HELP! Need to merge Captivate projects and nothing is working!

[anabelleacevedo]

Hello fellow learners, 

Hope you are all doing good this Memorial Day weekend. I am currently working on an Adobe Captivate project which consists of a course (slides created on Microsoft PowerPoint and imported into Captivate, size of slides is set to "Standard" in PPT) and two simulations (both were recorded in Demo and Training modes.) 

The files are separate for now but I would like to merge (or consolidate) in a single CPTX file that I will be publishing in SCORM 1.2. What is the best way to move my simulation project slides into the .CPTX course file? I have tried the Aggregator Project option but it won't let me add the simulation slides since Aggregator Project will only let me add files with the .SWF file extension. I also tried to copy and paste (slide by slide) the simulation into the course .CPTX which only threw the simulation files out of their format. I will appreciate if any of you could advise and share any feedback/best practices, and perhaps help me understand what am I doing wrong here. 

Thank you very much,

Anabelle Acevedo 

[RodWard · Accepted solution]

If the intention was always to merge the slides then you need to have all projects set to exactly the same stage height and width (in pixels).  Trying to merge slides from different-sized projects will give you bad results.

Starting with slides originating in PowerPoint puts you at a disadvantage from the start because PowerPoint presentations aren't normally set up for fixed stage height and width in pixels.  PPT is a presentation format, not an e-learning format.

So, in answer to your question about what you might be doing wrong, I would ask:  Are all of these three projects exactly the same height and width in pixels, or are they different?  If not, you need to choose which project is the same size as your final project needs to be and then make sure the other projects are set up from the start (or recaptured again) to match it.

[anabelleacevedo]

Hi Rod,

Thank you for your help. My issue has been resolved. I had suspicions of the issue being a mismatch between the PPT resolution and the simulation resolution, and your response provided great insight. It was in fact, a resolution issue. The PPT slides were imported to Captivate in Desktop resolution (1440 x 1080), and I needed to record my simulations on that same resolution, which I did. To show the desired screen features, I reduced the browser screen zoom to 67%, along with the height and width to make sure it fit in the Captivate recording. Thank you very much for your time and dedication in helping me troubleshoot.

Best,

Anabelle Acevedo

[Lilybiri · Accepted solution]

Try to use Modify, Rescale eventually to rescale the software sim projects. Not sure you will like the result. Totally agree with Rod about PPT, have even decided not answer question about PPT used in Captivate in the future. 

Very long ago I wrote this blog (still works, but may be too complicated) about creating a special master slide for software sims:

http://blog.lilybiri.com/create-and-use-a-knockout-master-slide

One more tip: for better quality do not use Software sm in Demo mode, but Video Demo. You can them create separately and insert in your course as (interactive) video slide.

[anabelleacevedo]

Hi Lilybiri, 

I actually liked Video Demo more than Software sm but for this particular case, had to stick to the Software sm, although will use VD going forwards. As stated in my response to Rod, the issue was resolved by adjusting the resolution when recording the Sm. Thank you for your advice! 

Best, 

Anabelle Acevedo