Adobe Captivate
Encyclopedia
Adobe Captivate is an electronic learning tool for Microsoft Windows
, and from v.5 Mac OS X
which can be used to author software demonstrations, software simulations, branched scenarios, and randomized quizzes in .swf format. It can also convert Adobe Captivate generated .swf to .avi which can be uploaded to video hosting websites. For software simulations, Captivate can use left or right mouse clicks, key presses and rollover images.
It can also be used for screencast
s, podcast
s, and the conversion of Microsoft PowerPoint
presentations to the Adobe Flash
format.
authoring tool
after San Diego-based eHelp Corporation acquired Flashcam and released it as RoboDemo. Eventually, software firm Macromedia
acquired eHelp to gain RoboDemo. Shortly before Adobe Systems acquired Macromedia, they changed the name of the product to Captivate.
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, and from v.5 Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
which can be used to author software demonstrations, software simulations, branched scenarios, and randomized quizzes in .swf format. It can also convert Adobe Captivate generated .swf to .avi which can be uploaded to video hosting websites. For software simulations, Captivate can use left or right mouse clicks, key presses and rollover images.
It can also be used for screencast
Screencast
A screencast is a digital recording of computer screen output, also known as a video screen capture, often containing audio narration. The term screencast compares with the related term screenshot; whereas screenshot is a picture of a computer screen, a screencast is essentially a movie of the...
s, podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
s, and the conversion of Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint, usually just called PowerPoint, is a non-free commercial presentation program developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Office suite, and runs on Microsoft Windows and Apple's Mac OS X operating system...
presentations to the Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
format.
History
While the product started out as a pure screen recording utility known as Flashcam (Nexus Concepts 2002), it evolved into an E-learningE-learning
E-learning comprises all forms of electronically supported learning and teaching. The information and communication systems, whether networked learning or not, serve as specific media to implement the learning process...
authoring tool
Authoring systems
The "Intelligent tutoring system" research community uses the term authoring system to refer to a computer based system that allows a general group to create content for intelligent tutoring systems...
after San Diego-based eHelp Corporation acquired Flashcam and released it as RoboDemo. Eventually, software firm Macromedia
Macromedia
Macromedia was an American graphics and web development software company headquartered in San Francisco, California that produced such products as Flash and Dreamweaver. Its rival, Adobe Systems, acquired Macromedia on December 3, 2005 and controls the line of Macromedia...
acquired eHelp to gain RoboDemo. Shortly before Adobe Systems acquired Macromedia, they changed the name of the product to Captivate.
Versions
- Adobe Captivate 5.5 (May 2011) New features include gradients, shadows, and object rotation, enhanced quiz/assessment templates, MP4 output option, YouTube publishing option, pay-as-you go subscription licensing option. Available as a stand-alone product or as part of the Adobe eLearning Suite 2.5 bundle.
- Adobe Captivate 5 (July 2010) Unlike previous versions that were derivative of Captivate 2 and carried over notable bugs and technological limitations, Captivate 5 was written from scratch. Features include a new GUI similar to other Adobe CS family products, built-in animation effects, extended Microsoft PowerPointMicrosoft PowerPointMicrosoft PowerPoint, usually just called PowerPoint, is a non-free commercial presentation program developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Office suite, and runs on Microsoft Windows and Apple's Mac OS X operating system...
support, extended video embedding and control (it functions similarly to audio in older versions), master slides and object styles. Developers are able to publish their content to Acrobat.com and use it as a quasi-Learning management systemLearning management systemA learning management system is a software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, and reporting of training programs, classroom and online events, e-learning programs, and training content...
. Adobe Captivate 5 is available separately or as part of Adobe eLearning Suite 2Adobe eLearning SuiteAdobe eLearning Suite is a collection of applications made by Adobe Systems for learning professionals, instructional designers, training managers, content developers, and educators....
.
- Adobe Captivate 4 (Jan 2009) New features included SWF commenting, professional project templates, customizable widgets, roundtrip PowerPoint workflow, table of contents and aggregator, text-to-speech functionality, variables and advanced actions, expanded output options, Adobe Photoshop layer support. This version has features for collaboration, extends Adobe Captivate and interacts with other Adobe products like Bridge, Soundbooth, Photoshop, Adobe Device Central, etc. This version of Adobe Captivate is also part of the new Adobe eLearning SuiteAdobe eLearning SuiteAdobe eLearning Suite is a collection of applications made by Adobe Systems for learning professionals, instructional designers, training managers, content developers, and educators....
. Note: There is a bug in aggregator that sometimes interferes with the playback controls of embedded live-action video.
