Is Mimic Worthwhile?

[MikeKatz]

Reading the Mimic forum, I'm quickly getting to the conclusion that Mimic is not yet at the stage of being a production-level tool.

Simple questions can't get an answered, which is nothing like the Flare forum. It seems as if neither the forum participants nor the Flare support team are putting much into this product.

[RamonS]

It depends on what you want to do with Mimic. I think it is usable to create a bare bones demo sequence of a windows desktop app. Now, if you want special play controls, fancy callouts, whacked out transitions, or anything that just slightly goes in the direction of eLearning, then I agree that Mimic isn't there yet. Also, the output to Flash seems to have some issues and while Mimic's own output format is better and produces smaller files, having to install yet another proprietary player makes that feature a total no-go.
Comparing Mimic with Craptivate, Mimic lacks features, but is way more stable than Craptivate. I think the foundation of Mimic is very good and now the rest needs to get built on top. Given the breadth of products that MadCap puts out, the relatively small size of the company, and clearly putting more effort on the flagship products makes applications like Mimic, Capture, and Echo be sidelined a bit. Nevertheless, every time I get the impression MadCap forgot about a product they release a new version that is much better.
In regards to support, this forum is a peer-to-peer forum from users for users. That the support folks hang out here and answer questions is something I never saw anywhere else in the industry (unless it is for the sake of widespread censorship like on the Corel forums). Mimic isn't used by that many people, some don't have any need for such a product, others use whatever solution they are comfortable with, while others consider Mimic not ready for prime-time. That of course translates into a lower number of people who can give helpful advice in this forum.
BUT MadCap has award winning support and if you have a problem with Mimic and give them a call or send an email I am absolutely 100% convinced that you will not just only get answer, but that your request is taken seriously and handled with the only outcome of resolution. That said, keep in mind that MadCap support depends on the development team to fix bugs and add features, sometimes patches are given out on an as-needed basis, sometimes the changes will come in a new release. That is good practice and keeps the quality of software up compared to those places who release a build every other week to include some slapped together patches. It also keeps the builds out there to a minimum, which makes supporting the application nut just easier, but possible at all.

I agree that quite a few features are amiss in Mimic to make it a full-fledged software demo editor, but I cannot agree to your statement that the support team has no interest in the product or in you, the customer.

[MikeKatz]

It depends on what you want to do with Mimic. I think it is usable to create a bare bones demo sequence of a windows desktop app. Now, if you want special play controls, fancy callouts, whacked out transitions, or anything that just slightly goes in the direction of eLearning, then I agree that Mimic isn't there yet. Also, the output to Flash seems to have some issues and while Mimic's own output format is better and produces smaller files, having to install yet another proprietary player makes that feature a total no-go.

That's all I want to do, and not even an animated movie, just a series of screen shots with basic annotations. However:
1) The Mimic player is a no-go as you say.
2) The Flash out put does not run properly in a browser using the toolbar controls unless the user links to a Flash page to change a security setting, which the page says is used sometimes by older software - not a good impression, and another step for every user to do. Without the controls, I have to put in Next and Previous buttons which sometimes get in the way, or create the screen shot each time on a larger canvas so I can fit my buttons underneath.
How much more basic can anyone's requirement be?

Comparing Mimic with Craptivate, Mimic lacks features, but is way more stable than Craptivate. I think the foundation of Mimic is very good and now the rest needs to get built on top. Given the breadth of products that MadCap puts out, the relatively small size of the company, and clearly putting more effort on the flagship products makes applications like Mimic, Capture, and Echo be sidelined a bit. Nevertheless, every time I get the impression MadCap forgot about a product they release a new version that is much better.

It's too expensive and too complex for what I want to do, although it can do what I want correctly, so I may be forced into it. I'd rather not give my money to Adobe, and I'd rather give it to MadCap, but I do need a basic level of functionality.

In regards to support, this forum is a peer-to-peer forum from users for users. That the support folks hang out here and answer questions is something I never saw anywhere else in the industry (unless it is for the sake of widespread censorship like on the Corel forums). Mimic isn't used by that many people, some don't have any need for such a product, others use whatever solution they are comfortable with, while others consider Mimic not ready for prime-time. That of course translates into a lower number of people who can give helpful advice in this forum.
BUT MadCap has award winning support and if you have a problem with Mimic and give them a call or send an email I am absolutely 100% convinced that you will not just only get answer, but that your request is taken seriously and handled with the only outcome of resolution. That said, keep in mind that MadCap support depends on the development team to fix bugs and add features, sometimes patches are given out on an as-needed basis, sometimes the changes will come in a new release. That is good practice and keeps the quality of software up compared to those places who release a build every other week to include some slapped together patches. It also keeps the builds out there to a minimum, which makes supporting the application nut just easier, but possible at all.

I am in no way criticizing MadCap, the forum, or the Madcap support staff, and I apologize if it appeared so. This forum, and MadCap themselves, are both fantastic in respect of support and customer service.

And yes, I will submit a support call.

What I AM saying is that Mimic is looking like a second-class product in terms of quality. That's unusual for MadCap, and, I'd venture to say, harmful. MadCap can't be making any money out of Mimic, there are obviously far too few users, and it seems as if many of them are not that happy. Far better to not have the product than this situation. Even better, is to have a product that at least does what it advertises, albeit with less features than competitors. Less is sometimes more to in any event, but at least make sure what you have actually works!

