Interacfive Video Puzzlement

[Guest]

Hi People,

I have created an interactive video on a single slide with several points where the learner is asked a couple of questions (right and wrong). For each question, the learner gets feedback, which once read, they click on to continue viewing the video. Each question and corresponding answer is a shape containing text which has been converted to a button. The command to show each answer is a simple Show. Each question and shape have unique names. All answers are hidden in the On Enter Advanced Action.

The Show command controls when the answers when there is only that command. But I would like to control the showing and hiding of each answer with an advanced action at each question as I am allowing the learner to be able to scroll through the video in either direction, and also to restart the video at any point. If the learner restarts, the On Enter Advanced Action doesn't work.

The problem I am having is that any advanced actions I attach to an individual question doesn't appear to work on my interactive video. Is this normal? Ideas to make this work for me?

TIA

Andrew

[Lilybiri]

Question is not clear to me, sorry. Just want to tell that to have the On Enter action repeating, you have to create a Replay button that has the playhead re-enter the slide. That can be done by adding a very short slide before the present slide, and using the action 'Go to Previous Slide'. Have several examples on my blog.

You talk about advanced actions attached to a question, but advanced actions can only be triggered by an event?

[Guest]

Thanks Lilybiri

I was hoping using the replay button in the Skin would suffice. However, I have a restart Advanced Action running which contains all the reset commands which seems to work. Which furthers my puzzlement. It seems that the Advanced Action that won't work is one that contains 2 lines - a show and a hide. When I do that and link to a button event, the button does nothing. Other buttons with Advanced Actions work fine.

Now I have another question. The questions and answers are placed on the timeline to trigger at specific points. When I preview the whole video, the trigger points later in the video appear later and later. Yet when I quickly scroll through to test a trigger, there is no such delay. Is it possible that because I have set the time for each button at .5 sec with the pause at .1?

Andrew

[Lilybiri]

Andrew, it is never a good idea to have an advanced action On Enter for the first slide of a course. Too much has already to be loaded at the start. I never use an advanced action on that event. Inserting that dummy slide will fix that as well. 

Timing with a video will always be a pain, because of loading time. Personally I would have split the video over slides to avoid that pitfall.

[Guest]

Thanks Lilibiri.

To date, placing an advanced action in the On Enter is so far working for me. Unitl it isn't I guess.

I experimented with splitting the video up but then realsied in our very agile environment, as soon as I did, a SME would want a different break point. So its easier to move the interactions around on the complete timeline at this point in development.

Abdrew

[Lilybiri]

It is working, but feel it safer if there is a very short slide before that slide with the On Enter Advanced Action, based on my years of experience with advanced and shared actions.

I understand why you want it in one slide, although video management allows you to edit the way that the video is distributed over the slides. I fear that the synchronizing of the video will remain a pain due to difference in loading time.

[dblancquaert1]

Hi Andrew,

I have some experience in building interactive video's, and as Lilybiri indicates, I always split the video's in smaller parts. To avoid having synchronization issues, I do not pause the video, but have it replaced with a still frame. After the answers, I jump to a new slide where the next video starts.

I understand that the agile approach does not lend itself using the approach I described above.

What I would propose is this:

- Create slides with your questions and a blurred image of the video in the back (can be replaced with a different image in the last stage of the project). You can use shared actions to quickly build similar slides.

- Add the video using slides between the slides with your interactions.

- Replace the video slides as much as needed, no timing issues with the interactions, and no massive advanced actions needed.

I hope my view helps a bit, perhaps for future projects.

[Lilybiri]

Dank je wel, Dieter, voor deze tips!

[Guest]

Thanks Dieter.

I had initially thought to do what you suggested, and may get to that point. I am trying to avoid doing lots of edits of the source material to fit the slide. Lazy perhaps:-) But the current project has 17 interactions which is a lot of edits to make/change. Now if only we do those break points within Captivate... Future feature?