Storyline 2 vs. Captivate: Software simulations

Jun 02, 2015

Hi! For those who have experience with creating software simulations in both Captivate and Storyline 2, how does Storyline stack up? We need to create some massive simulations and I know Articulate is always soooo much easier to use than Captivate, but I had heard in the past that the software simulation capabilities were not as robust as Captivate. What are your thoughts? Sell it to me!  :-)

 

9 Replies
Jerson  Campos

Take Jeff's advice and try the free trial of Storyline. Once you feel comfortable with some of the basics, Try creating a portion of your course and see how you like it.  I came from a Captivate background, and while I do miss some features from Captivate, Storyline makes up for it with ease of use and unique features.

Bob Wiker

I've only done a handful of Storyline screen recordings (and maybe 20 Captivates total), but I definitely prefer using Storyline. So much easier to use than Captivate with its dizzying array of 1000-and-1 dialogs/checkboxes/controls. I feel certain that Captivate offers more features, but at the cost of usability. Like using MS-Excel instead of a simpler and easier tool (Mac OS Numbers) that has 90% of the things that 90% of us need. I use Captivate only if forced to, or when fixing a legacy recording that someone else made. Otherwise, it's Storyline, Storyline, Storyline.

My suggestion would be to record one or two of your demos with Storyline and see if it has the features you need. (I'll bet it does!) If so, then use Storyline and don't look back!

Remember when you're experimenting with Storyline that you can add things to the Timeline right alongside (or on top of!) your recording, and set the timing exactly as you need it. That opens up a world of possibilities and flexibility.

Rick Nusz

I prefer storyline over captivate any day! I can do the recording with storyline to get my base slides and then go in and tweak them the way I want. 

I'very also had great success with software demos using camtasia to talk about some of the concepts involved in the software being demo'd and then importing into storyline.

My users have all been impressed with the combination of both.

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