had a number of product suites (Super Suite, Web Developer Suite and Web Designer Suite) that were on special offer, now imagine that I had created a product feature tour that describes each of the suites and I want to include the offer price for each of the product suites.

View the Adding XML Data into Adobe Captivate projects sample.

Whilst I could just add the prices using transparent text captions what would be a lot more efficient would be to store the prices somewhere else so that once the special offer has ended I can adjust the prices without having to republish my Adobe Captivate project file. XML is an idea format for storing the suite prices but, since you cannot link XML data directly into Adobe Captivate you have do have to be prepared to spend a little time in Adobe Flash the end results are worth the extra effort.

The first step is to create the XML document which is something that you can very easily do in Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 or even Notepad if you don’t to use an HTML Editor.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding= "UTF-8" ?>
<!-- xml document created by Mark Fletcher -->
<products>
<product product_name="Super Suite" price="449.99"></product>
<product product_name="Web Developer Suite" price="249.99"></product>
<product product_name="Web Designer Suite" price="149.99"></product>
</products>

The next step was to fire up Adobe Flash and insert all the graphics and insert the graphics I wanted to include in the document. In this case I inserted the WebAssist logo and suite box shots.

Because I wanted to load text from a file instead of adding just static text, I inserted some text boxes and then using the Properties inspector text type drop down menu I selected Dynamic Text and gave each of the text fields a title.

Now for the ActionScript code which is used to display the data. I should point out that there are other ways of working with XML in Flash which I might come back to at some point in the future, but, for now here my AS logic.

// create an XML object called "my_xml"

my_xml = new XML();

// load data from an external XML file into "my_xml" object

my_xml.load("wa_offers.xml");

// When the data has been loaded... Call a function ("my_function" in this case)

my_xml.onLoad = my_function;

// ignore "white spaces", text nodes that only contain white space are discarded

my_xml.ignoreWhite = 1;

// function contents

function my_function() {

// take the data from the XML lines (line 0,1,2) and place that data inside text fields

text_field_1.text = my_xml.firstChild.childNodes[0].attributes.product_name;

text_field_2.text = my_xml.firstChild.childNodes[1].attributes.product_name;

text_field_3.text = my_xml.firstChild.childNodes[2].attributes.product_name;

//

text_field_a.text = my_xml.firstChild.childNodes[0].attributes.price;

text_field_b.text = my_xml.firstChild.childNodes[1].attributes.price;

text_field_c.text = my_xml.firstChild.childNodes[2].attributes.price;

Having tested the ActionScript code actually works, I then published the Flash document and turned my attention to Adobe Captivate

To add the published Flash file, I simply inserted the exported SWF file as an animation

At first when I did this I honestly thought that this wasn't going to work since in Captivate the XML data is represented as "undefined" both in Edit view but more alarmingly when I previewed.

However, I decided to press on and see what would happen once I have published the Captivate file.

In order to get XML to work correctly I did find that I had to publish the project using Flash version 8 but once I had done this and made sure that my XML file (wa_offer.xml) was in the same folder as my published Flash files the data did show through correctly.

I have included the sample files below in case you want to experiment with this

Published SWF files and XML
Sample Flash File with ActionScript code

Disposable or re-usable content

In a traditional e-learning environment the general consensus is that when creating learning content you should ensure that your e-learning objects are reusable. However, with rapid training tools such as Adobe Captivate is this still valid?

According to William Ward the keynote speaker on the Adobe e-learning tour I have just finished; in many situations the cost of creating new content is so low that you can just throw the outdated content away and start again and in many cases William (Billy to his friends) is absolutely right!

This is something that I have done many times with the Captivate content I have created. In many cases amount of time and the cost of trying to integrate new content into existing projects just isn't worth it. This is especially true when the narrative needs to be recreated from scratch as trying to ensure the tone and the color of voice-over is exactly the same just isn't worth the time and effort involved.

Yet there are also many instances when, Adobe Captivates flexible work flow has enabled me to literally drop a few new images and voice-over into an existing project and save myself a ton of work.

For example, last week as part of a marketing campaign I had to update an existing product feature tour. In total these updates took no more than approximately 45minutes whereas, creating the project again from scratch would have probably taken me a whole day and this is what I probably love the most about Adobe Captivate. As you may have heard me state before, because Adobe Captivate is so flexible, I can mold my content around my work flow rather than being forced down a single path.

