Accessing “common” videos through various branches
Mar 08, 2021
Hi - I’ve searched long and hard - and I can’t find an answer to this issue.
I'm creating a module that is video heavy with numerous screencasts/recordings of a bespoke system for a client. Storyline 3.
I have a slide that allows users to select which part of the business they belong to - and that decision will lead them to a scene created around their particular requirements. There are 6 other scenes “branching” off the main scene.
However quite a few of the recordings/ videos are common across all scenes and for the sake of reducing the size of the published module - I’m trying to find a way of only adding a video once and then having each scene link to it if required.
how do I do this?
I know I can use a light box solution but I’d like the video to be larger than the light box allows.
I also tried creating a scene to hold all the slides with the videos and linked the other 6 scenes to it. but once the last slide had played - I couldn’t get it to return the user to the original branch from which they arrived so they could complete the module back in their own branch. (6 entry points leading to the video scene - how does storyline know which of the 6 someone came from?)
I can’t help thinking that this must be a common query - the alternative is to have many videos embedded 6 times - one for each branch/scene and that will make the module too large.
any advice would be welcome.
thanks
8 Replies
You just need to use conditional branching...which basically means sending them somewhere in the module but under certain conditions.
The easiest way to do this would be to store a value that represents their role. In the attached example, I've used a value from 1 to 4 (in your case 6) to represent what role they indicate they have.
Then, when you are at the point where you want to send them to certain slides, you tell Storyline to send them there, but ONLY if the variable you created has the correct value.
In the example attached...slide 1 assigns a value based on what they indicate their role is.
Slide 2 sends them off to (in my example) 4 different places...but ONLY on conditions....
- go to slide 3 if the value is 1
- go to slide 4 if the value is 2 etc etc
Is that what you were after? Once you have that value in the module, you can easily control which slides they see...or another way to put it, what path they take through the module
Sorry, I did that a bit too quickly and used "when timeline ends" on slide 2...I have corrected it to use the big blue button. That said, you could let a timeline play and then automatically jump if you wanted.
Just to show a bit more branching, a new version attached.
Here's a sample that allows you to put a video on one slide that everybody sees, then returns them to the next slide in their particular path through the module. It would be just as easy to return them to the slide they came from, just change the conditions in the triggers on the movie slide that set which slide to jump to.
Thanks all - appreciated
Walt / Philip thanks for the advice but I dont think your instructions tackle the issue I'm facing
Perhaps the enclosed diagrams will help clarify the situation.
I need to keep the info in the same module - although the videos repeat. I'm trying to find a way to only have the videos loaded once - each branch access them and then return to their own branch once the last video slide is viewed. I cant fathom how to return to multiple starting points using trigger/ variables.
thanks for your continued support / help
Look again at the sample I sent. I've condensed it a bit, but it does what you are asking. In it, there are four branches after the initial choice is made. At this point, each branch is two slides long, with the video in the middle. At the appropriate moment in the branch, the learner clicks to watch the video (which doesn't have a video, but represents one by a slide that shows for 5 seconds and ends.) When the video ends, the learner is automatically directed back to their starting branch. In this case, they are returned to the next slide in the branch, but could just as easily return to the same slide they left from.
What may fool you is that when you actually play the project, all the slides look much the same, but if you look at the story view, you can see that each branch passes through the one slide with the video, then returns to its original branch.
Ah - I see that now Walt - apologies. The common Movie slide has alternative "outs" at the end - back to the user's own path.
Much appreciated bud. I'm a bot slow at times lol
Sorry, my example was a bit more complex with branching as you said "a few recordings/videos are common" and in fact it's most videos are common, except with a couple of exceptions. Walt has put it together for you in one nice scene.