Maximum size of video file?

Hi George,

I haven't heard of a file size limit with any of the Articulate products. Are you able to try inserting it while all other programs are closed to ensure there isn't anything else interfering? Do you have another other videos to try with or other video file types? 

If it persists with a lot of different videos, it may also be worth looking into the repair of Replay. 

I have worked with .mov, .mp4, and had no problems, but those file sizes are much smaller. I presume it to be the large file size, since larger .mp4 files take noticeably longer to load than smaller ones, and the .avi file size is 500 times the size of a large .mp4 that I've used.

I have the same problem when trying to open any mp4 file that is more than 5GB in size. It just hangs and doesn't come back with any response. I am currently trying to open an 8GB mp4 file and it has hung and is unresponsive. I haven't read any where that there is a file limitation when it comes to opening video files in replay, but there is definitely an issue. If I hover my mouse over the tile in the task bar, it just disappears which is a classic sign of being unresponsive.

I would be interested if anyone does know of a file limitation. I am using a high powered gaming laptop, so the hardware is not the issue.

Replay just finished trying to load the mp4 file and came back with the following attached message.

I know that it is not true, because it is a valid mp4 file and I can open and play it in Windows Media player.

I can also open a 2.5GB file taken from the same camera in the same video shoot and it opens not a problem in Replay.

Food for thought.

Hi Chris, 

I not seen a real limit for file size or even video import size - but some of the issues with importing it could be connected to the available memory and your system specs? The minimums for Replay are here - and with a file that large, I'd want to be well above the minimum.

As for the error message you shared, I've seen that before with MP4 files and it's often connected to a codec issue. Have you tried converting the original video file using something like Handbrake or Format Factory to convert it to the H.264 codec? I use handbrake and it's a free download and easy tool. 

Hi

Thanks for the response to my post.

My specs are high quality and I am using the top of the range MSI laptop,
so that's not the issue.

I can open the file and view it using a standard video viewer, so it's
definitely an issue with Replay.

During the video shoot, I took two videos, the other video which is 2GB in
size opens fine, this one which is is 7GB doesn't open, so to me that
suggests a file size issue.

As I mentioned, Replay either doesn't respond whatsoever with large files
over 5GB or comes back with this error message. For any file below 5GB, it
seems to open fine.

Might be worth investigating.

Cheers,

Chris

These are my specs.

I'm also using a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card, which is more than enough.

Hi Chris,

It really sounds like you are running out of working memory. 16GB sounds like a lot, but it really isn't in today's computers. At least half of that is going to be immediately consumed by the OS. And even though MS prefers .wav files, it doesn't always handle them efficiently. Then when you import them into Storyline, Now you have even less memory, as Storyline tries to load it into memory. This really isn't a Storyline limitation, but a limitation on your system. Windows gets around these memory issues by caching to the disk, but on a laptop with only one disk, this can sometimes be extremely slow. It's even possible that your system isn't so much hung, as just taking a really long time to handle everything in memory. Unfortunately, a lot of this processing doesn't take advantage of the memory on your graphics card, so you will still see the performance hit.

I suspect your videos from your cameras are much larger that you really need for your Storyline project. Do you have anyway that you can render them to a smaller video? I think that would work much better for you, and will also work better when you publish your project.

Hi

Thanks for the response. I run the Adobe Creative Cloud suite and have no
problem opening that file in Adobe Pro or even Photoshop, which would
suggest it isn't a memory issue with my laptop, but more of an issue with
Articulate Replay to handle large files.

Maybe Replay has a memory leak in it.

I have read other posts where people have experienced similar issues to me
with large files and Replay and this post is one example, which is what I
have been adding to with my experience.

Cheers,

Chris

Hi Chris,

5-7 GB is a bit larger - and not a file size I have at the ready. Is the video file long (how many minutes, hours?) or is it a high resolution video? 

Have you tried the simple steps of repairing Replay, and double check that the files you're inserting are stored locally? 

Ashley,

The specifications you linked above are for Replay 1, and show a minimum of 512MB of RAM. That's not at all reasonable...

I can't find the requirements for Replay 2, but Replay 360 shows 2GB minimum, which is a little more reasonable for smaller/shorter projects.

Based upon Dave's comments, it seems that the requirements should be more like 8GB minimum.

Dave, if you notice in my original post that started this whole thread ("I have been trying to work with some uncompressed .avi files, which can be over 5GB. My workstation is fairly beefy - 3.4GHz i7-2600 CPU (8 logical CPUs), 24GB of RAM.") I have a workstation that should have no problem handling the large files...but I still had problems. In my opinion, system resources are only part of the issue. I am pretty sure it is also tied up in how Replay uses those resources (poorly), and also in that (unlike Adobe Premiere) Replay does not use the CUDA resources built into the video cards, so we do not see the same benefit of a good video card as we do with Premiere.

Chris, along that line...that's why your videos are fine in Premiere, but not in Replay, in my opinion.

So...Chris, my best advice is that you either make shorter videos, or compress them a bit with Handbrake before importing them to Replay so that you can work with them.

Sorry George - I wasn't sure which version of Replay you were using. 

We've got: 

• Replay 1 - System Requirements
  Tutorials 
• Replay 360 - System Requirements
  Tutorials

We've marked the minimums for the system requirements, but Articulate Replay lets you record screencasts up to two hours in length. The ability to process large video files to publish lengthy recordings will depend on the processing power available too. 

We recommend recording multiple smaller screencasts to avoid publishing issues and learner fatigue. For example, learners will appreciate four 5-minute videos more than one 20-minute video.