The upshot of this is that whether you always ensure your e-learning content is reusable or you because of a short product life cycle you are happy to throw existing content away and start again from scratch with a rapid e-learning tool such as Adobe Captivate it really doesn't matter.

So over you to. Wherever possible when creating your Adobe Captivate projects do you re-purpose existing content or do you always start with a blank canvas?

Announcing Nutshell

Last week the company I work for (WebAssist.com) announced the release of Nutshell - Enhanced Reporting for Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional.

So why I am talking about this in a blog that is supposed to be dedicated to Adobe Captivate and e-learning? Well, because Adobe Captivate works seamlessly with Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional. Integrate Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional with Adobe Captivate and you can track your learner's progress and ensure they meet their learning objectives and what Nutshell does is offer multi-tiered reporting on all Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional trainings as well as meetings and events. With Nutshell you can not only generate reports on your Acrobat Connect activity you can also do the same for all groups, departments or your entire organization!

Want to learn more about Nutshell? View the feature tours I created for this new product, which of course were created in Adobe Captivate!

Upgrading from Captivate 1 to Adobe Captivate 2: Fudging Text Entry Boxes:

Today I am going to share some of my experience of working with Text Entry Boxes when upgrading from Adobe Captivate 1 to Adobe Captivate 2.

Back in Adobe Captivate 1 WebAssist (the company I now work for) asked me if I would create a series of interactive simulations for an eCommerce extension to Dreamweaver – eCart. This was a very detailed project and involved me creating over 60 interactive project files, many of which included TEBs (Text Entry boxes.)

Recently due a number of corporate branding updates I had to upgrade the original Captivate project files from Adobe Captivate version 1 to version 2.

Naturally I started the lengthy process of testing the upgraded files to make sure that during the conversion process no issues had been introduced.

Imagine my horror when I found that any text I inserted into the Text Entry boxes (during preview / run-time) was rendered at a different font size in Adobe Captivate 2.

Here is the reason why this happens.

After upgrading a Captivate 1 project to Adobe Captivate 2, font in text entry boxes appears large in Adobe Captivate 2. This is because of a bug in Captivate 1 and Flash Player. The font used while editing and publishing the SWF file was not the same as the original font. This bug has been fixed in Adobe Captivate 2. However, Captivate 1 projects will continue to have large font in Text Entry Boxes when the projects are upgraded to Adobe Captivate 2.

The Adobe Captivate team offers two workarounds to address this issue.

1. After upgrading a Captivate 1 project to Adobe Captivate 2, open the upgraded project.
2. Edit the font in a text entry box.


3. Use the Apply all option to apply the change to all text entry boxes in the project.

Now in theory this all sounds fine and certainly much easier that the second workaround which I will introduce in a moment.

The problem is that whilst you can change the font size in the TEBs in many cases when testing the TEBs at run-time having entered the correct text and moved to the next slide or whatever On Success action you have specified the text on the next slide of the project jumps slightly.

Now when you’re working with a single project file that has maybe one or two TEBs repositioning the Text Entry boxes isn’t a huge deal; especially since you can use the Advanced Interaction dialog box to locate all these controls. However, when you are working with multiple files all of which have many TEBs then this approach is simply a non-starter.

The second workaround might be a lot more complicated but at least it saves you from having to manually reposition your TEBs.

Here are the steps:

1. Upgrade all the Captivate 1 projects to Adobe Captivate 2.
2. From the Start menu, click Run, type REGEDIT, and click OK. The Registry editor appears.
3. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Adobe > Adobe Captivate > 2 > FudgeFactor.
4. Change the value of the FudgeFactor key to 1. The default value of the key is 1.4.
5. Close the Registry editor. The changes are applied after you restart Adobe Captivate.
6. Preview or publish the Adobe Captivate 2 projects.

What I do is create a folder on my Windows desktop and Label this “Fudge Factor is set to 1”

Dreamweaver CS3 Bible is alive

I am delighted to announce that the Dreamweaver CS3 Bible is now available. I created a series of interactive tutorials to accompany the book created of course with Adobe Captivate. When I get some spare time, I will post some of the techniques I used to create these tutorials. But for now it is back to the grind stone.