Skip to main content
B
bobby_tee1121
Known Participant
March 21, 2011
Question

Captivate 5- worth the upgrade from Captivate 3?

  • March 21, 2011
  • 4 replies
  • 1428 views

I did a number of software tutorials a couple of years ago in Captivate 3. It's getting to be time to update or replace them and I am looking at whether it makes sense to upgrade to Cap 5. Let me say up front that while I used Cap 3 and was able to get the job done, I was never very happy with the product in terms of the user experience. It always seemed underdeveloped and user-unfriendly to me (which may be more a function of my comfort with video editing over screen capture).

So my question is: Do the new features in Cap 5 make it a substantially better program than Cap 3? And is the upgrade a major jump for Captivate as a product?

Any feedback is appreciated!

Bob

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    4 replies

    T
    TrevDev
    Inspiring
    March 29, 2011

    I upgraded from Captivate 4, and that upgrade was definitely valuable, so i'm sure the improvement on Cap 3 would be even greater.

    For me, the biggest value is that styles and master slides make it easy to create a presentation that has a consistent appearance and to change some aspect of the format by just changing a style or a master slide, but there are many other things about Cap 5 that I like better than Cap 4.

    J
    jamesnotjim
    Inspiring
    March 24, 2011

    I've been using Captivate since version 1. This latest version is a complete rewrite, with a new user interface, and is the best version of the app so far. I've done a lot of work with Captivate 4, and still have quite a few projects in its file format, but all my new work is being done in Captivate 5.

    Adobe has improved a lot of the workflows, relying much more on pallettes in a single-window interface (a la Photoshop CS5) and much less on modal dialogs. In most cases, this means it takes fewer clicks to accomplish common tasks. It's just a nicer working environment. There's still room for improvement, of course, as with any app. But the differences even between Version 4 and Version 5 are striking. You should try a demo. The additional text-to-speech voices in Cp5 are a nice bonus, too.

    paul2710
    paul2710
    Known Participant
    March 22, 2011

    Yes another vote for Captivate 5.

    It 'feels' much more stable, I had a few issues in Captivate 4 (Crashing/slides going corrupt), 5 seems much more stable.  I love the master slides and specially the effects.

    The only 'issue' for me is the flash player.  I have a couple of clients who still use an old flash player, Captivate 4 publishes to flash player 7-10, Captivate 5 flash player 9 and 10.

    Just be aware of that but I would say more and more clients are obviously using flash player 9+ so it shouldnt be an issue in the future.

    B
    bobby_tee1121Author
    Known Participant
    March 22, 2011

    Paul, thanks. More good feedback. All in all, this is exactly what I was looking

    for.

    Bob

    A
    Anonymous
    March 21, 2011

    Hello,

    Captivate 5 is worth upgrade as it provides you these feautres

    Adobe Captivate 5 software offers new features for rapidly authoring, enriching, publishing, and maintaining complex interactive e-learning content-without programming.

    Adobe Captivate for Mac

    Adobe Captivate 5 is available on Mac OS. Both Adobe Captivate on Mac and Adobe Captivate on Windows have identical features and homogeneous user interface.

    For Mac specific details and system requirements, see the product websitewww.adobe.com/go/learn_cp_macsysreqs_en.

    Optimized user interface

    Improve the overall authoring experience with Property inspector that provides an in-context list of attributes when objects are selected. Work simultaneously on multiple projects using the multiple-document interface. Personalize workspaces and switch between them as and when needed. Benefit from a user interface that is consistent with popular Adobe® applications such as Adobe® Flash®, Photoshop®, and Dreamweaver®.

    Object Styles

    Quickly obtain a uniform and consistent formatting for objects by defining styles and applying them. Reuse the styles across multiple Adobe Captivate projects without having to recreate them.

    Master Slides

    Use Master Slides to easily create and maintain well formatted and consistent-looking content that meets corporate guidelines. Make project-wide formatting changes conveniently and consistently.

