[Web4lib] Macromedia Captivate (formerly RoboDemo)

[Michael Whang]

Tawnya,

Here is a recent article that compares Camtasia, Captivate and
Qarbon Viewlet Builder. I found the article very useful prior to
downloading the free trials of all three packages since it includes
a comparison matrix. This matrix lists various file formats that
each program can save to as well as whether or not quizzes are SCORM
compliant (ie. for incorporating into WebVista (aka latest version
of WebCT), and other pros and cons. Here is the citation:
NOTE: The article compares early versions of all three products
(i.e. Camtasia is on version 3.1 and the article reviews version
2.1)

=========
How We Used DEMONSTRATION AUTHORING SOFTWARE to Create Tutorials
Holley Long; John Culshaw
Computers in Libraries; Sep 2005; 25, 8; Research Library
pg. 6
=========


I decided on Camtasia v. 3.1 because:

Ease of Use
=========
Library staff and faculty will need to use software that's fairly
intuitive and easy to use. I've been a long time Macromedia
customer; however, I never got used to the complexity of Macromedia
Flash and Captivate looks and feels a lot like Flash. But to be
fair, Captivate did win a few stars when it came to presentation and
producing the final screencast. It could produce a nice, slick
looking screencast right out of the box (comes with neat transitions
etc).

File Formats
=========
Camtasia can save screencasts as quicktime movies, and if you ever
wanted to stream your screencasts to distance learners, this is
something to think about. Note, the quicktime format produces files
much larger than flash files. Captivate may also produce very
efficient file sizes as Ian Chan suggested.

Qarbon Viewlet Builder
==============
Now this is sort of a neat program because you have to manually
take screen your captures by pressing a key on the keyboard or use
the mouse. In my opinion, this would be great for any systems
librarians who may need to create tutorials for staff, say, on using
a new ILS client or learning how to use some feature of Groupwise's
calendaring feature since you can easily, easily take screen
captures of drop down menus and add any onscreen notes or
instructions with great ease. The downside of Qarbon is that you
have to buy Qarbon's ViewletCam that will enable you to capture
movies of your screen or database interface. Viewlet builder is for
screen captures. ViewletCam is for capturing screen movies. Qarbon's
interface was also more intuitive to me than Captivate and even
Camtasia, but this is personal preference.

Downside of Camtasia
===============
Supports only Windows. I ordered a Camtasia license and one seat is
loaded onto a PC laptop. Creating screen captures on a laptop work
fine. I use a pair of Logitech Premium USB Headset 350 and they are
excellent.


Michael Whang




"Live as if you were to die tomorrow... 
Learn as if you were to live forever." 
Mahatma Gandhi

========================
Michael Whang
Head, Web and Internet Services
Western Michigan University Libraries
1903 W. Michigan Ave.
Kalamazoo, MI  49008-5353
p: 269-387-5184
e: michael.whang at wmich.edu
=========================