In the past, the use of a “live narrator” on set at a location posed an expensive challenge to Captivate developers and production personnel. Trying to acquire live video and audio in a busy work space is difficult, not only for the production team, but for the people who are trying to do their jobs during the process.

With the advent of Captivate 2019, developers can now place “on screen” talent in any location without the expense or logistic problems of a remote shoot.

Using the new features incorporated into the Video Demo project creation mode, developers can now create layered video presentations as part of training programs. For example, the image to the right  is a screen capture of a Captivate 2019 Video Demonstration that was created using live footage of a rocket launch with the picture in picture motion video of the presenter appearing to be in the launch control center while it was happening.

The final video resulted in a high impact presentation explaining the processes involved in the launch cycle. Except for one key issue. The presenter was never there. There was no video production crew nor their equipment in the control room during the launch either. Frankly, there was no video production crew ever.
With a well-planned script and storyboard, combined with the new Captivate capabilities,  the creation and delivery possibilities are limitless.
The key to all of this is the new webcam video capture capability of Captivate 2019.

When Video Demo creation mode is selected, and a web camera is connected, the developer is prompted to isolate the “narrator” by following a simple set of instructions presented.

Once the narrator is identified and confirmed, you are prompted to select a background by simply clicking on the background and selecting from the background image gallery.

You can add your own custom images to the gallery and use those as well. You can even go as far as to use an image to create your project and swap it out for another image at any point.

The ease of this process and the lack of requirement for external tools adds a truly powerful capability to the designer’s abilities.

As a person who has been involved in the design, development and production of eLearning programs for over 35 years, very little gets me as excited as this new feature. Properly utilized, we can increase the interest factor in our instructional presentation to a whole new level.  We can place the “expert” in any environment, and under any conditions, without placing him or her. or a production crew, in unsafe or difficult position that may be necessary to emphasize key instructional points.

Well done to the Adobe Development Team.