Audio Edits Not Saving

Curtis, you might consider using a freeware tool like Audacity to do all audio manipulations, then exporting the files as *.MP4s and then importing them. Makes it much easier to work with the audio, I think. 

Good luck - 

Right. Not an option when inheriting a course for updates, especially given that exporting existing audio from SL ruins the audio quality. If the in-SL audio editor is not going to work reliably across sessions, it should be removed from SL until the issue is resolved.

Also, perhaps you mean mp3? Or are you suggesting that mp4 files don't suffer the same in-SL editing issue? Either way, mp4 would slow down work flow substantially as triggers would need to be added for every screen and for each cut of the audio.

You're right, I meant *.mp3. (Good catch)

I would try a couple of things to export existing audio. While nothing is going to be 1-2-3 bang, here you go, either of these options might get you where you are wanting to be.

If you haven't tried this already, try recording the audio in Audacity. I'd do this as (what I know as) "in-line" recording - so the software is basically capturing the audio directly on your device as the slide plays in Articulate. (Be sure you have turned off all programs that would "ding" - browser, email - otherwise you run the risk of capturing that sound, too.) You may find that the audio quality of the slide output captured this way is pretty good. I've actually had several slides in different courses that I have had to do this for, and the resulting output (while not native) is good enough that I can live with it - and my customers can too.

Another - similar - approach would be to attempt a recording while the course plays in a browser. You could probably play the *.story file in a browser while running Audacity to record it. You'll end up with a lot of data but you should be able to work with that, at least.

Otherwise... submit a ticket and see what the Articulate crew suggests. You may have indeed found a bug (!) ...

Good luck!

Hi Curtis!

So sorry to hear you're experiencing these issues with trimmed audio in your Storyline 360 course! I understand how frustrating this can be!

I see you've already opened a support case and my colleague Mark has picked it up. You're in excellent hands working one on one with him! It looks like Mark replied to your e-mail with some follow-up troubleshooting steps.

We'll continue this conversation over in your support case!

A follow through issue: I'm having to make the edits live and export SCORM packages in the same session. And then during the client handoff, I had to explain to them that the source files are useless for updating on their end because all the audio will have reverted and that it's an ongoing Articulate bug. Obviously not ideal.

Has Articulate come up with a solution for this? I'm having the exact same issue. It's obviously a bug that needs to be fixed. Why have the option to edit audio in the program if it doesn't actually save the updated file?

Hi Eric,

Thanks for reaching out and I'm sorry you're experiencing this issue!

Are you working on your local hard drive (typically your C: drive) when creating, editing, and publishing Storyline courses? Working on a network drive or a USB drive can cause erratic behavior, such as file corruption or an inability to save changes.

If the problem persists, I'd like to connect you with one of our Support Engineers in a case. Our team will be happy to take a closer look at what's going on with your project.

Update: Reinstalling Parallel Tools seems to have universally fixed my issues. Articulate Support suggested that I do it once a month to combat Windows updates. Support also had me switch Shared Network to Default Adapter and said it may help to toggle that back to Shared and back to Default from time to time because the "IP address can get stale". I can't really confirm whether the network change had any impact on my issues since reinstalling Parallel Tools fixed everything. Additionally, they suggested not saving to Dropbox on an active file, which may lead to files not saving properly, and not using Coherence mode, which may cause visual issues. Both of these seem to be a non-issue post reinstallation of PT, but good to have back-of-mind.

Issues resolved:

• Inflated/shifted/unusable Storyline UI (especially in the ribbon and triggers panel)
• Formatting/insertion of shape/objects reverting while in an active file
• Audio trims reverting after saving a course, closing it, and re-opening it
• Unusably slow upload speeds to Review 360

This still has not been resolved. I'm having to export every audio clip and save as back-up.

Hi Shelly!

Thanks so much for reaching out! Sorry to hear you've run into this snag. 

Just wanted to follow up on a few quick questions Kelly asked earlier in the thread. Could you please confirm the following: 

Are you working on your local hard drive (typically your C: drive) when creating, editing, and publishing Storyline courses? Working on a network drive or a USB drive can cause erratic behavior, such as file corruption or an inability to save changes.

If you're still having trouble, I'd be happy to open a support case on your behalf so that our talented Support Engineers can take a closer look at your setup. 

Looking forward to hearing from you, Shelly!