I have found what I believe to be a bug in SL3. I have several videos with a white background, however when published from SL3 any white displays as gray. If I publish the videos from SL2 the videos display normally with white. If I open the video file from the published course files and watch it in a player like VLC or WMP then the videos appear normal.
I have attached a screenshot showing the issue. As you can see in the preview the white is grey but in the video file (this video file is from the published files) the white displays normally as white.
Has anyone had this issue or found a way around it?
Thanks for that screenshot, Matt. Would you be able to share the MP4 video file? I'd like to test it on my end. You can attach it here by clicking the ADD ATTACHMENT button, or you can use this link to send it privately.
Thanks for taking a look Alyssa, It seems to be a browser related HTLM5 issue. When I check your two links the HTML5 one appeared grey (see screenshot) but the flash version was white as it should be. I then published one it myself as flash only and it appeared white as well.
However when I checked the HTML5 version in Chrome, IE and Firefox it displayed correctly as white in IE (see screenshot) but incorrectly as Grey in Chrome and Firefox. Which browsers did you test with? I found the issue happens in Chrome 58.0.3029.110 (64-bit) but not in Chrome 58.0.3029.83 for Android. It also happens in Firefox 33.0.1 and 43.0.1
Thinking about what you said with the player background settings I checked those and they seemed fine but wouldn't it effect more than one slide if those were set wrong? Anyway as a final test to check the background setting I simply offset the video so that the background was visible. The background displayed white (see screenshot) as it should
I'm not able to share the whole file but I created a new Storyline file, put the video in and it did exactly the same thing so I have attached this file for you but I presume it will be the same as the one you made yesterday.
Thanks for those details. This is a real puzzle! Here are the browser specs I used for testing. I tested my sample file and the sample file you attached, and I saw a white background in Chrome, Firefox, and IE for both files.
I'm going to have our Support team weigh in on this, so I've opened a case on your behalf (01073939). Keep an eye out for an email from Support@Articulate.com. We'll be in touch shortly!
Alright, thanks for the help so far! I updated my Firefox to match your version but still got the grey video. I will keep investigating when I can and If I find a solution/the reason for this, I will post it up here as it will probably be useful for you guys to know.
When viewing the video in Windows Media Player and on stage in Storyline, the video appears as it should, solid white. When previewing the course or publishing it, the video appears grey in IE11, Chrome 58 and Firefox 53.
Interestingly, when viewing the published course source MP4 again in Windows Media Player, the video is still solid white. So I'm guessing this has something to so with how a browser displays HTML5 video.
We don't normally use Storyline, but have needed to use it for this project. So unfortunately won't be able to roll back a version (I'm assuming Storyline 360 has much better HTML5 output, and that's what we require).
Did you try the steps that Eloisa shared as a part of your earlier support case? She saw the same as Alyssa where the background was white instead of grey. She also looked at re-encoding your MP4 and that version also stayed white.
RH,
Storyline 3 and Storyline 360 are similar in terms of their set up, but Storyline 360 includes the subscription elements of Articulate 360. If you'd like us to test your .story file as well we'd be happy too. Can you share a copy of the .story file here (even just that one slide with the video) or send it along to our Support Engineers here?
It was a part of the Support case that Alyssa opened up for you. Eloisa's email would have come from Support@articulate.com. If you didn't see that you may want to check your junk/spam folder for the email and we can also have it resent to you.
We were also the same, we went back and forth quite a bit with Support testing different scenarios, but all to no conclusion.
We were given links to try, which were proven to be white by Support (video and screenshots), but when tried here, they were clearly grey.
Interestingly, when testing on other devices here, some of our laptops, win 7 and win 10 would display as white across all browsers, so it seems to be a computer specific issue (maybe it's graphic card/driver related). So even though you are seeing grey, your client might get lucky and see white.
It appears this issue has been around for quite a while though with Chrome:
Thanks RH and Matt for sharing that update for Nicola. It isn't something our team saw in either of the examples shared. It was determined to be browser and OS version specific.
If you'd like us to give your content a test too - we're always happy too! You can share the .story file with us here in the E-Learning Heroes community or send along to our Support engineers here.
81 Replies
Thanks for that screenshot, Matt. Would you be able to share the MP4 video file? I'd like to test it on my end. You can attach it here by clicking the ADD ATTACHMENT button, or you can use this link to send it privately.
Hi Alyssa,
I have attached the mp4 file from published course.
Thanks, Matt. I added your video to a new Storyline 3 file, and I'm not seeing a gray background there in HTML5 or in Flash.
Have you made any changes to the player background settings? If you don't mind sharing your .story file with me, I'd be glad to take a closer look.
Thanks for taking a look Alyssa, It seems to be a browser related HTLM5 issue. When I check your two links the HTML5 one appeared grey (see screenshot) but the flash version was white as it should be. I then published one it myself as flash only and it appeared white as well.
