"This Frame" preview does not honor soundtrack timing

[teacher_to_techie]

I am brand new to MadCap Mimic, and a non-Flare user. My company recently charged me with researching and evaluating screencasting software options, which I ultimately narrowed down to Mimic, with the hopes that someday we'll take the plunge into Flare, as well.

My first few Mimic movies are short productions (2 - 3 minutes) that are intended to be video supplements to our release notes. These movies do not have any voice-over audio, but do have an audio file soundtrack laid underneath the entire movie. Some of the simple animations included in some frames, and duration of each frame itself syncs up with the beat and tempo of the audio file to the best of my ability - I'm no Scorsese, not yet anyway.

While working on my first movie, I came across a considerable glitch that MadCap support has verified and submitted as a bug report to the Mimic development team. When working on a movie and previewing a frame using the "This Frame", "Start on this Frame", or any similar preview option, the audio soundtrack file starts from the BEGINNING of the movie, NOT where it actually is in the frame that is being previewed. This was particularly annoying when trying to make timeline adjustments towards the end of the movie because I'd have to preview the movie from the beginning every single time. Granted, my project was less than three minutes long, but those three minutes do add up quick. For a project much longer than that, this would be quite the hassle and time-suck, indeed.

If you are experiencing a similar agitation, please report your concerns to MadCap support. I asked the support representative, (who was very friendly), how their bug fix system works, and he said that it varies dependent on the severity of the bug of course, but the more noise made about a bug or improvement certainly helps its chances. This fix would help me out considerably, and I'd imagine it would help others who are using Mimic in a similar fashion.

[huttj]

I'm having the same problem, and I've submitted a bug request to this effect. Thanks for pointing it out!

This makes it really challenging to work with audio...

[teacher_to_techie]

I'm having the same problem, and I've submitted a bug request to this effect. Thanks for pointing it out! This makes it really challenging to work with audio...

Yes, huttj, I'm running into considerable difficulties working with audio. I bought rights to a couple of audio tracks that (in theory) can easily be looped, so I can readily edit the track as needed when working with different length videos. Well, much easier said than done with Mimic thus far. The audio editing UI makes it hard to make precise track edits. In addition, I kept getting an error message when copy/pasting part of the track more than once. I was on a tight deadline when that problem was occurring, so I didn't report the bug, but will do so in the next day or two.

I hope that our investment in Mimic was a good idea - not entirely sold just yet because almost every time I work with it I run into a glitch, which is getting old quick.

[huttj]

I hope that our investment in Mimic was a good idea - not entirely sold just yet because almost every time I work with it I run into a glitch, which is getting old quick.

I feel the same.

I had planned to do my tutorials in single-segment blocks. However, the delays I'm getting in the audio vs. the actual movement of the mouse and screenshots means that function is practically useless. One of the biggest bugs is when the mouse only has to move a dozen or so pixels--it often takes a full two to five seconds to do so, adding a further distraction (and sometimes a delay).

Now I'm planning to do some recordings, restructure the steps and timings by hand, and then try to add audio after the fact. I'll update with my findings when I do.