I don't know if this is an Articulate issue or because I need an IT upgrade. But every time I export content from Articulate 360 as a video it takes a huge amount of time.
At the moment I'm exporting 21 slides as a video and so far it has taken 55 minutes, and there is still a fair way to go.
Could someone please tell me about their experiences exporting videos, and whether this is a known problem or not.
It depends on what you have as far as content. Essentially Storyline has to interpret all of the information, convert triggers, etc and then render the video.
Videos aren't interactive and the content is linear. If you know you are building content that you'll output to video (assuming you don't need the interactive part of Storyline for a different context), you may find working with PowerPoint is a better solution.
You can publish an interactive module using Studio 360 and PowerPoint has an export as MP4 option. Of course that's only an option if you don't need the interactive elements you get with Storyline.
Might I ask how to export to a video? That is something I am looking to do. I want to keep using Storyline because we want to use the publish to LMS option for internal use, while exporting to a video without quiz for external use. Thanks!
Whoa, Esther! That's a very long time, and way too long to wait!
Our team is looking into some slowness with publish to video, and I'd love to get them a copy of your project to test too! Can you share it with me here in ELH? If you need to share privately feel free to send along here.
So I'm guessing this issue was never fixed. That is sad, and unfortunate. the above post was 8 months ago. I am now trying to do the same thing and having the same problem. Cannot complete 1 publish to MP4 from SL 360.
The ability to publish to Mp4 was one of the reasons i decided to upgrade.
Would you mind if we had a closer look at your project file? I'm curious if there's something in your file that is preventing the MP4 publish from completing.
If that works for you, you can upload your file privately to our support team here. We'll give it a test and let you know what we find!
I am having the same issue as I export a video. On a side note, I find that there are many performance issues with Storyline 360 that never really get addressed. The other main one is the 3 or 4-second wait every time I try and play the timeline to synch my animations. Been like this for ages.
Hi there, Richard. I'm sorry some processes in Storyline 360 are taking longer than what feels normal. I don't see cases for either Glaister or Esther above; so I can't confirm what the resolution was for them.
When publishing to video, if you have audio or video on several slides, it will significantly increase the amount of time it takes to encode and create a video output. I don't want you waiting an unreasonable amount of time, however, and I'm happy to have a closer look at your .story file to make specific recommendations. I'll delete your file when I'm done troubleshooting.
We are looking into the lag with timeline preview as well. Typical reports from customers indicate that it takes 3-5 seconds to load before the slide content will start playing. I can understand that when you need to perform that process repeatedly, it feels like a time sink. I'll tag this discussion to be updated on any changes to that performance.
Hi, Sade. So sorry you're running into some trouble!
I'd love to help investigate the publish time. To start, can I confirm what Storyline 360 update you're on? You can find this detail by clicking on the Help tab, then About Storyline.
Also, would you be willing to share an affected .story file for testing? We'd love to take a thorough look at your setup to offer more tailored help. If you're able to share the project, please use this private upload link!
Sorry. I didn't see this message 5 months ago. The issue was never resolved. I just started publish on a spare computer in the office and went home for the day. It was finished by the time I got back to work the next morning. I haven't had to publish to mp4 again so I can not tell you if the problem persists.
I wanted to confirm which version of Storyline you're using. We released a bug fix in Update 37 (Build 3.37.21453.0) where a project would hang or freeze when publishing to video.
I just published a course to video on my end and didn't hit any snags. I'm going to attach the project to this discussion so you can test it on your end.
Lastly, in order to make sure the video publishes successfully, you'll want to make sure the slide numbers are in order. Can you check to see if the slide numbers are in number order?
But I have now run into a long stall at "Preparing to encode video..." that lasts for hours/overnight and never completes. I am not sure if I should actually update to a newer version yet because other videos are working.
I'm using Storyline 360 version 3.40.22208.0 to publish a course to video. The course has 1 welcome slide with OST and an image, 1 slide with video file and audio files, and one completion slide with OST and an image. The video and audio on slide 1.2 is approximately 3 minutes long.
All my slide numbers are in order.
