I’ve been exploring Captivate lately because I wanted to translate some screencasts for a project I’m undertaking. It turns out, Captivate doesn’t work so well for screencasting. Slide-based eLearning, sure. But when you have a lengthy software simulation, it fails because you can’t edit the audio while watching the video play. Really? Yes. Really. You know, like if you wanted to ensure the timing of … more »

Understanding SWF versus MPEG-4 Formats in Jing Pro I was confused by the difference between SWF and MPEG-4 before I read this explanation (which includes video examples).

[Audio clip: view full post to listen] Download MP3 (to download, right-click and select Save Target As) Length: 65 min. Screencasting Presentation Summary In this podcast, Collin Turner presents on “Screencasting — Workflow and Presentation” to the Intermountain STC chapter in Utah. Here’s the presentation summary: Screencasting (when applied properly) is a valuable tool whose popularity is gaining traction. Most available software is accessible and … more »

Creating video tutorials is no trivial task. When you sit down to create 20+ video tutorials for a project, you’re faced with dozens of questions. What screen size should the videos be, what recording tool should you use, what microphone is best, how long should the videos be, what file size is acceptable? Should you use voice or captions? Where will you create the recording? … more »

Camtasia Studio or Captivate: A comparison. Very even-handed and practical comparison.

If you asked me 6 months ago how much I used my Zoom H4 digital recorder, it wasn’t much. I initially got it to record live interviews at conferences, and donations from my podcast listeners paid for the device. (Thanks, once again, guys.) But this past month, I’ve carried the Zoom with me everywhere I go. I use it almost every day at work. I … more »

The two leading screencast tools, Camtasia and Captivate, both have strengths and weaknesses that make selecting a clear winner difficult if not impossible. But lately I’ve been using both of these tools and have been particularly impressed by Camtasia’s zoom-and-pan feature. The new zoom-and-pan feature in Camtasia is, without argument, the most exciting feature in Camtasia. The zoom-and-pan feature allows you to easily zoom in … more »

I recently received an email from a reader who asked to know what the job of a technical writer is like. Anoop writes, I am a computer science Master’s student at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. I am in my second year and I am on the lookout for jobs. Other than the system software engineer posts, I am considering applying for a job … more »

Rob Houser’s recent article in Writers UA, “What’s New in RoboHelp 7?“, is a thorough, insightful article I highly recommend. After reading his review, I thought I’d post a few notes from my experiences with the same. (For more about Rob, see his site.) This past month I’ve been heavily using the RoboHelp 7 and Captivate 3 components of the Technical Communication Suite. RoboHelp 7 … more »

I made a help file showing a sample integration of Captivate with Robohelp, specifically showing screen demos inside hotspots. I like that the screen demos hide so nicely. (The content of the demos is not what I’m showing here, but if you’re totally new to Audacity, you might find them helpful as a basic intro.) Let me know if you have any feedback.

I’m excited to welcome Adobe as a new sponsor for Tech Writer Voices. This past week, I’ve been playing around with their new Technical Communications Suite. This Suite includes Framemaker, RoboHelp, Acrobat 3D, and Captivate. I’ve especially been playing with the Captivate-RoboHelp integration. So far I think it’s pretty amazing. You can embed Captivate movies directly in your online help, even in drop-down hotspots. For … more »

For a long time, I looked at help authoring tools in terms of their single sourcing ability — creating the source material in the tool, and then outputting to online help, print, and other targets. However, I’ve given up on the ideal, at least for now. I’m convinced that the new vernacular, as a SXSW podcast called it, is audio and video. If faced with … more »