Storyline 3 and Retina Display in a VM
Apr 05, 2017
I just installed Storyline 3 into my Windows 10 VM (Parallels running on a Retina-display Mac) to see if the scaling issues had been fixed from version 2. If you aren't familiar with the problem, when the Parallels VM was set to "Best for Retina display" (which makes Windows look awesome), Storyline 2's interface was microscopic, because it wasn't scaling correctly. To fix it, you had to set the VM to "Scaled" which made Storyline's interface a usable size but made the overall graphics in the VM pixellated and awful.
So, curious to see what Storyline 3 was going to do, I installed the demo. The interface in SL3 is now readable while the VM is set to "Best for Retina display"; however, the interface of SL3 is scaled up and everything (text and UI elements) looks pixellated (but now only in SL3).
So, I'm wondering what the problem is here? Other applications (Microsoft Office, Adobe, etc.) running in the VM work just fine on the Retina display, and the interfaces and text are crisp and take full advantage of the high-res display. What's going on with Storyline? Thanks.
Doug
10 Replies
Hi Doug,
With Storyline 3 (and Storyline 360) we changed the way in which we handled the display on a high resolution monitor, based on a lot of the feedback we heard in Storyline 2. That fix was something we beta tested with a number of users to confirm it worked for them, and then based on that positive feedback we pushed the fix out with both of those products. Since they've we've heard some similar feedback to what you've shared here, and it seems to occur when you have the overall Windows scaling to more than 100%.
This is something our team is keeping an eye on and evaluating impact, so I'll include your discussion here as a part of the internal report we have. Depending on priority and risk, some bugs can be fixed quickly, while others take longer to resolve. Here's more information on how we identify and tackle bugs. In the meantime, I'd still recommend following the steps here for working with Parallels and Storyline.
I’ll let you know as soon as we have an update on this issue. Thanks so much again for letting us know about this, and I’m sorry if it’s slowing you down.
Had just same expectations and same disappointments... To buy license and to have such an awful pixellated look... :(
Hi Olga,
I'm sorry to hear the set up doesn't meet your expectations. Have you tried changing the screen scaling for Windows to see how it appears? Do you know what your current screen scaling is set too?
Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.
Can you give an update on this? I'm currently using Storyline on Parallels, have everything set up as advised, yet Storyline is still pixelated. I can find no information on the exact support for Retina/HiDPI or 4k screens. I've searched high and low through forums, and most posts are from years ago. This is the most recent I can find. I've been unable to get clarity from Adobe on this for Captivate, and I was hoping Storyline may provide more support.
Storyline 3 and 360 will work with Retina screens. In parallels my screen is set to:
5120x2880 with a custom scale of 450% but this is set by parallels based on my Mac setup
Hi there, Alex.
I'm sorry to hear about the pixelation and would love to explore further! Quick clarifying questions:
Does the Storyline app look pixelated, or are you referring to the image/slide quality? Also, is the Windows Display set to 100%?
In the meantime (if the latter), we have these tips for working with high-quality assets: Best Practices for High-Quality Images and Videos.
Thanks Katie. Yes, set at 100%, but everything is tiny. It seems like storyline doesn't scale properly. Anything above 100, and it's pixelated. Both the interface and my content. Content publishes ok, but previews are pixelated.
Thanks Phil. Storyline seems to be the only app that doesn't scale properly on parallels. Anything over 100% and it looks pixelated, but at this size, everything is tiny. I guess by "work with retina screens" I mean does Storyline properly scale to display sharp graphics at 2x (interface and content), like other "retina" ready apps.
I don't have any pixellation problems, are you using Coherence mode?
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Hi Alex!
I wanted to pop into this discussion and confirm that we are aware of the blurriness when Windows scaling is set above 100%. I don't have an estimated timeline to share for a fix, but I'll report back to this discussion when we have more information.
I appreciate you taking the time to share these details with us!