I'm so excited about Storyline! I need a solution that will work on the ipad. I have three 200 slide presentations in Presenter that have narration and embedded flash videos. I'd like to import the powerpoints and then improve the experience and create some branching.
Will it take hours and hours to import? It started the import and then crashed in the middle.
Then I did a test and my audio narration did not import.
Should audio narration import and will it take many hours?
I have had the same experience. Powerpoint imports do take a long time and after the import was complete no audio or background music. I did like that my directory structure with indented subtopics imported just fine.
Importing PowerPoint content into Storyline is not an exact one-to-one conversion. As a result, text may look a bit different. And although most features in PowerPoint and Articulate Presenter are supported in Storyline, some are not.
Ramon - When you say "background music" are you referring to Presenter '09 playlists? If so, Playlists are not supported in Storyline and will not be imported. (Slide audio will still be imported.) If your slide audio didn't import, it may be due to the link being broken between your PPTA file (the Articulate file for your PowerPoint file) and the PowerPoint presentation itself. If you didn't use Articulate at all on that presentation, submit a support case to us with your PowerPoint file & we'll take a look at the issue:
If you continue to have issues, would you mind submitting a support case to us with your files? Be sure to include information about your setup including your operating system and the version of PowerPoint that you have installed:
I was mistaken about the import of audio (voice) files. when viewing the course in preview mode I did not hear the audio. When I published it, there it was... nice !
With my PPTX import, the audio showed up in the SL timeline. I had originally used the import audio function of Presenter in the PPTS. The timeline takes some getting used to but is so integral to how SL functions!
Just make sure you are not pointing to files on a network as I've found that can prevent the audio from importing. Also, don't copy a PPTX from one folder move it to another folder to import it without bringing the PPTA file along for the ride. Audio will import. We've been converting some of our previous courses and some are 100+ slides but I haven't had one take hours to import.
So what's the deal with videos disappearing after import? All the audio and images and notes transfer during the import, but I have to reinsert videos. Any way around having to do that?
I don't believe I've seen that behavior - is it happening with every import? You'll want to review the steps here to ensure you're following the import process correctly and also confirm that your powerpoint file and .story file adhere to these general guidelines:
Yeah, it happens with every import. It has never NOT happened. So we usually spend a good bit of time rebuilding the courses we're importing from PPT into STL
We follow all those directions, and we work on the local C drive. We only use alphanumeric characters. And our file paths are all less than 260 characters.
Would it have to do with file type? We're using H.264 MP4 files which have always worked in PPT and Engage and Storyline.
And it's Powerpoint 2010. Not sure if that would affect it?
So the videos can be inserted as standalone items into Storyline but not when they're included as a part of a Powerpoint file? Storyline is compatible with Powerpoint 2010 so that shouldn't be causing the issue. Could you share a small Powerpoint file here that includes one of these problematic videos? The forums have a limit of around 20 mbs for uploads, so even if you just strip it down to one slide with a small video we can try to conduct the import.
Also just to confirm, you're using the latest Storyline Update 5 - Build 1401.2415 detailed here?
Sure, here is a 2 slide PPT with one video in it. It's been very strange, and we just assumed it was a quirk of Storyline that didn't like importing vids for some reason. It would be great if there was solution for it or something simple we're just overlooking.
And yeah, latest update, and we can insert the videos themselves into Storyline without incident. Very peculiar!
Thanks Ashley for sending this along. When I opened it I didn't see any videos though - just two slides with images?
You should be able to import a PPTX file and a PPT file, but if you are trying to import at PPTX file and you have an earlier version of Powerpoint installed, that could be causing the issue.
I see the image on the first side - and that the second slide looks like a Flash object? I am unable to preview it - it seems to freeze my version of Powerpoint (2013). When I import it into Storyline the Flash object disappears - can you share a copy of just the Flash file here with us?
Thanks for the video. I tried again - and couldn't get it to import from Powerpoint, but it worked fine when inserting directly into Storyline. I then converted it using Handbrake - just in case something was off with the codec - and that version worked when I inserted it into Powerpoint, and then imported that slide into Storyline. I've attached a copy of the new mp4 file.
