Adobe CAPTIVATE 5 Help Manual page 32

Last updated 4/22/2010
Every movie tells a story. A storyboard is a written version of that story either in the form of text or graphics. It tells
you whether you have a clear understanding of what you are about to present to your audience. You can use the 5W,
1H rule adopted in journalism to get your story straight—who, what, when, where, why, and how.
You can create a workflow readily when you have a storyboard in place. A workflow is the flow of information in a
project that follows the rules you create for it. For example, you can have a nonlinear presentation in which you can
move back and forth between slides, skip slides, or set rules for slide sequence. Defining the workflow in advance helps
you complete your project earlier, with minimal changes during the editing cycle.
If your project includes a great deal of text (captions), a script is the best place to begin. Scripts use text-based pages.
They are like pages in a book: logical, sequential, and containing as much detail as you care to provide.
Create project templates
When you want to create similar projects or similar modules in a project, use project templates to ensure consistency
and save time. Project templates are especially useful when multiple authors are working on different project modules
or on similar projects.
You can apply design templates to project templates to ensure a uniform appearance for your projects.
Project templates help achieve the following:
•
Consistency across Adobe Captivate projects.
•
Reduced development time for multiple projects due to reuse of design.
•
Reuse of project preferences across multiple projects.
In a collaborative environment where the designers work separately from the people creating the content, designers
use templates to ensure consistency across projects. Content developers do not have to worry about the workflow of
the project, the various standards involved, or the creation of the layout. All they have to do is follow the instructions
in the template and provide the required content in the relevant placeholders.
Creating a repository of templates requires a disciplined effort involving all stakeholders. However, the effort pays for
itself over time in terms of reduced development time for projects.
An Adobe Captivate project template consists of the following:
•
Slides with placeholders for various Adobe Captivate objects
•
Placeholders for the following:
• Recording slides
• Question slides.
When you create a project using a template, the placeholders in the template are marked with a placeholder icon. The
icon disappears when you insert an object into a placeholder.
Note: The placeholder objects are not visible when you preview or publish a project created with a project template.
In addition to placeholders, you can add all Adobe Captivate objects and supported media to templates. The template
serves as guidance only. Users can change the objects and placeholders without any restriction when creating a project
from the template.
To make a project template more effective, add slide notes providing information or instructions. Include information
on the recommended types and properties of objects, media, or slides that users are to insert in the placeholders.
Note: You can apply a design template to a project template. The properties defined for objects in the design template are
applied to the respective objects constructed from the placeholder.
Select File > New Project > Project Template.
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DRAFT
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USING ADOBE CAPTIVATE 5
Creating Projects