Adobe Captivate Reviews

Adobe Captivate is the Cornerstone of My eLearning Business

Comments: I started using Adobe Captivate with version 2. It was okay but obviously there was room for it to improve. At the time of writing this review, Captivate is on version 11 and it has matured into a robust solution. I will continue to use it for all my professional eLearning work for as long as they continue to make it available.

Pros:

I have been using Adobe Captivate since the mid-2000s. Each release has brought new and innovative features that allow me to continue to impress my clients. Features like virtual reality and interactive video make Adobe Captivate the industry leader in eLearning Authoring tools

Cons:

A complicated piece of software means that the learning curve is steep but the reward is that in return it does so much.

A powerful player in the e-learning arena

Comments: While I am just jumping into the platform as my current job requires it over other software platforms, I am impressed. Having used the entire Adobe CC and other e-learning software, this platform is not difficult to transition into.

Pros:

Having used many products for developing e-learning, Captivate is among the top-tier development programs but has a high cost to entry. The platform is powerful and has a lot of nuances that allow for digging deep into options for developing truly custom courses and user experiences.

Cons:

While you can dig deeply into advanced interactions, data reporting, etc, the learning curve is immense to begin to understand elements such as advanced actions, keywords, etc. Variables become buried and are not as easy to manipulate as in Articulate Storyline, but they are buried for very good reason in that you can actually do more in Captivate than with its rival program with such features. If I am to further nitpick, I am not excited by the filmstrip display for slide storyline. This is a feature I love in Articulate's e-learning in that non-linear branching is highly encouraged whereas the linear filmstrip does little to entice users to develop complex learning opportunities, reinforcing the linear death by slides commonly seen in virtual learning.

Creating "how to videos" for enterprise learning

Comments: This is a very functional application for making videos. I prefer it versus tools like Camtasia when making instructional videos.

Pros:

Easy to segment video into pieces. Imagine using Power Point slides but each slide contains video/sound. Much easier to manage than other tools that record straight through. You can record each segment, apply graphic elements as desired. It integrated easily with other Adobe audio products for enhanced audio editing. Captivate does include limited audio editing tools, just enough to be handy.

Cons:

I found the application would crash every now and then. Nothing I could not work around, but strange to have to experience that in today's world.

Good option for creating very engaging e learning content and managing them.

Comments: Overall i find adobe captivate is a very good option for managing e learning courses from designing them to the very end and all aspects of managing them i feel.

Pros:

The templates of captivate are very customizable and and thus become very effective for different categories of courses. Also there is multi language support, this is very useful and required feature too that i personally like its seamless integration with other of adobe platforms like photoshop and illustrator. The tests and assignments are also very easy to conduct and keep a track of.

Cons:

I feel there is limited interactivity with other of the e learning systems when compared to some other e learning authoring tools. I also feel like training administration can be made even more efficient.

Terrific training tool

Comments: Using this I have been able to set up tests and quiz for our training sessions. Its also let me create video presentations which automates some of our new hire training. You have to put in some time and learn it to get the most out of it but once you do that, its very powerful.

Pros:

It is very robust and has a ton of features. You can create some really impressive training modules with this. We have been using this for a little while now to train our new hires on policies and process. I really like that once you get the hang of this, you can create very professional looking training material with it. It lets you embed videos, images and docs into your module pretty seamlessly. You can include your branding (which was a big deal for us) and colors. You can even include your Voice over if you want to. Using this I have created Quiz, Presentations and video guides. And they all looked fantastic.

Cons:

Like a lot of other Adobe softwares (at least in my experience) it can be a little daunting to get started with. There is a lot you can do with it but you have to invest some time to get the most out of it. I really wish Adobe would figure out how to simplify the usage and work flow for newcomers.

Adobe Captivate not the choice for me

Comments: I understand this is a great tool but the price, large time investment required to be proficient, unintuitive navigation, and high bandwidth it takes up made the product not worth it.

Pros:

Even though I didn’t have a great experience with this product, I recognize you can create really awesome courses, elearnings, microlearnings, etc.

Cons:

My issues with Adobe Captivate can be boiled down to three things:1. Despite the interface looking familiar, I found it very difficult to navigate and perform basic functions.2. At the time I was using a virtual desktop to work and found this software put a great strain on my computer…so much so that everything moved at a snails pace.3. I acknowledge that, with time and effort, I could have learned to be proficient with Adobe Captivate. But that time investment, for the high the price, wasn’t feasible (especially considering if we chose this software, we’d have to teach others to use it as well).

