We wanted a quick fix solution to the storyline module as to how can we be able to remove the black screen with the play button at the start of the module. (Please see the attachment for more details)
We wanted to represent our solution to the client without the black screen preferably OR at least be able to change the style of the page?
Do you have audio or video on the first slide of your Storyline project? This article will explain why you see this behavior on modern browsers.
One option to avoid the Play button is to insert a blank slide as your first slide and add a trigger to jump to the next slide when the timeline starts.
Keep in mind that this will also be browser-dependent, and while it might show the slide without the Play button, it might still require the user to click on the screen to hear the audio.
You can also customize the black screen with the button by adding a cover photo. You can read more here.
If I may add to this, if you have an audio file on the slide right after that blank one, it will not play at first. I've also noticed that the black screen appears when there are static SVG files as well.
The issue isn't the black screen, it's the mandatory Play button.
If there's an audio file on the first slide, even on an untriggered layer, the black screen will appear. If you don't have an audio file on the first slide, but one of the second slide, that file will be muted if the first slide is progressing automatically. Basically, there must be no audio or video file at all on your first slide and its layers.
It has become a BIG problem, as screen readers CANNOT detect that black screen and the Play button.
Well, it's not hard to fix though: you just need a mute title card that preferrably doesn't advance by itself. For instance, having a title slide with a "next" button works fine.
Hi. I am using a round-about way to fix the problem of a black screen and Start button on videos within Rise 360.
When I used Storyline to generate a video (MP4), Rise 360 displayed the video with a black screen and a Start button, much the same as others have complained about. This is also after using the Cover Photo option in the Player menus.
I used Premiere Pro and Camtasia video editing software packages to take a quick look at the video Storyline generated. I discovered the very first frame of the video is BLANK. The second frame of the video contained the cover photo I had specified.
So, I used Camtasia to cut the very first frame off, then EXPORT it into an MP4 file again. When I uploaded the video to Rise 360, the black screen was replaced by the image I wanted.
This was really helpful thanks. I had the same issue and I had unchecked all the player options. Added a blank slide and triggered it to jump to the next slide when the timeline starts, it worked a treat!
even if "add a slide without audio at the beginning of the course" works for you on the test platform on your computer today, it does not mean that it will work for the learner on his computer tomorrow.
playback without previous user interaction of audio or video with audio depends on
browser of the learner (Chrome, Firefox, Safari)
desktop or mobile
the domain, where the training is hosted (Chrome only)
are you using one of the "top thousand" domains for hosting (Chrome only)
how often the user has been clicked media on this domain (Chrome only)
whether the user profile of the browser is fresh (Chrome only)
if the behavior of the browser is changing again
If you use this "trick", you risk that audio or video won't start on slide 2.
("Chrome" means all Chromium Browser, like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, ...)
I'm now having this issue after Articulate did an update. I didn't have it before. I don't have audio on my first slide only a start button. I also tried adding a extra screen to go to the next slide with the start button on that instead and I'm still getting the same thing. Any new solutions to this issue?
Same issue here! After the recent update I am now getting the black play button at the start of EVERY slide preview, not just when you preview the whole project? This wasn't happening before the update? Very irritating! The fix about Inserting a blank slide at the front of the project is NOT working!
It seems I'm not the only one having issue with the updates. I went back to an older version of Articulate because of so many issues that have been coming up with the new updates. Its a temporary fix but at least my courses are working again and I can finish my courses to meet my deadline.
I've had a similar issue just recently, I have just one slide in my course and there are two layers with videos in each. I tried all the suggestions above but none worked to get rid of the big play button at the start so I rebuilt it from scratch to see where the problem started from and it seems that it all works fine (without any big play button) until I add the closed captions to the videos, either by uploading them or by typing them in manually. Once the captions are added I get the play button again. Is there a way around this? I really need to add the captions but also don't want to have that big play button. Putting a blank slide doesn't work for this - the only way I can get rid of the play button is to remove the captions!
I'm seeing the same issues as everyone who has posted in the last week. I thought I was doing something wrong but now realize it's Articulate...not me. This is incredibly frustrating. Other colleagues have assigned a cover slide, which is fine if you create one continuous course. I have multiple scenes to break things up. PLEASE fix this issue!!!
I wanted to share that we are currently tracking a known issue where a play button shows even if there is no media file on the first slide and there is closed captions present in the slide. One workaround is to downgrade your installation to Storyline 360 Update 81.
I've added this community post to the bug report so we can notify everyone subscribed to this thread as soon as a fix is released, and we're very sorry for any inconvenience this bug may have caused!
For clarity Jose, this line "I wanted to share that we are currently tracking a known issue where a play button shows even if there is no media file on the first slide and there is closed captions present in the slide.", do you mean closed captioning in the project or on the first slide? I don't think there can be CC if there is no media.
Thanks Jose! Downgrading to Version Update 81 has now resolved the issues I was experiencing with the Play button appearing when previewing individual slides within Storyline! I await confirmation of the fix in due course!
28 Replies
Hi, Ruby.
Thank you for reaching out!
Do you have audio or video on the first slide of your Storyline project? This article will explain why you see this behavior on modern browsers.
One option to avoid the Play button is to insert a blank slide as your first slide and add a trigger to jump to the next slide when the timeline starts.
Keep in mind that this will also be browser-dependent, and while it might show the slide without the Play button, it might still require the user to click on the screen to hear the audio.
