AS2 automatically converted my .mp3 files to .wav during the file change process. Why?
Nov 03, 2017
I apologize if this is a duplicate. My browser and company security settings "crashed" my attempt to post this discussion.
I am updating an Articulate Storyline 2 project that my team published last year. The individual, who recorded the voiceover, is no longer part of my team, so I used my voice to replace hers. I used Audacity, like we have always done, to record all 90 audio tracks. Because this is an existing project, I selected each audio object in the timeline, and clicked Audio Tools > Options > Audio Options > Change Audio. [I added the command to the QAT to improve my productivity.] I selected the audio file (always an .mp3) and I saw the pop-up window that AS2 was saving the audio file to the project.
Last night, when I was shutting down for the evening, I noted that the size of the .story file ballooned to 215 MB. The previous version, before I changed the audio files, was 1/3 of the size (71 MB). I decided to deal with the file bloat in the morning.
I looked over the other posts and threads regarding how to remove file bloat. Nothing seemed to work. When I delved deeper into the guts of the .story file, I noticed that nearly all (86 of 90) of my audio files are saved as .wav. That is not what I started with and that is not what I want.
What I am trying to understand is why did AS2, of its own initiative, change the file type of nearly all of my audio tracks?
I am quite temped to extract all of the .wav files, pair them up with their respective .rels files for each slide, and renaming my .mp3 files accordingly. Then, I would be able to insert the new .mp3 and .rels files and hopefully obtain a much smaller .story.
So, why did AS2 change my audio tracks from .mp3 to .wav during the Change Audio process?
5 Replies
Thanks for reaching out, Michel! Really strange that your MP3 files were converted to WAV files. That's not something I've seen happen before, so I'd like to know more.
I'd be curious to know whether the same thing happens if you import one of the MP3 files into a new Storyline file. Have you tested that yet? I can help you with that testing if you don't mind sharing one of your MP3 files with me here. Thanks!
HI Michel,
No worries - doesn't appear to be a duplicate, but if it is, we can always delete the extra one.
As for the issue you've run into, I can't find a similar situation where the files were converted upon adding them to the course. Have you also tried adding the files directly to the slide and then deleting the older versions? Did that also show them as .WAV files?
Some other general guidelines to help prevent odd behavior are listed here, and you'd also want to make sure you're on the latest update of Storyline 2 Update 12.
Hello Alyssa and Ashley,
Here some answers to your questions.
So, I think that we have a case for further investigation. It is also getting me interested to revisit some of my order projects, because we use the Change Audio process when we need to perform targeted updates to slides when the audio track changes, like when a year needs to increase (e.g. from 2016 to 2017).
Also, I believe that I read, a while ago, the thread, that Ashley posted. My team has gone so far as to order larger hard drives, for our employer-provided laptops, because of the size of .tmp files and folders.
If there is something else that we can do, I am all ears.
Thank you.
Michel
Hi Michael,
I tested this, and I'm seeing the same thing you're seeing. When you use the "Change Audio" function, the corresponding Storyline media folder contains a .mp3 of the original audio file and a .wav of the new audio file. After saving the Storyline file a few times, the .mp3 is removed, and only the .wav remains in the media folder.
I'm going to share this with our Support Engineers so they can shed some light on why this is happening. They'll reach out to you via email once they have more to share!
Thank you. At least it is not just me. I will warn my teammates and others within the company that use the application as well.
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