|
Instant Demo Screen Recording FAQ
Question:
When I purchase Instant Demo, can I create Flash movies from the
recordings captured with the Trial version?
Answer:
Yes. The movies you record and edit with the Trial version are 100%
compatible with the registered version of Instant Demo.
Question:
Do I need the Adobe Flash Player plug-in to view my demos?
Answer:
Yes. You can download it
here.
Question:
I wish to record the sound from my software application and use the
microphone at the same time. How do I do this?
Answer:
You can record ALL sound activity on your system with Instant Demo if your
sound card supports 'Wave Out' recording. You can view a demonstration
on how to set up your computer for simultaneous voice and application
sound recording
here.
Question:
If I capture at Full Screen (1024 x 768 pixels say), is it possible for me
to use Instant Demo to resize the demo down to 800 x 600 pixels without
compromising the image quality? If so, how would I go about doing this?
Answer:
You can resize your presentation using Instant Demo. You can do this by
dragging the preview window to the desired size.
Click here to see
an example of resizing your presentation.
Question:
We have placed a hyperlink to our demo on our web site. How can we
return to the original web page when an Instant Demo finishes?
Answer:
If you have the Professional version, you can return automatically by
adding a frame URL on the last frame of your demo (Style->Frame
Effects->URL/Command). Just enter the URL of the calling web page.
You can also use a Hotspot URL in a similar manner.
For the Standard version, you can edit the web page template created with
your demo (.htm file) and add the hyperlink directly above or below your
demo.
Question:
Can I add my demo to a PowerPoint presentation?
Answer:
Yes. It is possible to add an Instant Demo movie to a PowerPoint
presentation. The movies created by Instant Demo are in the
Adobe Flash format, hence the procedure is identical to adding a
Adobe Flash movie (also known as a Shockwave Flash object).
Microsoft's Knowledge Base on PowerPoint has the following for using Flash
within PowerPoint:
How to add a
Shockwave Flash control to a slide in PowerPoint
How to control a
Shockwave Flash Control on a slide in PowerPoint
Question:
I have seen the demo with the "hotspots". What is the main concept
behind using hotspots?
Answer:
The main concept behind hotspots is to reinforce the actions a user needs to
perform with your software. By making them perform the action, it will in
turn make them feel more familiar with your software, resulting in a more
positive learning outcome. They are also a convenient way to control the
speed of presentation by having the user initiate the next part of your
demo.
Question:
How do I use the Professional Style options in Instant Demo?
Answer:
The best way to see how you can use the professional options is
by taking a look at some real examples. Click
here to download several professional
projects and to learn more about the professional features of Instant
Demo.
Question:
I just created my Instant demo movie and it came out very pixilated. Can
you tell me what settings need to be changed?
Answer:
You should provide the URL of the web page template (HTM file) for viewing
the Flash presentation (SWF file). The HTM loads the SWF into the
web browser at the correct size for viewing. Without the HTM file, the
SWF file will be resized to fit the viewers screen, which can result in
a pixilated appearance. The template file is created when you export
your demo to Flash with Instant Demo. It will have the same name as the
SWF file.
Make sure you view your demo using the created web page template to ensure the movie is displayed at the correct size. You can
improve the overall quality of your demo by optimizing the output for
'Appearance'. If you require true color accuracy, then select the
'Custom' optimization option, click on the 'Settings...' button and change
the Color Quality to 'True Color'.
Question:
My Flash presentation takes a long time to load and start playing over an
Internet connection in Internet Explorer. My presentation does not
stream. What has gone wrong?
Answer:
The Flash presentations created by Instant Demo are designed to stream
over an Internet connection and should begin playing immediately in the
viewers web browser. For successful streaming in Internet Explorer
you must use the web page template (HTM file). The template file
is created when you export your demo to Flash with Instant Demo.
You should provide the URL of the web page template to your viewers to
enable streaming of your Flash presentation (SWF file). You do not
need any additional software on your web server to enable streaming in
this manner.
Question:
I have uploaded the swf file and the htm file created by Instant Demo to
my web site. When I view the htm file I do not see the demo (flash
file) being played. This problem does not exist when I view the htm file
locally. How can I fix this?
Answer:
If you have not modified the htm file, then both the swf and htm files
must be placed in the same folder on your web server. Also check
that the file names have not been converted to upper or lower case
during the upload. File names are case sensitive on most web
servers. Finally make sure your ftp client is uploading your swf
file as binary. It may be possible your ftp client is corrupting
the Flash content by interpreting your swf file as ASCII. Check to
see if there is an 'upload as binary' or 'transfer as binary' option
with your ftp client. Select this option and try uploading again.
Question:
My recorded movie is not very smooth and the recorded mouse movement is
erratic? How do I fix this?
Answer:
Real time recording of your desktop requires a lot of processing power.
The minimum computing requirement for Instant Demo is a 500MHz CPU with
at least 128 MB of RAM. A good quality video card with 32MB of
video memory is also recommended.
Question:
When I create an executable of my demo I get an Instant Demo
Warning stating 'Unable to create executable'. Why is this happening?
Answer:
You are probably still running the previous version of this executable
demo. Windows cannot overwrite a program that is still running.
Close all running displays of your demo and try again.
Question:
When I email an executable of my demo, does the recipient require the
Adobe Flash plug-in?
Answer:
Yes. The executable opens a web browser on the recipients computer
to display your demo.
Question:
I
have reduced the output size of my demo and the resulting Flash file is
larger than the version at the original 100% size. Why has this
happened?
Answer:
Instant Demo uses a halftone coloring technique to maintain image quality
when reducing the output size. This can increase image complexity
resulting in poorer compression. File size reduction usually occurs
at or below 50% of the original size.
Question:
The movie scrollbar is slow and it also takes a long time to create the
Adobe Flash demo. What is wrong?
Answer:
Instant Demo is optimized for True Color mode. Make sure your
desktop is set to True Color (32 bit) (Show me how).
Movie creation and navigation may also be slightly slower when editing
your movie at a size other than 100%.
Question:
My created Flash movie is not very small. It is much more than 0.1MB
per minute. Am I doing something wrong ? How can I improve the
size of my demo files?
Answer:
Take a look at our Hints and Tips section on how to
keep your demos small and still looking great!
Question:
For my demo
I have selected a particular font for my annotated text, however the font
changes when I view the demo on another computer or operating system.
Why is this happening?
Answer:
The Adobe Flash files created by Instant Demo use the fonts provided
by the host operating system. This means that the font you chose
during editing may not be available on all computers that view your demo.
Adobe Flash will always attempt to match the font you specified on
the playback platform, however if the font does not exist, then a
universal font that closely matches the original will be chosen.
Times New Roman, Arial and Courier are the safest fonts to use.
Tahoma, Helvetica, and Verdana are also widely supported.
Please see our Sales FAQ
for sales related information.
Don't see an answer to your question? Then
please contact us here.
Instant Demo Support
Center
|
