Hi JG - the narration for your project is stored in your project's PPTA file. The file will have the same name as your PowerPoint file, but with a PPTA extension. Are you able to locate that file?
Yes I have the PPTA file but when I preview the slide, there is no narration... Many of the flash videos are gone as well but I'm not as worried about them... it's the narration and all that work/knowledge that's gone. HELP
I'm trying to modify a few things... look at the 'Why?" (slide 5)... online it works but in the .ppta that narration is gone... That being said, the interactions (slide 4) is good...
Are you seeing a second PPTA file with the word "old" in the filename? For example, if your PowerPoint file is called "course.ppt," look for a file called "course-old.ppta." If you have that, then you should be able to reconnect your audio to your course. For instructions, scroll down to the part of this this page called "How do I restore the audio from an -old.ppta file?"
I have had this happen a few times, especially when first starting out with Articulate. As Jeanette said, locate the PPTA file that has been renamed OLD and you will locate your stored Articulate audio within.
And if I might add a suggestion for what it's worth. I love Articulate, but I record audio outside of Articulate and import in using the import tool from the Articulate ribbon. This way, worst case I still have the original stored audio so even if I have to import and tweak, I don't have to record again...
I've been in your shoes and it's not fun! After I pulled all my hair out, I have made it a practice to export my audio as soon as I've recorded and edited it. The export option is found in the Audio Editor (click the Articulate button in the top left and you'll see the option). It exports by Slide # which is handy when you go to re-insert. Good luck!
I just published my first module I created with Articulate Studio to my department's LMS, LearnFlex, and the audio on the Presenter slides didn't get published, the audio files are no longer presenter under Import, I checked after I discovered the missing sound when I tested the module. The audio in my Engage interactions and Quizmaker files did get published though. After conducting preliminary research on this link:
and reading some other posts on this topic, I have this question:
Question 1. When it says "The Articulate Presenter Communicator add-in is disabled in PowerPoint" does that mean I wouldn't see the Articulate tab in PowerPoint or if not what it is exactly that I am missing?
The third solution listed is to make sure my Articulate software is updated and directs me to this page:
Hey Rachel - really sorry to hear about the audio trouble. Let me see if I can answer your questions:
Question 1. When it says "The Articulate Presenter Communicator add-in is disabled in PowerPoint" does that mean I wouldn't see the Articulate tab in PowerPoint or if not what it is exactly that I am missing?
You may still see the Articulate tab in PowerPoint even if the communicator is disabled. The communicator is an add-in that allows Presenter to save and record audio with your presentation. This article shows the steps you can follow to make sure your Articulate Presenter communicator is enabled.
Question 2. Is there any way I can direct Articulate to automatically make updates to Articulate?
When there are critical updates, you'll see an update notification upon startup, unless your IT department has opted to turn that feature off. You can also check for updates anytime by going to the Help and Support button on the Articulate menu and choose "Check for updates." Or, compare your version number (which you can find by clicking Help & Support > About Articulate Presenter) with the latest version number shown here.
Regarding your other question about the Install window you're seeing, reinstalling will usually be quicker than uninstalling & installing from scratch.
Also, I know this might not help your current situation, but here are some best practices that we recommend for avoiding probloems with audio or other resources being lost ... hopefully this can prevent the problem from happening again:
When you work on your project, be sure your files are local (on your computer's hard drive), not on a network or USB drive. Also be sure that when you publish, you publish to a local destination on your computer's hard drive, then move your files to their intended destination once publishing is complete.
Keep your PowerPoint file and your PPTA file in the same folder. Your PPTA file is where Presenter keeps all of your audio and many other resources related to your project. (Here's more about why that file is so important.) Avoid renaming the PPT and PPTA files.
If you need to move your project to a different folder or a different computer, it's best to create an Articulate Package to do it.
If you record your audio in Articulate Presenter, keep in mind that the only place the recordings exist is within the PPTA file, unless you back up the files. So if your PPTA file gets accidentally deleted or corrupted, the audio will be gone. It's always a good idea to make a backup of your audio once you've recorded it, so that if you ever need to re-import it, you have the files you need.
Avoid saving your PowerPoint file in a folder that has the exact same name as your PowerPoint file. Although this doesn't cause audio issues, it can cause your PPTA file to be overwritten if you happen to publish your output to a folder that's one level above the folder where you've saved your PowerPoint file.
I'll verify Communicator is enabled. For people's information, I didn't record my audio in Articulate, just imported it. I used Audacity and Levelator to record, edit, and normalize.
