I have several layers that are supposed to appear at different times but I seem to have two problems. The first is that the playhead will not actually play. No clicking of buttons or timeline starts a preview. Also, no matter where I am in the timeline, all of my layers appear at the same time. They function fine when I hit the preview button but in the actual timeline nothing changes. What am I doing wrong?
There are two ways to preview sections of your course, one at the top of any tab there is a "Preview" button which will allow you to interact with an individual slide, scene or the whole project. This will allow you to use the triggers and other elements.
You could also preview the slide's timeline itself within the timeline view, you'll see a small play button and that will help you look at the elements on that individual slide and when they appear or how the audio plays, but it will not show any layers. For more information on previewing your project, please review the tutorial here.
Hello! And thanks so much for the assistance. I'm still finding one issue on the timeline that I can't seem for find an answer to. I have layers set up to fade in and out at certain points and yet, no matter where I place the playhead, all of my layers appear at all times. It's as though the play head does nothing to change what is being seen. It makes it difficult to work in an area of the screen that should be blank by, say 50 seconds in, when the layer that appeared there in the beginning is still visible. Do I have to hide that layer even if it's not showing at that point in the timeline?
If you have elements on your slide they'll all show while editing so that you can see where elements are and if you need to hide them while editing, I'd suggest using the small "eye" icon in the timeline to hide them. For an accurate view of how that slide will look and play, I would use the preview option for the individual slide. Also, when I was referring to layers, I am referring to this described here - and those won't be shown if you just use the timeline play button.
Hi Jay. Have you set up layers before? Have you had a look at the tutorials Ashley linked? I know some of the Storyline functions take a bit of getting used to, but the tutorials and help on this site are so good you can usually get an answer pretty quick.
Rather than repeat what is in the tutorial, I can only really add emphasis to two points regarding layers:
Layers need to be triggered if you want them to appear at a particular moment. The two methods I use the most are 1) by adding a trigger to a button which the user clicks, or 2) Add a trigger to an off-screen object that shows the layer when the timeline reaches that object.
Layers have their own timelines; you can't see their timelines on the base layer. I suspect you might have moved objects on each layer along their individual timelines, but this only affects the timing of the object while that layer is being displayed.
I suspect you have no triggers though, therefore all the layers are showing up at the start and nothing appears to be happening.
Hi Jay. Have you set up layers before? Have you had a look at the tutorials Ashley linked? I know some of the Storyline functions take a bit of getting used to, but the tutorials and help on this site are so good you can usually get an answer pretty quick.
Rather than repeat what is in the tutorial, I can only really add emphasis to two points regarding layers:
Layers need to be triggered if you want them to appear at a particular moment. The two methods I use the most are 1) by adding a trigger to a button which the user clicks, or 2) Add a trigger to an off-screen object that shows the layer when the timeline reaches that object.
Layers have their own timelines; you can't see their timelines on the base layer. I suspect you might have moved objects on each layer along their individual timelines, but this only affects the timing of the object while that layer is being displayed.
I suspect you have no triggers though, therefore all the layers are showing up at the start and nothing appears to be happening.
Thank you both for the tips. I'm coming from a background in video editing and when I saw a timeline I made certain assumptions. I've got the flow of it now. Much appreciated.
6 Replies
Hi Jay and welcome to Heroes!
There are two ways to preview sections of your course, one at the top of any tab there is a "Preview" button which will allow you to interact with an individual slide, scene or the whole project. This will allow you to use the triggers and other elements.
You could also preview the slide's timeline itself within the timeline view, you'll see a small play button and that will help you look at the elements on that individual slide and when they appear or how the audio plays, but it will not show any layers. For more information on previewing your project, please review the tutorial here.
Hello! And thanks so much for the assistance. I'm still finding one issue on the timeline that I can't seem for find an answer to. I have layers set up to fade in and out at certain points and yet, no matter where I place the playhead, all of my layers appear at all times. It's as though the play head does nothing to change what is being seen. It makes it difficult to work in an area of the screen that should be blank by, say 50 seconds in, when the layer that appeared there in the beginning is still visible. Do I have to hide that layer even if it's not showing at that point in the timeline?
Hi Jay,
If you have elements on your slide they'll all show while editing so that you can see where elements are and if you need to hide them while editing, I'd suggest using the small "eye" icon in the timeline to hide them. For an accurate view of how that slide will look and play, I would use the preview option for the individual slide. Also, when I was referring to layers, I am referring to this described here - and those won't be shown if you just use the timeline play button.
Hi Jay. Have you set up layers before? Have you had a look at the tutorials Ashley linked? I know some of the Storyline functions take a bit of getting used to, but the tutorials and help on this site are so good you can usually get an answer pretty quick.
Rather than repeat what is in the tutorial, I can only really add emphasis to two points regarding layers:
-
Layers need to be triggered if you want them to appear at a particular moment. The two methods I use the most are 1) by adding a trigger to a button which the user clicks, or 2) Add a trigger to an off-screen object that shows the layer when the timeline reaches that object.
- Layers have their own timelines; you can't see their timelines on the base layer. I suspect you might have moved objects on each layer along their individual timelines, but this only affects the timing of the object while that layer is being displayed.
I suspect you have no triggers though, therefore all the layers are showing up at the start and nothing appears to be happening.Thank you both for the tips. I'm coming from a background in video editing and when I saw a timeline I made certain assumptions. I've got the flow of it now. Much appreciated.
Hi Jay,
Glad we could help point you in the right direction - let us know if you need anything else.
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