Mastering Adobe Captivate 7
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Shooting your first movie

It is time to have your first hands-on experience of an actual recording session. Shooting a movie is a four-step process:

  1. Preparing the application to shoot.
  2. Rehearsing the scenario.
  3. Shooting the movie.
  4. Previewing the rushes.

Let's review these four steps one by one.

Preparing the application to shoot

For this exercise, the application you will use is Adobe Media Encoder CS6. This application is used to convert virtually any type of video files to Flash video and HTML5 video. Adobe Media Encoder (AME) is part of the standard Captivate package. So, if you have Captivate (even the trial version), you also have AME.

You will now reset the Captivate workspace and open AME by performing the following steps:

  1. Open Captivate. If Captivate is already open, close all the open files.
  2. Make sure the default Classic workspace is applied.
  3. Open AME. On a Mac, it is situated in the /Applications/Adobe Media Encoder CS6 folder. On Windows, a shortcut to AME should be available in the Start menu.

When AME opens, make sure it looks like the following screenshot:

Preparing the application to shoot

Tip

This exercise also works with Adobe Media Encoder CC.

Rehearsing the scenario

The goal of this Captivate project is to teach students how to use AME to convert a QuickTime movie (with a .mov extension) to Flash video (with a .flv extension). This scenario follows the exact same steps as those used in the Encoder Demonstration and Simulation of the previous chapter. Make sure the audio system of your computer is turned on before rehearsing the following scenario. Here are the steps:

  1. Go to the Adobe Media Encoder application.
  2. In the top-left corner of the application, click on the + icon.
  3. Browse to the videos/MOV folder of the exercise files and load the demo_en.mov QuickTime movie into AME.
  4. Open the Format drop-down list and choose the .flv format.
  5. Open the Preset drop-down list and apply the last 4 x 3 preset (the one before the last in the list).
  6. Click on the preset name to open the Export Settings dialog.
  7. In the lower right-hand side area of the Export Settings dialog, open the Video tab (if needed).
  8. Scroll down the Video tab until you see the Resize Video section.
  9. Make sure the Maintain Aspect Ratio icon (the chain icon) is active and change the Width value of the video to 400 pixels. Normally, the new Height value of the video is automatically set to 300 pixels.
  10. Click on the OK button to validate the new Export Settings.
  11. Click on the Start Queue button (the green Play icon) to start the actual encoding.

The encoding process begins. In the Encoding panel at the bottom of the screen, a yellowish bar shows the progression of this operation. When the operation is complete, the system plays a brief chime sound effect.

Make sure you master these steps, and make sure AME behaves as expected before continuing. If you need more practice, feel free to rehearse this scenario a few more times before the recording. After all, on a real movie set, even the most famous actors rehearse their scenes many times before the director finally decides to turn the camera on.

Resetting the application

When you are ready to shoot the scene, don't forget to reset AME to its original state. The best way to do this is to perform the following steps:

  1. Close AME.
  2. When the application is closed, reopen it.
  3. When the application reopens, make sure it looks like the previous image again.

    Also, delete the .flv file(s) you generated during the rehearsal(s) by performing the following steps:

  4. Open the Finder (Mac) or the Windows Explorer (Windows) and browse to the videos/MOV folder of the exercise files.
  5. Delete every .flv file present in this folder.

On a real movie set, this is the job of the script girl!

Shooting the movie

You know the scenario, and now the application is ready to be captured. Let's head back to Captivate and start the actual shooting process.

Enabling access to assistive devices (Mac users only)

If you work on a Mac, there is one preliminary step to be taken before Captivate can record the movie. The exact procedure depends on the version of Mac OS X you are using. If you are using Version 10.8 (Mountain Lion) or below, the procedure goes as follows:

  1. Open the System Preferences application.
  2. In the Personal section of System Preferences, click on the Universal Access icon.
  3. At the bottom of the Universal Access preference pane, select the Enable access for assistive devices checkbox.
  4. Close the System Preferences application and return to Captivate.