[RamonS]

In regards to Flash output, the security settings seem to be an IE issue due to the asinine and entirely flawed 'security' design of IE. Any application generating Flash output runs into this issue and it is squarely and fully due to IE being a very very bad browser that should not be used. I cannot think of any other movie format that provides the same quality, keeps file sizes at a reasonable size, and works in a browser. I don't know if you use MSN Messenger, but even in there Microsoft uses Flash. Sure, there is Silverlight (which I think the Mimic special format is based on), but even with Moonlight out I don't consider Silverlight to be sufficiently cross-browser and cross-platform capable.

In regards to the other points you raised, I could comment on it more, but I have to restrain myself. All I can say is to have some more patience as I know that Mimic is not just left on the side of the road, but is under active development.

Also, lack of features is not necessarily understood as lack of quality. Notepad rarely crashes so one would consider it of good quality, but other than to do bare bones flat file editing it doesn't have any features whatsoever. IMHO anything that negatively impacts user experience is bad quality, which includes lack of features. But then again, if MadCap does not know which features users want it is difficult for them to add them in. File features requests as much as possible, in this regard complaining is the best thing you can do. Complaints are good for quality.

The price point is always an issue. Microsoft charges hundreds of dollars for an Office suite while one can get OpenOffice.org at a much lower price point to do 95% of the same functions. Pricing for software is always difficult. Typically, the initial pricing is based on competitors pricing. Comparing Craptivate with Mimic, it turns out that Mimic is half the price, but does already more than half of what Craptivate does. Price and value need to be in balance, but that balance is very subjective. Some see the value in MSO2k7 at the given price point, same applies to Mimic. Also, when introducing a product the pricing is based on which level the company wants the price level to be in the future. Nobody understands when V1 costs 39$, but V2 costs 299$ even when the value would be applicable for each version.

[MikeKatz]

In regards to Flash output, the security settings seem to be an IE issue due to the asinine and entirely flawed 'security' design of IE. Any application generating Flash output runs into this issue and it is squarely and fully due to IE being a very very bad browser that should not be used. I cannot think of any other movie format that provides the same quality, keeps file sizes at a reasonable size, and works in a browser.

I am working in Firefox, not IE. I have the same issue in both browsers, and Richard has already offered the solution to the problem on this forum:
http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewto ... =28&t=3328
In that forum, the issue and the reason for the issue is left unresolved, and it seems as if we have to require users to change settings as if our output is somehow outdated, and as if there are risks attached to it. To quote the Adobe website:
"Some websites may access information from other sites using an older system of security. This is usually harmless, but it is possible that some sites could obtain unauthorized information using the older system."
Why would Mimic use an older method of security? This, by the way is just to be able to allow the buttons on the toolbar to work!

In regards to the other points you raised, I could comment on it more, but I have to restrain myself. All I can say is to have some more patience as I know that Mimic is not just left on the side of the road, but is under active development.

That's encouraging!

[RamonS]

Oh, OK, I was under the assumption it is about the entire content.

[doc_guy]

If you need a solution now, and you don't want to go with Captivate (which does cost $699 per license), you could check out Camtasia Studio by TechSmith. (I won't link there, as they are a MadCap competitor, but you can Google it. Camtasia seems to be a pretty good product for less than half Captivate's price ($299 per license).

I'll be interested to see what comes next from Mimic. However, Mimic and Captivate aren't the only two players on the field. If I couldn't use Mimic for some reason, my first stop would be Camtasia.

Hope this helps.

[MikeKatz]

If you need a solution now, and you don't want to go with Captivate (which does cost $699 per license), you could check out Camtasia Studio by TechSmith. (I won't link there, as they are a MadCap competitor, but you can Google it. Camtasia seems to be a pretty good product for less than half Captivate's price ($299 per license).

I'll be interested to see what comes next from Mimic. However, Mimic and Captivate aren't the only two players on the field. If I couldn't use Mimic for some reason, my first stop would be Camtasia.

Hope this helps.

Hi Paul
Thanks for the suggestion.
I evaluated Camtasia along with Mimic and Captivate. It's a very good product, but it's not really suitable for screen shots as opposed to movies, or at least wasn't about a year ago.
Really, the Mimic feature set is ideal for me. I just want it to work seamlessly and painlessly on any workstation.

[doc_guy]

Sorry Mike. I'm not following the part about "but it's not really suitable for screen shots as opposed to movies, or at least wasn't about a year ago."

Could you clarify what you are trying to accomplish and how the major tools perform in that area?

Thanks.

[MikeKatz]

Sorry Mike. I'm not following the part about "but it's not really suitable for screen shots as opposed to movies, or at least wasn't about a year ago."

Could you clarify what you are trying to accomplish and how the major tools perform in that area?

Thanks.

Hi Paul
I don't want to make a movie at all. All I want to do is string a series of discrete screen shots together, with callouts and boxes added on, and the ability to navigate. The user clicks a Next / Previous button to move between screens. That's all there is to it.

[doc_guy]

Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification. You're searching for more of an e-learning type tool, then. At least, one that has more e-learning type options than screencasting options. Hmmm... Let me know how that goes.

[GregStenhouse]

Hi Paul
I don't want to make a movie at all. All I want to do is string a series of discrete screen shots together, with callouts and boxes added on, and the ability to navigate. The user clicks a Next / Previous button to move between screens. That's all there is to it.

Sounds like you want a basic screen capture tool like SnagIt (to take the screen shots and add callouts), then string those together using Flare (either separate topics with a browse sequence, or use Javascript to swap images in and out).

[MikeKatz]

Thanks for all the suggestions!

Actually, Mimic is perfect for the job in terms of its feature set. It just has issues with the quality of the output, which I am hoping will be corrected in the near future.