Audio across multiple simulation slides?

Report · Mar 18, 2016

I need narration over multiple slides, have that narration continue to seamlessly play no matter how fast or slow you complete the simulation/walk-through steps, and then stop at the end of that series of slides. (A new narration file loads for the next set of slides). So basically as the learner I'm completing the steps as indicated on screen—click this, double-click that, click there—while listening to audio describing what's happening, or providing context, or general information, etc. I have no idea how quickly or slowly a learner will go through, so if this narration applies to 10 slides, I can't (as I'm more accustomed to) just set the audio to play for the length it takes to go through those 10 slides, as in a demo, or put the audio all on one long slide in the case where audio topic matches slide topic with 1:1 correspondence. Does this make sense? What're my CP9 options here? Thanks in advance.

Report · Mar 18, 2016

I'm not following you here.

If the learner can view the slides as fast or as slowly as they want, exactly how do you expect the audio to adjust to their speed over a given number of slides?

A learner can easily proceed at the pace of the audio, but if the learner is speeding rapidly through a set of slides, what is the audio supposed to do?

Please explain.

Report · Mar 18, 2016

Hi Rod,

The audio is not adjusting speed—it's stopping.

Imagine software training that has something like this example:

Slides 1-10: use file1.mp3

Slides 11-20: use file2.mp3

Slides 21-30: use file3.mp3

You're free to click the clickboxes on slides 1-10 as fast or as slow as you want while the narration runs seamlessly. If I take forever on slide #1 (or just go get a coffee), the narration in file1.mp3 is going to end and the project is going to be paused waiting for me to click "Next" or "Done" or whatever the call to action is. On slides 11-20, I click next next next next really quickly and reach slide 20 before the narration is finished, I can either wait and hear him/her out, or click Next/Done/Yes/OK/etc and move onto slide #21—file2.mp3 now stops, and file3.mp3 starts. It's seamless narration of what the learner is, or should, be doing. Again, this isn't a problem if I (designer/dev) am just demo-ing because I'll sync audio and action (i.e. slides). But this is a simulation that has clickboxes really frequently so learners have to click along just as they'd do in the actual software.

Report · Mar 18, 2016

OK. Well my understanding is that while you certainly CAN spread a single audio clip over a number of slides, you still need to specify at what exact point in the clip Captivate should move to each of the slides in the set.

So effectively all you are really doing is allowing Captivate to time the transitions between slides as the audio plays seamlessly in the background of each slide.

However, the audio is still locked to the timeline of the slides. So if you pause any of those slides using the playbar, or have an interactive object on the slide that pauses the timeline, then the audio will stop at that point as well.

You can certainly add audio to objects as well as slides. So one experiment you might try is to add the audio to an object on slide 1 and time the object for REST of PROJECT. Then set that object to be hidden at the end of the final slide in its group. I haven't tested this but it might get you closer to what you want.

Report · Mar 18, 2016

Thanks, will try that last suggestion when I get a chance! Would a custom widget be able to solve this more easily, and if so, are there folks out there still developing them if the price is right?

I guess my other question is: how are other people handling this situation? Is the idea that the narrator does their spiel before any interactivity, the learner clicks through, then narrator picks up again afterward? Or are simulations, i.e. clickbox-heavy projects, just typically not narrated?

Report · Mar 18, 2016

Typically you will separate the training into a Demo that runs through the task with narration and then a TRY ME where the learner is expected to replicate the task, perhaps with some audio voiceover in feedback captions at each step to coach them. Then if you need an assessment, that's usually without any voiceover.

There may be some people willing to build a widget for you, but in my experience nobody that enquires about widgets realises the kind of budget they should be offering. They're expecting it to cost a couple of hundred bucks, when in some cases it should cost thousands.

Report · May 20, 2016

Hi Kevin,

I wondered if you found a workaround for this requirement. I'm after exactly the same thing and think it makes perfect sense. I've tried Rod's suggestion of audio attached to an object that that displays for rest of the project on slide 1, but it doesn't behave like it should. It works perfectly across multiple slides if there are no interactions, but when there are interactions it repeats and/or jumps all over. If you did find a solution, I'd be keen to know. If I find one, I'll post it.

Thanks!

Louise