I'm running Windows in a Parallel environment on my Mac. Mac is fairly new. Storyline 360 is real sluggish in this environment. Is this a normal situation? It's Windows 10 with the latest updates.
I'm relieved but also sorry it isn't just me! My colleague has repeatedly suggested buying a windows laptop but I work on the move a lot and could do without the extra baggage. Plus I already paid for Parallels and a copy of windows. It seems like the nuclear option but the one I'll have to take at some point soon because it hampers my workflow immensely.
That'll be your next step (windows PC) Im afraid, and you will probably need fairly sturdy setup. Thankfully my Adobe cloud subscription allows me to use it across two machines (not simultaneously).
I looked for a windows 10 machine with the latest processor at the time and dedicated graphics memory and ssd, which will need upgrading no doubt In 6 months time. :(
Hi Las, thanks for your reply. Can you elaborate on "fairly sturdy setup"? What's the minimum spec I can expect to use storyline smoothly? Given that I would only be making the switch for performance reasons, the improvements would have to be major for it to be worthwhile. At the same time I would only use it for Storyline so can't justify a big outlay. I've only ever used it on my mac so I've no idea how it could run.
Although my choices were to try and keep the same performance (macbook pro retina 2017) and also not have to like you carry around two pieces of kit.
I opted for a lightweight machine that I could run simultaneous apps , creative cloud for things like Photoshop, premiere, after effects illustrator etc and dev tools unity for VR and 3d apps.
Bearing In mind I had two days get sort my issues out, I looked for the following;
I looked at machines with SSD (storage), dedicated graphics and i7 processor (intel processor) as some of the apps I use outside of Articulate Storyline are pretty intensive I look for more memory (ram).
I liked the look of the DELL XPS laptops, typically companies provide business machines. They are great for spreadsheets, power point but not really multi-use. The delivery time and cost were longer and significantly higher for the Dell - this was creeping up to mac book pro territory costs, in excess of 2.5k.
I eventually went for this one (just under 1.5 k USD/ UKP) I didn't need a larger screen or 4k, but it did come with a touch screen, I reckoned anything that was being used for something as intensive as gaming should be pretty robust. I could have gone slightly lower in value if id had more time to compare and research to be honest. This arrived next day, I was desperate.
This is really helpful advice and I appreciate you taking the time. Unfortunately given the scale of our project I think that is well out of price range. Factor in the added complications of working between two machines for video and image editing, I guess it's not worth the hassle and cost. I'll have to persevere with parallels and hope one of these updates sorts itself out eventually. Good to have some real experience to help make the decision though. Cheers!
Hi Amanda you are welcome, not sure if I have helped tremendously but there are more than enough experienced folk who can provide suitable workarounds if you get stuck.
I will keep looking though :)
Persevering is key.
Gotta have faith, that what ever the issue is it is something simple to resolve.
The first place I looked was at Graphics drivers those supplied within windows 10 Pro (parallels) software.
The graphics architecture on a Mac is much the same as the windows variety.
Then wondered if it anything to do with SSD or processor. Just couldn't find anything to pin it down.
For me it all went wrong when storyline 360 came out, ST3 was working as expected, I installed a trial version of 360 and it worked like a dream, went to ST3 and hence where my troubles began, uninstalled 360 and my issues never went away.
Opened the same file on a standalone windows PC and the issues weren't resolved, thought it my then be the file, a corruption of some kind.
So re-installed parallels, and windows - did a fresh install of both, installed all updates, reinstalled ST3. Created a a new ST3 project, and the issues were still there. transported to Windows machine issues still there.
Then tried it the other way around created ST3 project file (worked fine) on windows platform transported to Mac Parallels, issue came back.
Sent files to Articulate support for review and they couldn't find any issues.
Maybe I'm just expecting too much from Storyline and should lower my expectations. When it works it works briliantly, when it doesn't its a loss leader.
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I'm relieved but also sorry it isn't just me! My colleague has repeatedly suggested buying a windows laptop but I work on the move a lot and could do without the extra baggage. Plus I already paid for Parallels and a copy of windows. It seems like the nuclear option but the one I'll have to take at some point soon because it hampers my workflow immensely.
