PDF linked in resources results in crashing IE11 and audio crackling

May 03, 2017

Hi every one,
I have two issues, that will need your support to solve.
Our build is an elearning course, with 55 pages that uses a custom menu, audio transcript, help, resource etc. We publish the course with 24 kbps as the audio quality and compresses the images while doing production. Issues listed below.

  1. Our client has reported that the pdfs linked in the resource section, when opened causes the IE11 to crash. We are using Storyline2 for production and this issues has occurred while client tested SCORM1.2 version in their internal LMS. We have earlier developed many courses for this client and linked pdfs in them, but this issue was never reported.
  2. We are experiencing periodic crackling sound in audio especially for the first 4 to 5 pages of the build and this issue seems to be less occurring for the later slides, but still exists. We could not go below 24kbps as the audio settings as the audio will sound like the talent is talking inside a tin can.

Awaiting your valuable responses.

 

14 Replies
Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Mahesh, 

Sorry you've run into this issues with Storyline - I'd  be happy to help you. 

1. Do you know if it's only crashing in IE11? Are they able to attempt any other browsers such as Chrome? You could also look at uploading to a testing LMS like SCORM Cloud, and see how it behaves there. That would help us narrow down where the issue may be.

2. I'd want to have our team take a look at this course and the audio issues. I'll open up a case for you to share your file with them - so just keep your eyes peeled for an email from Support@articulate.com! 

Mahesh  Vijayan

Thanks for the quick response Ashely,

Unfortunately IE11 is the official browser for our client and they do not use any other browser. Internally we have tested this in SCORM Cloud and in Moodle, and the issue was not replicating. We have tested in other browsers also, but and it works properly for us.

Regarding the audio crackling, I have received your mail and let me try with the steps provided.

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Mahesh,

It sounds like IE11 is not working well with their internal LMS. Are they able to test to confirm - it may be what they need to see to switch browsers or look to a different LMS?

Glad my team was able to get out some troubleshooting steps for the audio issue - feel free to respond here, but I'm also following along with your case too! You're in good hands with Cleo. 😀

Mahesh  Vijayan

Hi Ashley,

We are yet to hear back from client about a different browser. Mostly they will not agree for a different browser. Strange thing here is that we have done many other courses for them which has pdfs linked and this issue was never reported earlier. Indeed this issue was never heard from any of our customers. Is there anything could be wrong with the particular pdf? We have tried by saving the pdf in a different name and also optimized the pdf file size using an online tool.

Regarding the audio, Cleo suggested to use 16bit 44khz WAV audio. We have tried this for the first few pages and the issue exists. What we have noticed here is about the bigger audio file size while converting to the .WAV format. It is 5 times bigger than mp3. In side storyline we have kept a one second gap in the timeline and one second silence in the audio track, to solve the audio getting cut in the beginning.

I have asked another question in the mail regarding sharing the source file. Will wait for his reply as well as the responses for above points for further actions.

 

Mahesh  Vijayan

Good News and Bad news,

Good News is that Client has reported that the latest version we gave did worked and the PDFs opened without any issues. What we did is, we changed the file names of the PDFs and optimized the pdf file size using an online tool at "https://smallpdf.com/compress-pdf"

Bad News is that audio issue still exists.

Ashley Terwilliger-Pollard

Hi Mahesh,

It also sounds like you didn't get Cleo's last email around May 5th. I wanted to share it here:

If you use too much compression with your audio track, while it make the file smaller, it will also sacrifice the playback since it will take time for it to be decoded and playback. This would often times result to distorted or low quality audio. 

We recommend that you use 16 bit 44 KHZ PCM WAV and set your audio quality around 56kbps when publishing for better results. This may result to average sized files based on how long your audio recording. Based on this guidelines, you are free to play around with lower quality bitrates both on the audio file you generate/create and the Audio Quality settings when you publish your project to get the ideal audio playback quality and file size.  

If you need additional help, please let me know and I can reopen your case with Cleo! 

Mahesh  Vijayan

Hi Ashley,

We have tried these steps and the issue was not solved. I have posted the same here earlier. Please read the 4th comment in the chain. I am now sharing the source files with you for your perusal. Another important information here is that the audio crackling issue reported by client is not replicated in most of our internal production machines. But it is replicated in our reviewers machines. A new issue is also reported that the first few words in the Voice Over is skipped. Client is following up on this and I would need to give them answer by end of this week.

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