    Rich animation effects

    Create rich object animations within Adobe Captivate 5, by combining predefined effects such as straight-line motion, rotation, and glow. For added impact, seamlessly import custom animation effects from Adobe Flash® Professional.

    Multi-video support and synchronization

    Include videos in your content without having to use another application. Import videos in a wide variety of popular formats (AVI, MOV, FLV, MPEG) and synchronize video with a project, slide, or a set of slides.

    In-context learner collaboration using Twitter

    Use the Twitter widget to create courses that let learners collaborate with each other as well as with the author using their Twitter account. The learners can ask questions, get answers, and access preexisting discussions.

    Collaboration and review using Acrobat.com

    Enable multiple authors to work simultaneously on a project by hosting and sharing projects on Acrobat.com. Also, host projects on Acrobat.com for shared reviews to enable authors obtain collective review comments from reviewers.

    Tracking and reporting without an LMS

    Meet basic evaluation needs at no extra cost by tracking and reporting key performance metrics, such as average score and pass or fail, without having to invest in a Learning Management System.

    Expanded asset library

    Get a larger set of prebuilt widgets, playbars, skins, stock animations, images, text captions, and buttons with superior aesthetics and usability.

    Adobe Photoshop round-tripping

    Instantly update Adobe Photoshop files imported in Adobe Captivate projects. Adobe Photoshop can be invoked from within Adobe Captivate. If source files are directly updated in Adobe Photoshop, synchronize the linked file in Adobe Captivate with its source using a single click.

    Flash round-tripping

    Instantly update Flash applications used in Adobe Captivate projects. Flash can be invoked from within Adobe Captivate. Synchronize the files in Adobe Captivate and Flash with a single click.

    Record applications from Flash

    Record applications from within Flash without having to switch to the Adobe Captivate interface.

    Adobe Soundbooth round-tripping

    Edit audio files in Adobe Captivate projects by invoking Adobe Soundbooth from within Adobe Captivate.

    I am sure when you use Captivate 5 it will definitely gonna be beneficial for you.

    B
    bobby_tee1121Author
    Known Participant
    March 21, 2011

    I appreciate the reply and the info. I have read about the features of Cap 5 and seen the videos on the website. I'm really looking for some feedback from users who can give me some insight on their own real world experiences, especially if they previously used Cap 3 or 4.

    Thanks again.

    Bob

    Lilybiri
    Lilybiri
    Legend
    March 21, 2011

    Hello Bob,

    I have been using Captivate since version 1, and honestly this version 5 is for me the most promising version ever released. It was build from scratch and that meant both several bugs remained when released (lot have already been fixed by the patch) but also really useful new features. Personally I do appreciate the master slides and object styles a lot and do use them all the time. If you have seen some threads I have been answering, you'll know that I'm addicted to advanced actions that gave me a lot more control over the CP-projects without having to script in a real scripting language. Those actions were introduced with CP4 but the UI and power have increased with CP5. The roundtripping in the eLearning Suite with Photoshop and Soundbooth are aspects that I'm using almost on a daily base. Audio quality has improved a lot in Captivate 5 and the possibilities with slide video and having video spread over different slides are great. There is also the Effects that has been added and they avoid to have to create Flash animations or to rely on effects captured from a PPT. I do have a lot of more wishes for improvements and features but this version is for me the most important since I started to work with Captivate 1.

    An aspect that is not often mentioned is that the restrictions in file size and number of slides have almost disappeared. You need proper hardware of course, but it is possible to have projects up to 500 slides now, compared with the previous limitation to 50-100 slides.

    Sure, the UI has changed, is more like other Adobe apps now, which means you have to 're'learn a lot fo work flows if you are used to previous versions. But really, if you want an authoring tool that can create software simulations/assessments, soft skils trainings, with interactivity and branching possibilites CP is the choice for me.

    Lilybiri

    Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
    Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices