Captivate 9 Slow Editing Questions

Report · Mar 03, 2016

Hi,

Yes have read the other similar posts which seem to fade away with no answer

I'd like to understand if my issue is unique or simply the way it is!

I have started a simple responsive project to create a quiz and every time i edit the number of questions on a multiple choice quiz I wait at least 10 seconds and up to 30 seconds for them to be generated

Machine: is a RazerBlade 2014 with 8gb ram, 512 ssd and i7 CPU (i.e. a gaming machine, not lacking in processing power)

Files: Captivate is pointed to the hard drive - no dropbox or sharedrive

Windows 10 64, latest build. Java latest build. Captivate latest build.

Project size is a mere 5.9mb

What I have tried

clearing cached projects - folder was empty on latest test
Reset preferences ini
deleting all non used items from project library
Giving captivate elevated priority in windows
starting as admin

No significant improvement, the performance of the product is generally slow and am damned if i can figure out why?

Mike

Report · Mar 04, 2016

Strange, I am running Captivate comfortably even on a Surface Pro 4 (win10 Pro) with about the same configuration. You don't mention the graphics card, CP9 is running more smoothly on my (gaming) laptop because of its 3GB NVidia card and more RAM. My desktop is over 3 years old, but also had tons of RAM and NVidia card. Captivate is a heavy application, but shouldn't behave as you are explaining.

You always have to run Captivate as Admin, be sure to do that. Clearing cache is good practice. What do you mean by 'Reset Preferences.ini'? The way to clear cluttered Preferences folder (is not labeled 'Preferences' but folder has Captivate + version in name) is to run the CleanPreferences from the utils subfolder under Captivate's installation folder.

Also try to delete the Layouts folder in the public documents. Has there ever be a former version of CP on your system.

Report · Mar 06, 2016

Video is 3gb 870m Nvidia

Yep, cleared the ini in the way you described

Will try the layouts deletion.

No other CP version

Hugely frustrating

Report · Mar 17, 2016

Hey Lilybiri,

When you say "comfortably", how would you compare Captivate to another Adobe program, like Illustrator, Photoshop, or After Effects? I am used to very snappy performance from Adobe products on my PC since it is a quite powerfully built graphics / gaming rig with 32 gigs of ram and a GTX 680. No longer top-of-the-line, but still enough to use a program like After Effects without any hesitations or hiccups. I would expect Captivate to be less demanding than After Effects or Photoshop, but maybe I'm wrong? The Adobe Support rep told me, "That's just how Captivate runs." I am surprised the program has to pause almost a second after drawing a box, but maybe there is something happening behind the scenes that is more complicated than meets the eye. At this point I'm stuck with Captivate because so many clients use it. Maybe everybody is just accustomed to its slow performance and I need to reduce my expectations.

-Jason

Report · Mar 17, 2016

Hi mlkeryr,

I have a very similar problem. Very fast computer running the full Creative Suite with ease (Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, etc.). Installed Captivate to do some work for a client and... lots... of... waiting...

Even just inserting a square takes about a second, and every time I want to move any object it's like waking up a teenager in the morning. So. Slow. I feel like I'm running the program on a Pentium II from the late 90s.

I had the Adobe Support people take control of my computer and do lots of cache clearing and preference clearing and temp folder clearing and still... super slow. Their ultimate response was, "That's just how it operates." I can't believe that anybody uses the program this way.

I'll let you know if I find a solution, and please do the same for me.

-Jason

Report · Mar 17, 2016

Yep dog with fleas! I'm pretty fed up with the whole package. Going to be cancelling my subscription. Must be better alternatives!!

Report · Mar 17, 2016

For those of you describing slllllooooooowwww performance, where are your projects? Local drive on your computer or on a network?

If on a network, try closing them, copying to your local C drive, then re-opening them. Things better?

Cheers... Rick

Report · Mar 17, 2016

Rick as per my original post, the installation is on my hdd.

I'm not alone, there are many many posts on ultra slow performance that adobe don't seem to be able to diagnose.

Frankly getting a bit fed up with the jokey implied "it's your fault" responses, but thanks anyway.

Report · Mar 17, 2016

LOL, I wasn't suggesting "it was your fault". Just grasping at some straws here trying to help.

