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VERDICT: Improved media handling, notably Flash video support, and improved interactivity see Captivate extend into rich new areas of computer-based training.

The most obvious strength of Adobe Captivate is that it outputs its computer-based training in the web-friendly Flash SWF format which can immediately be viewed by just about every computer user...

However the real secret of the program’s success is its intelligent screen capture which, wherever possible, avoids full motion capture in favour of static captures automatically overlaid with mouse movements and local background changes such as keystrokes. This slide-based approach is more bandwidth efficient for final delivery and also makes for easier ongoing editing – especially as Captivate automatically adds in text captions and highlight boxes to start you off.
New editing improvements in this latest release include the ability to partially gray-out the area surrounding a highlight box and to create a zoom effect to grab the viewer’s attention. When adding objects, you can also now explicitly specify size and position and choose to apply changed properties to the current object, slide or project. You can also quickly toggle the display and lock status of all elements in each slide’s Timeline. The biggest productivity improvement is the addition of a new Library panel which lists all sound and image files in use in the current project. The Library comes into its own when you want to re-use items, especially as you can open libraries from other project files, and you can also use it to open your files into your preferred application and then save back the edited version.

The new Library and Flash video support greatly enhance Captivate 2’s media handling

Another major media handling enhancement is the new support for Flash Video (FLV). Using the simple Insert dialog you can browse to the FLV file that you want to link to, set the desired width and height and then select from a range of preset playback skins. The default FLV format supported is Progressive Download which is simple to set up and can also include alpha channels so that you can produce striking effects with transparent video overlays. Captivate also supports FLV hosting on streaming servers if you need improved handling or live video.

Branching enables the e-learning material to respond to the user

Captivate 2’s new video support enables the program to move beyond traditional onscreen software demonstrations into entirely new areas of computer-based training. The same is true of Captivate’s support for interactivity. In particular, by adding click boxes and text entry boxes, you can quickly turn a demonstration into a hands-on user assessment – Captivate 2 will now even attempt to do this for you as you record, though you’ll certainly want to fine-tune the results. Alternatively, using the Insert Question command, you can add a range of quizzes to rate end user knowledge and you can now customize the automatically-generated feedback score page. Even better, to help you keep on top of such interactions, the new Advanced Interaction dialog pulls together all questions and interactive objects in your project as an editable table and lets you control what should happen on success or failure, the number of attempts allowed and so on. You can also set whether answers should be reported to a behind-the-scenes Learning Management System (LMS) and Captivate 2 now supports all the major LMS standards - SCORM 1.2, SCORM 2004, AICC and, the newest and simplest of all, PENS.
Captivate 2 enables another entirely new level of end user interaction by providing support for branching which means that each user can follow their own path through the material provided. At its simplest this can be managed by adding question slides, buttons and text and click boxes that lead to different target slides or which load a URL, SWF or Javascript snippet depending on the response. To help get you started with branching, Captivate 2 offers a Scenario wizard which adds basic building block slides. To help you keep on top of more complex projects it also offers a dedicated Branching view which shows colour-coded success and failure paths and provides a central point where you can quickly manage all branching links.
Once you’ve recorded your demonstrations and added your mark-up, external media and interactivity, you’re ready to output your project. A major advance here is the ability to print question-and-answer lessons and step-by-step guides as well as handouts. Along with the new ability to add slide notes in the Storyboard, Editing and Branching views, this helps ensure that your printed output can be a seriously useful part of the overall package. Inevitably though it’s the hands-on, Flash-based training that is Captivate’s true publishing focus. Here the biggest improvement is the ability to edit your playback skins. Alongside managing colour and appearance you can set just what controls should appear including two new options: a Closed Captioning panel which overlays a text version of audio; and a customisable Drop-Down Menu that lets users jump between sections of the training. Editable skins are a big step forward but this is still an area which could be improved (take a look at Articulate Presenter). On the other hand, if you really want to customize your output, and are a Flash expert, then you can now export your project and playback controls to Flash 8 Professional for further refining.
Other packages such as WildPresenter offer simpler and cheaper routes to Flash-based computer-based training but, for maximum professional control, Captivate is in a league of its own.

EASE OF USE 4/6
FEATURES 6/6
VALUE FOR MONEY 4/6
OVERALL 5/6