Jeanette Brooks said:
Hey Rachel - really sorry to hear about the audio trouble. Let me see if I can answer your questions:
Question 1. When it says "The Articulate Presenter Communicator add-in is disabled in PowerPoint" does that mean I wouldn't see the Articulate tab in PowerPoint or if not what it is exactly that I am missing?
You may still see the Articulate tab in PowerPoint even if the communicator is disabled. The communicator is an add-in that allows Presenter to save and record audio with your presentation. This article shows the steps you can follow to make sure your Articulate Presenter communicator is enabled.
and so far none of them apply -- except maybe the Communicator is not enabled. I don't know yet b/c I haven't checked it yet as I am going to first try re-inserting (I'll make a back up copy) and re-upload. The only thing I am "guilty of" is my PowerPoint file being stored in a folder with the same name, which I haven since renamed the folder holding everything, but that's not a reason why I lost my audio according to the Support page on this topic.
Can you answer a follow up question? Everytime you save an existing PowerPoint file, the Presenter file (.ppta) is also or should be updated too, right? I thought I noticed that when I went I publish in Articulate to an LMS that the Presenter file didn't have the same "last modified date" as my PP file, the Presenter file was slightly outdated. I was thinking that the Presenter file would get updated as I was publishing to LMS.
Hi Rachel - you won't necessarily see the "last modified date" change on your PPTA file every time you work on your project. That file will change to a different date and size if you access or edit the items available via the Articulate menu (such as narration, slide properties, player template changes, publishing, etc.).
But if you just make some changes on the PowerPoint slides themselves (such as editing a textbox or something like that), the PPTA won't need to be updated, since nothing related to your Articulate-specific resources was changed.
Hi Rachel - you won't necessarily see the "last modified date" change on your PPTA file every time you work on your project. That file will change to a different date and size if you access or edit the items available via the Articulate menu (such as narration, slide properties, player template changes, publishing, etc.).
But if you just make some changes on the PowerPoint slides themselves (such as editing a textbox or something like that), the PPTA won't need to be updated, since nothing related to your Articulate-specific resources was changed.
Thanks Jeanette! - I did not realize these aspects.
and so far none of them apply -- except maybe the Communicator is not enabled. I don't know yet b/c I haven't checked it yet as I am going to first try re-inserting (I'll make a back up copy) and re-upload. The only thing I am "guilty of" is my PowerPoint file being stored in a folder with the same name, which I haven since renamed the folder holding everything, but that's not a reason why I lost my audio according to the Support page on this topic.
I checked and my Communicator is enabled, so that wasn't the issue. I'll let you know if a simple reinsert audio files and re-uploading to the LMS works.
Having this problem right now... ppta file with no "backup" old-ppta ... size of ppta file clearly indicates that there is no audio any more in there (file is now 2MB...) audio was imported... in between checked https://www.articulate.com/support/presenter-13/audio-is-missing-or-lost and there is NOTHING in there that applies to my project that could explain audio loss. Thank you so much Articulate for yet another huge waste of time.
20 Replies
Hi JG - the narration for your project is stored in your project's PPTA file. The file will have the same name as your PowerPoint file, but with a PPTA extension. Are you able to locate that file?
Yes I have the PPTA file but when I preview the slide, there is no narration... Many of the flash videos are gone as well but I'm not as worried about them... it's the narration and all that work/knowledge that's gone. HELP
See attached .ppta
Here's the finish product (v1): http://blackcardmarketinggroup.com/missinglink/module13/player.html
I'm trying to modify a few things... look at the 'Why?" (slide 5)... online it works but in the .ppta that narration is gone... That being said, the interactions (slide 4) is good...
WEIRD?
Are you seeing a second PPTA file with the word "old" in the filename? For example, if your PowerPoint file is called "course.ppt," look for a file called "course-old.ppta." If you have that, then you should be able to reconnect your audio to your course. For instructions, scroll down to the part of this this page called "How do I restore the audio from an -old.ppta file?"
JG,
I have had this happen a few times, especially when first starting out with Articulate. As Jeanette said, locate the PPTA file that has been renamed OLD and you will locate your stored Articulate audio within.
And if I might add a suggestion for what it's worth. I love Articulate, but I record audio outside of Articulate and import in using the import tool from the Articulate ribbon. This way, worst case I still have the original stored audio so even if I have to import and tweak, I don't have to record again...
Good Luck!
I've been in your shoes and it's not fun! After I pulled all my hair out, I have made it a practice to export my audio as soon as I've recorded and edited it. The export option is found in the Audio Editor (click the Articulate button in the top left and you'll see the option). It exports by Slide # which is handy when you go to re-insert. Good luck!
