Importing text from PowerPoint in Captivate 9

[gpmweb]

From what I've read all text imported from PowerPoint to Captivate is imported as an image.

I've tried editing text in the 'Edit in Microsoft PowerPoint' but it always ends with an error message or crashing or hanging - just really disappointed.

Most of the content we use for eLearning comes in PowerPoint format and it looks like I'm going to have to cut'n'paste (via Notepad) text from several hundred slides - unless one of you smart guys can suggest otherwise?

Has made me regret picking Captivate over Storyline

[gpmweb]

This is what I get when I edit a slide in 'Edit in Microsoft PowerPoint' and try to save it

[BDuckWorks · Accepted solution]

The good news is, your assertion is not entirely correct.

The bad news is: text on the slides ARE IMPORTED AS IMAGES, after being merged with the background and imported to Cp as a background SWF with timing as set in the animation panel in PPT.

Possible workaround:

Elsewhere in these forums, I've made posts on how to extract graphical elements from a PPT by converting to a PPTx and renaming as a zip and navigating through the folders. You will be rewarded with graphics you can drag to the Cp library and animate at will.

start here:

Re: PowerPoint to Captivate

Error troubleshooting:

Verify that your OS (Windows or Mac), Office / PowerPoint version, and Cp are up to date.  There are incompatible versions out there.

[gpmweb]

Thanks BDuckWorks

Followed your tip for images and it works a treat.

I downloaded Storyline and it imports PPT with editable text but not without some issues.

I have about 5 eLearning courses that have been storyboarded in PowerPoint (200+ slides) and just desperately trying to improve productivity as its taken soooo long at the moment.

[Jefferbob]

Something else to try: Don't have PowerPoint already open before trying to round trip from Captivate. Sometimes I forget and have it open, then switch to it while editing. Captivate doesn’t like to lose focus.

[StevePixel]

If you just want to convert your PP into an e-learning format- without the need for advanced actions, or deep interactivity,  I would just get Adobe Presenter or Articulate Studio or one of the other Powerpoint plug-ins.  That way you can develop directly in Powerpoint with no need to import at all and achieve the functionality of the player. 

Cheers 
Steve 

[Captiv8r]

As far as PPT goes, if all you are wanting is basically a video of it, you can likely accomplish it right from PPT itself. Recent versions offer the ability to save directly to a movie format such as MP4. Recent versions also natively offer an ability to Record a Slide show where you record your narration for each slide.

Cheers... Rick

[BDuckWorks]

Oh, and one other thing i forgot to mention.

The notes text from PPT will be brought into Cp for the initial conversion, it cant be added when you edit the PPT from Cp after import.

Notes text in PPT can be marked for Text To Speech, and once audio is added to the slide, it can be marked as closed caption text and be displayed in a limited way as closed caption speech.

Also, you can copy the text and add it to slide captions for animation.

Unfortunately, there is no advanced features that would allow PPT slide objects to be converted to Cp objects, at least in verion 9.