Captivate is easy to use, complete with a detailed help menu. Here’s how to go about creating a tutorial movie.
Step 1. To create a new movie, you have the option of either starting from scratch or using a template. Here, we will not use a template, so start with ‘Record or create a new movie’.
Step 2. When you click ‘Record or create new movie’, you are presented with two options-‘Record new movie’ and ‘Create other movie type’. Under ‘Record new movie’, select ‘Custom size’ and press OK.
Step 3. In the window that opens, select the screen size for your movie. You have the option of selecting from preset modes, for instance, full screen.
Step 4. Start up the application (or any window, for example, the ‘Network Connections’ window in XP) for which you intend to create the movie. This application or window will show up in a drop-down menu. From this menu, select the appropriate application.
Step 5. Select ‘Snap window to fit inside the red recording area’. This will fit the chosen application window in a red box of the size you chose in Step 2. This should give you an idea of how large your video will be.
Step 6. You can start recording right away, or else, click the ‘Options’ tab to set recording options. In the ‘Recording Options’ window, you can change such settings as language, custom recording options, enabling or disabling the ‘camera’ sound, recording of a narration, and so on.
Step 7. Once you have completed tuning all the settings according to your script, it’s time to hit the record button. However, be careful: whatever you click now, wherever you move your mouse, and so on, will be recorded. Go through your script thoroughly before actually starting to record.
Step 8. Click the ‘Record’ button and go about performing tasks as mentioned in your script. Every time an action is performed, Captivate generates the sound of a camera shutter.
Step 9. Once the movie is recorded, it will be saved to a predefined location. The entire recorded ‘reel’ will be displayed for further editing in the main window. At this stage, you can delete slides that you feel don’t fit. Moreover, you can change the timing by moving the ‘Timeline’ slider.
For this, you will have to go to the ‘Edit’ section: click on the ‘Edit’ tab beside the ‘Storyboard’ tab in the main window. Here, you will be presented with the timeline of each recorded slide, which can be adjusted simply by sliding the red line.
Step 10. Next, preview the edited movie for accuracy. To preview the movie, click the ‘Preview’ icon in the main toolbar and select ‘Movie’, or simply press F4. Publish the movie if everything is all right. To do this, click the ‘Publish’ icon beside the ‘Preview’ icon. This gives the option of publishing the recorded movie to HTML or SWF, or as an executable file for Windows, Linux or Macintosh, or to upload it to your FTP site.