I am creating a sort of video gallery. I have thumbnail images which when clicked will show a layer with a relevant video on it. I have used web objects to add a youtube video to each layer. However if I click the next thumbnail image to show the next layer before a video has finished playing, the first video is continuing and you get audio for both videos - in fact you can get several playing at the same time.
How can I stop a video playing once a layer is hidden?
I have ticked the layer property to hide other layers.
I am intending to have 15 videos/layers on the same slide.
I am also having this issue. The situation is that the videos are web object YouTube "links" not mp4 (or similar) video media files.
The "workaround" I have is to not use the YouTube links and instead just use the original mp4s, but every mp4 I insert increases the Storyline file size. The reason we moved to YouTube clips is to reduce the file size (I moved from a 100 MB file to a 4 mb file!).
I think it works in your version because they are Vimeo videos, which Storyline seems to interpret as videos (and thus the media video controls work). Ours are YouTube web objects, which Storyline doesn't seem to recognize as videos when it comes to triggers.
The problem isn't getting the YouTube videos in there. It seems that Cheryl and I both used the "Insert | Web Object" to put the YouTube videos in our courses.
The problem is putting YouTube web objects on a layer. When the layer appears, the user can start playing the video (or it auto plays). Then if the user clicks the trigger object to hide the layer before the video is finished playing, the video continues to play. You only hear the audio because the visual is hidden.
For example in my course, I have a button that shows a layer when clicked. This layer has YouTube video and a close button. The close button hides the layer again when clicked. If the user starts playing the video, then clicks the close button, the layer hides, but the video keeps playing.
The one way I found to not have this happen is to Insert the MP4 as a video file (using Insert | Video). Because Storyline recognizes it as a video, I can use the media triggers such as the Stop Media that Ashraf indicated above. The problem with dropping a bunch of MP4s in there is that my file size gets large quick (this course has 8 videos).
I also found that I could get a similar interaction to a layer by using a lightbox slide, which seems to stop the YouTube video from playing when the user clicks the red X. This stopping seems to be simply because the user is being moved from slide to slide, and therefore from timeline to timeline. Using the lightbox way is not as nice looking, but it might have to suffice.
Cheryl - I'm not sure if the lightbox way would look okay for you course or not, the slide appears as an overlay on the whole player window and is much smaller than the original slide. It might be worth some looking into to see if it will get you close enough.
Thanks for sharing that explanation here. Could you share your .story file with this web object and layer so that we could take a look at how it's behaving and how you've got it set up? If you're ok using the lightbox method, no need to share - but I'd be curious to see how you've set it up and what isn't working. You can attach it here using the "add attachment" button to include it in the thread.
I haven't looked at the lightbox feature yet - still very much a beginner and getting to grips with what storyline (2) can do. I will spend some time looking at it. Otherwise is using videos on individual slides the only way to go?
It sounds like you may want to look at videos on individual slides, or the video files on layers vs, using it as a web object on the layer. If you're able to share a .story file here with us we're also happy to take a look at it.
ok here is my file - I have stripped out most of my stuff and just have the filmstrip slide. However it is by no means complete as I hit the problem as I started testing to check the bits work.
So, basically the intention is to have a strip of thumbnail images down the left-hand-side (which the user can scroll thru). As you click each thumbnail the layer with the relevant video should appear. At the moment I only have 3 videos set up.
thanks for the heads-up about the LightBox - I've had a go with this and it looks fine for these videos, which are simple talking heads. Might be an issue with more detailed videos.
Thanks for sharing your file and the link to your YouTube page. I tested this by uploading to my Articulate Online account as I wasn't sure where you were testing, and I could click around from video to video and it stopped them and I was able to only hear the audio while on that layer. Can you take a look at this version and let me know how it behaves for you? I'm also testing in Chrome.
I didn't do anything to the file - I just published for Articulate Online and then had it upload there. If you're testing the published output locally that could be a part of the issue. You'll want to ensure you're testing within the intended publish environment as described here.
Any updates on this problem? I'm experiencing the EXACT same thing.
Unfortunately my pitiful LMS cannot stream MP4 to mobile devices (took like 2 months for them to confirm this) so I am forced to embed Youtube links into web objects. I have a slide with multiple layers where every layer represents a video. If the user wants to exit the video and return to the list of videos, they simply press an "X" object which is linked to the trigger of "hide this layer". The layer disappears, but unfortunately the audio of the video continues in the background.
Hi Alexander! This is an issue that our QA Team is aware of. I will add this thread for user awareness and so that we can provide updates when applicable, but I am not aware of a workaround at this time.
I did find that the lightbox idea suggested by Katie above worked for me - you might want to try this. My videos were simple talking heads so it looked OK.
