Video Resolution Quality - Storyline

Jan 03, 2014

Tina Tarin
By Tina Tarin

Hello, all!  Happy New Year too!  I "stumbled upon" a quick solution to improving the video resolution quality when using Storyline.  As I learned from the amazing E-learning blogs/resources, Storyline compresses video file size upon publishing...makes sense.  However, the resolution even when using high quality MP4 format videos and publishing at the Optimal setting of 9, didn't pass the test with my manager. 

One workaround - to replace the compressed video files with the originals after publishing https://player.vimeo.com/video/149072573) exists, but I was concerned about the difference in file size when using this workaround.  The compressed file size after publishing is 2,910 KB versus 23,189 KB when replacing the compressed with the original file.  We have multiple video files so this could be unwieldy to some learners with slower computers, and I didn't want to do any more work than necessary!  So I wanted to try everything possible before resorting to this solution.

I played with the Brightness and Contrast settings within the Edit Video options.  This improved the resolution quality greatly...when publishing at optimal quality (9).  We are waiting to see if the improvement passes the test of our Marketing Dept. but so far this simple step seemed to have worked wonders.  HOORAY!  The Brightness and Contrast adjustments that worked for me are as follows:  Brightness -14%...Contrast 20%.

I attached a screenshot of the Before and After versions.  Thanks

Remember if this doesn't work for you, the screencast referenced above is awesome. 

Thanks!

12 Replies
Judy Nollet
over 10 years ago01/07/14 at 12:02 pm (UTC)

This is an interesting fix. I adjust brightness and contrast for still images all the time, but I didn't know SL would let me adjust it in a video. Of course, the resolution isn't really affected; it's just easier to see details with the proper amount of contrast, which helps us discern shapes. If the contrast in the video starts out high, you might actually have to lower the contrast to bring out some details.

Gerry Wasiluk
over 10 years ago01/07/14 at 12:12 pm (UTC)

Interesting solution.  Thanks! Just tried it on a WMV video that I created in PowerPoint.  The video had some text and, after adjusting the contrast and brightness, it still had too many artifacts in the text for my taste.  But the rest of the video was not bad.

I still do the MP4 switch trick.  One wrinkle--I'll get the best quality video I can get and then convert it with Articulate Replay to MP4, and then bring that video into Storyline.  When I substitute the Storyline-published MP4 with the Replay version (which is larger), I get a good compromise between file size and quality.

As always, YMMV. :)

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