#1 2012-04-27 17:04:46

**_robert.l.mann_**

Captivate 5.5 Player Bar controls disappears

Tools:
Captivate 5.5
Presenter 7.07

I have been trying to work with Adobe Support on this issue to no avail.

Originally we experienced some issues with what appeared to be the output of Adobe Presenter project which had Captivate content demos as inserted swf on a number of slides. What occured was quite weird as we tested the scenario of a user toggling through the outline in Presenter and then back scrubbing Presenter's player bar as if they were trying to recall a specific note or fact mentioned in the presentation. After enough times of toggling between slides.. presenter would give up and you could hear audio echo, or audio from another slide "talking" over audio of the current slide. Sometimes the slide would appear blank but audio is playing. You could even pause the presentation or try to control the volume, but audio still plays.

To correct the issue, you would have to reload/refresh the browser.

My first instinct was that this was a problem with Presenter, but I believe I was able to discount it by republishing my Captivate content as video and them importing the demonstrations as video rather than with swf. And I was able to perform the same scenario without any hangups. So, if Presenter plays nice with other content without any "buffering" issues then perhaps Captivate is the culprit.

So I have tried to conduct a simple test with Captivate. Please follow along....
I obtained 7 different images (wallpaper) all 1024 x 768 to emulate the size of the demonstration. The average size of the images were about 500k.
I created a new Captivate project with 7 blank slides with one image on each slide.
Note: These are not image slides but rather image objects that fit within the timeline of the slides.

Then on each slide and image within the timeline, I set it to display for 4 seconds. So the entire project is 28 seconds.
I saved the project as test_image. And then I enabled the skin to be externalized so that when published, two swfs would be published; test_image.swf and test_image_skin.swf.
Among the two swf files I will use the one without '_skin'.
(File > Publish Settings > Project: Publish Settings > Externalize Resources: Skin - Enabled/Checked)
Publish locally.

I do this so the Captivate player controls is not viewed with the Presenter project.

As I said before, Captivate is the culprit. So I create a new Captivate project that will emulate my Presenter project.

This new Captivate project is titled test_consolidated. Within test consolidated I created a blank slide to be an intro that is two seconds long.
I then inserted test_image.swf (without skin) as an animated slide. I inserted test_image.swf 2 more times as an animated slide.
If you are following along, my project for test_consolidated now has 4 slides of which the last three are each animation slides from test_image.swf.
The length of test_consolidated project is 86 seconds (2 + 28 + 28 + 28).

For test_consolidated, I want to be able to navigate so I will not mess with the skin properties so I will not enable the skin to be an externalized.

Now for the error...
Upon publishing and viewing the output of test_consolidated the content plays as expected and I can see the player bar controls up until the the file enters slide 3. The content continues to play yet the player bar has disappeared.
All that is seen is the blank grey bar with rounded edges where the controls should appear. This occurs until the file ends.

It is my assertion that there are assets in the skinless swf files that inadvertently communicate with the parent envirnmonet whether it is Captivate or Presenter, and thus will created havoc to contol the playing experience. Note that the issue occurs after playing the slide 2 which was the imported swf file, test_image.swf. Upon trying to playing another "skinless" swf file do errors occur whether navigating or playing through.

Any thoughts on my findings?

**_robert.l.mann_**

Re: Captivate 5.5 Player Bar controls disappears

Adobe Support has confirmed that there is a bug (#3075894) with Captivate swfs published without the skin via Project: Publish Settings > Externalize Resources > Skin Enabled.

There is "no workaround for it at the moment," and "it MAY get fixed in the next update or release."

My assertion is that this bug creates havoc on projects that contain such swfs that is a common practice within the Adobe Connect community. Whether you want to insert swfs for Presenter or even another Captivate project, this setting was the most practical method to alleviate any redundant player controls.

I would hope the User Community would have further input as to how important this BUG needs to be addressed and fixed soon.

Comments are encouraged.

Last edited by **_robert.l.mann_** (2012-05-02 20:13:49)

**_Jorma_at_RealEyes_**

Re: Captivate 5.5 Player Bar controls disappears

I would go into the Skin Editor for Captivate and remove the play bar and border from there. Then you are not externalizing the play bar. That has worked for me when importing Cp SWFs into Presenter.

**_robert.l.mann_**

Re: Captivate 5.5 Player Bar controls disappears

For Captivate the bug is still apparent.

For Presenter, it initially appeared to be promising. However, after several tests of toggling through the outline and player controls, the playing experience gets confused and it becomes difficult to review content. Whereas, embedded swfs appear white or audio is playing even through you have stopped the presentation.

**_jbcontractor_**

Re: Captivate 5.5 Player Bar controls disappears

Robert,

I'm actually having this same issue.  Oddly enough I did exactly what you did and exported out of captivate as mp4 videos and just used presenter to insert a video.  the problem I have is that the course is significantly larger (almost tripled in size) and the quality dropped a bit from the dynamically resizing swfs.

I don't externalize the skins, but I do turn the playbar off in captivate and export out just a single .swf file to import into presenter.  I want to use the Presenter Playbar (under manage swfs) since it makes the swf add into the total time and controlable with one playbar.  But I have the same issue with overlapping audio if you click next and back quickly through the presentation.  I have regular slides interwoven with .swf files and you will get dead pages, audio playing on other slides, etc.  I haven't found a fix, but I found your post.

Jonathan
- Captivate 5.5
- Presenter 7.0.7