Syncing video in Panel + loading screen

Hi Mike and welcome to the community!

"1. Presenter 09 only allows me to sync a video with slide animations if it is placed in the slide area (not the presenter panel), but Presenter 13 marketing says it allows syncing in the presenter panel. Is this true and how does it work? I am struggling with slide animations getting out of sync because the video in the panel is taking a long time to load over a network. This relates to my second question..."

Correct, with Presenter '13,  the presenter panel videos are synchronized with the slide. More information on the Presenter '13 presenter panel can be found here. This means that your content playing in your slide and the video content in the panel will play along the same timeline. This doesn't mean that you can manually apply animations to the video itself, but you can add animations in your slide at the same time as an event in your presenter video. The loading issue might be caused by something else, but we'll get to that below.

"2. I have seen a "loading" screen for the video in the presenter panel but only for a second. My client however says they do not see any indication that the video is loading. Just a black video box. Is there somewhere to set/configure the loading screen or is it all automatic?"

It's automatic and I believe that the black box and slow loading issues my be related. You mentioned earlier that your content is being hosted over a network. How, exactly? How did you publish and what type of network? If you simply published for Web, LMS or CD and placed these on a network drive, it may not load or play properly. 

To properly test your published content and share it with others, upload it to the environment for which it was published.

Please review the article below for more information:

Tips for Managing Project Files

Let us know if you still have trouble with this.

Thanks!

This is great information...THANK YOU! I provided my client the files in LMS format but they did not view them that way. They loaded the LMS files to a web server and reviewed them outside of the LMS (by clicking the "Player.html" file). I will have them test inside their LMS to see if that improves things any. Regarding Presenter 13 syncing the video in the panel, are their any special tricks or info I should know before ponying up for the upgrade from 09?

Hi Mike!

You're very welcome :) I hope that helps.

"Regarding Presenter 13 syncing the video in the panel, are their any special tricks or info I should know before ponying up for the upgrade from 09?"

This is a new feature and it's automatic. When you add the video the Presenter Panel in Presenter '13, it's automatically tied to the timeline of the slide. So, if learners "scrub" through the slide or pause/play, it will control both the slide content and the panel video. 

If you haven't already, I would highly recommend reviewing the articles below and trying the 30 day free trial for Studio '13. Some prefer to stick with the previous version, while others really enjoy some of the new features of Studio '13. Before committing to the upgrade, I think it's a great idea to try it out and see if it's something that you'll enjoy using. 

Keep in mind, however, that Studio '09 and Studio '13 cannot be installed on the same machine at the same time. So, if you have a second machine, that would be the easiest option. You can always uninstall Studio '13 and go back to '09, though.

Another point to keep in mind is that while Studio '13 supports and upgrades content created in Studio '09, it doesn't work the other way around. Studio '09 won't support content that's been modified or created in Studio '13. When you upgrade a Studio '09 project file, a backup is created for you - so you can use the original file if you decide to return to the earlier version. 

Here are some resources I think may come in handy:

• Free Trial Downloads
• See what's new in Articulate Studio '13
• Comparing Articulate Studio '09 and Articulate Studio '13
• Articulate Support - Upgrading to Articulate Studio '13
• How to Upgrade a Presentation to Articulate Presenter '13

I know that's a lot of information at once, but I hope it helps!

Please let me know if you have any questions, or if I can be of any assistance.

Thanks!