I have installed Presenter 8 on three computers, one of which has Captivate 6, and have successfully published a presentation that includes a video intro of myself and a simulation of a feature in our learning management system at the University of St. Francis. You can view the presentation at https://usfconnect8.stfrancis.edu/studentstarttopic/.
I think the results are marvelous, but there are issues with Presenter 8 which I think make it problematic for the educational user. I experienced unacceptable lag times in using Adobe Presenter Video Recorder and the simulation tool (which requires Captivate). And I also experienced fails on two computers with various errors, mostly at the point of publishing a video.
I would like to cut to the chase with these recommendations for the product:
- First, make the installation a seamless one-button click process. I had to jump through way too many hoops: an "Akamai" thingamajig that made no sense to me at all, and two separate files totalling more than 465 MB in size. Wow.
- Second, make the installation overwrite any pre-existing Presenter product. I had to uninstall Presenter 7 and the information that showed the necessity for doing so was hard to drill down to.
- Third, make it possible for Adobe Presenter Video Recorder to insert a video clip, with one click, onto a Powerpoint Presentation. The current method forces you to publish, then export the video to a new Powerpoint presentation. Why not just put the clip on the presentation you are working on currently? After all, the video record launch button is on the Presenter ribbon.
- Fourth, provide a more obvious EPSS for the video recorder.
- Fifth, shorten or eliminate lag times and increase stability.
It would be nice, too, for Presenter to reintroduce the teleprompter that Adobe Visual Communicator attempted to implement, before that product's demise.
Also desirable would be a built-in simulation solution. It doesn't have to be a full-blown Captivate, but how about something that would accomplish screen captures, much as Captivate 6 now does with the video record-only option?
Thanks for listening,
Glen Gummess,
Instructional Designer
University of St. Francis
Joliet, IL