Captivate 9 vs. Storyline for Responsive Projects

[SM6601]

Does anyone think that Storyline is a better tool for responsive projects because it has a player that adjusts the layout automatically?

[Paul Wilson CTDP]

Two strikes against Articulate for me 

1. The fact you need an extra player for all your users to install. Many users don't want additional software on their mobile devices
2. The cost for new Articulate customers is very prohibitive. Captivate remains one of the best values in authoring tools. I can't wait to see what they come out with next. 

[RodWard · Accepted solution]

I hope this thread doesn't end up being a product war.  I consider both Captivate and Articulate Storyline to be both excellent authoring tools and each has features that the other lacks, etc etc.

However, before anyone gets too involved in claiming one is better than the other, I think we should all just sit on our hands for a little while longer until the next version of Captivate comes out.  If the discussion here is really intended to be measuring Storyline 3 against Captivate then it should be the version of Captivate that comes out in 2017, not Captivate 9 that it is measured against.

The next version could drastically change the comparison.

[SM6601]

Right now I believe Articulate 360 is a better tool for responsive projects. I went to the App Store and no player was there now. I'm assuming Articulate improved their product to not require the download.

[arashmaz]

Maybe I'm reading too much into your statement Rod, but is this you speaking from having insight into what may appear in Captivate 10?

[SM6601]

If Adobe doesn't step up Captivate is going to go away.

[RodWard]

Captivate is definitely NOT going away. Adobe has always 'stepped up' with each new version to extend functionality. There are very good reasons why Captivate has managed to maintain its position as the leading authoring tool. 

That doesn't mean there aren't some areas where Captivate still disappoints, and we should all keep submitting enhancement requests to Adobe to effectively lobby for development time to be spent resolving those issues. 

But overall I still believe Captivate should be in every e-learning author's software toolkit.

[SM6601]

I was comparing Articulate 360 with Captivate 9 yesterday and I'm being forced to go to 360 at this time because of HTML5 taking over of industry. Both tools will be kept by me and I'll go back to Captivate on the next version.

[RodWard]

What did you find Articulate 360 did that Captivate 9 did not?

[SM6601]

The preview is better. The player deals much better with the layout. The skin is better for responsive projects.

[RodWard]

As you previously stated: ""Right now I believe..." and "I'm assuming Articulate improved their product.."

So these are your personal views, not established facts. Just as you are well within your rights to hold a particular view about the merits of one app over the other, would it not be fair to say that others may differ in their view?

[SM6601]

Sure, I'm interested in hearing alternative views. I have built my career on an expertise with Captivate, but I'm being forced to publish for HTML5 and I find Captivate 9 to be inferior to Storyline 3. It seems that Captivate is losing it's foothold in the US job market too.

[Paul Wilson CTDP]

When you say "It seems that Captivate is losing it's foothold in the US job market too." what does that mean?

[SM6601]

More jobs are asking for Storyline experience.

[Paul Wilson CTDP]

What facts do you have to back that up? I ask because if I was going to switch to Articulate Storyline, I would need to subscribe to the full Articulate 360 suite of products. At a $1,000 per year, almost 3 times what a Captivate user spends for a yearly subscription, I would want to definitively know your statement about jobs is a fact and not just an opinion.

It seems to me that you have made up your mind about what you will be using to author your eLearning projects for the foreseeable future. I'm not sure what your goal is by asking for opinions about Storyline on a Captivate forum.

[RodWard]

Here in Australia I have also noticed that Storyline gets mentioned.  However, I don't think this fact can be strictly translated as a sign that "Captivate is losing its foothold".  I am also seeing lots of job offers that specify either Captivate OR Storyline experience will be favourably considered.

What I DO notice is that while Captivate and Storyline are both considered as standard industry tools nowadays, almost NO jobs I see are ever mentioning authoring tools like Lectora or others that in previous eras were considered to be standards.  I know these tools still exist out in the market.  But they just don't get much airplay anymore.

As to whether Captivate is losing ground:  When Storyline first came on the scene it won a lot of fans because of its ease of use and similarities to PowerPoint.  PPT users found its UI more naturally 'intuitive' than Captivate.  But some of these same companies that once said they would ONLY use Storyline are now asking me to use Captivate instead. Go figure.

I really don't see this entire argument about authoring tools to be mutually exclusive.  Many organisations where I work here in Australia are quite willing for the e-learning developer to use either tool, as long as the output meets their corporate standards for branding and works seamlessly with their LMS.

As a professional e-learning developer who works under contract to different organisations every few months, I am required to know and use both of these tools.  I like both, and have used both, but prefer Captivate if given a choice.  I just think it's more powerful.  But that's a subjective opinion based on my own experience.  I would never suggest it proves anything other than that I have an opinion.

[R_H__]

New version of Captivate is out today, Captivate 2017. As far as I can see most of the improvements are related to the responsive side of things, so maybe worth you checking it out again.

Adobe Captivate (2017 release) - Features

As far as other non related responsive features go, there haven't been a whole lot of changes/improvements (unless typekit or assets interest you), it's a bit disappointing.

[arashmaz]

The 'While' command in advanced actions looks like it could be cool to use. Definitely gives you more flexibility. Still would have liked interactions like, dials, sliders or the collision triggers that Storyline has.

[shambunashi]

Please do check out the latest blog on CP2017 release - https://elearning.adobe.com/2017/04/adobe-captivate-2017-release-smart-fast-incredibly-flexible/ 

[Lilybiri]

While command saves a lot of time, I am busy preparing some examples with some more 'more hidden' improvements in advanced/shared actions as well.

[SM6601]

I have to wonder if this thread prompted a faster release. Ok, I'm installing CP 2017 and I'll see if it as good as Storyline 360. If it is, no need to mess with Storyline. I'll report back soon.

[SM6601]

Unfortunately, Adobe needs to push CP2017 farther to compete with Storyline 360.

[Sankaram]

Hi Steve,

    Happy to know more about your detailed view?

Thanks,

Sankaram

[RodWard]

Wow.  You spent all of 20 minutes making this judgement. Nero would be proud.

[SM6601]

No landscape preview. Storyline deals better with the interface changes between the device sizes. My overall impression is that Adobe needs to adopt Storyline's approach to slide templates that automatically adjust to the screen sizes and look good without all of the tweaking that Captivate requires. I would never say this before as an expert Captivate user, but the challenges of responsive projects require it. I'm walking away from Adobe Captivate and will review the next version. In the meantime, I'll suspend my thumb state.