Captivate 9 Library

[alexarathoon]

Hi guys, I have been using Articulate Storyline 2 for over a year for a client. One of my gripes was a lack of a library to track, re-use assets throughout a project, and update with a single click. Another client has nominated Captivate I'm glad to see Captivate uses a Library to manage assets. The last time I used Captivate was when version 7 was around so now getting myself up to speed.

I wanted to check how items are used. Do items get embedded into a Captivate file or are they linked to folder(s).

It's not clear how the application works. Looking at an example file from Lynda.com it appears it's the former.

However, linking to assets would decrease file size and would improve efficiency as assets would only need to be displayed when viewed.

InDesign uses this method and serves up low res versions of artwork while when publishing the full res images are exported.

Thanks,

Alex

[Captiv8r]

I believe the assets are stored inside the CPTX file and simply referenced from each slide where they are used.

[alexarathoon]

Thanks Captiv8r looks that way to me. As I say, the Library is a huge improvement to what Storyline offers.

Articulate have now launched their online subscription model called Articulate 360 be interesting to see how this stacks up to Captivate. I was on the beta test program and not too many additional features added to it. SL had object states before Captivate 9 so good to see Adobe employing this.

[RodWard]

You should also be aware that when you insert a graphic or animation into Captivate from some folder on your hard drive or network, Captivate remembers the path to that original file.  This enables you to perform some edit on that original file and then right click on the item in your Captivate library and choose UPDATE from the context menu. (This works very well as long as you don't move the original file to a different location). 

When you open a Captivate project it will go looking for the files that are linked from the Library and if those files are scattered all over your network this can seriously degrade your performance. This is also a good reason to first copy any file you want to use in your Captivate project into a LOCAL folder on your hard drive and insert it from there. 

I know this may go against the grain for some developers that are told all assets must be on the local network somewhere, but keeping everything on your local drive and backing up after closing down Captivate is the better way to go if you want the best performance from the product.

[StevePixel]

Hi Alex,

I looked at Articulate's new offerings. I like the concept but the execution from Articulate appears to be very poor. For multi device output you have to develop in totally separate web based tool (Rise) which appears to be little more than a AJAX website builder.

My other big issue with Articulate is pricing. $ 1000.00 a year , every year,, from a company that is not famous for a fast upgrade cycle.

My thoughts anyways..

Cheers

Steve

[alexarathoon]

Thanks Rod, but just to clarify Captivate embeds i.e. takes a copy of the assets so if the original files are unavailable then they'll still load into the project and publish? Your response seems to contradict Captiv8r.

Or are you saying that if we wish to edit the assets then that can be done from within Captivate to make it more productive? This is a nice to have but not essential to use the application. Although, good practice to have all files sitting together locally with the project.

[RodWard]

No we are both right.  The assets ARE loaded into the CPTX and show up in the Library.  You can use these assets on as many slides as you want. 

The point I was making was that Captivate remembers the original file location OUTSIDE of the CPTX file.  And if you wanted to make adjustments to that original file and update the Library items afterward then this is quite possible as long as the file path has not changed.  Captivate does allow you to reestablish the file path again if you happen to move the original file, but that's usually something you want to avoid if possible.

The fact that there's a copy of the original asset inside the Library in the CPTX means that you can share the CPTX with another author easily.  However, they won't be preserving the original file path to the asset's source location. So that means their options for updating the assets are usually limited to re-inserting any new versions that must be used.

[alexarathoon]

Rod - thanks for your clarification that makes sense now.

Steve - yeah Storyline does have a mighty hefty price tag for sure. I've really enjoyed using Storyline for the most part.Rapid development tools are great for non coders and is a breath of fresh air from attempting to learn Flash's Action script - YUCK.

In SL, getting content to display nicely across platforms (mobile in particular) is problematic. Looks like the new mobile player in SL 360 works well when I tested it. However, I doubt my client will want to commit to a monthly subscription when Storyline 2 works well.

Articulate do have an excellent Community 'eLearning heros' with a wealth of templates and challenges that provides a lot of inspiration. I did ask about their lack of responsive design for SL2 when compared with Captivate and their position was that the tech (css) should resize content automatically without editing each slide to cater for break points. Fair point but they haven't invested much in their Articulate players for seamless content flow.

In the old days of Captivate 7 I found it hard to edit content on the timeline it wasn't a pleasant experience so it put me off it. Hoping Cap 9 has improved! Anyway, as a designer it's good to have experience in a range of tools.