I'm not a video expert - so not sure if there was something off in the file itself, but can you try to do the same process with the one attached?
No such luck :( I created a new ppt, inserted the video you just gave me here, and saved it, and then tried importing that ppt file into Storyline. The video disappears. :(
What codec is supposed to work best with Storyline? We've always used H.264 MP4s with Articulate Engage and Presenter with no issues.
I don't think it's a codec issue, as you're able to insert the video as is into Storyline - but something is occurring from the import from powerpoint with the original video, and once the import is conducted on your computer.
I'd like to have you conduct the repair of Storyline detailed here next, you'll need to follow all the steps for your version of Windows and then let me know if using a brand new file (powerpoint and Storyline), you're able to conduct the import.
OKay so we finally sat down and did this, and it still didn't work! We even tried it on another computer, installing the trial of Articulate on a computer that's never had it installed before, just to see if maybe it's the computer, and it still won't work! SUPER baffling.
Thanks for the update on conducting the repair, and if you went through all the steps there that should have given you a clean install of your Storyline program. Were you able to try converting it yourself using a tool such as Handbrake (it's a free download here)? As I mentioned before the original file didn't work for me, but the converted file did.
Yeah I have a few video converters, and we've tried different MP4 files but the only codec that works is H.264, which is what they all have been. So I don't know what else we should be converting them to?
That's what I converted it to as well using Handbrake. Have you checked with your IT team to see if there is anything else that could be impacting your MP4 files? Are you able to test it using Handbrake (I know some other users in the forums mention using Format Factory) to see if that behaves any differently?
It is possible to extract videos, images and sounds from Powerpoint. Simply change the pptx extension to zip and extract the file. Yes, it sounds weird, but it works. You will get several folders, including one with the assets. Then, just place them again in Storyline.
35 Replies
I have had the same experience. Powerpoint imports do take a long time and after the import was complete no audio or background music. I did like that my directory structure with indented subtopics imported just fine.
Hello,
Importing PowerPoint content into Storyline is not an exact one-to-one conversion. As a result, text may look a bit different. And although most features in PowerPoint and Articulate Presenter are supported in Storyline, some are not.
http://www.articulate.com/support/kb_article.php?product=st1&id=catmp4tjk9r8
Ramon - When you say "background music" are you referring to Presenter '09 playlists? If so, Playlists are not supported in Storyline and will not be imported. (Slide audio will still be imported.) If your slide audio didn't import, it may be due to the link being broken between your PPTA file (the Articulate file for your PowerPoint file) and the PowerPoint presentation itself. If you didn't use Articulate at all on that presentation, submit a support case to us with your PowerPoint file & we'll take a look at the issue:
http://www.articulate.com/support/contact/submit.php
Bari - Try the troubleshooting steps in this article:
http://www.articulate.com/support/kb_article.php?product=st1&id=x1ia9mm4n21i
If you continue to have issues, would you mind submitting a support case to us with your files? Be sure to include information about your setup including your operating system and the version of PowerPoint that you have installed:
http://www.articulate.com/support/contact/submit.php
I was mistaken about the import of audio (voice) files. when viewing the course in preview mode I did not hear the audio. When I published it, there it was... nice
!
does the audio show up in the timeline in Storyline after PPTX import?
With my PPTX import, the audio showed up in the SL timeline. I had originally used the import audio function of Presenter in the PPTS. The timeline takes some getting used to but is so integral to how SL functions!
Hi Bari,
Just make sure you are not pointing to files on a network as I've found that can prevent the audio from importing. Also, don't copy a PPTX from one folder move it to another folder to import it without bringing the PPTA file along for the ride. Audio will import. We've been converting some of our previous courses and some are 100+ slides but I haven't had one take hours to import.
So what's the deal with videos disappearing after import? All the audio and images and notes transfer during the import, but I have to reinsert videos. Any way around having to do that?
Hi Ashley,
I don't believe I've seen that behavior - is it happening with every import? You'll want to review the steps here to ensure you're following the import process correctly and also confirm that your powerpoint file and .story file adhere to these general guidelines:
Yeah, it happens with every import. It has never NOT happened. So we usually spend a good bit of time rebuilding the courses we're importing from PPT into STL
We follow all those directions, and we work on the local C drive. We only use alphanumeric characters. And our file paths are all less than 260 characters.