Is it my imagination that it has gotten worse?
That'll be your next step (windows PC) Im afraid, and you will probably need fairly sturdy setup. Thankfully my Adobe cloud subscription allows me to use it across two machines (not simultaneously).
I looked for a windows 10 machine with the latest processor at the time and dedicated graphics memory and ssd, which will need upgrading no doubt In 6 months time. :(
Hi Las, thanks for your reply. Can you elaborate on "fairly sturdy setup"? What's the minimum spec I can expect to use storyline smoothly? Given that I would only be making the switch for performance reasons, the improvements would have to be major for it to be worthwhile. At the same time I would only use it for Storyline so can't justify a big outlay. I've only ever used it on my mac so I've no idea how it could run.
This is the ultimate fix for Parallels and Mac Woes
Hi Amanda,
OK hold your breath!
There is the recommended specification from Articulate:
https://articulate.com/support/article/System-Requirements-for-Articulate-Storyline-3
Although my choices were to try and keep the same performance (macbook pro retina 2017) and also not have to like you carry around two pieces of kit.
I opted for a lightweight machine that I could run simultaneous apps , creative cloud for things like Photoshop, premiere, after effects illustrator etc and dev tools unity for VR and 3d apps.
Bearing In mind I had two days get sort my issues out, I looked for the following;
I looked at machines with SSD (storage), dedicated graphics and i7 processor (intel processor) as some of the apps I use outside of Articulate Storyline are pretty intensive I look for more memory (ram).
I liked the look of the DELL XPS laptops, typically companies provide business machines. They are great for spreadsheets, power point but not really multi-use. The delivery time and cost were longer and significantly higher for the Dell - this was creeping up to mac book pro territory costs, in excess of 2.5k.
I eventually went for this one (just under 1.5 k USD/ UKP) I didn't need a larger screen or 4k, but it did come with a touch screen, I reckoned anything that was being used for something as intensive as gaming should be pretty robust. I could have gone slightly lower in value if id had more time to compare and research to be honest. This arrived next day, I was desperate.
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I have been using Storyline 2 for 4 years on a 2010 iMac with an i5 and it ran smooth as butter.
SL 360 was also great for about a year, but in November last year the troubles started and unfortunately they are still here.
Oh, and I have updated to 2017 iMac 5k about a month ago - same problem.
It's not your machine, something is wrong with the software.
This is really helpful advice and I appreciate you taking the time. Unfortunately given the scale of our project I think that is well out of price range. Factor in the added complications of working between two machines for video and image editing, I guess it's not worth the hassle and cost. I'll have to persevere with parallels and hope one of these updates sorts itself out eventually. Good to have some real experience to help make the decision though. Cheers!
Hi Amanda you are welcome, not sure if I have helped tremendously but there are more than enough experienced folk who can provide suitable workarounds if you get stuck.
I will keep looking though :)
Persevering is key.
Gotta have faith, that what ever the issue is it is something simple to resolve.
The first place I looked was at Graphics drivers those supplied within windows 10 Pro (parallels) software.
The graphics architecture on a Mac is much the same as the windows variety.
Then wondered if it anything to do with SSD or processor. Just couldn't find anything to pin it down.
For me it all went wrong when storyline 360 came out, ST3 was working as expected, I installed a trial version of 360 and it worked like a dream, went to ST3 and hence where my troubles began, uninstalled 360 and my issues never went away.
Opened the same file on a standalone windows PC and the issues weren't resolved, thought it my then be the file, a corruption of some kind.
So re-installed parallels, and windows - did a fresh install of both, installed all updates, reinstalled ST3. Created a a new ST3 project, and the issues were still there. transported to Windows machine issues still there.
Then tried it the other way around created ST3 project file (worked fine) on windows platform transported to Mac Parallels, issue came back.
Sent files to Articulate support for review and they couldn't find any issues.
Maybe I'm just expecting too much from Storyline and should lower my expectations. When it works it works briliantly, when it doesn't its a loss leader.
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