Has anyone experienced the slow timeline preview when using the play button in the timeline pane (bottom left)? I have like 4 objects in my slide and it takes 5 seconds for the preview to play.
It takes 5 seconds for it to start playing, or to play the whole slide? What is the length of your timeline?
If Storyline is behaving odd or unexpectedly it's worth checking that you're working with all local project files as described here and if this is happening in all your files it's worth going through a simple repair of Storyline.
Hi Ashley, sorry for the delay in replying. It takes 5 seconds to begin playing. The slide is 41 seconds long, no animations, no state changes, just images, characters, and audio.
The How to Repair Articulate Storyline article references says to 'Select the option to Repair', however that isn't one of the options presented when I run the installation .exe as administrator. The options are add/remove, Reinstall, and Remove All.
This was a frustration with Storyline 1, and even worse for me in Storyline 2. It happens even on a clean install. It seems like I spend more time waiting on the timeline preview than I do on making edits. It's probably by design since the slide has to be processed when you use the dedicated preview option for a slide. Would this be better if Storyline was a 64-bit application?
Same for me here. Just some Graphic-Objects and Audio. All Files are stored on my local SSD. Clean Install on 64-bit Windows 7 Machine. And it takes Storyline more than 5 Seconds, before the Preview starts to play. Very frustrating! A continuous workflow is not possible ...
Thanks for reaching out here. I know that it's something a few other community members mentioned in terms of the preview speed and shared that as a feature request here, but as you mention Robert some of the delay comes from preparing all the elements on each slide if previewing the whole course, or the individual elements if previewing one slide.
Thanks, Ashley. I think this is more of a psychology issue instead of a technology issue. We impatient users see a play button and expect it to be instantaneous. When we click the Preview button or use the keyboard shortcut to preview, the Storyline displays that progress dialog, so we accept the delay.
I think this could be addressed by caching the last preview, but then I suspect that the most recent changes would not be reflected in the instant preview. Oh well.
It's just one of Articulate's many shortcomings. Since working with Articulate Storyline for almost a year now, I often say to people in our company, who are new to Articulate: Learning Articulate Storyline is not about learning to work with a new software, it's about getting to know all the little mistakes and strange behaviours of this program and about developing workarounds to get Articulate to do what you exprect it to do ...
I just installed 2.7 -- first time Storyline user -- and am going through some Lynda.com training. I'm watching the instructor click the play button on the timeline and it responds immediately. I'm using his exercise files and it takes at least 5 seconds from the time I click the play button until the slide plays. The only difference is that I upgraded his files which are 2 to my 2.7. After reading through the comments here I'm at least glad to know it's not a system issue on my end.
You mentioned the files were 2 and then upgraded to 2.7 - do you mean that they were the 2nd update of Storyline 2 or just Storyline 2 in general? As you can see this thread dates back a bit further, but you'll want to ensure you're using the latest update of Storyline (it sounds like you are) and working on a local drive and at least meeting the minimum system requirements here.
Also, if regular preview is working well for you - you may want to continue utilizing that, as a interim step.
I didn't specifically mean the second update. The title of the tutorial is "Up and Running with Articulate Storyline 2" and the date is March 19, 2015. That might help identify which update of 2 he is working on. I'm working off my C: drive and meet the system requirements, so it seems like something else is going on.
When you say to use the regular preview as an interim step, does that mean a fix is underway for a future update/patch?
We're always looking at ways to improve the functionality and experience - and I know this has been one item shared. I can't say for certain that there will be a change in future versions or updates, so that's what I meant in regards to a current workaround.
We'll let you know if there is any other information to share.
I am a videographer by trade and come from a Captivate / Camtasia eLearning background. I'm impressed with the ease of use and power of Storyline2. However, a 5+ second delay to check the timing of elements is not acceptable. Click play... Play. If this software (especially at this price-point$$$) is for creatives, don't grind the creative process to a halt. (Sorry Ashley, I know you're just the messenger)
Work around... Use the Cue Marker feature (press C key while watching/listening to establish baseline Cue/Action points on the timeline. You can easily slide them to visually assist in timing out your actions.
Benefit... You won't punch your expensive display (as often) waiting for the 50th Five Second preview delay.
I agree. I have been doing a lot of audio/animated video syncing lately and it drives me bonkers. I often have to do full slide preview 5-10 times before getting the timing acceptable.
I have programs at both ends of the price spectrum (Adobe After Effects, which I do many of my animations in, and Tumult Hype) and both manage mostly seamless preview, and when they need to pre-buffer there is a visual indicator of the part being rendered that also gives an indication of render speed. SL2 just sits there. At first I figured that the button just wasn't working, it was so slow! And I have a very well-specced machine with 16GB RAM!
I don't have an official timeline, so I can't say for certain - and our team has tested this, so we certainly understand the pain and frustration. Once we do have any additional information to share, we will update threads such as this one.
65 Replies
Hi Cheryl,
It takes 5 seconds for it to start playing, or to play the whole slide? What is the length of your timeline?
If Storyline is behaving odd or unexpectedly it's worth checking that you're working with all local project files as described here and if this is happening in all your files it's worth going through a simple repair of Storyline.
Hi Ashley, sorry for the delay in replying. It takes 5 seconds to begin playing. The slide is 41 seconds long, no animations, no state changes, just images, characters, and audio.
Hi again,
The How to Repair Articulate Storyline article references says to 'Select the option to Repair', however that isn't one of the options presented when I run the installation .exe as administrator. The options are add/remove, Reinstall, and Remove All.
Hi Cheryl,
Please choose the Reinstall option if you don't see Repair.
Please let me know what happens after the reinstallation.
