# Creating branching in Captivate movies

Branching is an important concept in creating effective e-learning materials. Branching (sometimes called "contingency branching") means that the path a learner takes through the program is determined by responses made to questions. It is an excellent method of individualizing learning materials. Branching may be made on the basis of correct answers to a question, wrong answers to a question, an option selected by the learner, or based on the learner's experience, job category, level, or any other category.

You can create smart and sophisticated branching in your Captivate movies. Listed below are a few easy ways to add branching to a movie. All of these options include the capability to score the results so they can be used individually or in combination with each other. Also, Captivate movie slides can contain multiple objects, so, for example, you could add a click box on a menu item and a button on a toolbar.

Create question slides and specify different paths for right and wrong answers. This is the most straightforward method of adding branching. You have many options for answer paths including continuing the movie, going to a specific slide, or opening a URL. Captivate also makes it easy to add an error message for wrong answers and a retry message such as "please try again."

Add click boxes and choose different paths if users click inside the click box or outside the click box. Click boxes have the same answer options as quiz slides, but can be incorporated into existing slides instead of requiring their own slide. This enables you to add branching and interactivity to your movies at the same time. Click boxes have other optional functionality including stopping slide audio when clicked, pausing the movie until clicked, and adding hint, success, and failure captions.

Add text entry boxes and create different branches if users enter the text correctly or incorrectly. Text entry boxes are very flexible and can be used in many creative ways. For example, they are an excellent way to simulate data entry in an application. Because they are placed on existing slides and do not require their own slide, they do not interrupt the flow of the movie as much as a quiz slide. Text entry boxes have additional options such as requiring a password, adding case-sensitivity, and including hint, success, and failure captions.

Add buttons and create different paths for when the user clicks the button or when they click outside the button. Buttons are a quick way to add branching and interactivity to your movies in a way that is comfortable for many users. You have complete control over what happens when users click the button such as advancing the movie, jumping to a certain slide, or opening an e-mail program. You can also design the button so it looks good in your movie by selecting the fill color, text options, transparency level, and border color.