Otherwise as Leslie mentioned I was running it in an environment that wouldn't be the "proper" production environment, so I am assuming that this would make a difference.
I too used the lightbox slide technique with some embedded Vimeo videos.
Originally I had buttons calling slide layers to show the embedded Vimeo videos and that worked for the flash output, but many of the users for my activity will be accessing it from a tablet so HTML5 is what was needed and that output did not work. The videos kept playing in the background. The lightbox technique, instead of slide layers, worked like a charm.
And if you don't care for the tiny little red x used to close the lightbox you can create your own button and trigger to close it instead.
I'm having the same issue as Alexander. I have a WebObject mp4 video on one slide which can sometimes continue to play even when I've moved on to the next one. Then when another WebObject slide is played I have two audios playing at once.
This seems to happen on some PCs but not others. I'm not experiencing the issue on my machine but many of my students are.
I haven't seen any other examples for using multiple web objects - but you could always use the "contact me" button on a ELH users' profile to reach out to them directly and see if they could offer insight. This discussion is a bit older so they may not be subscribed.
Would it be unusual to have a project that has a number of WebObject slides that play an mp4 video hosted elsewhere? I would have thought this would be a pretty common approach to building a course?
It's unfortunate as most of our eLearning material uses this approach (each course could have 15 to 20 WebObject mp4s scattered throughout). The multiple audio tracks at once is making them unwatchable for students.
If I could find someway to mute the volume on the WebObject video player I think my problems would be solved!
Not unusual at all - I think I read this as multiple web objects on one slide, but it sounds like you have the spaced over multiple slides? Where are you hosting the content? What browser(s) are you viewing it in? I wonder if that's impacting how the audio keeps playing in the background.
Muting the volume on the web object player could be an option - but something I'd have to defer to the community for! Let us know what you come up with in that regard.
41 Replies
Hi Cheryl
you can add some triggers on each side layer i.e. see image
you can even add another trigger to stop media when user clicks outside.
Hi, I've had a look at this but I can't seem to assign the web object as the media item to stop.
are you using storyline 2?
it's totally working on my pc. check this file
I am also having this issue. The situation is that the videos are web object YouTube "links" not mp4 (or similar) video media files.
The "workaround" I have is to not use the YouTube links and instead just use the original mp4s, but every mp4 I insert increases the Storyline file size. The reason we moved to YouTube clips is to reduce the file size (I moved from a 100 MB file to a 4 mb file!).
If anyone has a suggestion, I'd love to hear it.
I think it works in your version because they are Vimeo videos, which Storyline seems to interpret as videos (and thus the media video controls work). Ours are YouTube web objects, which Storyline doesn't seem to recognize as videos when it comes to triggers.
Hi Cheryl,
Web objects aren't accessed as a media trigger, as they're just embedded directly into the file.
Katie,
For the Youtube videos, you can use the method here.
The problem isn't getting the YouTube videos in there. It seems that Cheryl and I both used the "Insert | Web Object" to put the YouTube videos in our courses.
The problem is putting YouTube web objects on a layer. When the layer appears, the user can start playing the video (or it auto plays). Then if the user clicks the trigger object to hide the layer before the video is finished playing, the video continues to play. You only hear the audio because the visual is hidden.
For example in my course, I have a button that shows a layer when clicked. This layer has YouTube video and a close button. The close button hides the layer again when clicked. If the user starts playing the video, then clicks the close button, the layer hides, but the video keeps playing.
The one way I found to not have this happen is to Insert the MP4 as a video file (using Insert | Video). Because Storyline recognizes it as a video, I can use the media triggers such as the Stop Media that Ashraf indicated above. The problem with dropping a bunch of MP4s in there is that my file size gets large quick (this course has 8 videos).
I also found that I could get a similar interaction to a layer by using a lightbox slide, which seems to stop the YouTube video from playing when the user clicks the red X. This stopping seems to be simply because the user is being moved from slide to slide, and therefore from timeline to timeline. Using the lightbox way is not as nice looking, but it might have to suffice.
Cheryl - I'm not sure if the lightbox way would look okay for you course or not, the slide appears as an overlay on the whole player window and is much smaller than the original slide. It might be worth some looking into to see if it will get you close enough.
Hi Katie,
Thanks for sharing that explanation here. Could you share your .story file with this web object and layer so that we could take a look at how it's behaving and how you've got it set up? If you're ok using the lightbox method, no need to share - but I'd be curious to see how you've set it up and what isn't working. You can attach it here using the "add attachment" button to include it in the thread.
Hi,
Katie has described my situation perfectly.
