Using the New Timeline in Captivate

Working with Timeline Objects and Actions

You can use the Timeline to get to the properties of the objects and actions. You can double-click options and also use right-click menus to get to the properties dialog boxes.

Changing the Duration of the Slide

If you place your cursor on the vertical line to the right of the Slide row, you can move the end point of the slide left or right, changing the amount of time the slide lasts.

Changing the Duration of an Object

An object appears when the playhead reaches its left edge in the Timeline during playback. It disappears when the playhead reaches the right edge of the object.

Moving an object on the Timeline can produce four different results:

• If you place the cursor to the left edge of an object on the Timeline, the cursor becomes an insertion cursor. Dragging the edge further left changes the start time of the object but keeps the end time in its original place.
• If you place the cursor to the right edge of an object on the Timeline, it also turns into an insertion cursor. You can change the end time of the object without changing the start time. If you drag the right edge of the object so it aligns with the right edge of the slide object, a small red arrow pointing to the right appears. Moving the object to the right extends the duration of the slide object as well.
• If you click the object somewhere in the middle and drag it to the left, its duration does not change but its start and end times change to wherever you drop the object.
• If you click the object somewhere in the middle and drag it to the right, its start and end times change but its duration does not. Keep in mind, however, that if you move the object beyond the right edge of the slide object, the red arrow will appear and you will change the duration of the slide itself, although not that of the object.

Scrubbing

As I described previously, the Play button (press F3 or the Spacebar) plays the slide at a normal pace. This is, of course, very useful. However, there is a second option called scrubbing that you will find equally useful.

Scrubbing occurs when you drag the playhead to the left or right. Doing so plays the slide at the rate at which you drag the playhead. The window shows a snapshot of the instant in the slide where the playhead sits. Scrubbing animates the slide at the pace and in the direction you drag the playhead. You will find yourself using this very useful option quite frequently.

Double-Clicking Options

When you double-click an object or action on the Timeline, the relevant properties dialog box opens. For instance, double-clicking the Mouse object opens the Mouse Properties dialog box (see Figure 6).

Figure 6. Mouse Properties dialog box after double-clicking the Mouse object

If you uncheck the Show Mouse Pointer option, the mouse action disappears from the Timeline. To make it appear again, select Slide > Mouse > Show Mouse.

Right-Click Menus

You can right-click any object on the Timeline to open an associated menu (right-click the object and select Properties). For instance, right-clicking the Mouse object shows the menu in Figure 7. This is the same menu you see when you select Slide > Mouse. This means you can use the right-click menu to turn off the mouse object for the slide.

Figure 7. Right-clicking the Mouse object

Most objects show you all the options from the Edit menu except for the Undo and Redo options.

Figure 8 shows what happens when you right-click the audio track. Right-clicking the Slide row gives you all the options that appear when you open the Slide menu from Captivate menu bar. In addition, it shows the Thumbnail Size option (also visible in the View menu) and an option called Insert, which opens a secondary menu containing all the options in the Insert menu. The Insert menu lets you easily add new interactive elements as well.

Figure 8. Audio Track right-click menu

Reordering Objects

The Timeline allows you to control the order in which objects appear on the screen. Objects close to the top of the Timeline appear before objects on rows near the bottom of the Timeline. For example, an object on the third row would appear before an object on the fourth row.

You can reorder objects by clicking the object on the Timeline and moving it up or down to place it above or below other objects. You can also reorder an object by right-clicking the object and choosing one of four options (see the following section, "Timeline Options").

Remember that when you select an object on the Timeline, Captivate also selects the object in the window. You can right-click a window object and choose one of the reorder options.

Take a look at the two buttons in Figure 9: Button 1 is in front of Button 2. You can see the two buttons on the Timeline as well. To make Button 2 appear in front of Button 1, drag the bottommost button on the Timeline two rows above, or right-click Button 2 either on the Timeline or in the window and choose to bring it forward. Alternatively, right-click Button 1 either on the Timeline or in the window and move it backward.

Figure 9. Reordering objects

Timeline Options

Table 1 shows a list of useful options related to the Timeline after you click (or right-click) an object on the Timeline or in the window. (Not included here are those options that are not related directly to the Timeline.)

Where to Go from Here

Now comes the fun part. Create a movie and play with the Timeline! That's the best way to learn about all the new features of the Timeline in Captivate. You'll find the whole process of creating movies a lot faster and much more fun than you expected.

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