Lack of Bezier lines (angled and curved) and what's up with the video timeline?

Feb 11, 2020

Bent Michaelsen
By Bent Michaelsen

Hello! Having moved to another department where I work, I now sorely see the need to address a couple of topics that I experience missing from SL360, and backwards in the version history.

This may be a shot in the dark, but I would like to ask someone from staff to address the topics I mention in this thread.

I no longer produce "free and creative" training in Storyline 360 ... which is somewhat sad ... but ok. The department where I now work creates operational training for system descriptions, very often only dealing with lines swiping across a systems diagram (see attachments), while a voice gives instructions to the learner. The lines move in straight 90 degree angles, but the whole shabang can end up quite complex in the end. Still, it is simple enough to create, using any program but Storyline.

Where I come from, a video creation and animation world, I use Motion 5 for creating lines moving across straight, curved or whatever angled backgrounds. If I need a line to do one or more 90 degree angles (or any angle or curve), say from a given point x to another, then turn 90 degrees upwards, to a point y somewhere, I begin with a straight line. I then right-click the line to add a bezier point, and drag it to where I want it to bend. I choose between sharp or soft angles, no restrictions whatsoever. Dragging the end of the line, I move and position the end point wherever. I add as many points as necessary, without restrictions. Using simple keyframes I have 100% control of when in time the bend is going to take place, and using in- and out-points on the timeline, as well as begin- and end-offsets of the line itself I have complete control of all aspects of my animation. This would be great to have in Storyline. Are there any plans of implementing such features for SL360?

Today, my colleagues and I draw these lines layering one on top of another, then adjusting the in-point on the timeline (again, see the attachment). Additionally, it is very difficult to place the lines in order to align them perfectly (they are always a bit off, no matter how much I zoom in or use fine nudging techniques). I would be happy if someone can correct me should I be wrong.

Another major issue (for me) with Storyline: Coming from said video creation world, where I use programs such as Final Cut Pro X (and Motion 5) ... or ANY video editor ... when I park the cursor on any point on the timeline, the timeline only shows me what is under it. When I began using Storyline this frustrated me greatly. I simply couldn't understand why on earth everything was layered on top of each other, until it dawned on me that I actually had to switch off the layers I didn't want to see ... what a clicking hell. What's the deal with this? Or am I missing something? If I could have a say, I would say - get rid of it. Yesterday. Make it so that the timeline shows only what is underneath the cursor, or at least give us an option to choose. I find it hard to believe that this has not been addressed by other users before me.

To me, these are strange defects to an otherwise excellent program. The attachments are created in Camtasia 2019, as SL360 is just too awkward for this type of quick screen recordings.

Let me just end by saying that I don't write this from a bad place. I draw some comparisons and address issues I think ought to be quite regular features for programs on this level. And price ;-).

Thanks!

Bent
Norway

6 Replies
Lauren Connelly
4 years ago02/20/20 at 1:48 pm (UTC)

Hi Bent!

Not to harsh at all! I appreciate all of the details. I apologize that you haven't heard a reply yet! Since we answer each post in the forums, the reply time can vary.

Not to worry, I'm here to help! 

You're correct, the interaction with the bezier lines is a difficult build in Storyline 360. My first thought is to use a motion path but even that would include specific dimensions. 

I'm having a difficult time understanding the second issue with the layers. Do you have a screen recording or screenshot that you could share?

We'll be here to help!

Bent Michaelsen
4 years ago02/24/20 at 2:53 pm (UTC)

Hello Lauren.

Thank you for your reply. I will be more patient next time. I respect very much that you want to reply to all inquiries.

With regards to the bezier lines, I am afraid that anything else but full freedom with regards to manipulation of them as I describe above, will do it for me. The suggestion you make simply isn't good enough. I have made a suggestion about this to Articulate in the proper forum.

And with regards to the part where I was not very clear, it is probably because I lost clarity in translation. Sorry for that. What I mean is that with every video editor I have used, whenever I place the cursor on a point on the timeline, the canvas only shows me what is at that exact point. All the other layers not supposed to show at that point simply don't.

Not so with SL360. I have created three images to illustrate what I mean, please see the attachments. They are named accordingly.

  1. This is the timeline of a project. There are many, many layers. Please don't comment on my colleague's lack of naming or grouping them. This thread is not about that.
  2. This is the canvas of the project (the words are in Norwegian) of the timeline mentioned above. It is utter chaos. I cannot with my best understanding get why SL360 won't show me only what is at that point while in editing mode. Or, why isn't there at least a switch somewhere that lets me do just that. Instead, I have to manually turn off layers or groups I don't want to see, to then get to the edit point. This may be acceptable when you have one or two layers, but it doesn't take much before it becomes a clicking hell, on and off with layers - to put it mildly.
  3. Here I show the timeline of a project I set up in Camtasia 2019, in a basic video editor. But, whenever I locate the cursor at a certain point, I only see what is there. This is a great relief, compared to what I see in SL360. It makes editing images, video, sound and annotations very easy and far quicker.

So, I don't hold Camtasia to be the "best linear video editor there is." I use it because it is the one I have access to at the office. But all, and I do mean all, video editors I have ever used, only shows what is under the cursor, nothing more.

Even if all layers were grouped in an SL360 project, I do have problems understanding why on earth do I have to even bother with turning them off. If there is a reasoning behind it, I am curious as to why. Or is there such a switch in SL360, I just haven't found it?

I hope this was a bit clearer :-).

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