Captivate & the ease of convertability

Comments: It gives you the ability to create in so many ways & to help make video & online training more streamlined, with the added feedback from an LMS to get good feedback on how end users are absorbing the triining

Pros:

I truly enjoy the ability to convert old PowerPoint training decks into exciting & yes to coin a phrase, "Captivating" training for our employees & management.

Cons:

The cost for our small company is a little high & there is no special pricing for Teachers or Students. It would be great id Adobe would let you replace some of the Adobe Cloud products with Captivate as part of the overall package even if it were for a little more per month.

Facilitate Development of Training Syllabus

Comments: Captivate has taken the hard work out of creating professional learning tools with the ability to create testing without having to program.

Pros:

ease of use; HTML5 exposes many options for authoring

Cons:

Cost. I don't like the monthly subscription service.

Super Quick for 1st time SCORM Course Authoring

Comments: I needed to create a SCORM course under a tight timeline as a beginner, and Captivate did everything I needed, very quickly. I was also reached out to DIRECTLY by a customer service member via email asking if I needed help. I did not need, help, but it was nice to know that the service was available.

Pros:

I really liked how easy Captivate was to learn and use in just a few hours. I do video production work, and needed to take a 3-hour long video curriculum, and adapt it into SCORM formatting for a client's educational project. I had never done a SCORM course before, but was able to with ease on the Captivate platform.

Cons:

It did crash a few times when overloaded with large video files, however was rebooted and back up and working quickly. I also just wish it was included in my Adobe Creative Cloud subscription. However, the price point was still great.

Great product

Comments: Great product for our needs

Pros:

Easy to navigate for knowledgeable user - Avatar type in or speech and speech to text - Software simulations

Cons:

Tricky settings - Freezing file, long to proceed (Scrom) responsive on design - Text to speech quality

Excellent tool for measuring learners!

Comments: This is the current default learning software for our company. It allows us to deploy learning for graded content, KC questions, videos, slides with on screen text to teach a topic, etc. There is always a new trick or tool we can add to our style of learning and there are several tutorial videos to assist with new features. Also, when Flash was no longer supported in browsers, Captivate made it easy to identify parts of the module where a feature might be affected.

Pros:

Enjoy the ability to easily duplicate slides, set up multiple master slides for easy formatting content, make small audio edits in a file and preview/play the on screen animations/timing. Also, so many features for reporting and advanced actions to set up specific scenarios based on the desired result.

Cons:

Vectors were a nice touch to easily add to slides. However, the vector images "flash" often when published and are very difficult to locate based on their current naming convention. Also, I would like the option to easily change a slide from a Knowledge Check question to/from a Graded Quiz question.

Good for developing elearning

Comments: I'm happy with this software. It allows me to easily import PowerPoint slides, develop elearning courses from scratch, and record audio. I have continued to use it over competing applications because it's so easy to use.

Pros:

Captivate is pretty easy to learn. I pretty much taught myself how to use it and don't have any big issues with it. I like that it publishes directly into Adobe Captivate Prime (our LMS). There are quite a few nice features that get added with each upgrade.

Cons:

Sometimes the software crashes. I have to work with big files on my desktop rather than on my network drive. I had some files become corrupt from the application freezing. It would be nice if Adobe gave free upgrades rather than charging to upgrade every couple years. I would also like to have more pre-built templates for gaming. Most of the options available aren't ideal.

PDF READER FOR DUMMIES

Comments: I use this program on a regular basis in order to sign documents that need to be electronically transferred. It saves time and saves paper to where you do not have to go printing stuff off. It can be easy to use for the most part. This program is very simple and usually comes on most PC computers. I use it a lot to read PDF files as well.

Pros:

This program is very easy to use and is very common so if you don't even know how to do something on it you can usually Google it and figure it out. You can use it to read over and view stuff as well - the stuff that websites put in for additional documents.

Cons:

Sometimes the program will freeze up which can get really annoying and sometimes the fields that you are trying to write your documents on won't work.

You can do anything with it, but it takes lots of time.

Comments: I liked the software but I didn't like how long I had to spend on each project. What I did like was the versatility to do literally anything I wanted. I never had a challenge I could not find a solution! The problem was that finding that solution oftentimes meant a whole lot of research and contacting Adobe was just not something I found easy or convenient to do. They do have a lot of users though that were very open to helping when you reached out...and I did that often.

Pros:

Variables that I could assign and use in the course.

Cons:

It was very labor-intensive. Although you could do anything, it just took a lot of time. Especially if the course needed to be available on multiple platforms, such as desktops, tablets, and mobile.

