Creating a Spotlight

Aug 14, 2019

Brooke Winston
By Brooke Winston

If anyone is wondering how to create a spotlight effect in Storyline 360, here is a YouTube video that helped me!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be2T95BMVjc

Essentially, you have to 

1) make the primary image the background using format background - fill as picture

2) add shape over top - black with transparency to create dark box

3) add another shape over the section you want to spotlight. Go to format shape and make the fill "background fill". This will essentially allow the box to cut through anything underneath.

Now you can move the shape anywhere you please and it will "highlight" the background underneath while keeping the rest of the screen in the dark.

Previous E-learning heroes discussions said to use the frame or donut shape to create this, but that didn't work for me - mainly because the opening was always centered and sometimes I needed to highlight sections in a corner or on a side.

Hope this helps!

14 Replies
Maria Costa-Stienstra
3 years ago04/02/21 at 5:10 pm (UTC)

Hi, Alessio, and welcome to E-Learning Heroes! ✨

Which version of Storyline are you using? I followed the tutorial using Storyline 360 (latest build  3.50.24668.0), and it worked both when previewing and publishing.

Are you working from a local hard drive? Working on a network drive can cause erratic behavior. 

If possible, can you share your .story file here so we can take a look at what's going on?

Andrea Koehntop
almost 2 years ago05/16/22 at 1:26 pm (UTC)

Hi Emmanual, and welcome to the E-Learning Heroes community! ✨

When I attempt the steps on my end in Storyline 360, it works as expected.

What specific step are you getting stuck on, and what happens? 

I look forward to helping you work through this!

For your other inquiry, please refer to my colleague's responses here.

Emmanual Flores
almost 2 years ago05/16/22 at 11:52 pm (UTC)

Hi there, and thanks for the warm welcome!

I should specify that I am wanting to use the spotlight effect during a video recording that has been inserted as a single slide. 

When I try to "1) make the primary image the background using format background - fill as picture" it just inserts white

Thanks,

Manny

Jose Tansengco
almost 2 years ago05/19/22 at 12:35 pm (UTC)

Hi Manny, 

Do you have a project file that you can share with us so we can take a closer look at why formatting the background isn't working as expected? If you're more comfortable sharing your project file in private, you can reach out to our support team here so we can continue troubleshooting the issue through a support case. 

I'm curious to know what image file are you using as the primary background image in your slide.

  • Is this an image file taken from a frame from the video?
  • When you use other image files as the background, does it still display as white? 

Looking forward to your response!

Emmanual Flores
almost 2 years ago05/19/22 at 7:58 pm (UTC)

Hi there,

I might hold off on progressing this enquiry for a while. I am very new to Articulate and also have some unexpected work pressures at the moment and I think I need to become more familiar with the product so if I am still stuck in future I am can more intelligently articulate what I've done and what is occurring. I really appreciate all the help I've been given and I may ask again in future. Thanks again for everyone who has taken the time to respond.

Steven Benassi
21 days ago04/05/24 at 4:11 pm (UTC)

Hi Josh!

I just wanted to pop in and share that we are tracking a feature request to support Spotlight Animation in Storyline 360!

I've linked this discussion to the feature report and will provide updates as soon as we have news to share. If you'd like to stay up to date, please bookmark our Feature Roadmap.

Sign In to Reply