Opus Pro

(1) True WYSIWYG development environment; (2) vast capabilities for building interactivity into your courseware with or without scripting; (3) drag-and-drop quiz-making resources and seamless SCORM/AICC LMS workflow; (4) responsive creation has never been easier -- from desktop to mobile; (5) wide range of publishing outputs; (6) video overlays; (7) free trial.

(1) Text formatting (i.e., no character and paragraph styles) has always been a weakness (and I've been using the product for over a decade); (2) has master pages but no true template capabilities so formatting is bit fiddly at times.

I have used Opus since it was Illuminatus Opus before the turn of the century and have created scores of multimedia and eLearning products with it. Opus Pro is a very capable eLearning tool with extensive multimedia capabilities. Learning curve is very gentle for beginners, but advanced users will be able to make the program do just about anything with JS and database management (ODBC). Perhaps best of all is the low annoyance factor! I have used a number of eLearning authoring tools over the years and vouch for Opus' as a very capable tool with flawless SCORM output. As a P.S.: In 2017 the company released Course Play LMS, but I use LearnDot, so I haven't tried it.

Thanks to being AICC/SCORM compliant and enabling smooth seamless content importing and exporting (though not converting PowerPoint), Opus Pro has proven to be rather helpful in many ways. Besides that allowing self-paced courses and neat support for interactive content (for example having gamification and excellent video management), it is no doubt it is a tool for modern course creation.

The biggest concern with Opus Pro for me is the price – it is not very affordable and as working in educational institution I can’t say spending a lot on different supportive software’s can be fit into our budget. Furthermore, we found the initial set up and installation to be rather complicated. When it comes to the features, I wish they would also have template management and further customization options.

Though I can’t say Opus Pro is still our number one go-to tool, it is nevertheless undeniable the tool is helpful, especially for creating interactive multimedia content for Moodle etc. If you are looking for a tool enabling modern solutions with great usability, then this could be the tool for you. However, you should probably consider your budget as well – this tool is likely not suitable for a small-time user because of its’ price.