it2go – The IT Training Podcast

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There are a lot of Illustrator tutorials out there.  I’ll share some of them with you now.

1. Adobe Illustrator on Adobe TV. Learn the software from the source.
2. Check the Adobe Illustrator Blog for more tutorials and tips.
3. Vector Tuts+ has a lot of content including tutorials, articles, tips, and resources. Premium members can access features such as online courses and an ebook library.
4. Astute Graphics’ blog has a quite a few free tutorials, tips, and tricks.
5. Chris Spooner’s Spoon Graphics offers free Illustrator and Photoshop tutorials.  You can find more content on his Facebook  page too.
6. An excellent source for technology training is lynda.com. Most lynda content is available  to paying subscribers only, but if you’re serious about learning, it’s probably worth the expense. IU students, facutly, and staff get lynda for free!

I think those are enough resources to get you (and me) started. I’m collecting Illustrator tutorial resources on Pearltrees, check there once in a while to see if anything new shows up.

it2go – The IT Training Podcast

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Here is what we have so far:

Disappearing act   2/1/2013: Learn to extract one person from a group of people and make the absence look seamless. Learn how to add a new background to the image of the extracted person.

Change that foreground/background 2/22/2013: Learn four new ways to change a background–even around fine, blowing hair– and learn two new ways to add and modify a foreground item so it blends in perfectly. With Layer Comps, you can experiment with many versions of an edited image.

Create a 2001-style HAL computer – 3/22/2013: Create the whole thing: red eye and shiny surface.

IT Training is hosting Tim Plumer, Senior Solutions Engineer from Adobe Systems Incorporated, as he presents workshops on Adobe’s Digital Publishing Suite and new Edge application. These sessions are part of the Adobe Days 2013 promotional event being offered at IU Bloomington on Feb. 28-Mar. 1, but both topics are being taught online and in-person.

To read descriptions and register for the sessions you want, go to:

• Digital Publishing Suite: Creating Your Own Folio
• Edge: The Product Family

Video: Edge Animate Quick Look

You can learn more about Edge at lynda.com

These topics will be taught online and in-person at IUPUI. To read descriptions and register for the sessions you want, go to:

• Feb: 14: Digital Publishing Suite: Creating Your Own Folio
• Feb. 14: Edge: The Product Family
• Feb. 15: Create the Web for Designers (Deep dive into Edge Animate, Typekit/Webfonts & CSS)
• Feb. 15: Create the Web for Developers (Deep dive into Edge Code, Edge Inspect, & Phonegap)

Tim Plumer will be available for Q&A at the Stump the Expert table. Bring your projects and/or your questions from noon to 1:30 p.m.

These sessions will be repeated at IU Bloomington in a couple of weeks, so check the schedule then as well.

For more information about Adobe Days, including upcoming events on the IUB campus, please visit http://adobedays.iu.edu.

I’ve used TechSmith’s Camtasia Studio for several years, and I like it a lot, but IU’s agreement with Adobe makes Captivate 6 the more attractive option because I can get it for free. Camtasia used to be the obvious choice for making full motion video recordings of your screen. That’s what Camtasia is designed to do, and it does it well. Full motion recording in previous versions of Captivate was not the greatest. Full motion is better in Captivate 6, not perfect, but better. By the way, Captivate 6 doesn’t refer to full motion recording as full motion. It’s called Video Demo mode. You can begin your project by choosing the Video Demo option, or choose Video Demo when it’s time to start recording your screen.  The interface changes a little when you start the project in this mode. You can learn more about it in this  Adobe TV video.  Skip to 02:06 on the timeline.

Choose Video Demo when starting your project.

When you record the action that’s happening on your screen it needs to be smooth and easy to follow. You have to know exactly what you’re doing, so before your record, take a practice run. For example, when demonstrating how to align shapes in PowerPoint, make sure you have the shapes selected so the Format tab will be available. Of course, practice doesn’t guarantee perfection. That’s where editing comes in.  You can simply trim the parts of the video that you don’t want.

Once you stop recording and return to the Captivate interface you’ll enter the editor by double clicking the clip in the timeline, and choosing Edit Video Demo in the Properties Panel.

Click Edit Video Demo in the properties panel.

The editor opens and you get a nice big view of your clip. You’d probably like to edit the clip to match its accompanying audio, but you can’t.  Maybe Adobe will add that functionality in the next release, but for now I recommend adding audio after the video is edited.

When the editor opens you’ll see your clip and a timeline beneath it. The Split  button allows you to split the clip into smaller segments. The Pan and Zoom button allows you to zoom in on and pan to different parts of the clip. When I tried using this function it seemed to cause problems when playing the produced video. Pan and zoom at your own risk.

To trim your clip, start by moving the playhead to somewhere in the middle of the clip before clicking the Trim button. If you click Trim first, you’ll have difficulty finding the In Point Marker. Use the Playhead to find your in and out points, and then place the markers accordingly. When you’re ready to complete the trim, click the Trim button again. It’s not very intuitive, but that’s how it works. You can edit other places in the clip. Just follow the same steps.

Timeline in editor view.

When you’re finished click Exit and save the changes.

Click Exit to save your edits.

If you like learning by watching, click the image below to see a short tutorial. Captivate 6 is a very useful tool. I encourage you to download it from IUware (IU students, faculty, and staff only), and give it a try.

Click this image to watch the video.

If so, you  know that just typing the letter that appears in parentheses when you hold the pointer over any tool (called the tool tip) works nicely — except if you are currently working with the Type tool. In that case, when you press any key you simply type the letter. This can be frustrating if you are trying to work quickly and efficiently.

To quickly switch to another tool when the type tool is active, press the Escape key and then type the letter of the tool you want to activate. If you want to switch to the Hand tool, press Alt with the h key.

it2go – The IT Training Podcast

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So, back to Captivate 6. IU students, faculty, and staff can download it from IUware free of charge. You can’t beat that! Captivate 6 gives you features like:

• Rapid eLearning content development
• More effective collaboration
• Interactive eLearning experiences
• Rich multimedia to attract learners
• Easy quizzing
• Delivery virtually anywhere
• Scoring, tracking, and reporting

You’re itching to learn all about this cool tool aren’t you? Luckily, IT Training has a Captivate 6: The Basics workshop planned.  It’s an online workshop (imagine that), scheduled for Tuesday, December 4th from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. In the meantime, go ahead and download Captivate 6 and start playing around with it. You can also find Captivate 6 training on lynda.com.

If you’re an educator you may be called upon to create some online learning content, so learn how to do it and impress your boss.  If you’re a student you can surely use Captivate to put together some pretty nifty class projects. There’s something for everyone, so start learning today.

Captivate 6 opening screen