ActivePresenter

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on August 17, 2011

We've encountered programs like ActivePresenter before, and to be quite honest, we weren't really looking forward to reviewing this one. Most of the software of this type that we've tried has been unintuitive and a huge hassle to use. So imagine our surprise when we opened ActivePresenter and successfully created a presentation almost without knowing it. If you're looking for a simple way to create tutorials, presentations, and anything else using video screen captures, look no further than ActivePresenter.

The program's interface is incredibly intuitive, with commonsense menus and buttons across the top. To get started, we simply selected Create Project from the File menu and then chose whether we wanted to capture screen activity, import a PowerPoint presentation, create an image project, or start with a blank project. We were most interested in ActivePresenter's screen capture features, so we started there. We indicated that we wanted the program to capture everything on the screen, and then we set about a simple task: uninstalling an unneeded program. When we were finished, we stopped recording using the program's system tray icon. An editor immediately opened displaying slides showing each action we had taken. We were especially impressed that the program automatically added descriptive balloons to the slides; in the slide where we had clicked on the Start menu, there was a balloon that read, "Click on the Start button." These were easy to edit and remove as needed. The program also let us easily insert and delete slides, add audio, and customize many other aspects of the presentation. ActivePresenter lets users export presentations in a variety of different formats, including video, Flash, PDF, and more. We do wish that the program's Help file was written a little more clearly; it doesn't offer much in the way of guidance when it comes to the program's more advanced features. That said, we were still quite impressed with ActivePresenter's versatility and general ease of use. It's definitely worth a try if you're looking for simple way to create presentations of this sort.

ActivePresenter installs and uninstalls without issues.

 

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Publisher's Description

From Atomi Systems:

ActivePresenter is a solution for making interactive screencasts, rapidly authoring and maintaining interactive eLearning content. Record screen and create screencasts easily. Enrich your screencasts or elearning courses with voiceover, callouts, annotations, videos and graphics. Make it interactive by adding application simulations, branching scenarios, and quizzes. Easily publish to the web, desktops, mobile devices, and leading SCORM-compliant Learning Management Systems. Track and report key metrics to evaluate learner performance.

What's new in this version: Version 3.0.1 includes the following new features:

• Full motion recording with crystal clear video quality
• Record audio narration while recording
• Record from multiple monitors
• Automatic panning recording area
• Record and highlight mouse cursor
• Easily editable Zoom-n-Pan
• Create interactive simulation and training materials with 7 types of questions: True/False, Multiple Choice, Multiple Response, Essay, Fill in Blank, Fill in Multiple Bl... See all new features

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