Would it have to do with file type? We're using H.264 MP4 files which have always worked in PPT and Engage and Storyline.
And it's Powerpoint 2010. Not sure if that would affect it?
Hi Ashley,
So the videos can be inserted as standalone items into Storyline but not when they're included as a part of a Powerpoint file? Storyline is compatible with Powerpoint 2010 so that shouldn't be causing the issue. Could you share a small Powerpoint file here that includes one of these problematic videos? The forums have a limit of around 20 mbs for uploads, so even if you just strip it down to one slide with a small video we can try to conduct the import.
Also just to confirm, you're using the latest Storyline Update 5 - Build 1401.2415 detailed here?
Sure, here is a 2 slide PPT with one video in it. It's been very strange, and we just assumed it was a quirk of Storyline that didn't like importing vids for some reason. It would be great if there was solution for it or something simple we're just overlooking.
And yeah, latest update, and we can insert the videos themselves into Storyline without incident. Very peculiar!
Would it make a difference if we save the PPTX as a PPT file and import that instead?
Thanks Ashley for sending this along. When I opened it I didn't see any videos though - just two slides with images?
You should be able to import a PPTX file and a PPT file, but if you are trying to import at PPTX file and you have an earlier version of Powerpoint installed, that could be causing the issue.
Hi Ashley (ha!) -
The first slide has an image, and the second slide has a video on it. When you preview it, does it not play?
We're using Powerpoint 2010, so that shouldn't be an issue. And we don't get any errors when we import that .pptx into Storyline.
Hi Ashley -
(Funny definitely to address yourself...)
I see the image on the first side - and that the second slide looks like a Flash object? I am unable to preview it - it seems to freeze my version of Powerpoint (2013). When I import it into Storyline the Flash object disappears - can you share a copy of just the Flash file here with us?
Sure. Here it is.
Hi Ashley,
Thanks for the video. I tried again - and couldn't get it to import from Powerpoint, but it worked fine when inserting directly into Storyline. I then converted it using Handbrake - just in case something was off with the codec - and that version worked when I inserted it into Powerpoint, and then imported that slide into Storyline. I've attached a copy of the new mp4 file.
I'm not a video expert - so not sure if there was something off in the file itself, but can you try to do the same process with the one attached?
No such luck :( I created a new ppt, inserted the video you just gave me here, and saved it, and then tried importing that ppt file into Storyline. The video disappears. :(
What codec is supposed to work best with Storyline? We've always used H.264 MP4s with Articulate Engage and Presenter with no issues.
Hi Ashley,
I don't think it's a codec issue, as you're able to insert the video as is into Storyline - but something is occurring from the import from powerpoint with the original video, and once the import is conducted on your computer.
I'd like to have you conduct the repair of Storyline detailed here next, you'll need to follow all the steps for your version of Windows and then let me know if using a brand new file (powerpoint and Storyline), you're able to conduct the import.
OKay so we finally sat down and did this, and it still didn't work! We even tried it on another computer, installing the trial of Articulate on a computer that's never had it installed before, just to see if maybe it's the computer, and it still won't work! SUPER baffling.
Hi Ashley,
Thanks for the update on conducting the repair, and if you went through all the steps there that should have given you a clean install of your Storyline program. Were you able to try converting it yourself using a tool such as Handbrake (it's a free download here)? As I mentioned before the original file didn't work for me, but the converted file did.
Yeah I have a few video converters, and we've tried different MP4 files but the only codec that works is H.264, which is what they all have been. So I don't know what else we should be converting them to?
Hi Ashley,
That's what I converted it to as well using Handbrake. Have you checked with your IT team to see if there is anything else that could be impacting your MP4 files? Are you able to test it using Handbrake (I know some other users in the forums mention using Format Factory) to see if that behaves any differently?
Ok, if you are really desperate...
It is possible to extract videos, images and sounds from Powerpoint. Simply change the pptx extension to zip and extract the file. Yes, it sounds weird, but it works. You will get several folders, including one with the assets. Then, just place them again in Storyline.
Thanks Marcos for sharing that idea and workaround here.
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