Skip to main content
I
iDoNotBelieveIt
Known Participant
August 23, 2023
Question

Captivate Classic issues

  • August 23, 2023
  • 1 reply
  • 1527 views

Having had some time free of corrupted projects with the recent versions of CP 2019 and very much enjoying using it with the extra power that CPExtra and CPMate provide, this unwelcome experience appears to have returned with Captivate Classic. I have been trying to create some simple custom controls in a responsive project because the Playbar is unreliable on mobile devices. The difficulty in just trying to get a forward and back button to be the same dimensions is remarkable.

 

Having achieved what I thought was going to work, I went to preview the last time and... it exits. The backup file does the same.  Not only that, but my PC goes to 100% CPU utilisation with multiple instances of CPCefHelper running in Task Manager. Turns out these are related to CP interacting with the CC app.

 

Those previous memories of similar experiences of a few years ago came flooding back. The rescue procedure is to copy slides over in groups of five or so to try to find the offending corrupted object. But they all copied over so I am not sure where the corruption lies. And now there are multiple versions of advanced actions and variables. Plus Advanced Actions assigned to SVGs used as buttons on master slides are blank. What this means is removing duplicate AAs and variables then rewriting the AAs that are blank. Depending on the project this can be very frustrating and time consuming.

 

Maybe it is me. But if you are thinking of updating from CP2019 to CP Classic, I would thing twice to help preserve your sanity. If your version of CP2019 is working, I wouldn't update to CP Classic.

 

I had rather hoped that the new Captivate would address the responsive shortcomings of CP2019/Classic, but judging by the reports from experienced developers, it has so many features missing that experienced developers require, that it will be a long wait. I see Adobe says it has the "tech stack" to include all the features of CP2019 that we value into CP12, so let's hope this takes months, not years.

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    1 reply

    Lilybiri
    Lilybiri
    Legend
    August 23, 2023

    Another saddening thread, so many appeared since that new version was launched. I didn't dare to post my recommendation to remain with Captivate 11.5.5.553 which was IMO the most reliable version in recent years. That is what I did on my main system. The problems started to appear with 11.8. If you wanted to explore version 12, to avoid conflicts you needed to update to have the name change and the rearrangement of the folders of the eLearning assets and maybe more. I did that on another system which I don't use for my consultancy jobs. I was a coward, because my honesty has banned me already from providing webinars, invites to conferences and much more which I will not tell. 

     

    The collaboration between CC and Captivate was necessary to enable Adobe fonts, but something has really gone awry for an unknown reason. Did you try to exit the CC app and re-enter it? That sometimes helped.

     

    You tried  the workflow to correct a corrupt project from your description. But the corruption was probably on a higher level. Did you try to  Clean the Preferences?

     

    BTW (I hear marketing cursing again), the Adobe crystal ball tells that Captivate Classic will be around till 2027, and I sincerely hope it will be fixed and remain the professional tool while version 12 is renamed (as they do in most social media) to Adobe Rise, meant for another range of developers. Adobe has Premiere Pro and Premiere Rush, Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. I had to learn Photoshop after the killing of Aldus PhotoStyler by Adobe, same for learning Illustrator after the end of Fireworks.  

    I
    iDoNotBelieveItAuthor
    Known Participant
    August 23, 2023

    I spent all afternoon on a support chat with Adobe support. I had to log out of CC to after killing all the CPCefHelper instances and then log back in. That problem then did not resurface.

     

    Preferences were cleaned too. I am now having to go back through the whole project and recreate those actions that were not copied over. It is a painful process.

     

    I agree, I think it was at a higher level but I am not sure where. I suspect it relates to trying to get objects postioned accurately in the responsive project because that is clunky and unreliable. I suspect most Captivate developers are not producing responsive projects because of the extra time is takes and if producing for companies they probably require their staff to use computers. But times are changing and it is proably a significant technical challenge, hence the new version and the time it is taking to get that doing what CP2019 can but reliably on mobile devices.

     

    On reflection, it would be wise when working with Captivate to have regular automated backups e.g. every hour or so. At the end of the day if all was fine these could be deleted. At least that means you could roll back to a recent uncorrupted version.

    RodWard
    Community Expert
    RodWardCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 23, 2023

    You are quite correct.  Corporations don't normally want to waste money, so they expect online learning to be quickly and efficiently created.  Plus they want it to be easy to update those courses over a long period of time, usually many years.

     

    Initially a lot of these same companies believed the marketing hype from several years ago that promoted responsive online learning.  They were told it would be quicker to create and work seamlessly on all devices with minimal effort by developers.  So, they bought into the mythology and tried to make any new project done as responsive.

     

    It didn't take long for the reality to bite home.  Responsive design does take longer to build and it doesn't necessarily work on all devices and browsers the way you expect.  In fact the only solid case I have seen for using responsive design is if your course content will be consumed on mobile phones in portrait mode.  If the target audience has access to laptops or desktop computers (and most businesses DO provide employees with PCs) or even tablets, then responsive design is entirely unnecessary.  Fixed layout learning works perfectly fine and does not tie your hands creatively.

     

    I think Adobe knew that their two previous attempts at responsive design e-learning did not gain traction.  But they decided to make one more attempt with the new Captivate 12 and attacked the problem by redesigning the entire app from the ground up to fix previous issues. 

     

    However, in doing so they have put themselves in a rather difficult position.  They've released a new version of Captivate that is missing most of the Captivate 2019 features most people primarily wanted, but with responsive design as the ONLY output option, even though this was probably the feature LOWEST on priority for diehard Captivate users.  Cp 12 users are also now complaining about the app being confusing rather than intuitive. And there is no upgrade path for Cp 2019 projects (unless you completely redevelop from the ground up again).

     

    I have always loved Captivate and recommended it to clients.  But I have to say that this current situation has seriously damaged Adobe and Captivate's reputation in the online learning industry.  I can perfectly understand why many users are refusing to use the new Captivate 12 for current project work, and why some are even investigating other tools.  If my current employer asked me what tool they should use going forward for the next 10 years, I would be asking them to ask me again in about two years time.  Perhaps by then the picture with Captivate will be much clearer.

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