Performance problems with Storyline 3 /360

I've been seeing the same performance decrease on slide layers (but fine on Main layer). However, my projects don't have large embedded graphics and total file size is under 5Mb.

I have found performance within slide layers greatly improved by creating a new SL file for a new project, rather than modifying an existing project file.

Oh no, Ben! Sorry to hear that you've run into some trouble with this as well, but you're right, it does sound a bit different.

Based on your solution, it seems there may have been some lingering items or perhaps some corruption in your file.

This article has some great tips that I wanted to share here for anyone following along.

I have the same issues with brand new files too. The "solution" is to hide the base layer when working with sub layers, once the base is hidden, sub layer content can be manipulated immediately. The obvious problem with this approach is that it's often necessary to be able to see the base layer when positioning elements on sub layers...

I agree Ben.

If you have an example and the steps to replicate, this sounds like something we need to take a look at.

I've put together a test file.

If you select one of the layers and then click and drag to select all elements on the layer (in order to reposition them), notice how slowly the highlight box takes to draw. Once elements are selected, they can be moved relatively smoothly (although performance diminishes with more pages and more layers).

Now, on a layer, hide the base layer and repeat the click and drag to select procedure. Notice that the highlight box now draws immediately and once selected, elements can be moved around the screen with ease.

A video of this being demonstrated can be found here

Hi Ben,

Thanks for that Peek recording and test file. I'm experiencing a similar slow down when you are changing the layer visibility and we have recently reported this to our team as a performance bug within Storyline.

I'll keep you posted here with any updates, as our team is working on a few related performance issues right now. 

That's great, thanks.

Hey Ben and Sam! I'm excited to let you know that we just released update 16 for Storyline 360! It includes new features and fixes - check them all out here.

One of the fixes we made in this update is to improve the performance of the Storyline editor. It no longer slows down when multiple slide layers are visible at the same time.

Here’s how you can update Storyline 360 to take advantage of everything the latest release has to offer. Let me know how you make out!

Hi Alyssa, already updated and tested, all now looks good. Thanks for solving that one, it was annoying!

Thanks Ben! Happy to hear that. 🙂

Would this update also help SL3 slowing down?  Is there an update for that?  I'm getting serious slow downs, particularly on layer slides.

Hi there, Graham.  I hate that you're getting slowed down, but good news:  Storyline 3 will get the same fix as Storyline 360, though the release schedule isn't quite the same.  We'll let you know as soon as the next Storyline 3 update is released.

Hey, folks. The day Crystal alluded to is here! 🎉

Update 5 for Storyline 3 is ready–check out all the new fixes and features here! 

One of the fixes addresses an issue that Alyssa mentioned above, but for Storyline 3: we've improved the performance of the Storyline editor, so it no longer slows down when multiple slide layers are visible at the same time.

Here’s where you can install and update Storyline 3. Let us know what you think!

I am having big time performance issues in the current release. It is bogging down to a crawl. This really should not be. You really need to address this issue. 

Hi Richard,

I'm sorry to hear that Storyline has slowed down to a crawl, and you're right, that should not be happening. Our Support Team is happy to work with you to figure out what may be going on, and they'll use any information they glean to share with Engineering who are continuing to work on performance improvements. 

Let me know if you open a case and I'll follow along to share any updates here! 

I have the same issues. I'm on the newest update. [Update 5: 3.5.16548.0]

SL3 is very sluggish and slow. Specially on layers. This is very annoying. I'm sorry to say I'm beginning to regret the SL3 update, as for me it's only been problems on top of problems since day 1.
-Preview/publish is blurry (HTML5/Chrome)
-Very slow/sluggish performance when developing
-Placing objects somehow often places them between 2 pixels, so that a thin line becomes fuzzy and does not align. Moving 1px wont fix that (with keyboard). I have to go into "size/position" options, and move it 1 px up, then 1 px down there. 
-Dragging multiple objects in one selection will make all individual objects align differently, not together. If I have 5 boxes perfectly positioned, and want to move them a bit together, they each get bumped to align with other objects, independently of each other, and with no apparent logic.
-Objects outside "scene" will briefly jump into frame (or rather, the frame will jump to show outside content) when loading slides for the first time. (HTML5)
-Performance issues when submitting a rather big quiz result to LMS. Course freezes up, and users have to close the window.
-Users can bypass a disabled next-button simply by pushing "TAB" on the keyboard to highlight the button, and hit "Space-bar".
-And I've got a lot of other issues..

