Why does the timeline expand for no reason?

Hello Marge!

The timeline normally defaults to about 5 seconds. When you insert audio or video it will adjust to the length of the inserted media. However, inserting a new slide after that should revert to the default.

Please confirm that you are working locally as described here. Also you could follow the steps here if you continue to have issues.

You could also attach your .story file here to see if we can recreate the same behavior.

If you paste an object that is 200 seconds a slide it will expand

Thanks ... but I am working locally already. I do understand that the timeline would expand to fit any video or audio. This isn't that. This is just an unexplained increase in the timeline way beyond the length of any slide elements, including video or audio.

Unfortunately, I can't attach my .story file because it is proprietary content. However, as I mentioned, this behavior is not specific to one .story file. I've had this happen before in other files ... both Storyline 1 and 2. It seems to be worse in v. 2 though.

Hello Marge,

I haven't heard of this happening without items being inserted, or duplicate slides being made.

If you want you could send us your file here privately.

Hi Emily,

What do you mean by 'duplicate slides being made'?

Hello Marge,

If you right click the slide thumbnail and hit "duplicate" to copy the slide. You can also copy the slide and paste into a new slide.

If you do either of these, it will copy over the length of the timeline as well. 

ok .. thanks. This is not something that happens when I first create a new slide. I am working in the slide ... the timeline is whatever the default length is ... I add a couple of things ... it's still fine ... and then somewhere along the line, the length of the timeline just out of the blue changes. I'm realizing now that I usually notice it when I go to preview the slide. I notice then that my seekbar is much longer than it should be ... and when I leave the preview mode, I see that the length of the timeline has changed. Also, if I run the slide from within development mode so I can add cue points to the timeline, it will take a long time to start to run ... probably because the timeline has made itself several minutes long.

So it seems to be preview and running the slide that are triggering this to happen.

Hello Marge!

You may want to conduct a repair of Storyline to see if this corrects the issue for you.

I'll give that a try.

Thanks, let us know if this works for you.

This is a pretty old thread but I am facing a similar issue as Marge. With no apparent reason, the timeline increases to somewhere between 500 to 800 seconds. I have tried all that has been suggested but still the same issue keeps recurring. I am not sure what is causing that. I have to manually go to each slide and reduce the timeline to appropriate length and it is quite frustrating and time consuming. Any help woul be greatly appreciated.

Sorry that's happening, Dublu! Since this thread is older, I'd like to start fresh. Can you help me with a couple more details?

• What version of Storyline are you using?
• What were you doing just before the timeline jumped between 500 to 800 seconds? 

In the meantime, try this time-saving tip: Click and drag the end of the timeline to the left, and then press the left arrow key while dragging the mouse. The timeline should then jump back to the correct length. 

Same thing is happening for me. I paste something on the timeline, it could be 5 seconds long, and the timeline expands to 250 seconds. I then have to drag the timeline all the way back on every single layer...and I have a lot of layers. Please post the solution publicly if you find one.

Hello Denise!

We are happy to help! I don't see that we heard from others in this discussion, so we'll want to start from the beginning.

Do you see this behavior in all projects of just this one? It would also be helpful to know if this is happening on other slides in your project too.

Lastly, do you mind sharing the .story file with us? You can attach it to this public discussion or upload it privately in a support case.

The same thing keeps happening to me and it's driving me MAD! Like others have said, I could have a very simple slide (no video) and when I come back the next day it's extended itself from 5 or 10 seconds out to 143 seconds. I drag it back to what it should be and come back to it in a few hours and it's done it AGAIN. WHY is Storyline extending the timeline without provocation? Are there gremlins in the software? Are there software engineers there at Articulate headquarters who are getting a laugh out of this? Because I'm not. This bug costs me A LOT of wasted time. I just want the timeline to stay where I put it and I want the software to stop gaslighting me. 

Hello Wendy, and welcome to E-Learning Heroes. 😊

I appreciate you chiming in to share what you are experiencing with your Storyline project.

I'm curious if the issue happens in any course you are working on or just this particular one?

• If you cannot re-create the issue in a new course, I recommend importing the file into a new one and proceeding.
• If it's happening in any/all files, you should conduct a repair of your software.

If you can consistently replicate, please share the steps and your .story file with our support team.

Solution:

Right click on the timeline of the video and uncheck the "Select Until End" from the context menu. Check the screenshot that I have attached here.

And once you are done with the above, drag the seeker to reduce the blank/extra timeline space that is left there.

I'm late to the party, but I found this quick fix that might be helpful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYBdFB9VmJA

Hello,

I have been experiencing the same issue since past 2-3 weeks. The issue comes randomly but what happens is we update some video or text on a screen and randomly some other screens timeline extends to hours in this case around 3 hours 3 minutes. Attached is the screenshot of the issue.

I am not sure if the issue is related to the latest version of the SL. 

Tazeem.

Hello, Info ZB.

Thank you for opening a support case! I see you're working with Luiza, so you're in great hands!

Please reach out through the case if you have additional questions.