Reduce projects file size

[koenr99025062]

Hi all,

I'm using Captivate 2019 on macos and I see that some project files are huge (talking about more than 1GB here). Is there a way to reduce their size?

- I have deleted any unused items from the library
- I have checked the size of the media files being used, and no way can they explain the huge size

So is there any other way to trim these files?

Related to this question: I used .cpvc files and then imported these into my project. Is it safe to delete the original .cpvc files to save disk space?

[Lilybiri]

First of all, the size of the raw cptx-file is not that important, it is the file size of the published HTML5 output that you need to watch more closely. You can have an estimate of that output size by using the Check button in the Project Info panel (open from Windows menu):

For the same reason I would never delete unused items in the Library before the project is finished. Sometimes the  'unused' files are not correctly reported (when used in states by example).

Are you really in need of disk space in this time of cloud storage? Strange... nowadays I always have too much space on my disks.

To reduce file size for both cptx-files and output folders:

• Never resize media assets in Captivate (graphics, video) but use a dedicated application to import the media in exactly the size you need them. FYI: the Adobe Media Encoder is packaged with Captivate if you need to reduce video size.
• For video and audio choose settings to have an acceptable quality. Examples: do not use Stereo for narration, do not use 8K video, choose a bitrate as low as acceptable for quality.
• Reuse where possible: use shared actions instead of duplicate advanced actions.
• For audio import uncompresssed wav files, let Captivate do the compression to MP3 on publishing.
• If appropriate use SVG instead of bitmap images. 

Forgot to answer about the cpvc files. Did you import them as raw cpvc-slides? In that case they are in the Library. I would prefer not to delete them, but certainly not if you imported the published mp4 from a cpvc project.

[koenr99025062]

Thank you for the feedback. I was doing all these things already.

As for "cloud storage"...

- If I understand correctly, Captivate prefers the files to be on a local drive, so a HD or SSD attached to your computer. I don't find the post immediately, but when I started off in 2017, it was suggested that one shouldn't open a .cptx on a remote server, since this may cause problems. As a consequence, disk space is important.
- I use an external SSD but want to make sure that my files are safe. So yes, I save a backup of this SSD in a Google Cloud Bucket. At that time, file size becomes important if you have many projects and some of them are larger than 1GB, because you want to consider bandwidth.

Is it safe to delete the .cpvc files that were already imported into the .cptx file?

[koenr99025062]

By the way, I checked the HTML output: 15MB, but my project file is a few GBs.

[RodWard]

If the CPTX project file size has become bloated, one thing you can try to reduce it is to copy all slides from the current project into a new blank project of the same size.

You will see then what the file size should really be.  If it remains large then it needs to be that large (though I sincerely doubt that will be the case).

[koenr99025062]

Ok, thanks. It went from multiple GB to 75MB

1. Just to be on the safe side: copying the slides will not change the output in any way?

2. Is it ok to copy the .cpvc files?

[RodWard]

The only thing you may need to check is whether all of the Advanced Actions in your project still work properly.  Sometimes the target slides for Jump to Slide actions may have changed.  So you may need to reconfigure them again. 

Also, any settings that are configured at the project level (e.g. SCORM settings or quiz settings) will need to be reconfigured in the new blank project.

But other than that everything should work.

[Lilybiri]

That looks very reasonable, your published output will be fine.

As for storage: indeed, while working on the project it needs to be on your system. But once finished, you can safely store in cloud-based storage. I keep only the current projects on my local disks.

Copy/paste works OK, eventually renaming by the smart labeling will not get you into problems. You have to be careful with copy/paste slides in bunches if you have slide event based advanced actions.

Do you talk about the pure cpvc-files or cpvc-slides?

[koenr99025062]

Hi,

I talk about cpvc files, outside the cptx project (but the former have been imported into the latter).

For future reference: when copy/pasting slides, a few things have to be done over again in the target project:
- toc structure

- toc look & feel

- names of objects (they receive "_1", "_2" etc. after their initial name, which is a problem if you target them in actions)

- deselect "Gesture Configuration" in Window > Mobile Palette

- "Splash screen" image found under Preferences > Project > Start and End had to be set again.

I saved 300 GB but have to change the above in every single file now 😞

[Lilybiri]

Don't you use a custom theme? It would include the TOC 'look and feel' as one of its components. You can also import Preferences if you save them. 

The labeling you are mentioning is called Smart Labeling. Replace Advanced actions by Shared actions when possible, that could avoid save some time as well.  You may need to redefine parameters but if they are set up well, takes lot less time than having to edit advanced actions. Here is a recent post about labeling:

http://blog.lilybiri.com/tip-1-labeling-advanced-slash-shared-actions