I haven't looked at the lightbox feature yet - still very much a beginner and getting to grips with what storyline (2) can do. I will spend some time looking at it. Otherwise is using videos on individual slides the only way to go?
Cheryl.
Hi Cheryl,
It sounds like you may want to look at videos on individual slides, or the video files on layers vs, using it as a web object on the layer. If you're able to share a .story file here with us we're also happy to take a look at it.
Hi,
ok here is my file - I have stripped out most of my stuff and just have the filmstrip slide. However it is by no means complete as I hit the problem as I started testing to check the bits work.
So, basically the intention is to have a strip of thumbnail images down the left-hand-side (which the user can scroll thru). As you click each thumbnail the layer with the relevant video should appear. At the moment I only have 3 videos set up.
The videos are on our youtube channel here https://www.youtube.com/user/healthlib
If there is someway to get this working that would be super as I think this would be a good way to present some of our demonstration-type videos too.
Thanks for your help.
Hi Katie,
thanks for the heads-up about the LightBox - I've had a go with this and it looks fine for these videos, which are simple talking heads. Might be an issue with more detailed videos.
Hi Cheryl,
Thanks for sharing your file and the link to your YouTube page. I tested this by uploading to my Articulate Online account as I wasn't sure where you were testing, and I could click around from video to video and it stopped them and I was able to only hear the audio while on that layer. Can you take a look at this version and let me know how it behaves for you? I'm also testing in Chrome.
Hi Ashley,
yes - your file seems to be working OK for me too. Did you do any changes?
The way I was testing it was to publish, then click the open project in html option to just do a quick test. It opens in google chrome.
Is it something to do with how I am publishing the file?
Hi Cheryl,
I didn't do anything to the file - I just published for Articulate Online and then had it upload there. If you're testing the published output locally that could be a part of the issue. You'll want to ensure you're testing within the intended publish environment as described here.
Any updates on this problem? I'm experiencing the EXACT same thing.
Unfortunately my pitiful LMS cannot stream MP4 to mobile devices (took like 2 months for them to confirm this) so I am forced to embed Youtube links into web objects. I have a slide with multiple layers where every layer represents a video. If the user wants to exit the video and return to the list of videos, they simply press an "X" object which is linked to the trigger of "hide this layer". The layer disappears, but unfortunately the audio of the video continues in the background.
Hi Alexander! This is an issue that our QA Team is aware of. I will add this thread for user awareness and so that we can provide updates when applicable, but I am not aware of a workaround at this time.
Hi Alexander,
I did find that the lightbox idea suggested by Katie above worked for me - you might want to try this. My videos were simple talking heads so it looked OK.
Otherwise as Leslie mentioned I was running it in an environment that wouldn't be the "proper" production environment, so I am assuming that this would make a difference.
Thanks for popping in to share your findings and suggestions Cheryl :) Much appreciated.
Hopefully this will be of assistance to Alexander.
I too used the lightbox slide technique with some embedded Vimeo videos.
Originally I had buttons calling slide layers to show the embedded Vimeo videos and that worked for the flash output, but many of the users for my activity will be accessing it from a tablet so HTML5 is what was needed and that output did not work. The videos kept playing in the background. The lightbox technique, instead of slide layers, worked like a charm.
And if you don't care for the tiny little red x used to close the lightbox you can create your own button and trigger to close it instead.
I'm having the same issue as Alexander. I have a WebObject mp4 video on one slide which can sometimes continue to play even when I've moved on to the next one. Then when another WebObject slide is played I have two audios playing at once.
This seems to happen on some PCs but not others. I'm not experiencing the issue on my machine but many of my students are.
Is there any solution to this yet?
Thanks!
Ian
Hi Ian,
I haven't seen any other examples for using multiple web objects - but you could always use the "contact me" button on a ELH users' profile to reach out to them directly and see if they could offer insight. This discussion is a bit older so they may not be subscribed.
Best of luck with your project!
Thanks for the reply Ashley,
Would it be unusual to have a project that has a number of WebObject slides that play an mp4 video hosted elsewhere? I would have thought this would be a pretty common approach to building a course?
It's unfortunate as most of our eLearning material uses this approach (each course could have 15 to 20 WebObject mp4s scattered throughout). The multiple audio tracks at once is making them unwatchable for students.
If I could find someway to mute the volume on the WebObject video player I think my problems would be solved!
Thanks again,
Ian
Hi Ian,
Not unusual at all - I think I read this as multiple web objects on one slide, but it sounds like you have the spaced over multiple slides? Where are you hosting the content? What browser(s) are you viewing it in? I wonder if that's impacting how the audio keeps playing in the background.
Muting the volume on the web object player could be an option - but something I'd have to defer to the community for! Let us know what you come up with in that regard.
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