I use another Adobe product. RoboHelp And I know that RoboHelp really slows way down when its projects are on a LAN. So I thought it might be worth asking.

Just ignore me. I'm a ranting madman...

Carry on! Rick

Report · Mar 17, 2016

I've also seen the posts where some users are complaining about slow performance. I've tried to help some of them.

MACs definitely seem to give poorer performance than PCs with Captivate. But I've also noticed that when it IS a PC that people are complaining about, it's always on a corporate system of some kind with a locked down OS that has had some modifications. My suspicion is that the performance issue is due to something in the way the OS is set up, but I've never been about to isolate it.

In any case, the issue IS thankfully rare. Only a small number of the overall user base have this issue. If everyone were suffering as you are I have no doubt that this forum would have been deluged with so many comments that Adobe would have jumped on the issue as a top priority. Unfortunately, if the issue is with something finicky about the OS, they're not likely going to be given a computer by your company so that they can debug it.

Report · Mar 17, 2016

Rod, thanks for replying with "its your fault" again. Obviously you didn't bother to read my post before lobbing in with what seems to be the Adobe line.

I don't have a Mac, I have a Razer with a stock windows 10 64 build and latest drivers for everything. I run our IT and we don't have any type of corporate build. This "slow" issue is talked about in many forums and having read most of the replies to folks on this forum, this was the last place i tried for help.

I can't imagine Adobe spend a lot of effort on Captivate, it certainly seems to be very outdated now that I look at alternatives. Have been a photoshop and Illustrator et al fan/advocate for decades I went with the product brand I trusted ....... poor fool me

Report · Mar 17, 2016

Mike,

Here is a list of the things I tried / the Adobe Support person tried:

1. Run as Administrator

2. Clear Windows/Temp

3. Clear USER/appdata/local/temp (you can find this by doing Start Menu-->Type 'Run'-->Type '%temp%'

4. Run Program Files/Adobe/Captivate 9.x/utils/CleanPreferencesWin.exe

5. Install the fix for the firewall error (if you're not getting this, don't worry about it)

I don't know if these helped or not. They seemed to help, but maybe it's just a placebo effect. I'm starting to think Captivate just runs sluggishly, which is more or less what the Adobe Support rep told me. When I watch tutorial videos online, the tutorial versions perform about as sluggishly as mine does.

One strange thing: when I launch Windows (version 10 for me) in Safe Mode, Captivate runs much snappier. This suggests there is some conflict taking place, but who knows where to begin with that. Have you tried running your version while in Safe Mode?

Report · Mar 17, 2016

Jason,

Have done 1-4, have 5 as an issue didn't know there was a patch fix?? I'll try safe mode tonight, am bogged at the moment.

Reckon its something to do with Win 10 / Java and Captivate being a fundamentally "simple" program. Could also be a driver conflict i suppose.

Been editing videos and audio tracks in Powerdirector and photo's in PShop in the same PC and it flys!

Annoying

M

Report · Mar 17, 2016

‌I'll see if I can track down the thread where I found a fix to #5, and will post it here.

Is there a reason it runs on Java? I'm not knowledgable enough to know for sure, but my sense is that Java is fairly antiquated. Could be wrong.

Report · Mar 17, 2016

@Mike: I DID read your post and I was NOT blaming you. Simply pointing out that the issue isn't something that affects a high percentage of users, which would seem to indicate it is system-dependent.

I can appreciate you're pretty frustrated at the moment and I wasn't able to offer some suggestion that resolved your issue. But lashing out at people who regularly try help is not going to solve it either. But in the interest of not antagonising you in future, I'll keep a note of your username and leave you to others.

Report · Mar 17, 2016

Rod, hardly think it's lashing out you say you read my original post, then what was the point of yours? ...... If you really did read my post then you would have known that you weren't providing any sort of potential advice ....since

1) Your first suggestion was for MAC users, which I'm clearly not and secondly

2) Your words: "But I've also noticed that when it IS a PC that people are complaining about, it's always on a corporate system of some kind with a locked down OS" which it isn't and had been stated twice previously. A cursory internet search would produce dozens of examples of people with similar performance issues not on corporate systems or NAS or portable drives.

I'd assumed ACP - was some sort or "Adobe Certified Practitioner", certainly gives the impression of someone on the payroll .

