Several time line cue points trigger character state change, i.e. point up, down, etc. Looks good in preview but when published there is a momentary white, empty flash between states. Same thing when viewed from local drive or from LMS. Found some old threads here but did not help (off slide object triggers or fade). Suggestions? File attached.
I have created a slide for use as a lightbox. (Originally I put this as a layer, but the when I encountered this character rendering problem, I rebuilt as a stand alone slide). It is a conversation between to characters and there are 4 states for each character triggered state changes by cure points. 2 issues:
1.) When previewing the silde with the play button in the timeline, one charater does not show up at all , and the other does not change states.
2.) when preview in SL360, or published and viewed on Articuylate online, or Tempshare, the clide locks with the spinning loading icon and you connot get farther.
FYI as a slide layer I had the same problems, in addition the layer timeline would start by itself, I had to hit the play button in the preview player.
What is going on? This is my first project in 360 (been using SL1 and SL2 for many many years.) I have a deqadline to meet for my customer and this is there request for the audio.
Hi Mark. These clues are telling me that there is some corruption on the light box slide. I had the same experience, with "Margie" not showing up with the playback button, and endless loading when previewing the slide. When I cut that character from the slide and attempted to preview, the slide loaded and began playing the conversation. I saw Mike change states, although his second part of conversation looked like it didn't sync up with his state change.
It's nearly impossible to figure out the source of corruption, but we have some tips that help protect your files from the risk. Saving to your local C: drive and closing Storyline daily are two of the easiest ways to protect your files.
Try cutting out the Margie character and re-inserting her. Rebuild her triggers from scratch as well. Let me know if that works for you!
Hello. I have a problem. During the preview, the character's state changes smoothly. After the publication of change status of the character accompanied by flashing. Help me make the transition inconspicuous, please. Or say that it is impossible, since I have a deadline and need to decide to move in this direction or choose an easy path. Thanks!
Hi there, Андрей. Thank you for sharing your file with us for a closer look!
I published the file to Web using Storyline 360, Build 3.33.20697.0–here's the HTML5 output. I then tested it in Chrome 78 where I also see the character flash (here's a quick recording). So sorry about this!
From here, I'm going to get a second opinion from our Support team to see if we can gain further insight into this behavior and how to tackle it. Look out for a follow-up email shortly, and I'll follow the case along!
Working with the latest version of storyline 360 and we are having the same issue with characters (Storyline characters) state changes flashing between Cue points set on the timeline.
Thanks for reaching out! I'm sorry to hear that the characters aren't changing states smoothly.
We have documented a few reports around state changes in Storyline 360. Can you help me with a few more clues?
What browser(s) are you using to view the content?
If you don't mind sharing a copy of your file, we're happy to verify whether these bugs are affecting your course or if something else is causing the flash. You can use this private upload link.
I used the link to submit the story file, the issue is across multiple browsers (Firefox, Safari, Edge and Chrome) but Firefox and Safari are the worst out of the others. Plus it happens in preview and when uploading to review for testing and feedback.
Katie - I am having the same issue, however I am not using states. I am just lining up poses for characters in the timeline. Looks great when I preview in Storyline. Flashes between characters when I publish to Review or publish in LMS. We have huge project with these characters and need a solution.
Thanks for reaching out! It seems your issue may be different from the ones in this discussion as you mentioned you're not using state changes with the characters.
Feel free to connect with a support engineer and share your file so that we can help troubleshoot.
I am seeing the character flashing on my project as well. It is a new project created with the latest version of Storyline 360. There are 8 states with different poses and facial expressions in each one. I only note the flashing between positions 2 and 3 and between 4 and 5.
Would someone be willing to take a look?
I have tried:
Cropping the character to minimize rendering issues with wildly divergent poses.
Centering the chin area to reduce the jumping up and down.
I made this recording to show what I see when I test your slide on my end. Clicking on the image does result in the character changing poses, but I did not observe any flashing between poses. This is true regardless if I preview or publish the slide.
Was this ever fixed for non-Storyline characters/external assets? I've seen several threads on this issue-- dating back like 7 years now! It seems like Articulate was fixing a bug between flashing states for SL Characters, but I'm having the same issue with flashing between states for .gifs and/or .pngs I'm importing into Storyline.
Thanks for reaching out! We did fix a bug related to animated gifs flickering between states about a year ago. Are you still seeing this issue in your projects?
If so, is this happening with every project or just a specific project? If it is a specific project, would you mind sharing it with us? You can share it with us in this discussion or privately in a support case?
Lauren -- it seems to do it very randomly. Some files are fine, some flash. Sometimes if I delete all the states out and reimport the gifs, it will work for fine until I do something else on the page (say change a different, static graphic) and then it will break again.
I'll upload my file to the support case link you sent above.
49 Replies
Hi, folks! I'm excited to let you all know that we just released update 18 for Storyline 360–check out all the new fixes here 🎁
One of the fixes addresses an issue where illustrated characters could flicker or blink when changing states or expressions.
Here’s how you can update Storyline 360 to see everything the latest release has to offer. Let us know how you make out!
That is fantastic news! Will this fix work on existing affected files or will it only work for new courses?
I have the same question and also I can't find where illustrated characters could flicker or blink when changing states or expressions.
Hey Kita,
You should be able to update your affected courses and new courses should not see the issue :)
Hello Learning Happy and welcome to E-Learning Heroes :)
I answered Kita's question above - you should be able to update your affected courses, but it sounds like you were not having trouble with this?
Perhaps I'm not understanding, so just let me know if you have a question.
This is still happening for some slides. I have worked out a work around, but definitely can still happen.