If you are using Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks), the following is the procedure:

  1. The first time you create a new software simulation with Captivate 7, a dialog box will appear on the screen asking you if you want to let Captivate access the assistive devices.
  2. Click on Open System Preferences to open the System Preferences application.
  3. If needed, click on the lock icon in the bottom-left corner of the System Preference application and authenticate as an administrator.
  4. Tick the Captivate option to grant Captivate access to the assistive devices.

Without the preceding step, Mac OS does not broadcast the events that Captivate uses to capture user interactivity (clicking on a button, typing into a text entry, and so on).

Preparing Captivate to shoot the movie

For this first practice recording, you will use the default options of Captivate to shoot the movie as follows:

  1. Close every open file so that the Captivate welcome screen is displayed.
  2. In the right-hand side column of the welcome screen, click on the Create New | Software Simulation link. You can also use the File | Record new Software Simulation menu item to achieve the same result.

    The Captivate interface disappears and a red rectangle is displayed on the screen. This red rectangle is the recording area:

  3. In the recording window, choose Application to record an application.
  4. In the Select the window to record drop-down list, choose to record the Adobe Media Encoder CS6 application.

    The Adobe Media Encoder application opens, and the red recording area snaps to the application window:

  5. In the Snap to section of the box, choose to record at Custom Size.
  6. Choose the 1024 x 768 size in the drop-down list. The red recording area and AME are both resized to the chosen size.
  7. Leave the remaining options at their default settings.
  8. The recording window should look like the following screenshot:
    Preparing Captivate to shoot the movie

    Note

    Mac users, the System Audio checkbox might be unavailable on your system. This problem will be addressed later in this chapter.

In the preceding screenshot, notice the Demo checkbox in the lower part of the window. Make sure this checkbox is the only one selected.

The stage is set, and the actors are in place. Everyone is waiting for the director's signal to get started!

And… Action!

The signal is the red Record button at the bottom of the recording window. Once you click on it, all your actions are recorded by Captivate until you stop the capture:

Note

If you have a problem while doing this exercise, refer to the Chapter02/final/encoderDemo_1_1024.cptx file of your exercises folder.

  1. Click on the red Record button at the bottom of the recording window. After a short countdown, you'll be in the recording mode.
  2. In the Adobe Media Encoder window, perform the actions as written in the scenario you rehearsed earlier in this chapter.

    During the recording, pay close attention to the following things:

    • Each time you click, you should hear a camera shutter sound
    • When you type in the Width field, you should hear keystrokes
    • After clicking on the Start Queue button, AME displays a yellowish progression bar in the bottom-left panel

    Also, make sure you perform the actions slowly to allow Captivate enough time to capture all the needed images and actions:

  3. After completing all the steps, hit the End key (Windows), or do the cmd + enter shortcut (Mac), to stop the recording and have Captivate generate the slides.

    Tip

    On some Mac models, it is the cmd + fn + enter shortcut that is needed to stop the recording.

  4. When the project has finished loading in Captivate, save it as Chapter02/encoderDemo_1_1024.cptx.
  5. Close the Adobe Media Encoder application.

The shooting phase of the movie is now finished. If you don't get it right the first time, don't worry; you can simply discard your sequence and start over. On a real movie set, even the most famous actors are granted many chances to do it right.

Previewing the rushes

The project should be open in Captivate. To launch the preview, you will use the same icon as in Chapter 1, Getting Started with Captivate:

  1. On the Main Options toolbar, click on the Preview icon. In the drop-down list, choose Project to preview the entire project (you can also use the F4 shortcut key to do the same thing).
  2. Captivate generates the slides in a temporary Flash file and opens the Preview pane.

    Captivate has already generated lots of objects on the slides. Remember that in the recording window, the Demo mode was selected by default. The Demo mode automatically adds Text Captions, Highlight Boxes, and Mouse movements to the slides.

    Of course, some of the content of the Text Captions must be corrected the size and position of the Highlight Boxes must be fine-tuned and the overall rhythm of the project is probably too fast, but this is an acceptable starting point.

    The main problem with these rushes is how the movie ends. While previewing the project, you probably noticed that the yellowish encoding progression bar has not been captured by Captivate.

    In order to understand why Captivate did not capture the yellowish progression bar at the end of the movie, it is necessary to further dive into the inner working of the Captivate capture engine.

  3. Close the Preview pane when done.
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