You can also customize the black screen with the button by adding a cover photo. You can read more here.
I hope this helps!
If I may add to this, if you have an audio file on the slide right after that blank one, it will not play at first. I've also noticed that the black screen appears when there are static SVG files as well.
This post was removed by the author
The issue isn't the black screen, it's the mandatory Play button.
If there's an audio file on the first slide, even on an untriggered layer, the black screen will appear. If you don't have an audio file on the first slide, but one of the second slide, that file will be muted if the first slide is progressing automatically. Basically, there must be no audio or video file at all on your first slide and its layers.
It has become a BIG problem, as screen readers CANNOT detect that black screen and the Play button.
articulate probably needs to rework the entire startup behavior for courses with audio/video
the behavior with media autoplay is - depending on the browser (Firefox, Chrome, Safari OS-X, Safari iOS) - different strict
there will be no way around the button, but of course it has to be implemented compatible to screen reader
Well, it's not hard to fix though: you just need a mute title card that preferrably doesn't advance by itself. For instance, having a title slide with a "next" button works fine.
Hi. I am using a round-about way to fix the problem of a black screen and Start button on videos within Rise 360.
When I used Storyline to generate a video (MP4), Rise 360 displayed the video with a black screen and a Start button, much the same as others have complained about. This is also after using the Cover Photo option in the Player menus.
I used Premiere Pro and Camtasia video editing software packages to take a quick look at the video Storyline generated. I discovered the very first frame of the video is BLANK. The second frame of the video contained the cover photo I had specified.
So, I used Camtasia to cut the very first frame off, then EXPORT it into an MP4 file again. When I uploaded the video to Rise 360, the black screen was replaced by the image I wanted.
It is an arduous fix, but I am using it.
This was really helpful thanks. I had the same issue and I had unchecked all the player options. Added a blank slide and triggered it to jump to the next slide when the timeline starts, it worked a treat!
Hi RINP Learning!
It sounds like you were able to resolve the issue by using a blank slide and a timeline trigger. So glad to hear that!
Please feel free to reach out to us again if you need help with anything. We're happy to help!
Hi,
Do you find that the quality of the MP4 generated from Adobe Premiere Pro is not as good as the original MP4?
I tried doing what you suggested, but even publishing at 1080p in Premiere Pro, the quality is not as crisp.
Thanks,
Donna
This YouTube video by Tipsqueak appears to provide a workaround for the black play screen.
Title: How to remove the black screen with the play button from Storyline course?
This post was removed by the author
even if "add a slide without audio at the beginning of the course" works for you on the test platform on your computer today, it does not mean that it will work for the learner on his computer tomorrow.
playback without previous user interaction of audio or video with audio depends on
If you use this "trick", you risk that audio or video won't start on slide 2.
("Chrome" means all Chromium Browser, like Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, ...)
more infos "autoplay audio"
You can add your own screen as long as it has a button, if you use timeline jump as Jurgen says you risk everything breaking
I'm now having this issue after Articulate did an update. I didn't have it before. I don't have audio on my first slide only a start button. I also tried adding a extra screen to go to the next slide with the start button on that instead and I'm still getting the same thing. Any new solutions to this issue?
Same issue here! After the recent update I am now getting the black play button at the start of EVERY slide preview, not just when you preview the whole project? This wasn't happening before the update? Very irritating! The fix about Inserting a blank slide at the front of the project is NOT working!
David,
It seems I'm not the only one having issue with the updates. I went back to an older version of Articulate because of so many issues that have been coming up with the new updates. Its a temporary fix but at least my courses are working again and I can finish my courses to meet my deadline.
I've had a similar issue just recently, I have just one slide in my course and there are two layers with videos in each. I tried all the suggestions above but none worked to get rid of the big play button at the start so I rebuilt it from scratch to see where the problem started from and it seems that it all works fine (without any big play button) until I add the closed captions to the videos, either by uploading them or by typing them in manually. Once the captions are added I get the play button again. Is there a way around this? I really need to add the captions but also don't want to have that big play button. Putting a blank slide doesn't work for this - the only way I can get rid of the play button is to remove the captions!
If you have only one slide with two videos the problem will be the media being on the first slide of the course.
I tried putting in a blank slide but that didn't work either.
This post was removed by the author
I'm seeing the same issues as everyone who has posted in the last week. I thought I was doing something wrong but now realize it's Articulate...not me. This is incredibly frustrating. Other colleagues have assigned a cover slide, which is fine if you create one continuous course. I have multiple scenes to break things up. PLEASE fix this issue!!!
Hello All,
I wanted to share that we are currently tracking a known issue where a play button shows even if there is no media file on the first slide and there is closed captions present in the slide. One workaround is to downgrade your installation to Storyline 360 Update 81.
I've added this community post to the bug report so we can notify everyone subscribed to this thread as soon as a fix is released, and we're very sorry for any inconvenience this bug may have caused!
For clarity Jose, this line "I wanted to share that we are currently tracking a known issue where a play button shows even if there is no media file on the first slide and there is closed captions present in the slide.", do you mean closed captioning in the project or on the first slide? I don't think there can be CC if there is no media.
Thanks Jose! Downgrading to Version Update 81 has now resolved the issues I was experiencing with the Play button appearing when previewing individual slides within Storyline! I await confirmation of the fix in due course!