Implementation of huge video files / possibilities for embedding videos
Jun 21, 2023
Dear all,
I'm working on a project where I have to implement some huge video files (from 1.8 - 3.8GB each file!).
Due to the fact that nearly no LMS is able to deal with such huge SCORM files I tried to reduce the video file size by decreasing the resolution from 1920x1080 to 1280x720 which helped a little but the files are still nearly 1-2GB. Unfortunatelly it's not possible to compress them more because the videos must have a very good resolution to see / recongnize detailed informations within the video for the e-learning.
So I tried to embed the videos via our SharePoint page but here I face a new problem: After exporting the e-learning as a SCORM, I always need to log in into Microsoft because I can not share the video with everybody outside of our office SharePoint due to safety reasons. This seems to be something I can not handle.
So I tried to store the video on YouTube (even this is a worst case scenario, because of data privacy regulations).
But some general questions about the interaction possibilities of Storyline with embedded videos:
- is it possible to control embedded videos? The user should be allowed to rewind but not fast forward the video.
- is there a possibility to set triggers / cue points on embedded video objects? I need to pause the embedded video 5 times, then a question should pop up (so within a 25min video there are 5 questions in between). If the user answered it correctly the video should proceed, otherwise the user should start from the beginning / or after the last correct answer. I tried it this case with an YT video but the video didn’t stop in the background, the timeline of the video slide paused when the question (implemented as a layer) popped up. On the other hand: if I pause the embedded video by clicking the timeline on the slide proceeded and everything was messed up.
- Is it possible to include only a part of an embedded video? E.g. from the start to minute 5, on the next slide there will be the video part from min 5 to min 10 and so on?
In general: how are you dealing big video files within Storyline when compression is no option?
Thanks a lot for your answer!
2 Replies
To answer in general, I'd recommend using a separate video tool (Camtasia, Adobe Premiere Pro are two that I know of) and then "slice and dice" the video to get the sections that I really need. That usually resolves the size and processing problems.
In a few cases when we couldn't do that, I ended up cutting the video into eight separate segments. The learner needs to watch all the segments to complete the class, but can watch them in any order.
Can you set triggers on embedded video? Beyond "when media starts" or "when media completes," no. You need to have something else on screen to have triggers working here. (At least in my experience.)
Controlling the video (rewinding but not fast-forwarding) is set through Player options.
As for linking the videos to an external site - including an internal Sharepoint page - that would be the easiest approach by far. So perhaps you can consider "snipping" the segments that you want, and then up front (and at the end) put in a link to the longer video, hopefully hosted on a site like Vimeo or YouTube.
Idea for your embedded Microsoft issue:
Embed something at the beginning of the learning package that would make them sign into M365 at that step. Then you know they're signed in when they get to the embedded video. I've done that trick for a few other situations, but not for Storyline so it'd need testing.