Create online training content that's great with Adobe Captivate

Comments: I used Adobe Captivate to create and product online training courses for our company's online university. The software was detailed with a number of features, but something I was able to teach myself...very helpful considering I did not have an IT or software writing background.

Pros:

After a normal learning curve, it's relatively easy to use to create content. I used it to create online training courses for a learning management system, and it really made our otherwise serviceable (but not too exciting) PowerPoint slides truly come to life! The software is powerful with what seems to be unlimited options for creativity.

Cons:

As with probably any software worth anything, there's a bit of a learning curve to learn some of the tips and tricks for effective use. Where to find the various features is not always super-intuitive, but it's something I was able to work through.

Easy to Use, Cost to Unlock Features

Comments: Overall, I am satisfied with the software. The ease of use is outstanding even for the not so computer savvy person.

Pros:

This software is very easy to use. It is used by thousands of other clients and is the default for many programs. It installs quickly and the interface is easy to use.

Cons:

The biggest downfall of this software is that it cannot be edited without purchasing. Being a program that is so widely used, the editing features should be free of charge.

Facilitator of various services

Comments: I use it daily and I get very good results.

Pros:

Adobe is very good for a variety of jobs, such as signing and forming text, proofreading documents and more.

Cons:

NO to negative criticism because it corresponds to everything it promises.

Perfect for any size business

Comments: Used over and over again, never had any issues

Pros:

Works with all programs I have used and perfect for any size business

Cons:

The cost gets a little pricey when you have a fairly large company

Good for making E-Learning material, but a little dated

Comments: I use Adobe Captivate to make training material on our 360 publishing system. I've used it for many years, so have some good experience using it. The online export facilities have got better over time, and have helped me move away from having to distribute large video files.

Pros:

I like that I can use Adobe Captivate to quite easily make E-Learning materials, that I can export to be viewed online.

Cons:

I would like to see more progress on development of Adobe Captivate, as it is a little dated and could do with some more features.

Great for Online Learning

Pros:

I love the ability to program logic and quizzes into the projects. I use it for online training at work and it's very responsive and robust.

Cons:

Like most Adobe programs, it's a resource hog. It takes it a while to load, and operating on a small screen can make it really laggy. But as long as you're on a large screen and a fast wifi connection, it's wonderful.

Horrible, Overpriced, Outdated headache of a program.

Comments: Dismal would be the word to describe this experience. Used for company training courses and it was dreadful. Never again.

Pros:

Has great potential but that is about the only pro for this software. Great idea, poorly implemented.

Cons:

Where to begin, nothing works the right way. The layout and tools menu is atrocious. Incredibly dated. Needs an overhaul to bring it to today's standards.

Great addition to Articulate

Pros:

I learned Flash while it was still relevant. It helped me understand the layering of the Adobe Product and it's use. It is a great tool to show new users how to use a software and then quiz the participant of he/she is paying attention by asking to replicate the shown process.

Cons:

It can be a bit glitchy in the LMS and may allow a user to click past the quiz depending on the authoring software. I had to upload to the LMS in a staging environment and test before deploying the WBT live to users. This took time.

Courses Designing by Captivate

Pros:

I used this software for creating courses online for my Organizations and I have found very useful specially in COVID19 Situation around the Globe however my most favorite feature of this software to choose the answer types by several options like multi choose, choose one etc

Cons:

Its configurations related to issuing certificate is tricky which is not very user friendly and it needs to made simple and easy

Powerful tool to create engaging and immersive content

Comments: Captivate is an effective tool for organizations and individual who want to create and deliver content to multiple channels such as mixed reality, mobile using advance features like gesture recognition. Not ideal choice for authors who want to create content fast and easy.

Pros:

Captivate allows authors to create complex content. Features like geo location, mobile gesture recognition, virtual reality, responsive content creation using fluid boxes help in creation of immersive content. I like that tool gives enough power to authors to control learning outcome using custom logic and allows authors to view content as consumers of content would see it.

Cons:

Tool is not easy to use, and new authors need to invest time to effectively use Captivate. Content creation process has a legacy feel to it and lacks seamless and effortless interfaces provided by some cloud-based tools.

Great

Comments: Adobe Captivate
enabled me to create presentations of ideas for my company. with Captivate I can make that short video showing my summarized and direct projects.

Pros:

is a software that is updated annually and has no error in the program, very easy to make presentation projects!

Cons:

When multi-state videos are present on a slide, the most recent videos are not played in HTML5 output on devices. Only the first video is played.