File size issue when importing audio

Jun 03, 2016

So here is the situation. I have a storyline file (containing audio) which is about 56,000 KB. We wanted a different voice, so I used the "Change audio" button to swap in the newly created audio files on each slide. But now the file size is about 125,000. The file is now huge and slow.

I noticed that when you hover over each audio file in timeline - it shows old audio file name and not new one. So suspecting that maybe old files are still being retained somewhere. I instead deleted the audio files completely and then inserted fresh. File size still huge.

I have also tried to use the Save As trick to save the file under a different name. And then also tried to create an empty shell and import old file into a new file. Thinking one of these tricks might get rid of remnants. No luck.

Again I am unsure how a file size of 56,000 with a total of 31,000 worth of audio adds up to a modified file size of over 125,000. Any thoughts?

I am checked the forums and done a bunch of experimenting and I am stuck! Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

3 Replies
Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Regina,

The elements are saved in your file until you close out the project or have done a "save as" and close it out, so that you could use the "undo" button to be able to come back to what you'd previously done. If you've closed and its still not working as expected, could you also look at importing it into a new file following the steps here. 

Regina Lehotay

Hi Ashley,

Yes as stated, I already tried all of that with no luck. Thanks to much experimenting by one of my teammates, we did find a solution. What did work for anyone else experiencing issues with massive file sizes after using the Change Audio button is the following:

  1. Deleted absolutely all audio out of the storyline file. Published the file to web and examined the publish folders to be sure all audio files were completely gone. (This took several attempts to find all of the places I had placed audio - such as on markers and such). Saved the file.
  2. Did a Save As and saved the storyline file under a different file name.
  3. Import this new file into an empty storyline shell with yet another new name.
  4. Once I had confirmed that the file size had returned back down to close to original level. Started importing my new audio back into the file.

So we had to combine several methods to get the file size back down and cleaned up. Maybe not necessary for everyone but it is the only thing which worked for us.

MORAL of the story - this is at least the second time we have had issues with the Change Audio button - will never use again.

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