Storyline to Storyline 2 - Massive increase in project file size

@Jane

By "zipped file" do you mean published output? If yes, then it could be that videos in the output are now uncompressed OR far less compressed than with the output from SL1.

In general though, you will find that Storyline 2 does a much better job with regards to .story file size (you can get reductions up to 40%).

Hope this helps,
Alex

We have the same problem!!!

We have a project file that has a number of videos in it. it was around 75MB we had to replace all the videos so we deleted them and re-inserted them. now the file is 475MB we deleted all the videos and did a save as and it is still 460MB.  is there a way to purge the project file?

We can't work with it anymore because the file is so huge. Help!!!

Hi Rob,

Have you tried to import it into a new .story file as described here? 

Hi Rob, I have the same problem. 250MB with videos. after deleting all videos it is still 250MB.

Were you able to find out why this is the case?

Thanks

Importing into a new SL2 file usually resolves the issue for me. Also, making sure the video Compression setting is set to Automatic.

Hi Jonas,

Importing or resaving and closing the .story file also seems to resolve the issue as that ensures the files have been removed. They are not taken out of the file immediately after you delete them in the event that you need to use the "undo" button. 

Ashley - do these unwanted files ever get taken out of the file?  I've closed and re-opened after replacing old videos with far smaller files, and the story file only gets larger.

Thanks.

Hi Guy,

Did you look at importing it into a new file or doing a save as? Also what update of Storyline are you using, you'll want to ensure you're on the latest update, Storyline 2 Update 7. 

Hi Ashley. I seem to have the same problem. I had a course that was developed on Storyline 1 and the .story file size was 255 Mb. The output folder was 75.2 Mb and the zip file was 63.9 Mb.

Now I opened this course file on Storyline 2 and upgraded it. Did not change any slide or add any contents. But after I saved it, the .story file size is now 217 Mb, The output folder is 80.2 Mb and the zip file is 68.3 Mb.

The problem is when I upload the zipped file to Moodle, it says the file size is large and it allows 64 Mb only. We cannot delete any slides in the course. So I also did try other compression software/zippers. Nothing seems to help in zipping the file size less than 64 Mb.

Is there a way in Storyline 2 to compress or reduce the file size?

Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time!

Best regards
Peter

Hi Peter!

Have you taken a look at our publishing tutorial? Perhaps reducing some of the qualities manually will reduce your file size.

I too noticed that Storyline file size did not decrease even after removing video or audio assets. And if you REPLACE an audio or video, then the file size increases as though you had added the new asset without removing the old one.

Merely performing a Save As doesn’t seem to fix the problem.

Here's what worked for me, so I hope it works for others.

SOLUTION:

1. After removing or replacing the assets in Storyline, SAVE the file and CLOSE Storyline (not just the file).
2. From Windows Explorer (suggest using Details view), note the current file size, and RENAME the file, e.g. filename_BIG.story.
3. From Windows Explorer double-click the file to OPEN it.
4. From Storyline, select File > Save As and enter a NEW NAME, e.g. filename_DATE.story.

 The new file (filename_DATE.story) should now be smaller than the previous one (filename_BIG.story).

Thanks for popping in to share Debbie :)

Here is the information that we share:

A project file might not immediately shrink in size when you delete a video. Storyline keeps deleted assets temporarily after you delete them in case you need to click Undo to restore them. The good news is your project file will eventually shrink, usually after saving it a couple times. But you can also get it to shrink right away by saving and closing the project file, then re-opening it and saving it again.

I tried Debbie's SOLUTION above but with no luck.

I'm going to have to try the Import to new SL file, but this would be a painful way to have to do this each time, you might change, or delete videos from projects.

BTW - I am using SL360.

Funnily enough, immediately after I post the above response, the file size dropped!!!!!

BTW - I did the import and that also worked.

Hi Kimberley, 

Often saving and closing down Storyline does the trick, as those videos, slides, etc. are saved for a bit in case you're to use the undo button. If you run into an issue again where the file size is not decreasing, let us know and we'd also be able to test out your file. 

Thanks Ashley.

I will observe what happens in the future and see if the problem occurs again, despite trying all the above tips and tricks.

Fingers crossed you don't run into it again, but if you do - we're always here! You can also find our Support Engineers by reaching out to them here. They're around 24/7 via email (or Live chat for 360 Teams customers).