How do I insert an MP4 into a Captivate project of PowerPoint slides?

[jimc3333]

I have a Captivate 9 project that I created by importing PowerPoint slides (a pptx file). I want an MP4 video to play automatically after one of the slides. When the video ends, I want to show the next slide in the sequence.

I tried adding the MP4 to one of the PowerPoint slides. With the option to automatically start the video set, the video plays when I run the slideshow in PowerPoint. However, the video doesn't play when I publish the Captivate project and run it.

I also tried inserting the MP4 file into a new blank slide in the Captivate project. After publishing, the video plays, but the screen is much larger than the slide dimensions and I don't see the whole screen. If I drag the object handles to resize the video object so that the screen fits within the slide, the text is distorted and unreadable.

Any suggestions?

[Lilybiri]

You need to resize the video while keeping the width/height ratio: Keep Shift key pressed when dragging a corner handle. Best insert video as synchronised video. If possible make sure that the video has the same qicth/height ratio as the cptx-file.

[jimc3333]

Thanks for your quick reply.

I re-recorded the video demo using the "Application" and "Snap to application window" settings.

I selected YouTube Widescreen HD for the Preset option when I published the new video demo (a separate project). When I inserted the published video (MP4) into a new slide in the main project, the whole application screen was visible, as I wanted. However, small text is somewhat fuzzy in the published main project video. Is there anything I can do to prevent the fuzziness? The text looks fine in the demo video MP4 when it is played outside of the main project.

[Lilybiri]

Never resize is the only recommendation I can offer.

[Jeremy Shimmerman]

Text fuzziness has been really frustrating for me. You won't get it in a responsive project but if your project is not responsive here is the workaround I use.

Create a new variable (for example tx) and do not add a value (i.e. keep it blank).

In each text box add that variable (it doesn't matter if it is at the start or end of the text)

For example your line would be $$tx$$This text will not be fuzzy.

You need to manually enter it in for each line of text but it will convert the text to webfont and will therefore be nice and crisp. 

[Lilybiri]

Jeremy that workaround with inserting a variable forces the text container to be generated on runtime (you need to have a websafe or typekit font). It is only necessary to insert one variable in the container (caption or shape) not on every line.

[Jeremy Shimmerman]

Thanks for the clarification. Yes I meant once for every container, not line.

[jimc3333]

Thanks, Jeremy.

There are no fields for entering text other than those in the screen I'm recording. It's simply a video version of a PowerPoint slide deck with a separate software demo in the middle. I've tried various ways of capturing and inserting the video, such as capturing it as a video demo or as a software simulation. In software simulation mode, I resized the screen I'm recording to fit the capture area of 1280 x 720, and used the browser's zoom control to fit more of the screen in the reduced capture area. I published to video using the YouTube Widescreen setting. It plays fine in Windows media player, but for some reason, the screen text doesn't look as clear when I insert that video into my main project and publish/play it. I also tried recording the screens using software simulation mode, by copying the captured slides and inserting them into the main PPT project. I get similar results. I'm recording screens in a web browser, so maybe that has something to do with it. I Tried Firefox and Chrome, and got the same result with both.

[Lilybiri]

Software simulations have a lot of text captions or shapes with Text. As

usual the confusing term "text box" was used here for a text container, not

for a text entry box. Would be easier if official terms were used.