- Adobe Captivate 3 (July 2007) New features included multimode recording, automatic rerecording, XML export/import (XLIFFXLIFFXLIFF is an XML-based format created to standardize localization. XLIFF was standardized by OASIS in 2002. Its current specification is v1.2 released on Feb-1-2008....
) for localization, find and replace, audio recording with preview, randomized quizzes, answer shuffle, new question types (sequence/hotspot), PPT import with animations, rollover slidelet, and slide transition effects. This version has an Adobe Captivate logo preloader added to the beginning of all simulations, but this can be changed to a generic preloader. It would eventually be included in the Adobe Technical Communication SuiteAdobe Technical Communication SuiteAdobe Technical Communication Suite is a collection of applications made by Adobe Systems for technical communicators, help authors, instructional designers, and eLearning and training design professionals....
.
- Adobe Captivate 2 (October 2006) New features included branching view, simulation wizard, library, interaction dialog, zoom, skins and menus, Flash Video (FLV) support, export to Flash 8, step-by-step documentation output, customization options, and PENS.
- Macromedia Captivate (October 2004) New features included timeline, audio editing, demonstration and simulation recording modes, customizable quiz questions, export to Flash MX 2004, smart full motion recording, 508 compliance, SCORM 2004, and Breeze integration.
- RoboDemo 5 and eLearning Edition (Fall 2003 by eHelp Corporation) New features included tighter integration with Flash via FLA and SWF import, full-motion (real-time) recording, SCORM 1.2., video import, multiple copy/paste, undo, shortcut controls, grid, alignment toolbar, filmstrip view, background audio, animated highlighters, and project resize.
- RoboDemo 4 and eLearning Edition (Spring 2003 by eHelp Corporation) New features included AutoText Captions, Animated Text Effects, PowerPoint style interface, publish as email attachment, customize capture key, SCORM, Quiz question slides, support for Questionmark Perception.
- RoboDemo 3 (Fall 2002 by eHelp Corporation) New features included Powerpoint and AVI import, interactive text entry boxes, interactive click boxes, JavaScript options, and scoring.
- RoboDemo 2 (May 2002 by eHelp Corporation) First version with major FlashCam bug fixes (therefore it was called version "2").
Project files
.cp: Captivate project files which can be edited with the Captivate software.cptx: Captivate 5.x project files which can be edited with the Captivate software. cptx files edited with version 5.0 can be opened in version 5.5, but not vice versa..cpdt: Captivate design template filesTemplate (file format)The term document template when used in the context of file format refers to a common feature of many software applications that define a unique non-executable file format intended specifically for that particular application.....cptl: Captivate project template files.crev: Captivate Review File. In version 4 and later, a project can be reviewed in a collaborative way. This file is published when a project is sent out for review. A Review Application can open this file and can accept comments which can be seen in the main Captivate window. The Review Application is an Adobe AIR application and can be installed on any machine without requiring Adobe Captivate license.
Interim files
.cprr: XML file to store users action when recording scripts during re recording feature. This file can be used to automatically imitate users action in another session of Adobe Captivate recording..fla: The project files of Adobe Flash ProfessionalAdobe Flash ProfessionalAdobe Flash Professional is a multimedia authoring program used to create content for the Adobe Engagement Platform, such as web applications, games and movies, and content for mobile phones and other embedded devices.-History:...
IDE. Flash authoring software can edit FLA files and compile them into .swf files.
Output files
.swf: Compiled Adobe FlashAdobe FlashAdobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
format that can be played with Adobe Flash PlayerAdobe Flash PlayerThe Adobe Flash Player is software for viewing multimedia, Rich Internet Applications and streaming video and audio, on a computer web browser or on supported mobile devices. Flash Player runs SWF files that can be created by the Adobe Flash authoring tool, by Adobe Flex or by a number of other...
. They are the primary output of Adobe Captivate..aggr: Adobe Captivate Aggregator file format. The Aggregator is a new application that is installed along with Adobe Captivate 4. It can take multiple Captivate modules and publish an aggregated course with a table of contents..avi: A Microsoft container format for digital video that can be played with Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
, a component of Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
..flv: An Adobe container format for digital video, it can be played with Adobe Flash Player..qml: An XMLXMLExtensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
-based file format that is interoperable with QuestionMark PerceptionQuestionMarkThe Questionmark Corporation is a supplier of online assessment software to educational institutions, public sector employers and commercial companies worldwide. The company was started in 1988 by current chairman John Kleeman. Primary markets are Europe and North America...
. It the basis of QTIQTIThe IMS Question and Test Interoperability specification defines a standard format for the representation of assessment content and results, supporting the exchange of this material between authoring and delivery systems, repositories and other learning management systems. It allows assessment...
.