Kudos to Jason who actually did provide some ideas that matched my scenario. No problem with not responding in the future. I'm reevaluating our whole commitment to Adobe in anycase........ just too hard to get any sense out of the Helpdesk.

Report · Mar 17, 2016

ACP stands for Adobe COMMUNITY Professional....and YES, Adobe pays us an absolute fortune for our services.

In fact, just the other day when Rick, Lilybiri and I were on my private yacht heading for the tropical island we just bought I think I heard Rick wind up to crack a joke about all the perks. But we made him promise not to tell it because some people DO get the wrong impression sometimes.

Report · Mar 18, 2016

For many people Captivate users like Rod and me, that are spending many hours trying to help other users TOTALLY for free are an anachronisme in this money- ,and power driven crazy world. At least we have the opportunity NOT to answer users who are insulting. It is not nice to wake up with insults in your mailbox. I can accept them from clients that are paying for services, but not on this forum. Just a personal note.

Report · Mar 18, 2016

I'm gob smacked, how on earth have I insulted lilybiri,I belong to many forums, spend hours providing advice myself. I don't troll! EVER!!

All I objected to was Rod telling me that my problems were either i had a mac or was on a corporate server. Both of which I was clearly not. Lily your suggestions were acknowledged and tried. His comment that a "high percentage" of users don't have clearly suggested inside knowledge. Also if you guys haven't noticed your badges are not reference able. I.e. MVP/ACP???? On manyother forums this often denotes some sort of corporate tech.

The Adobe help service is useless, I've found many kindred folk with the same problems I have been experiencing. Just Google it.

I'm going to make it simple for everyone and delete my captivate account, rather burn a few hunderd $ than waste hours with slow creation and cancel my 10 year photoshop and illustrate subscriptions / licences. Time to move on from adobe clearly.

Report · Mar 18, 2016

I feel insulted because of the suggestion that I'm paid by Adobe, which is not the case. I'm totally aware of the lack of proper paid Adobe support, for most of their applications. Those badges: I never asked for them, I am both ACP and MVP (also ACE and AEL) but what is in a word or a badge?

Report · Mar 18, 2016

Apparently Captivate 9 is natively coded for Windows, so the Java thing is a dead end. (JAVA VM only applies to the Mac side, for which Captivate is NOT natively coded.)

I wonder if it has something to do with Windows 10 architecture? It certainly feels like it is running through a Virtual Machine even if it is natively coded, which suggests to me that there is some error of translation between the software and the OS.

Did the 2014 Razer Blade also use an NVidia Geforce M graphics card (like the current machine)? I don't see how this would affect the performance, but it is a commonality between our systems that we're both using higher-end graphics cards. If Captivate is not talking to the graphics processor properly, and is instead trying to crunch everything through the CPU, that might account for the slowness.

Report · Nov 26, 2016

There is nothing to do with computer performance for this issue.

First we need to understand the issue. Issue is if I am creating a question in captivate and try to move around objects it takes more than a normal time for the captivate to respond.

For e.g. creating multiple choice question, If i try to move around options to place them where i would like, captivate would take minutes to perform one small step. Just try it yourself and you would understand it.

I think this is the captivate works and its very frustrating for a developer. We expect much better performance from adobe products.

Report · Aug 19, 2018

Hi. Just found this thread. Just upgraded to Captivate 2017 64 bit on Windows and it's VERY SLOW AND LAGGY compared to Articulate Storyline. Time to move on folks.... And yes, I have used Adobe Captivate since version 4.

Report · Aug 19, 2018

Daniel,

This is NOT normal behaviour for Captivate. You must have a problem with either your installation, your setup, your user environment etc. I have used both Captivate 2017 and Articulate Storyline 360 on the same Windows 10 laptop side by side and saw no huge difference in responsiveness.

The vast majority of Captivate users would be on Cp 2017 by now and only a very small percentage report the issue you are seeing (most of them are on MACs but a handful are also on Windows).

If you wish to "move on" and abandon Captivate, by all means do so. But I think your judgement may be somewhat premature, especially if you are just basing it on a two-year-old forum thread. Have you not considered the possibility that you may need to look deeper at this issue?

Report · Aug 19, 2018

I have a very fast computer. It's the Captivate software.