The publish took almost an hour to complete and the end product has the video SUPER choppy. The audio that is added separately on the time line plays with no problem (not choppy). The video is the problem.
I am now having the same issue where the video is taking over an hour to encode.
Can you please elaborate on "Lastly, in order to make sure the video publishes successfully, you'll want to make sure the slide numbers are in order. Can you check to see if the slide numbers are in number order?"
You'll want to make sure the slide numbers are in chronological order. If you look at the file in my previous post, you'll see the order of the slides goes from 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, and lastly, 1.6. If the slides are not in order then the video won't publish.
Please let me know if you have additional questions.
Hi there, I am having the same issue. My slides are in order, and I am using version 3.318.218.610. The video has 11 slides with a short (1-2 sec) desktop recording on each slide. It has been encoding for seven hours now, and is on slide 9. It is making progress (not stuck) just very, very slow.
It looks like you're using a dated version of Storyline 360. We are now on Storyline 360 Update 42 (Build 3.42.22691.0). The first step you'll want to take is making sure you're using an updated version.
To update Storyline 360:
First, we'll need to install an update for the Articulate 360 desktop app! Simply click the blue Update button in the top right corner. The update will automatically download and install without any additional prompts.
After updating the Articulate 360 desktop app, you can then update your authoring apps, such as Storyline 360.
After this, can you try to publish your project again? You should find that it is publishing quicker!
Yes, thank you! Jopney was great however the only way I was able to publish this course with out the significant lag time was that I took the file we'd been working on and loaded it on another machine in my office. This one is using Storyline 3.35.21017.0. The publish took less than five minutes and the final video looks great!
Update 44 for Storyline 360is live: We fixed the issue a few of you reported where images with animations would flicker when publishing a project as a video file.
42 Replies
The whole process in the end took 1 hour 14 minutes!
It depends on what you have as far as content. Essentially Storyline has to interpret all of the information, convert triggers, etc and then render the video.
Videos aren't interactive and the content is linear. If you know you are building content that you'll output to video (assuming you don't need the interactive part of Storyline for a different context), you may find working with PowerPoint is a better solution.
You can publish an interactive module using Studio 360 and PowerPoint has an export as MP4 option. Of course that's only an option if you don't need the interactive elements you get with Storyline.
This post was removed by the author
Might I ask how to export to a video? That is something I am looking to do. I want to keep using Storyline because we want to use the publish to LMS option for internal use, while exporting to a video without quiz for external use. Thanks!
Hi Sabrina,
Publish to Video is a feature of Storyline 360. You can read more about it here.
This post was removed by the author
Whoa, Esther! That's a very long time, and way too long to wait!
Our team is looking into some slowness with publish to video, and I'd love to get them a copy of your project to test too! Can you share it with me here in ELH? If you need to share privately feel free to send along here.
So I'm guessing this issue was never fixed. That is sad, and unfortunate. the above post was 8 months ago. I am now trying to do the same thing and having the same problem. Cannot complete 1 publish to MP4 from SL 360.
The ability to publish to Mp4 was one of the reasons i decided to upgrade.
Hi Glaister!
Would you mind if we had a closer look at your project file? I'm curious if there's something in your file that is preventing the MP4 publish from completing.
If that works for you, you can upload your file privately to our support team here. We'll give it a test and let you know what we find!
I am having the same issue as I export a video. On a side note, I find that there are many performance issues with Storyline 360 that never really get addressed. The other main one is the 3 or 4-second wait every time I try and play the timeline to synch my animations. Been like this for ages.
Hi there, Richard. I'm sorry some processes in Storyline 360 are taking longer than what feels normal. I don't see cases for either Glaister or Esther above; so I can't confirm what the resolution was for them.
When publishing to video, if you have audio or video on several slides, it will significantly increase the amount of time it takes to encode and create a video output. I don't want you waiting an unreasonable amount of time, however, and I'm happy to have a closer look at your .story file to make specific recommendations. I'll delete your file when I'm done troubleshooting.
