Is there a way to make the audio stop once a user has moved away from the slide? Example. I would like to have background sound on a slide but it also has a link to an external site. Is there a way to make the music stop once a link is clicked? Like a trigger?
Hi Olivia! Yes, you could use a trigger for that. Select the object which learners click to go to the external site. Then insert a trigger to "Stop Media." For the media, choose the sound file that is your slide's background audio. For When, choose "User clicks."
So, the trigger would end up looking something like this:
Hi. I am having a somewhat similar issue, except it is with markers. I have a series of markers, each with a trigger to play an audio clip when the marker is selected. Except if a learner selects one marker and then selects a second marker before the audio of the first has completed, then both audio clips play.
Since there are about 9 markers that can be selected in any order, it seems like adding a trigger to stop the media might not work because there are too many possibilities to anticipate.
Hi Adena! How did you insert the audio that plays when a learner clicks the marker? Did you insert it on your slide and then add a trigger to make the sound play when learners click the marker?
If so, try this instead: insert the sound within the marker. Here's how: with the marker selected, click the Format tab on the menu and choose Sound. When you insert your audio this way, it should avoid problems with the audio overlapping.
I have the same issue. I have placed audio on the timeline with markers on the slide which also have audio. If the learner clicks the marker before the audio timeline is complete they play over each other. I created a trigger to pause the audio in the timeline but how then does the timeline resume when they click off of it?
I have a slide that has multiple layers. The use clicks an object that take them to one of the layer. Then I want them to go back to the main slide to pick another object, but I don't want the audio to play again on the main slide. How do I stop that from happening?
If you have just one marker on the slide, the attached is a work-around I've used to get around the overlaying of audio if I have audio on the base layer. This won't work if you have multiple markers on a slide as the hotspot on the Audio Trigger layer will cover everything on the base slide.
Maybe others will have another way to accomplish what you're trying to achieve, but hopefully this helps for simpler projects.
I have multiple markers on a slide. I would have thought it would be smart enough to play only 1 audio file at a time. It would seem that playing 2 file are the exception.
Hey Steven! Here's a way that I think you can get your audio to behave the way you want. You can essentially use a separate layer to pause and resume the base layer's audio. The layer gets revealed when a learner clicks a marker, and the layer closes when the marker closes.
Create a layer on your slide called Pause. Don't add anything to the layer.
In the Layer properties (which you can open by clicking the gear icon next to the layer name), mark the box that says "Pause timeline of base layer."
Now select a marker on your slide and add a trigger that looks like this:
Add a second trigger to the marker that looks like this:
Then you can copy/paste the same two triggers to your remaining markers. I think that should give you the behavior you're looking for.
@Mary: I'm not sure how you've set up your slide and layers, but try this and see if it gives you the behavior you want: select the object that users click to go to a layer. Add a trigger to that object to "Stop media when user clicks," and for the media, select the base layer audio. This should stop the audio from playing as soon as learners click to reveal a layer. If that doesn't work, would you mind starting a new thread in the Storyline forum (so that your question doesn't get buried here) and attach a sample of the slide(s) you're working with, so that we can get a better idea of what you want to achieve? Thanks!
Create a layer on your slide called Pause. Don't add anything to the layer.
In the Layer properties (which you can open by clicking the gear icon next to the layer name), mark the box that says "Pause timeline of base layer."
Now select a marker on your slide and add a trigger that looks like this:
Add a second trigger to the marker that looks like this:
Then you can copy/paste the same two triggers to your remaining markers. I think that should give you the behavior you're looking for.
So I tried the same thing you suggested, and the problem is that the AUDIO attached to THE MARKER says two words, and then stops playing entirely, regardless of where you are on the base layer's timeline. (eg. even if you are at the timeline, and all the audio on the base layer has played, the audio on of the marker says about 2 words and then STOPS cold.)
I think what's happening is that the marker audio is also getting paused (when the Pause layer is shown), since it's technically on the base layer, too.
I was able to get it to work by using Jeanette's Pause layer technique above and also doing the following:
Move the markers from the base layer to a new layer. For simplicity, I called the new layer "Markers". Then cut the markers from the base layer and paste them to the new Markers layer.
