Integrating Adobe Creative Suite to Maximize E-Learning Development

1. Integrating Adobe Creative Suite to MaximizeE-Learning Development ASTD TechKnowledge 2009 Thomas A. Toth

2. Integrating Adobe Creative Suite to Maximize E-Learning Development • Rules of Engagement • What kinds of software do you need? • What is in the Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Premium? • Should you buy it?

3. Review of the Rules of Engagement • Open forum – want this to be interactive • Interrupt at any time – please raise your hand and ask questions at any time during the presentation or, just shout it out! • I’ll be asking lots of questions – please respond • I know a lot, but I don’t know everything. I’ll be honest if I don’t know, I’ll hypothesize when appropriate, but I’ll never guess!

4. What kinds of software do you need? • Graphic design software • Photo editing software • Audio recording software • Video editing software • Screen capture software • Animation creation software • HTML/XHTML writing software • 3D creation software

5. Do you need to learn ALL this software? Yes or No?

6. Web Development Software • Individual Software • Create your own “suite” of best of breed tools • May be less expensive – you buy only what you need • May be easier to learn – only learn what you need to know • Web Development Suites • Integrated set of tools • Similar look and feel • Lots of development options

7. Graphic and Photo Design Software • Essential Role • Create and edit graphic elements • Buttons • Navigation elements • Interface design • Pictures and graphic art • Create and edit photos • From digital camera • From web sites • Optimize photos and graphics • Bring them down to web safe format • Import and export all types of graphics

8. Audio Recording Software • Essential Role • Create and edit audio elements • Voice overs • Audio loops • Edit music files • Optimize audio files • Bring them down in quality to web safe format • Import and export all types of graphics • .wav to .mp3 • .aiff

9. Video Editing Software • Essential Role • Create and edit video elements • Import video from the web • Import video from a digital camera • Optimize video files • Bring them down in quality to web safe format • Import and export to all different formats • .mov • .mpg • .avi • .mp4

10. Video Editing SoftwareNeed Good Hardware! • Only as good as the video equipment you purchase! • HD or regular format? • DVD or Digital tape? • Hand held camera or large professional recorder • Lighting? • Only as good as the videographer you hire! • Video work is an art form • Can look “cheesy” if you do it yourself • Hire good actors • Write a script

11. Screen Capture Software • Essential Role • Capture still screen shots or recorded interactive mouse movements • Great for software training/demos • Some software allows for complete immersion in the recording

12. Animation Software • Essential Role • Create moving images or complete graphical interfaces • Becomes the entire platform for eLearning • Used to create spot animation/subtle elements • Usually exports to a .swf file • Small Web File • Has an internal programming language to allow for interactivity • ActionScript • Scripting Editors

13. HTML/XHTML Writing Software • Essential Role • Write the “engine” code for your eLearning program • If its on the web, it needs to use HTML/XHTML • Easy User Interface • WYSIWYG • Hand Code • Snippets • Code coloring and tag assistance

14. The Adobe Creative Suite CS4 • Web Premium • Design Premium • Production Premium • Master Premium New – Just last week – eLearning Suite

15. Web Premium vs eLearning Suite Web Premium Dreamweaver Flash Photoshop Illustrator Fireworks Acrobat Pro Contribute Soundbooth $1699 eLearning Suite Captivate (no Mac) Flash Dreamweaver Photoshop Acrobat Pro Presenter (no Mac) Soundbooth $1799

16. Dreamweaver CS4 • Essential Role • HTML/XHTML Writing • WYSIWYG as well as code view • All the code that the browser uses to display content is done here • “Big Pot” software - everything created everywhere else comes into • Has lots of sample code, code hinting and Spry coding samples (AJAX)

17. Flash CS4 • Essential Role • Animation creation • Interface creation • Powerful multimedia elements - video and audio editing and manipulation • Powerful coding language – ActionScript • Great for interactions, gaming and graphic intensive experiences

18. Photoshop CS4 • Essential Role • Graphics creation • Photo editing and manipulation • 3D Object creation and painting • Video and multimedia savvy - you can create elements to use in your video projects • Great for both print and online elements

19. Illustrator CS4 • Essential Role • Clip art and illustration creation - great for logos • All vector graphic creation • Strong drawing tools

20. Fireworks CS4 • Essential Role • Graphics creation • Web site prototype creation • Creates code and graphics simultaneously - buttons, fly-out menus and disjointed roll-overs are easy to create • Strong optimization tools • Photoshop’s “Little Buddy”

21. Acrobat 9 Pro • Essential Role • Create PDF files from multiple image and document sources • Security features to protect your documents • Import and use Flash files inside the PDF • Collaboration tools

22. Soundbooth CS4 • Essential Role • Create audio tracks for use in voice over work • Create and edit music files • Multiple tracks • Exports to all audio formats

23. Contribute CS4 • Essential Role • Allows non-programmers to edit web pages • Simple interface - like MS Word • Edit pages within the browser • Works with Dreamweaver Templates

24. Live Demonstration • Simple interface in Photoshop • Button states and fly-out menus in Fireworks • Simple animation in Flash • Creating a simple audio track in Soundbooth • Creating a simple interaction in Flash • Bring the audio track into Flash • Bringing everything together into Dreamweaver • Publishing to the Web in Dreamweaver

25. Why Should You Buy CS4? • If you have the budget, it is a complete set of tools • Professional web development suite – everything you need is included • You are tired of fighting with eLearning development tools that don’t allow you to do exactly what you want • All the interfaces are similar – learning one tool will help you to learn another • Support materials – lots of people are using the tools so there are lots of folks to help • There isn’t anything you cannot do – you have full creative power to build as you see fit.

26. Why Should You NOT Buy CS4 • There isn’t anything you cannot do – you have full creative power to build as you see fit – sometimes this can be overwhelming! • Expensive if you have to outfit an entire department • Learning curve is large – getting everything to do what you want will take hours of practice • If you need something built quickly, until you get up to speed, it will take you time • If you need to only build eLearning – Trivantis, Atlantic Link and others may be good enough

27. Questions?

28. Q&A Session Thank you for your participation! • Thomas A. Toth • dWeb Studios, Inc. • ttoth@dwebstudios.com • 303.805.2472