We are looking into the lag with timeline preview as well. Typical reports from customers indicate that it takes 3-5 seconds to load before the slide content will start playing. I can understand that when you need to perform that process repeatedly, it feels like a time sink. I'll tag this discussion to be updated on any changes to that performance.
Has there been a resolution this yet? I'm having this very issue 8 months later....
Hi, Sade. So sorry you're running into some trouble!
I'd love to help investigate the publish time. To start, can I confirm what Storyline 360 update you're on? You can find this detail by clicking on the Help tab, then About Storyline.
Also, would you be willing to share an affected .story file for testing? We'd love to take a thorough look at your setup to offer more tailored help. If you're able to share the project, please use this private upload link!
Same problem here, i don't recall mp4 exporting taking so long.
It's something that happened recently, maybe with some new update.
Even a simple project, under 20 slides with no triggers at all, taking over 2 hours!
Sorry. I didn't see this message 5 months ago. The issue was never resolved. I just started publish on a spare computer in the office and went home for the day. It was finished by the time I got back to work the next morning. I haven't had to publish to mp4 again so I can not tell you if the problem persists.
Hi Sade and DIGIK Digital Knowledge!
I wanted to confirm which version of Storyline you're using. We released a bug fix in Update 37 (Build 3.37.21453.0) where a project would hang or freeze when publishing to video.
I just published a course to video on my end and didn't hit any snags. I'm going to attach the project to this discussion so you can test it on your end.
Lastly, in order to make sure the video publishes successfully, you'll want to make sure the slide numbers are in order. Can you check to see if the slide numbers are in number order?
Hey all, did the last update also correct the glitchy moments?
https://community.articulate.com/discussions/articulate-storyline/video-publishing-choppy-at-transitions
I am using the version 3.36 21289 per https://community.articulate.com/discussions/articulate-storyline/glitches-when-publishing-to-video-from-storyline
But I have now run into a long stall at "Preparing to encode video..." that lasts for hours/overnight and never completes. I am not sure if I should actually update to a newer version yet because other videos are working.
Hi there.
I'm using Storyline 360 version 3.40.22208.0 to publish a course to video. The course has 1 welcome slide with OST and an image, 1 slide with video file and audio files, and one completion slide with OST and an image. The video and audio on slide 1.2 is approximately 3 minutes long.
All my slide numbers are in order.
The publish took almost an hour to complete and the end product has the video SUPER choppy. The audio that is added separately on the time line plays with no problem (not choppy). The video is the problem.
Hi Sade,
I appreciate you contacting our support team as well and I can see that you are currently working directly with Jopney.
I am now having the same issue where the video is taking over an hour to encode.
Can you please elaborate on "Lastly, in order to make sure the video publishes successfully, you'll want to make sure the slide numbers are in order. Can you check to see if the slide numbers are in number order?"
- How do I check the slide order?
Hi Natalie!
You'll want to make sure the slide numbers are in chronological order. If you look at the file in my previous post, you'll see the order of the slides goes from 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, and lastly, 1.6. If the slides are not in order then the video won't publish.
Please let me know if you have additional questions.
Hi there, I am having the same issue. My slides are in order, and I am using version 3.318.218.610. The video has 11 slides with a short (1-2 sec) desktop recording on each slide. It has been encoding for seven hours now, and is on slide 9. It is making progress (not stuck) just very, very slow.
Hi Connie!
It looks like you're using a dated version of Storyline 360. We are now on Storyline 360 Update 42 (Build 3.42.22691.0). The first step you'll want to take is making sure you're using an updated version.
To update Storyline 360:
First, we'll need to install an update for the Articulate 360 desktop app! Simply click the blue Update button in the top right corner. The update will automatically download and install without any additional prompts.
After updating the Articulate 360 desktop app, you can then update your authoring apps, such as Storyline 360.
After this, can you try to publish your project again? You should find that it is publishing quicker!
Yes, thank you! Jopney was great however the only way I was able to publish this course with out the significant lag time was that I took the file we'd been working on and loaded it on another machine in my office. This one is using Storyline 3.35.21017.0. The publish took less than five minutes and the final video looks great!
Happy Tuesday news!
Let us know what you think!