Inserting movies in RoboHelp files

You can add Captivate movies to RoboHelp online help systems. This enables you to truly show AND tell users important information.

Note: Listed below are instructions for inserting Captivate movies into RoboHelp HTML online Help projects. For information about adding movies to RoboHelp Classic (WinHelp) Help projects, please visit the Captivate Help community.

Adding a Captivate movie to a RoboHelp project is simple. You create the Captivate movie, add the movie to your RoboHelp project, and select options for how you want to display the project.

To add a Captivate movie to a RoboHelp online help system:

  1. Create a Captivate movie as desired.

  2. Publish the movie as a Flash SWF file. Select the Export HTML option during the export process and note the folder location where the SWF file will be stored.

  3. In RoboHelp, open the Help project to which you want to add the Captivate movie.

  4. In the Project Manager, click once on the Multimedia folder.

  5. From the File menu, select Import > HTML file.

  6. Navigate to the HTML file of your Captivate movie (created in step 2 above) and select it.

  7. Click Open.

The HTML file and the Flash file (SWF) are imported into your RoboHelp project. The SWF file is added to the Multimedia folder, and a new topic (with the title of the movie) is created.

Note: The HTML file (with the title of the movie) that is added to your RoboHelp project is important. If you delete this topic, the related SWF file is also deleted from the project. You can, however, leave the topic in your Help project as a "hidden" topic (no links, not included in table of contents or index, etc.).  

To determine how the Captivate movie appears:

After the Flash file (SWF) is added to your RoboHelp project, you must determine how the movie appears. You can choose from several options. All of the options are easy to set up, but one may work better than another, depending upon your specific movie and Help project.

To display the movie within an existing topic:

You can place a Captivate movie directly into a RoboHelp topic so when the topic appears, the movie automatically appears and begins playing.

To display a Captivate movie within an existing topic:

  1. In RoboHelp, open the topic you want to use to start the movie.

  2. Click on a location in the topic. From the Insert menu, select Multimedia.

The Multimedia dialog box appears.

  1. Browse to the location of your Captivate file (e.g., myproject.swf), select it, and click OK.

  2. Preview the topic to see what the movie looks like, or generate and view your help system to see how the movie looks.

To display the movie in an auto-sizing pop-up window

You can place a Captivate movie in a new RoboHelp topic and then link to that topic from any other topics in the help system. If you select the option to open the movie topic in an auto-sizing pop-up window, the size of the window adjusts to accommodate the height and width of the movie.

To display the movie in an auto-sizing pop-up window:

  1. In RoboHelp, create a new topic.

  2. Add the Captivate movie to the topic. From the Insert menu, select Multimedia.

The Multimedia dialog box appears.

  1. Browse to the location of your Captivate file (e.g., myproject.swf), select it, and click OK.

  2. Save the topic.

  3. Open the topic you want to use to start the movie.

  4. Select the text or image to use as a hyperlink. From the Insert menu, select Hyperlink.

  5. In the Select Destination (File or URL) list, select the topic containing the Captivate movie.

  6. In Hyperlink Properties, select Display inauto-sizing popup.

  7. Click OK.

  8. Preview the topic to see what the movie looks like, or generate and view your help system to see how the movie looks.

To display the movie in a custom-sized pop-up window

You can place a Captivate movie in a new RoboHelp topic and then link to that topic from any other topics in the Help system. If you select the option to open the movie topic in a custom-sized popup window, you can set an exact height and width for the topic.

To display the movie in a custom-sized pop-up window:

  1. In RoboHelp, create a new topic.

  2. Add the Captivate movie to the topic. From the Insert menu, select Multimedia.

The Multimedia dialog box appears.

  1. Browse to the location of your Captivate file (e.g., myproject.swf), select it, and click OK.

  2. Save the topic.

  3. Open the topic you want to use to launch the movie.

  4. Select the text or image you want to use as a hyperlink. From the Insert menu, select Hyperlink.

  5. In the Select Destination (File or URL) list, select the topic containing the Captivate movie.

  6. In Hyperlink Properties, select Display incustom-sized popup.

  7. Select a Width and Height for your movie by using the arrows or typing in a number.

  8. Click OK.

  9. Preview the topic to see what the movie looks like, or generate and view your help system to see how the movie looks.

To display the movie in a new window

Captivate can place a Captivate movie in a new RoboHelp topic and then link to that topic from any other topics in the help system. If you select the option to open the movie topic in a new window, your movie will appear in the user's default web browser.

To display the movie in a new window:

  1. In RoboHelp, create a new topic.

  2. Add the Captivate movie to the topic. From the Insert menu, select Multimedia.

The Multimedia dialog appears.

  1. Browse to the location of your Captivate file (e.g., myproject.swf), select it, and click OK.

  2. Save the topic.

  3. Open the topic you want to use to start the movie.

  4. Select the text or image you want to use as a hyperlink. From the Insert menu, select Hyperlink.

  5. In the Select Destination (File or URL) list, select the topic containing the Captivate movie.

  6. In Hyperlink Properties, select Display inslide.

  7. From the drop-down list next to Display in Slide, select New Window.

  8. Click OK.

  9. Preview the topic to see what the movie looks like, or generate and view your help system to see how the movie looks.

To display the movie in the same slide as the link from topic

You can place a Captivate movie in a new RoboHelp topic and then link to that topic from any other topics in the help system. If you select the option to open the topic in the same slide, the movie topic will replace the original topic in your users' viewer.

To display the movie in the same slide as the link from topic:

  1. In RoboHelp, create a new topic.

  2. Add the Captivate movie to the topic. From the Insert menu, select Multimedia.

The Multimedia dialog appears.

  1. Browse to the location of your Captivate file (e.g., myproject.swf), select it, and click OK.

  2. Save the topic.

  3. Open the topic that you want to use to start the movie.

  4. Select the text or image that you want to use as a hyperlink. From the Insert menu, select Hyperlink.

  5. In the Select Destination (File or URL) list, select the topic containing the Captivate movie.

  6. In Hyperlink Properties, select Display inslide.

  7. From the pop-up menu next to Display in Slide, select Same Slide.

  8. Click OK.

  9. Preview the topic to see what the movie looks like, or generate and view your help system to see how the movie looks.

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