Problem with Audio Encoding when Preview/Packaging
Nov 13, 2017
(Sorry for possible re-post, but first version did not seem to post properly.)
I have a contractor who replaced the audio files in a number of SL2 files for me using an undisclosed method (I don't believe it was by hand).
When I bring the SL2 files back to my computer where I previously stored this lesson and either preview slides or package the course, I still hear the old audio files. However if you preview the audio itself by clicking on the audio icon in the editing window or in the timeline, then you hear the new audio, and then the next time you preview slides or package you see the "Encoding " message and get the new audio in the output.
However if I bring the file to a brand new SL computer, I hear the new audio.
It seems that somehow that replacing the audio did not trigger SL to re-encode the audio on my computer until I opened it up again. The contractor thinks something it cached on my computer within SL itself. (Remember - this is about hearing it in Storyline itself and packaging the wrong files, not playing the packaged course in a browser.)
What causes SL to re-encode audio, and where could these cached components be?
Thanks!
7 Replies
Hi Dane,
When you mentioned undisclosed method, are you suggesting he didn't make the edits inside the Storyline file by using the normal insert audio functions? I haven't ever heard of a cached local copy, so I'd also want to make sure that you were not working on a network/shared drive when sharing these files with your contractor. Take a look at the best practices here for working locally and to help prevent other odd behavior.
Since on a new computer that file works as expected, have you tried saving the file with a new name as well?
Yes, my impression is he was not using the normal Storyline program to edit audio in the SL file.
We were not using a shared drive - I was downloading a copy from Dropbox to my local computer.
Renaming the file did not solve the problem - I downloaded multiple copies and so were named ...(1), ...(2), etc.
Thanks.
Although Dropbox can be installed locally, it acts similar to a network and shared drive in that it can be syncing in the background. Did you open it there before downloading to edit?
If your contractor added in audio outside the normal Storyline functions, it seems that your original versions aren't able to recognize the changes made. When you open it on a new computer, can you change the name of that version to open on your existing computer?
No, just downloaded a copy from Dropbox to my computer, then edited apart from the Dropbox folder. Not a shared drive issue.
Thanks, Dane. Like Ashley mentioned, I'd recommend opening the Storyline file on a different computer, change the name of the file, then re-open the file on your computer. Let us know if that does the trick, or if we need to keep digging!
Thanks for the suggestion. However what I am looking for is a cause so that we can avoid this issue. Opening on one computer and then again on our work computers is no way to run a production environment.
Thanks.
Hi Dane,
Absolutely--we definitely wouldn't want you to go through that process more than once. Without knowing the specifics of how the contractor replaced the original audio files, it's a challenge to know for certain if the method used is causing this issue.
In the future, the safest method is to use the Change Audio button within the Audio Editor.
If you'd like a little extra help sorting out your file as it stands now, send it over to our Support Engineers by clicking here. They're around 24/7 to assist!
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