I am an unhappy Articulate user looking for advice.
Dec 26, 2011
Articulate keeps crashing on
me when trying to synch audio with powerpoint animations - 5 different slide
decks now ranging from 10 to 80 slides each.
It does not matter the # of
slides, or # of animations - the preso crashes. Articulate support did some
troubleshooting on a preso of mine and said I had duplicate object names and
once he corrected that everything worked fine. I performed the same corrections
and the preso still crashed and crashed and crashed.
I had Articulate
examine my PC configuration. Everything was fine. I even bought a copy of
Articulate for my home pc thinking it was my work pc. I created all new master
slides and recreated the animations from scratch on my home pc. Crashed in the
same manner.
Articulate keeps sending me links to its knowledge base for
troubleshooting help. I'm tired of having to troubleshoot this product by myself
considering I bought the premium support.
I have used a product like
Articulate years ago - called PointeCast - and it rarely crashed. I'm close to
asking for my money back and begin looking for a new tool. I missed several
customer deadlines because of these issues.
Julie
9 Replies
Julie sorry to hear about this, I have used Studio everyday for the last 3 years. Al;though I wouldnt call it the mosts stable product I have used(I experience a crash every few of days, easily fixed by a restart sometimes doesnt even need that), you obviously have something seriously wrong with your installation. I would consider reinstalling everything, including windows.
I sent you a private message to get more details on what's going on. There are a number of variables that can contribute to the software shutting down. I had a weird issue with my PC caused by an audio program that was installed with the audio drivers.
We're committed to helping you get this resolved and it you paid for the premium support, I want to make sure you're getting it.
Hi Julie-
Very sorry to hear about the ongoing trouble with our software. I took a look in our records and see that our support team has been helping you in Case #00246947. I've added an internal note and escalated that case to our Tier 3 (senior) support team, so that we can help you get to the bottom of this issue. It does sound frustrating. We'll do what we can to help you figure this out.
Julie, I see in your Case #00246947 that David Burton has contacted you to set up a web conference to help you with the issue. Please be sure to reply and let him know when would work. Let us know how it goes!
Julie, you’re in good hands with the support they have. I’m rooting for you … and I’m not affiliated with Articulate—I am a paying customer like you. They’ve always gone the distance when I needed help. Hang in there, your golden lab is smiling in your profile picture, so you can’t possibly stay unhappy with a smile like that.
Hi, Julie. I know how frustrating it can be when a piece of software doesn't work exactly as you expect. I've been using AP heavily for, heck, close to five years I think. It's a sophisticated program and just like most complex applications, it's generally very stable, but does have its little problem areas. Now over the years, I've learned what they are and I just develop around them. I know that takes time but once you get to that level of familiarity you'll likely use it problem free from then on.
In earlier versions, AP's built-in audio editing software had more problems than I cared to fumble through. So, I started recording my audio using a separate editor, one file per slide. Then I just imported them in and tweaked the PowerPoint animation timings until they fit (use the AP "Slide Preview" function). I got pretty good with that and continue doing it to this day. It's an option that you may want to consider. You'll probably get better quality audio doing this, too.
I've investigated a lot of similar products and suites and for this type of thing, AP is the best. It will be worth it to you if you can hang in there.
thanks for sharing your experience. Actually I do record in a separate program now, saving the files out as .wav Started doing that in other programs i.e. Captivate and found it easier to manage.
You all have been very encouraging. I hope Articulate can figure out what's going on - have a webex meeting next week with one of their support folks.
Just so you know, I'm not a novice with these tools - have been developing web-based learning for nearly 10 years using a variety of tools. I've never had an application misbehave this badly, even MS Office
thanks again
Hi Julie. You are in good hands with David Burton and I'm sure he will take care of you. If you ever feel like you aren't getting the support you need, feel free to contact me directly.
Thanks for the update, Julie. I'm sure Dave will help you get to the bottom of what's going on. Keep us posted!
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