I hope to see solutions to these issues soon, or else we are forced to change our development tools. My problems are known issues, that have been reported a very long time ago by other users too.

Hi Stian,

I'm sorry to hear you're still having such trouble with Storyline 3 and specifically the performance issues. I know our team has been working hard on a few of these and pulling data from individual authors to help us further isolate the cause and test fixes. 

I'm happy to connect you with our Support Team (or you can reach out using that link) and they'll walk you through the same troubleshooting as I didn't see a case for you already. 

The issue you mentioned where learners could bypass a disabled next-button by tabbing to it was fixed in Storyline 3 Update 5, and it was specific to custom buttons. Does that match what you are still seeing? If so, could we take a look at your project?

Thanks for your reply :)

Ahh, I see now that the TAB+Space is fixed after the latest update indeed. Thats good :) It was indeed related to custom next-buttons (in disabled state). I have several support tickets open, so i'm not sure I need to open more right now. Sluggish performance should be very easy to recreate at your end I would think, as it doesn't take much to slow the program down to a crawl. Might open a ticket regarding this.

Hi Stian,

Happy to hear the TAB+Space issue is resolved -- success! 

If you do decide to open a case for the sluggish performance you're seeing, be sure to let us know the case number so we can follow along. 

Hi, 

I'm running into the same issue.  My file is 36MB and really only has characters from the library.  Clicking on a character leads to a lag before it is selected.  It is in a layer. 

I have closed the file, did a file save as, rebooted the computer and nothing is helping.

I'm using SL360.

Got any ideas?

Thanks

Amy

Hi there, Amy.  To confirm, you are seeing a really slow response from Storyline when you're editing a character in a layer.  Is that correct?

Is this happening on a certain layer, or is it any character or object that you're editing in any layer?  If it's just the one, I would recommend deleting that character, saving and closing, and then re-inserting the character.  Sometimes a fresh start helps to clear these issues.  You can also try importing these slides into a new Storyline project. 

If these quick fixes don't help, though, I'm here to dig in!  With your permission, I'd like to take a look at your project file to investigate what's happening. You can share it publicly here, or send it to me privately by uploading it here.  I'll delete it when I'm done troubleshooting. 

Good Morning

I actually submitted a ticket and Michael got back to me.  This is what he said:

I identified an issue that appears to be a possible software defect. It happens when cropped images are applied with a picture effect such as a drop shadow, and as more images with the same formatting are added to the stage, the more degraded Storyline 360's performance becomes. 

I removed the drop shadow and it is working fine for the moment.

Thanks!

Hi Amy,

Thanks for sharing the update here, and I see that Michael reported your case to our team as well. We'll keep you posted on the issue in your case and we'll share an update here in ELH as soon as we have info. 

Hi gang,

I'm also running into this same problem with Storyline 3. I'll keep this as short as i can...

In the addition to all of the above, with the mouse latency on layers and screen flickering to catch up with every click. I have noticed over time our project files are also slowly getting larger and larger (recently smashing the 100MB file size, despite the content within them is relatively less). The largest of the bunch containing mostly a basic screen recording with not much else added.

I have made sure any unused recording have been deleted across all of my projects, and i do base my new projects on the files of previous ones, either modifying them or copying slides and other elements across to new projects. I am not in a position to re-create assets and slides from scratch between projects. The idea of starting fresh for each story file is not an option for me.

It appears Storyline 3 is having an issue or some kind of storage of memory leak going on over time and this needs to be looked at by your team ASAP. This coupled with the other issues i have pointed out about storyline 3 (feel free to look at my previous posts) is starting to make the software look like it had never been through QA...

Could you tell me how long before this is resolved? Some of my historic major problem reporting still has not been patched. (again view my post history)