Sorry for ur loss, i hope u get it back
I just published my first module I created with Articulate Studio to my department's LMS, LearnFlex, and the audio on the Presenter slides didn't get published, the audio files are no longer presenter under Import, I checked after I discovered the missing sound when I tested the module. The audio in my Engage interactions and Quizmaker files did get published though. After conducting preliminary research on this link:
http://www.articulate.com/support/presenter09/kb/?p=643
and reading some other posts on this topic, I have this question:
Question 1. When it says "The Articulate Presenter Communicator add-in is disabled in PowerPoint" does that mean I wouldn't see the Articulate tab in PowerPoint or if not what it is exactly that I am missing?
The third solution listed is to make sure my Articulate software is updated and directs me to this page:
http://www.articulate.com/downloads/freetrial-step1.aspx
Question 2. Is there any way I can direct Articulate to automatically make updates to Articulate?
Thanks,
Rachel
I'm attempting to check for updates on my software and I got these options:
Should I select the first or second option?
Hey Rachel
- really sorry to hear about the audio trouble. Let me see if I can answer your questions:
Question 1. When it says "The Articulate Presenter Communicator add-in is disabled in PowerPoint" does that mean I wouldn't see the Articulate tab in PowerPoint or if not what it is exactly that I am missing?
You may still see the Articulate tab in PowerPoint even if the communicator is disabled. The communicator is an add-in that allows Presenter to save and record audio with your presentation. This article shows the steps you can follow to make sure your Articulate Presenter communicator is enabled.
Question 2. Is there any way I can direct Articulate to automatically make updates to Articulate?
When there are critical updates, you'll see an update notification upon startup, unless your IT department has opted to turn that feature off. You can also check for updates anytime by going to the Help and Support button on the Articulate menu and choose "Check for updates." Or, compare your version number (which you can find by clicking Help & Support > About Articulate Presenter) with the latest version number shown here.
Regarding your other question about the Install window you're seeing, reinstalling will usually be quicker than uninstalling & installing from scratch.
Also, I know this might not help your current situation, but here are some best practices that we recommend for avoiding probloems with audio or other resources being lost ... hopefully this can prevent the problem from happening again:
Thanks Jeanette for all this information.
I'll verify Communicator is enabled. For people's information, I didn't record my audio in Articulate, just imported it. I used Audacity and Levelator to record, edit, and normalize.
I went through all the reasons listed on this Support page about why the audio went missing from my Presenter slides:
http://www.articulate.com/support/presenter09/kb/?p=643
and so far none of them apply -- except maybe the Communicator is not enabled. I don't know yet b/c I haven't checked it yet as I am going to first try re-inserting (I'll make a back up copy) and re-upload. The only thing I am "guilty of" is my PowerPoint file being stored in a folder with the same name, which I haven since renamed the folder holding everything, but that's not a reason why I lost my audio according to the Support page on this topic.
Jeanette,
Can you answer a follow up question? Everytime you save an existing PowerPoint file, the Presenter file (.ppta) is also or should be updated too, right? I thought I noticed that when I went I publish in Articulate to an LMS that the Presenter file didn't have the same "last modified date" as my PP file, the Presenter file was slightly outdated. I was thinking that the Presenter file would get updated as I was publishing to LMS.
Thanks,
Rachel
Hi Rachel - you won't necessarily see the "last modified date" change on your PPTA file every time you work on your project. That file will change to a different date and size if you access or edit the items available via the Articulate menu (such as narration, slide properties, player template changes, publishing, etc.).
But if you just make some changes on the PowerPoint slides themselves (such as editing a textbox or something like that), the PPTA won't need to be updated, since nothing related to your Articulate-specific resources was changed.
In case this is useful to anyone -- I ended up reinstalling my software and after updating the content in the LMS, the audio is now all there.
Thanks for posting back, Rachel - glad to hear you're back in business with your audio!
Having this problem right now... ppta file with no "backup" old-ppta ... size of ppta file clearly indicates that there is no audio any more in there (file is now 2MB...) audio was imported... in between checked https://www.articulate.com/support/presenter-13/audio-is-missing-or-lost and there is NOTHING in there that applies to my project that could explain audio loss. Thank you so much Articulate for yet another huge waste of time.
Hi Frederic and welcome to E-Learning Heroes!
Sorry to hear that you are having difficult and thank you for letting us know that you referenced our support article on the topic.
If you are still having difficulty, I would advise that your reach out to our support engineers here.
That would also be relevant for the other issues your allude to above as I'm not seeing forum posts or support cases for you.
This discussion is closed. You can start a new discussion or contact Articulate Support.