This was a frustration with Storyline 1, and even worse for me in Storyline 2. It happens even on a clean install. It seems like I spend more time waiting on the timeline preview than I do on making edits. It's probably by design since the slide has to be processed when you use the dedicated preview option for a slide. Would this be better if Storyline was a 64-bit application?
Same for me here. Just some Graphic-Objects and Audio. All Files are stored on my local SSD. Clean Install on 64-bit Windows 7 Machine. And it takes Storyline more than 5 Seconds, before the Preview starts to play. Very frustrating! A continuous workflow is not possible ...
Hi Hugo and Robert,
Thanks for reaching out here. I know that it's something a few other community members mentioned in terms of the preview speed and shared that as a feature request here, but as you mention Robert some of the delay comes from preparing all the elements on each slide if previewing the whole course, or the individual elements if previewing one slide.
Thanks, Ashley. I think this is more of a psychology issue instead of a technology issue. We impatient users see a play button and expect it to be instantaneous. When we click the Preview button or use the keyboard shortcut to preview, the Storyline displays that progress dialog, so we accept the delay.
I think this could be addressed by caching the last preview, but then I suspect that the most recent changes would not be reflected in the instant preview. Oh well.
All good points Robert. I may use the line "more of a psychology issue instead of a technology issue" often. :-)
It's just one of Articulate's many shortcomings. Since working with Articulate Storyline for almost a year now, I often say to people in our company, who are new to Articulate: Learning Articulate Storyline is not about learning to work with a new software, it's about getting to know all the little mistakes and strange behaviours of this program and about developing workarounds to get Articulate to do what you exprect it to do ...
Timeline preview is awfully slow on SL2. It take 9 seconds to start playing! A real loss of time.
It's actually faster to Preview the slide (Ctrl F12) : 4 seconds! Unbelievable!
Such a long way from realtime scrubbing (absolute n°1 on my wishlist).
I just installed 2.7 -- first time Storyline user -- and am going through some Lynda.com training. I'm watching the instructor click the play button on the timeline and it responds immediately. I'm using his exercise files and it takes at least 5 seconds from the time I click the play button until the slide plays. The only difference is that I upgraded his files which are 2 to my 2.7. After reading through the comments here I'm at least glad to know it's not a system issue on my end.
And I agree, it's faster to preview the slide.
Hi Becky,
You mentioned the files were 2 and then upgraded to 2.7 - do you mean that they were the 2nd update of Storyline 2 or just Storyline 2 in general? As you can see this thread dates back a bit further, but you'll want to ensure you're using the latest update of Storyline (it sounds like you are) and working on a local drive and at least meeting the minimum system requirements here.
Also, if regular preview is working well for you - you may want to continue utilizing that, as a interim step.
Maybe he clipped out the delay? I know I've done that in the past when creating training on software that sometimes needs time to think.
Sorry to insist but even with the recommended settings preview in SL 2.7 is so slow it's useless.
Slide Preview is OK for a quick overview but you have to use Timeline Preview to finely place your elements.
Please, just TRY and you'll see what we ALL mean!
BTW Becky, welcome here and please consider a feature request for realtime scrubbing as discussed here
Hi Ashley,
I didn't specifically mean the second update. The title of the tutorial is "Up and Running with Articulate Storyline 2" and the date is March 19, 2015. That might help identify which update of 2 he is working on. I'm working off my C: drive and meet the system requirements, so it seems like something else is going on.
When you say to use the regular preview as an interim step, does that mean a fix is underway for a future update/patch?
Thank you!
That's a great point Cheryl. I hadn't thought of that.
Pierre, thanks for the welcome. :) Sorry to hear you too are still experiencing this issue. I'll take a look at your realtime scrubbing request.
Hi Becky,
We're always looking at ways to improve the functionality and experience - and I know this has been one item shared. I can't say for certain that there will be a change in future versions or updates, so that's what I meant in regards to a current workaround.
We'll let you know if there is any other information to share.
Thanks so much Ashley.
(STORYLINE 2 - Update 7...)
I am a videographer by trade and come from a Captivate / Camtasia eLearning background. I'm impressed with the ease of use and power of Storyline2. However, a 5+ second delay to check the timing of elements is not acceptable. Click play... Play. If this software (especially at this price-point$$$) is for creatives, don't grind the creative process to a halt. (Sorry Ashley, I know you're just the messenger)
Work around... Use the Cue Marker feature (press C key while watching/listening to establish baseline Cue/Action points on the timeline. You can easily slide them to visually assist in timing out your actions.
Benefit... You won't punch your expensive display (as often) waiting for the 50th Five Second preview delay.
Not to worry David, I don't take it personally. I appreciate you sharing an additional idea here with others though to help them in the meantime.
Hi Ashley,
What do you call "meantime"? This thread is already two years old!
What can we expect, honestly?
Sluggish preview + no timeline scrubbing. I wonder if SL team has ever tried itself to sync elements on a slide and feel the chore it is.
I agree. I have been doing a lot of audio/animated video syncing lately and it drives me bonkers. I often have to do full slide preview 5-10 times before getting the timing acceptable.
I have programs at both ends of the price spectrum (Adobe After Effects, which I do many of my animations in, and Tumult Hype) and both manage mostly seamless preview, and when they need to pre-buffer there is a visual indicator of the part being rendered that also gives an indication of render speed. SL2 just sits there. At first I figured that the button just wasn't working, it was so slow! And I have a very well-specced machine with 16GB RAM!
Hi Pierre,
I don't have an official timeline, so I can't say for certain - and our team has tested this, so we certainly understand the pain and frustration. Once we do have any additional information to share, we will update threads such as this one.