Tools

[InfoCentral]

There are Free screen recording software such as WINK and CamStudio but are there any Free software that will allow you to take that and build interactive tutorials? I'm sure you have used one of them. That's where they show you how to do something and then they tell you to do it. Or there is a pop-up dialogue box that tells you to select this on screen and when you do another dialogue box comes up and says "good." Interactive where the user needs to select something beside the "next" button.

 

WINK Download

 

CamStudio Download

[KenH]

Wink has that. I believe you can specify hot spots for people to click....but it might be in the next version due soon.

[InfoCentral]

I believe TechSmith's Camtasia Studio allows this type of interaction but it isn't cheep either. Adobe Captivate is just downright expensive. I believe that you can produce this type of interactive training with QuickTime using LiveStage Pro but it is way too expensive. Right now I use Adobe Acrobat to produce my interactive PDF training.

 

I guess what I need to do now is to figure out how to combine WINK or CamStudio with Acrobat. The good thing is that starting with Acrobat 6 you can embed movies and sound so you don't need separate movie and PDF tutorial files. Some software companies now provide tutorial movies as part of their PDF documentation. So you can read about how to do this, then click on movie icon and see it being done.

[seven]

Why not use Flash to build that interactive tutorial?

Some buttons to click - some ActionScripts recording the clicks - and then telling the result.

[InfoCentral]

Its the actionscript learning curve that I'm trying to avoid. I looked at Live Stage Pro and they say no programing required. Yeah, but a heck of a lot of scripting. I'm just trying to learn JavaScript now for Adobe Acrobat.

 

I think I figured out a way to accomplish what I want in Acrobat but I will need to test out my ideas. The big problem with PDF document creation for multimedia is that Adobe doesn't let you have control over the controls. So if I don't want someone to go to the next page till they do something on the page; if they know the command they can bypass my path just by clicking on any open area. A hugh downside. Adobe should provide a command, such as the security commands built in, that will block external commands and make only commands contained within the document active.

[itsjustme]

A low cost alternative to using Flash, you might try 3D Flash Animator...I think it's $50 (and you can try before you buy).

[InfoCentral]

I like it. It looks really cool. The only problem I usually find with these programs is that if you are really really sharp you can use it but if your not familiar with their competition you will have a heck of a time trying to figure out how to use it. Don't get me wrong. Flash is hard but there are so many step-by-step books out there and video training material that if you want to put in the time you can master it. I wish there was this kind of knowledge base and commitment for these programs. I went on their website and notice the volume of people asking how to do the features stated in the program. This tells me the documentation and tutorials that come with it is severely lacking.

 

Several years ago I bought an Authorware program, MediaForge, which was very powerful and expensive but I got a great deal on it and the others were very expensive ( Adobe Authorware). So I bought it thinking that I could now develop programs without having to know programming. The reason why you buy Authorware. Well it may have been powerful but it came with one short tutorial which covered almost nothing, no examples, the manual and the disks. Here you figure it out. Needless to say it has sat on the shelve and it taught me a lesson. Pay the money for the big boys program and buy the training material. It may seem like it is costing you a lot more but your time is worth something and it will pay for itself in no time.

[itsjustme]

I didn't find 3D Flash Animator hard to use at all...I'll admit, the only thing I've actually made with it was a guitar tuner, but, I didn't have a problem. Try the downloadable version and see if it's something you can use. Here is a support forum for it that has links to online tutorials...I'm sure you could find other places online as well.

 

Whatever you decide, good luck.

[seven]

I just Googled a bit - RoboDemo - RoboHelp - are perhaps something - you have to have a look yourself!

 

http://www.sohosoftware.net/webmaster-tools/robo.htm

 

RoboHelp® Office X4

The Industry Standard in Help Authoring

 

RoboHelp Office makes it easy to create professional Help systems for desktop applications (Windows, Mac and Linux) and Web-based applications, including .NET. RoboHelp Office is the Industry Standard in Help Authoring and has won over 55 prestigious industry awards.

 

RoboDemo®

The Best-Selling Tutorial Software

 

RoboDemo is the easiest and most affordable way to create animated, interactive Flash simulations of any application without knowing Flash. The simulations you create are in Flash format, making the file size small, while retaining high resolution.

 

 

http://www.mactech.com/news/?p=1006079

 

Have a look - and you are welcome back - reporting on your findings!

 

http://www.robowizard.com/RoboWizard/NewPr...ny_on_Skins.htm

[InfoCentral]

That company was bought by Macromedia. Macromedia still sell RoboHelp but RoboDemo is now called Captivate. And of course, Macromedia just recently got acquired by Adobe so who knows.

[InfoCentral]

Contacted 3DFA and they were very nice people. They didn't have too much to say about the tutorials area except to become active on the forums and I would probable find people there to answer my questions and help me along. They recommended that I use the demo first and see if I like it. So I was impressed that they didn't try to sell it to me first and answer questions later.

 

I did get an offer form e-frontier (Curious Labs) by e-mail. Apparently, till the end of July you can get their Motion Artist (Flash Maker) for $29 (reg. $49). I don't know what the difference in power is though. They claim that it oursell Macromedia Flash in Japan.