Adobe Captivate Article

Adobe Captivate Full Motion Recording (FMR) Editor

The Adobe Captivate Full Motion Recording (FMR) editor is a tool that lets you edit a movie recorded using the FMR feature of Adobe Captivate 3.

In addition, you can do the following:

• Delete frames from an FMR SWF.
• Insert an FMR SWF into another.
• Split a SWF into two parts.
• Preview and play the SWF being edited.

Note: You can use Adobe Captivate FMR editor to edit FMR SWFs created using Adobe Captivate 3 only. Using this to edit FMR SWFs created using other applications or other versions of Adobe Captivate can have unpredictable results.

Requirements

You must install the following software to follow the steps in this tutorial:

Adobe Captivate 3.0

• Try
• Buy

Adobe Captivate Full Motion Recording (FMR) Editor

• Download (ZIP, 2.3 MB)

Getting started

Use the following steps to get started:

1. Download the Full Motion Recording (FMR) linked above.
2. Unzip it.
3. Open the FMREditor application.
4. Browse to a Full Motion Recording SWF file you created with Captivate 3 and open it.

Figure 1 illustrates the interface of the FMR Editor.

Figure 1. The FMR Editor GUI

The Menu bar

File menu:

• Use the Open command to open the FMR SWF you wish to edit.
• Use Save or Save As to save the file in the same or a different location.
• If you have modified the file after the last save, an asterix (*) is displayed next to the name of the file on the title bar, indicating the file is in an unsaved state.
• To exit the application, select File > Exit.

Edit menu:

The edit menu has three options: Delete Frames, Split SWF and Insert SWF. For more information refer to the Editing an FMR SWF  section below.

Control menu:

Use the following options in the control menu to control the frame movement in the movie:

Control panel

You can use the following buttons in the control panel to do the following:

The control panel also displays the time corresponding to the playhead position in the format
"minutes: seconds : 100 milliseconds . total frames elapsed".

Timeline

You can use the timeline to do the following:

• Control and observe the timing of various actions in the FMR SWF.
• Check the duration of the movie using the 'end' marker.
• Detect the frame currently displayed in the preview area using the position of the playhead.
• Use the delete mode and Insert/Split mode of the selection marker on the timeline to delete or insert/split a set of frames. These modes can be toggled using the 'Toggle marker' button at the bottom of the timeline.
• Drag the two markers (icons) in the delete mode to select the set of frames that you want to delete. For more information, see the Editing an FMR SWF section below.
• Use the single marker in the Insert/Split mode to insert or split frames at the inserted position. For more information, see the Editing an FMR SWF section below.

Figure 2. Timeline in delete mode

Legend:

1. Begin delete marker (in point)
2. End delete marker (out point)
3. Toggle to insert/split mode
4. Set in point to playhead
5. Set out point to playhead
6. Frames selected for deletion
7. Indication that the current mode is delete mode

Figure 3. Timeline in insert/split mode

Legend:

1. Select point marker
2. Toggle to delete mode
3. Set point marker to playhead
4. Point at which insertion/split is to be performed
5. Indication that the current mode is insert/split mode

Editing an FMR SWF

Exporting an FMR SWF from Adobe Captivate 3.0:

Unless specified otherwise by you, the FMR SWFs are saved in the same folder in which the Adobe Captivate 3 movie is published. The folder name is in the format: <Project name>_Fullmotion<FMR number>.swf. You can also export FMR SWFs from the library of Adobe Captivate 3.

Use the following procedures to perform basic editing functions on FMR SWFs.

Delete frames

To delete frames from a FMR SWF:

1. Ensure that the timeline is in the delete mode using the timeline header. If the timeline is in the Insert/Split mode, click the Toggle Marker button. The timeline shifts to the delete mode. In this mode, the markers are displayed as two triangles.
2. Drag the two selection markers on the timeline to set the range for the initial and final frames you want to delete.
3. Select Edit > Delete Frames or right-click the stage and select Delete Frames from the pop-up menu.
4. Click Yes in the message box that appears. The selected frames are deleted from the movie.

Note: You cannot delete all frames in a movie.

Insert SWF

You can insert another FMR SWF at any point in an existing FMR SWF. To insert frames into a FMR SWF:

1. Ensure that the timeline is in the Insert/Split mode using the timeline header. If the timeline is in the Delete mode, click the Toggle Marker button. The timeline shifts to the Insert/Split mode. In this mode, the marker is displayed as a single triangle.
2. Drag the selection marker to the point where you want to insert another FMR SWF.
3. Select Edit > Insert SWF or right-click the stage and select Insert SWF from the pop-up menu. A file browser box appears.
4. Locate the FMR SWF file that you want to insert.
5. Click OK. The selected file is inserted at the point specified by the marker. This process can take some time depending on the size of the inserted file.

Split SWF

You can split an existing SWF into two parts. To split an existing SWF into two parts:

1. Ensure that the timeline is in the Insert/Split mode using the timeline header. If the timeline is in the Delete mode, click the Toggle Marker button. The timeline shifts to the Insert/Split  mode. In this mode, the marker is displayed as a single triangle.
2. Drag the selection marker to the point where you want to split the FMR SWF.
3. Select Edit >Split SWF or right-click the stage and select Split SWF from the pop-up menu. The Split file dialog box appears.

4. Do the following:

   1. In Part One, specify a name for the first half of the SWF that is created after the split.
   2. In Part Two, specify a name for the second half of the SWF that is created after the split.
   3. In Location, specify a location for the newly created SWF files.
   4. In File To Open, specify the SWF file that will remain open for editing after the splitting is complete.
5. Click OK.

Figure 4. Split file dialog box

Importing the edited FMR SWF in Adobe Captivate 3.0:

To insert an edited FMR SWF:

1. On the Insert menu, select Animation.
2. Browse to the folder that contains the edited SWF.
3. Click OK.

Alternatively, you can use the Import option in the library of Adobe Captivate 3 to import the SWF.

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