Add a trigger to the base layer to show the Markers layer when the timeline of the slide starts.
Edit the properties of the Pause layer and the Markers layer to uncheck "Hide other slide layers".
Another option would be to create custom markers on the base layer. Then place the content for each marker (text, images, audio, etc) on separate layers. Show the appropriate layer when each custom marker is clicked or hovered over, and set each layer to pause the timeline of the base layer.
We welcome your feature requests, too, if you'd like to suggest ways to improve the process for a scenario like this.
I read this page carefully, but I couldn't get a solution to my query. I have a slide with a marker. I set it on "animate" and "audio only." The slide previews fine in my browser, but the marker neither animates nor plays audio when it's published.
Just to confirm: Markers loaded with audio will play on preview but not when published. Could this be a prob with the new update (installed this morning).
I just uninstalled my update and reinstalled an older version of Storyline. No change, still not animating or playing audio except in preview mode, so the problem isn't with the update, I guess.
I am having a somewhat similar problem. I've used the markers, but then I have a seperate piece of audio that I would like to play after all of the markers have been visited.
I tried creating a trigger to play the media when the state of the 4 buttons are visited, but once they click on the final marker my closing piece of audio plays at the same time as the marker audio.
Hi Metta! I think a combination of Jeannette's Pause layer and David's suggestions (above in this thread) might be what you are looking for if this is still an issue for you. If not, please provide more details and share your .story file for us to have a look at. Thanks so much and have a great day!
I tried to do as you suggested (Markers layer + Pause Layer) but if a user clicks directly from one marker to the next, it doesn't pause the base layer and both marker & base layer audio plays. Any suggestions? I really don't want to do custom Markers..
Welcome to the forums! I see what you mean. It appears to be a bug. I've reported it to our engineering department. I believe the only way to workaround it for now is to use custom markers with the content for each marker on a separate layer.
I was able to use triggers to workaround the issue. Basically, I changed the state of my marker to "NotSelected" on condition that the state of any of the other markers are selected. And then I created a trigger to "Hide Layer Marker Audio X" when the state of that marker = "NotSelected". It works beautifully and solved the problem. It was a little extra work but worth it so the learner could jump around. Thanks again! Multiple minds create better solutions....
36 Replies
Hi Olivia! Yes, you could use a trigger for that. Select the object which learners click to go to the external site. Then insert a trigger to "Stop Media." For the media, choose the sound file that is your slide's background audio. For When, choose "User clicks."
So, the trigger would end up looking something like this:
Hi. I am having a somewhat similar issue, except it is with markers. I have a series of markers, each with a trigger to play an audio clip when the marker is selected. Except if a learner selects one marker and then selects a second marker before the audio of the first has completed, then both audio clips play.
Since there are about 9 markers that can be selected in any order, it seems like adding a trigger to stop the media might not work because there are too many possibilities to anticipate.
Any thoughts?
Hi Adena! How did you insert the audio that plays when a learner clicks the marker? Did you insert it on your slide and then add a trigger to make the sound play when learners click the marker?
If so, try this instead: insert the sound within the marker. Here's how: with the marker selected, click the Format tab on the menu and choose Sound. When you insert your audio this way, it should avoid problems with the audio overlapping.
Thank you!! That worked perfectly. I learn something new everyday with Storyline!
Great to hear that, Adena!
I have the same issue. I have placed audio on the timeline with markers on the slide which also have audio. If the learner clicks the marker before the audio timeline is complete they play over each other. I created a trigger to pause the audio in the timeline but how then does the timeline resume when they click off of it?
I have a slide that has multiple layers. The use clicks an object that take them to one of the layer. Then I want them to go back to the main slide to pick another object, but I don't want the audio to play again on the main slide. How do I stop that from happening?
Steven,
If you have just one marker on the slide, the attached is a work-around I've used to get around the overlaying of audio if I have audio on the base layer. This won't work if you have multiple markers on a slide as the hotspot on the Audio Trigger layer will cover everything on the base slide.
Maybe others will have another way to accomplish what you're trying to achieve, but hopefully this helps for simpler projects.
I have multiple markers on a slide. I would have thought it would be smart enough to play only 1 audio file at a time. It would seem that playing 2 file are the exception.
