First Impressions: Snap! vs. Articulate
This morning, Trivantis announced the launch of their new product, Snap! by Lectora, a PowerPoint plug-in authoring tool similar to Articulate. For the most part, it’s a “me-too” product that functions similarly to other tools in the marketplace. Personally, I don’t see that as a bad thing. There’s a place in this world for Coke and Pepsi, Crest and Colgate, AT&T and Verizon. These products and services have just a few subtle differences, but to some folks, those differences are critical. Plus, in a free-market economy, head-to-head competition often spurs improvements, innovation, and lower prices.
Enter Snap!. Snap! and Articulate are about 80% the same. So you would just need to decide which 20% matters to you most. Here’s my analysis, with the Snap! information based solely on a presentation given by Trivantis at their user conference. (I haven’t gotten my own hands into it yet.)
Advantage: Snap! |
Advantage: Articulate |
| Single file .swf output (sort of)
Drag and drop question type Snap! Live: an emerging hosting site with new features coming gradually Post to Facebook and play on the page itself Record video and sync animations to video Control placement of swfs on a slide (size, placement, more than one) Add a YouTube video Supports ActionScript 3 (but I wouldn’t be surprised If Articulate fixes that soon) Price: $99 |
Engage (Snap does not have an equivalent)More choices for customizing the player templateSlide view and branching in Quizmaker
Go back and tweak animations without re-syncing the whole slide Branching via the player’s Next button |
Both tools are racing to be iPhone/iPad friendly. We’ll have to see which one gets there first.
With Snap!, Zebra, Storyline, and an Articulate Studio upgrade reported to be coming up in the next few months, we expect a shake-up in the authoring tool market that we haven’t seen in years.
Which tools and features are you most excited about?
Thanks Diane for the quick comparison!!
Good first blush. FYI I went to try and compare either – but at this time neither support 64 bit Powerpoint – sigh!
Should note Articulate also has a “Snap Live” type hosting platform. Not sure how they compare – pros and cons – but both aim to be a course display/launch/track – but not really an LMS.
I would also recommend you check out Claro from dominKnow. They have a completely online web based solution that pretty much works like a desktop app except you get all the benefits of being online. They have also have new pricing that puts it in the Articulate range and up (depending on what other bells and whistles you get).
http://www.dominknow.com/
I am favoring my Adobe Presenter because of its easy integration with my Adobe Connect solution.
With my past experience (approx. 10 years) with Lectora, I’ve always been disappointed with the compatiability between versions. I would hope they can move beyond that. Also, the advantages of Snap! seem to be heavily leveraged with the free online hosting. One has to wonder how successful of a business model that is. Will it ALWAYS be free? Will you give me a FREE LMS FOREVER? Or will it be the typical bait-and-switch. Time will tell. Personally, I believe Articulate to be a better supported product…which is cheaper and has less headaches in the end.
If you use the combination of Articulate presenter and Articulate Engage in powerpoint, you can make all wishes you have in other programs. But surely it´s easier and quicker to have good results.
I bought basic version for $99 dollars, it didn’t install and when I emailed them the problem, with registration number, nobody answered me. 3 weeks and counting, with all the community hype on their website. Thanks Lectora, I may as well have thrown the money in the gutter.
Two things I really like about Articulate: Outline in the sidebar and the player skins. Does Snap have similar features? Can I play the snap file in the skin I created in Articulate?
Of the 20% that snap could not do compared to Articulate, what are these 20% specifically? Thanks!