Creating Adobe Captivate content for use with Adobe Acrobat Connect Enterprise Server

Resolution considerations

Adobe Captivate projects are based on screen images or images you import. If you capture a large screen area, you may have to scale the Flash SWF file you generated from Adobe Captivate. In many cases, scaling the content will not be a problem. Adobe Acrobat Connect Enterprise Server is flexible and can scale content; however, if the movie contains small text that a user must read, scaling content may be an issue.

For the best playback quality and to prevent scaling in Adobe Acrobat Connect Enterprise Server, display the Adobe Captivate 2 generated Flash SWF file at the same size you created it. If you do not know what kind of resolution your audience can view, a rule of thumb is to develop content for the standard 800 x 600 screen resolution. When developing Adobe Captivate content to be used inside other applications, keep in mind that these applications (the browser, Adobe Flash Player, or Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional for instance) typically take up some of your screen real estate. Adobe Captivate already provides standard preset sizes such as the Browser choice, which takes toolbars, the windows, or status bar into consideration . For Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional, I recommend selecting the size Breeze – Full Slide choice (outlined in the steps below and yes we know it still says Breeze we will update that soon). With a size of 720 x 540, this size gives you the most flexibility: you can display nicely within Adobe Presenter, Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional Meeting, inside a browser, or as a stand-alone Flash file. To further explore screen size options in Adobe Captivate, use the following steps.

1. Start Adobe Captivate.
2. Select Record or create a new movie.
3. Select Custom Size. Press OK.
4. Click the Preset sizes button and select 720 x 540 Breeze – Full Slide.
5. Select the application you would like to capture from the pop-up menu and press the Snap window to fit inside button.
6. Record your demonstration or simulation.

Figure 1. Selecting a preset size

In addition to screen size, consider whether you need to provide additional non-interactive content. In most cases, an Adobe Captivate demonstration or simulation requires the description of a scenario, or you may want to add learning objectives or other content. To optimize download speeds, use the following table as a guideline:

Optimizing Download Speeds

Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional Meeting	Adobe Presenter	Standalone (.exe)
Place non-interactive content inside PowerPoint or load content into additional pods.	Place non-interactive content inside PowerPoint slides.	Place non-interactive content inside the HTML page that links to the simulation or include in the simulation.

Publishing Adobe Captivate files for use in Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional

When you publish an Adobe Captivate 2 project to be used with Adobe Acrobat Connect Enterprise Server or Adobe Presenter, use the Flash ( .swf) file publishing option. Deselect the Export HTML file option, since it is unnecessary to generate the HTML file. Adobe Acrobat Connect Enterprise Server can only import Flash content, so creating an executable, handouts, or Macintosh Projector file will not work with Adobe Acrobat Connect Enterprise Server.

Figure 2. Exporting the movie as Flash movie

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