Oh-no! So sorry you're still coming across this problem after updating, Kita. It is still happening with only the Shannon character, or all?
Mind sharing a copy of your .story file with our team, so we can take a look?
I have created a slide for use as a lightbox. (Originally I put this as a layer, but the when I encountered this character rendering problem, I rebuilt as a stand alone slide). It is a conversation between to characters and there are 4 states for each character triggered state changes by cure points. 2 issues:
1.) When previewing the silde with the play button in the timeline, one charater does not show up at all , and the other does not change states.
2.) when preview in SL360, or published and viewed on Articuylate online, or Tempshare, the clide locks with the spinning loading icon and you connot get farther.
FYI as a slide layer I had the same problems, in addition the layer timeline would start by itself, I had to hit the play button in the preview player.
What is going on? This is my first project in 360 (been using SL1 and SL2 for many many years.) I have a deqadline to meet for my customer and this is there request for the audio.
Hi Mark. These clues are telling me that there is some corruption on the light box slide. I had the same experience, with "Margie" not showing up with the playback button, and endless loading when previewing the slide. When I cut that character from the slide and attempted to preview, the slide loaded and began playing the conversation. I saw Mike change states, although his second part of conversation looked like it didn't sync up with his state change.
It's nearly impossible to figure out the source of corruption, but we have some tips that help protect your files from the risk. Saving to your local C: drive and closing Storyline daily are two of the easiest ways to protect your files.
Try cutting out the Margie character and re-inserting her. Rebuild her triggers from scratch as well. Let me know if that works for you!
Is there any fix to this problem yet? I am having the same issue in one of my projects. It's really bugging me.
Hello Paul and welcome to E-Learning Heroes :)
We did share an update above where we released a fix for this issue back in July.
Are you using the latest update, Build 3.20.16814.0, within Storyline 360?
Can you share a bit more information about what you are seeing within your course and if you could share a .story file that would be helpful as well.
Hello. I have a problem. During the preview, the character's state changes smoothly. After the publication of change status of the character accompanied by flashing. Help me make the transition inconspicuous, please. Or say that it is impossible, since I have a deadline and need to decide to move in this direction or choose an easy path. Thanks!
Hi there, Андрей. Thank you for sharing your file with us for a closer look!
I published the file to Web using Storyline 360, Build 3.33.20697.0–here's the HTML5 output. I then tested it in Chrome 78 where I also see the character flash (here's a quick recording). So sorry about this!
From here, I'm going to get a second opinion from our Support team to see if we can gain further insight into this behavior and how to tackle it. Look out for a follow-up email shortly, and I'll follow the case along!
Working with the latest version of storyline 360 and we are having the same issue with characters (Storyline characters) state changes flashing between Cue points set on the timeline.
Hi Jack,
Thanks for reaching out! I'm sorry to hear that the characters aren't changing states smoothly.
We have documented a few reports around state changes in Storyline 360. Can you help me with a few more clues?
I used the link to submit the story file, the issue is across multiple browsers (Firefox, Safari, Edge and Chrome) but Firefox and Safari are the worst out of the others. Plus it happens in preview and when uploading to review for testing and feedback.
Katie - I am having the same issue, however I am not using states. I am just lining up poses for characters in the timeline. Looks great when I preview in Storyline. Flashes between characters when I publish to Review or publish in LMS. We have huge project with these characters and need a solution.
Thanks!
Hi Bridget,
Thanks for reaching out! It seems your issue may be different from the ones in this discussion as you mentioned you're not using state changes with the characters.
Feel free to connect with a support engineer and share your file so that we can help troubleshoot.
Hi all!
I am happy to report that we are not seeing this behavior in Storyline 360 (Build 3.49.24347.0):
If you're still running into this snag, make sure you're using the latest version of Storyline 360.
Don't hesitate to reach out to us in this discussion or in a support case if you have additional questions!
I am seeing the character flashing on my project as well. It is a new project created with the latest version of Storyline 360. There are 8 states with different poses and facial expressions in each one. I only note the flashing between positions 2 and 3 and between 4 and 5.
Would someone be willing to take a look?
I have tried:
I am at a loss as to how to fix the flashing.
TIA!
Hi Glenda,
I'm sorry to hear that you ran into this issue.
I made this recording to show what I see when I test your slide on my end. Clicking on the image does result in the character changing poses, but I did not observe any flashing between poses. This is true regardless if I preview or publish the slide.
As a troubleshooting step, try doing a repair of your Storyline 360 installation to see if this fixes the issue. Following the instructions will also get you to the latest version of Storyline 360 which has the most recent bug fixes and updates.
Let me know if this works for you!
Was this ever fixed for non-Storyline characters/external assets? I've seen several threads on this issue-- dating back like 7 years now! It seems like Articulate was fixing a bug between flashing states for SL Characters, but I'm having the same issue with flashing between states for .gifs and/or .pngs I'm importing into Storyline.
Hello Kirby!
Thanks for reaching out! We did fix a bug related to animated gifs flickering between states about a year ago. Are you still seeing this issue in your projects?
If so, is this happening with every project or just a specific project? If it is a specific project, would you mind sharing it with us? You can share it with us in this discussion or privately in a support case?
Lauren -- it seems to do it very randomly. Some files are fine, some flash. Sometimes if I delete all the states out and reimport the gifs, it will work for fine until I do something else on the page (say change a different, static graphic) and then it will break again.
I'll upload my file to the support case link you sent above.
Hi Kirby!
Thanks for following up!
Smart move sharing your file through a support case! I see that my colleague Lianne is handling your case, and reviewing your .story file.
We can continue troubleshooting through your case to keep all information in one spot.