I am using Captivate 3 to develop CBT content. My boss wants to move this content to be turned in to e-learning content. It was decided to purchase Flash to aid me, but the more I look at it, the more I feel that it may not bring significant value to my environment. My training is primarily software simulations. I work for a government company where training has been an afterthought, so there isn't organization buy-in to the importance of training.

I say all of that to say this. I do not want to invest too much money in purchasing software and my personal training just to produce e-learning content that employees and managers may or may not utilize. My question is should I invest in Flash CS4 @ $250 (we get a bigger discount) in these economic times to aid Captivate 3? If so, I have to justify it to upper management (my boss's boss), so what true benefits does it have over Captivate?

If Captivate is doing everything you need, then I don't see a reason to purchase Flash.

I would only purchase Flash if your needs include custom Flash development and start to exceed the capabilities of Captivate.

I agree with Amy. You may want think complete scenario before buying to either one. Captivate will limit your customization. For software simulations, Captivate will do the job.

I agree with amy and chet. Here are some software simulation tools for your reference.

1. Captivate;

2. Camtasia;

3. DemoCreator;

Hope it helps!

Sabrina
http://e-learning-tips.blogspot.com

I think Camtasia is not for software simulation. Captivate is powerful but expensive. DemoCreator is nice for its price, but I think the simulation feature can be improved.

A simulation sample by DemoCreator