Hey Steven! Here's a way that I think you can get your audio to behave the way you want. You can essentially use a separate layer to pause and resume the base layer's audio. The layer gets revealed when a learner clicks a marker, and the layer closes when the marker closes.
Then you can copy/paste the same two triggers to your remaining markers. I think that should give you the behavior you're looking for.
@Mary: I'm not sure how you've set up your slide and layers, but try this and see if it gives you the behavior you want: select the object that users click to go to a layer. Add a trigger to that object to "Stop media when user clicks," and for the media, select the base layer audio. This should stop the audio from playing as soon as learners click to reveal a layer. If that doesn't work, would you mind starting a new thread in the Storyline forum (so that your question doesn't get buried here) and attach a sample of the slide(s) you're working with, so that we can get a better idea of what you want to achieve? Thanks!
So I tried the same thing you suggested, and the problem is that the AUDIO attached to THE MARKER says two words, and then stops playing entirely, regardless of where you are on the base layer's timeline. (eg. even if you are at the timeline, and all the audio on the base layer has played, the audio on of the marker says about 2 words and then STOPS cold.)
Alison
Hi Alison,
I think what's happening is that the marker audio is also getting paused (when the Pause layer is shown), since it's technically on the base layer, too.
I was able to get it to work by using Jeanette's Pause layer technique above and also doing the following:
Another option would be to create custom markers on the base layer. Then place the content for each marker (text, images, audio, etc) on separate layers. Show the appropriate layer when each custom marker is clicked or hovered over, and set each layer to pause the timeline of the base layer.
We welcome your feature requests, too, if you'd like to suggest ways to improve the process for a scenario like this.
Hi Jeannette!
I read this page carefully, but I couldn't get a solution to my query. I have a slide with a marker. I set it on "animate" and "audio only." The slide previews fine in my browser, but the marker neither animates nor plays audio when it's published.
Just to confirm: Markers loaded with audio will play on preview but not when published. Could this be a prob with the new update (installed this morning).
I'm a total newbie, guys, so plz don't be harsh.
Markers are supposed to play the audio they're assigned when clicked. And then pause when clicked and continue when clicked, right?
Should do but I find it is a bit hit and miss
Mr. Mayor, thanks.
I just uninstalled my update and reinstalled an older version of Storyline. No change, still not animating or playing audio except in preview mode, so the problem isn't with the update, I guess.
Hi there Tom!
Your marker audio isn't playing after you publish, correct? It's working properly when previewing, right?
How are you viewing the project after you've published the course? Are you viewing it on an LMS, web server, publishing for CD, etc.?
If you can share the .STORY file here, I'd be happy to check it out.
Thanks!
Hi!
I am having a somewhat similar problem. I've used the markers, but then I have a seperate piece of audio that I would like to play after all of the markers have been visited.
I tried creating a trigger to play the media when the state of the 4 buttons are visited, but once they click on the final marker my closing piece of audio plays at the same time as the marker audio.
Any advice?
Hi Metta! I think a combination of Jeannette's Pause layer and David's suggestions (above in this thread) might be what you are looking for if this is still an issue for you. If not, please provide more details and share your .story file for us to have a look at. Thanks so much and have a great day!
Hi David,
I tried to do as you suggested (Markers layer + Pause Layer) but if a user clicks directly from one marker to the next, it doesn't pause the base layer and both marker & base layer audio plays. Any suggestions? I really don't want to do custom Markers..
Thanks!
Chrissy
Hi Chrissy,
Welcome to the forums! I see what you mean. It appears to be a bug. I've reported it to our engineering department. I believe the only way to workaround it for now is to use custom markers with the content for each marker on a separate layer.
Hi David,
I was able to use triggers to workaround the issue. Basically, I changed the state of my marker to "NotSelected" on condition that the state of any of the other markers are selected. And then I created a trigger to "Hide Layer Marker Audio X" when the state of that marker = "NotSelected". It works beautifully and solved the problem. It was a little extra work but worth it so the learner could jump around. Thanks again! Multiple minds create better solutions....
Hi Chrissy! Thanks for popping back in and updating us
Thank you! This was my problem, too, and your solution fixed it immediately.
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