Using the New Timeline in Captivate

The new version of Macromedia RoboDemo, called Macromedia Captivate, includes for the first time a Timeline to help you precisely synchronize actions that occur in your finished demos and simulations. This greatly simplifies the previous approach used in RoboDemo, which, although useful, did not give you the functionality that the Timeline now lends you.

Note: Unlike the Timeline in Macromedia Flash, which is based on frames per second, the Timeline in Captivate is time-based. For most people, especially those not accustomed to the Flash interface, this more intuitive approach allows you to get to work right away.

Using the Timeline, you can change the order in which objects appear. You can also change more easily the amount of time that objects, such as captions, stay onscreen. The Timeline also lets you display multiple objects at the same time more easily than before and synchronize audio tracks very precisely—something that you can see easily on the Timeline itself. You can also change the time that the mouse pointer animates, as well as use the Timeline to perform an instant preview of any slide in your file.

The Timeline affords you yet another nice feature, sometimes called scrubbing. You can grab the playhead on the Timeline and drag it back and forth to preview the animation at your own pace and change direction as desired. This cool new feature saves you a lot of time and gives you considerable control over the authoring process.

Requirements

To make the most of this article, install the following software:

Adobe Captivate

• Try
• Buy

Although no prerequisite knowledge is absolutely necessary, it is best if you have already used RoboDemo or become familiar with the Captivate interface before using this article.

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