However when I checked the HTML5 version in Chrome, IE and Firefox it displayed correctly as white in IE (see screenshot) but incorrectly as Grey in Chrome and Firefox. Which browsers did you test with? I found the issue happens in Chrome 58.0.3029.110 (64-bit) but not in Chrome 58.0.3029.83 for Android. It also happens in Firefox 33.0.1 and 43.0.1
Thinking about what you said with the player background settings I checked those and they seemed fine but wouldn't it effect more than one slide if those were set wrong? Anyway as a final test to check the background setting I simply offset the video so that the background was visible. The background displayed white (see screenshot) as it should
I'm not able to share the whole file but I created a new Storyline file, put the video in and it did exactly the same thing so I have attached this file for you but I presume it will be the same as the one you made yesterday.
Apologies for the attachment spam.
Hey Matt,
Thanks for those details. This is a real puzzle! Here are the browser specs I used for testing. I tested my sample file and the sample file you attached, and I saw a white background in Chrome, Firefox, and IE for both files.
I'm going to have our Support team weigh in on this, so I've opened a case on your behalf (01073939). Keep an eye out for an email from Support@Articulate.com. We'll be in touch shortly!
Chrome 58.0.3029.110 (64-bit)
Firefox 53.0.2 (32-bit)
Internet Explorer 11.1198.14393.0
Alright, thanks for the help so far! I updated my Firefox to match your version but still got the grey video. I will keep investigating when I can and If I find a solution/the reason for this, I will post it up here as it will probably be useful for you guys to know.
Thanks, Matt. You'll hear from the team soon!
We are having the same HTML5 video issue.
When viewing the video in Windows Media Player and on stage in Storyline, the video appears as it should, solid white. When previewing the course or publishing it, the video appears grey in IE11, Chrome 58 and Firefox 53.
Interestingly, when viewing the published course source MP4 again in Windows Media Player, the video is still solid white. So I'm guessing this has something to so with how a browser displays HTML5 video.
Hi RH, are you using SL3 as well? The only way I have been able to avoid this issue is by going back to using SL2
I'm on Storyline 360, if that's the same as 3?
We don't normally use Storyline, but have needed to use it for this project. So unfortunately won't be able to roll back a version (I'm assuming Storyline 360 has much better HTML5 output, and that's what we require).
Hi Matt,
Did you try the steps that Eloisa shared as a part of your earlier support case? She saw the same as Alyssa where the background was white instead of grey. She also looked at re-encoding your MP4 and that version also stayed white.
RH,
Storyline 3 and Storyline 360 are similar in terms of their set up, but Storyline 360 includes the subscription elements of Articulate 360. If you'd like us to test your .story file as well we'd be happy too. Can you share a copy of the .story file here (even just that one slide with the video) or send it along to our Support Engineers here?
Thanks Ashley. I have forwarded the file using the link provided.
Hi Ashley,
I only see Alyssa's comments, I haven't seen any feedback from Eloisa, where can I see this? Perhaps I am just being blind.
Hi Matt,
It was a part of the Support case that Alyssa opened up for you. Eloisa's email would have come from Support@articulate.com. If you didn't see that you may want to check your junk/spam folder for the email and we can also have it resent to you.
Thanks RH - do you have your case number handy so that I can follow along?
Your Articulate Case # 01081102
Looks like I just missed it when it was sent. I have replied to her now so thanks for the heads up!
Thanks RH - I'll keep an eye on it!
Glad you found it Matt, and we'll follow along with you case too. 😀
Not sure if this is a coincidence, since installing the March 31st Storyline update this morning.
IE11 = White
Chrome and Firefox = Grey
Hi RH,
It wasn't one of the items fixed in the May 31 update (you'll see in the release notes here everything that was fixed).
I see that Angelo's got your case now, so he'll be in touch soon!
I am now seeing this bug, too! Was there any resolution to the case if you know, Ashley?
I was never able to find a solution when working with the support team. They were unable to reproduce the issue themselves.
We were also the same, we went back and forth quite a bit with Support testing different scenarios, but all to no conclusion.
We were given links to try, which were proven to be white by Support (video and screenshots), but when tried here, they were clearly grey.
Interestingly, when testing on other devices here, some of our laptops, win 7 and win 10 would display as white across all browsers, so it seems to be a computer specific issue (maybe it's graphic card/driver related). So even though you are seeing grey, your client might get lucky and see white.
It appears this issue has been around for quite a while though with Chrome:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16983018/chrome-html5-video-cant-display-white-has-gray-background
Thanks RH and Matt for sharing that update for Nicola. It isn't something our team saw in either of the examples shared. It was determined to be browser and OS version specific.
If you'd like us to give your content a test too - we're always happy too! You can share the .story file with us here in the E-Learning Heroes community or send along to our Support engineers here.
Very disappointing to hear that this bug hasnt been found and dealt with yet.
I too am having exactly the same issue, with exactly the same symptoms. (SL360)
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