Coming Around on Captivate
I develop a lot of technical product training for our in-house software so I’ve been using Adobe Captivate more and more over the last year. In the early days of my transition to ID, I focused on Articulate and Camtasia because those seemed like the most common and approachable tools.
When I need to make a software simulation I have two options:
Storyline: Import screenshots and screen recordings and add clickable buttons/hotspots and captions. (Edit: You can also use the Record Screen function, and then choose a mode for learners like view or try, but I've found this to have a lot of errors in the setup.)
Captivate: Use the ‘Software Simulation’ functionality and let Captivate create the interactions for me.
I’ve been using Captivate because of the different options to create a demo, assessment, or training simulation. I like that it has built in functionality to have pop-up hints or failure messages, and that it breaks the whole simulation down into steps (slides) for me.
Some of the language was new, as hover states are called rollovers, borders are called strokes, trigger sets are referred to as shared actions, etc. The UI is not as familiar as Storyline because Storyline looks like PowerPoint, so that took some getting used to.
Note: Paul Wilson’s YouTube channel is a MUST for anyone working in Captivate, because Captivate doesn’t have the same online community with forums like Articulate products.
Overall, Adobe Captivate has a steeper learning curve, but it feels robust, works on Macs, and has a $34 monthly subscription plan. I’m keeping it as a valuable tool in my toolbox.
