Create different types of projects in Adobe Captivate Classic

You can create an Adobe Captivate Classic project by recording events in an application or screen area on your computer. The following modes of recording are available.

Automatic Recording

Adobe Captivate Classic captures screenshots automatically and places them in separate slides. For more information, see Automatic recording.

Manual Recording

You can manually capture screenshots using this option. The chosen set of screenshots appears sequentially in separate slides after the recording is complete. For more information, see Manual recording.

For more information, see Recording Projects.

Adobe Captivate Classic : Create a Simulation

You can also watch Paul Wilson's videos on recording a software solution.

Adobe Captivate Classic – Software Simulation Part 1

Adobe Captivate Classic – Software Simulation Part 2

Create a project from PowerPoint presentations

You can import an entire PowerPoint presentation, or only selected slides into an Adobe Captivate Classic project. Each PowerPoint slide is imported as a separate slide in the Adobe Captivate Classic project. You can later edit the PowerPoint presentations from within Adobe Captivate Classic.

For more information, refer Importing PowerPoint presentations.

Paul Wilson has created a fantastic YouTube tutorial on importing a PPT presentation into your Captivate Classic project.

Adobe Captivate Classic - Importing PowerPoint Workflow

Create a project from images

Projects created from images can be viewed as a slideshow. Each image is imported into a separate slide.

Advanced Actions & Variables: Image Slideshow

Create a project starting with blank slides

You can start with a blank project, and then import slides or images from PowerPoint presentations, images, or other Adobe Captivate Classic projects. You can also add a software demonstration, or interactive simulation by recording additional slides.

1. Select File > New Project > Blank Project.

2. Select a preset size in the Select list, or specify a custom width and height for the project.

3. Click OK.

The default theme is applied to the new project. The theme contains a set of master slides that you can use for title, content, and question slides. For more information, see Themes.

Adobe Captivate Classic : Create a New Project

Create a responsive project

You can create a project whose content and design can be viewed across multiple devices such as desktop, tablet, and mobile.

For more information on creating responsive projects, see Responsive project.

Adobe Captivate Classic 2017: Responsive eLearning with Fluid Boxes

Create a VR Project

Nothing captures your attention like a 360° image or video. Such assets give you a perception of being there in the scene, without actually being there. A 360° image or a video is an abstraction of a real-world panoramic image, which is shot using an omnidirectional camera.

A 360° is an immersive experience. In eLearning, 360° images or videos, apart from giving you a sense of presence, makes you relive an experience. You can focus on multiple aspects, while gaining a high degree or recall.

360° images and videos have disrupted industries across multiple verticals. From new-hire orientation to medicine, from armed forces to athletics, 360° have captured the imagination of trainers and instructors to deliver a cutting-edge, world class training program.

Typically, on a 360° image or video, you interact via Hotspots, which you can click and display some text, launch a video, launch a quiz, or play an audio.

For more information on creating a VR project, see VR project.

Create template-based projects

Adobe Captivate Classic templates allow you to improve consistency across similar projects or modules of a project and reduce the effort required to create new projects.

Create a storyboard and workflow

No matter what project you want to create, it is helpful to do some planning before you start taking screenshots. Consider first what you want the user to do, learn, or achieve as a result of viewing your project. Defining this goal allows you to create a comprehensive plan for success. Once you have defined the action you want the audience to take, you can create the “core” of the project.

Every movie tells a story. A storyboard is a written version of that story either in the form of text or graphics. It tells you whether you have a clear understanding of what you are about to present to your audience. You can use the 5W, 1H rule adopted in journalism to get your story straight—who, what, when, where, why, and how.

You can create a workflow readily when you have a storyboard in place. A workflow is the flow of information in a project that follows the rules you create for it. For example, you can have a nonlinear presentation in which you can move back and forth between slides, skip slides, or set rules for slide sequence. Defining the workflow in advance helps you complete your project earlier, with minimal changes during the editing cycle.

If your project includes a great deal of text (captions), a script is the best place to begin. Scripts use text-based pages. They are like pages in a book: logical, sequential, and containing as much detail as you care to provide.

Create project templates

When you want to create similar projects or similar modules in a project, use project templates to ensure consistency and save time. Project templates are especially useful when multiple authors are working on different project modules or on similar projects.

Project templates help achieve the following:

• Consistency across Adobe Captivate Classic projects.

• Reduced development time for multiple projects due to reuse of design.

• Reuse of project preferences across multiple projects.

In a collaborative environment where the designers work separately from the people creating the content, designers use templates to ensure consistency across projects. Content developers do not have to worry about the workflow of the project, the various standards involved, or the creation of the layout. All they have to do is follow the instructions in the template and provide the required content in the relevant placeholders.

Creating a repository of templates requires a disciplined effort involving all stakeholders. However, the effort pays for itself over time in terms of reduced development time for projects.

An Adobe Captivate Classic project template consists of the following:

• Slides with placeholders for various Adobe Captivate Classic objects

• Placeholders for the following:

  • Recording slides

  • Question slides.

• Master slides. For more information on Master Slides, see Master slides.

You can define and use object styles along with the project templates to ensure a uniform appearance for your projects.

When you create a project using a template, the placeholders in the template are marked with a placeholder icon. The icon disappears when you insert an object into a placeholder.

In addition to placeholders, you can add all Adobe Captivate Classic objects and supported media to templates. The template serves as a ‘stencil’ only. Users can change the objects and placeholders without any restriction when creating a project from the template.

To make a project template more effective, add slide notes providing information or instructions. Include information on the recommended types and properties of objects, media, or slides that users are to insert in the placeholders.

Create projects from project templates