Forum Discussion
New in Storyline 360: Background Audio
We’ve got news that we think will be music to your ears—you can now add background audio to your Storyline 360 courses! Thanks to this highly requested feature you can set the right tone for your training and keep learners engaged by adding a list of audio tracks that play in the background. And to give learners control over the experience and ensure it’s optimal for everyone, they can toggle background audio on and off as needed. Check out this article to learn more about this new feature: Storyline 360: Background Audio.
If you’re an Articulate 360 subscriber, you can access this new feature immediately by updating Storyline 360 via the desktop app. And if you don’t have Articulate 360 but want to try out this feature, you can start a free 30-day trial.
Once you’ve given it a try we’d love to hear what you think! Please share any feedback or suggestions in the comments below. We’ll be working on enhancements for this feature and want to know if there are areas for improvement or additional functionality that you’d like to see. We’re looking forward to your feedback!
~The Storyline 360 Team
Hi everyone!
Good news! I'm happy to share that we just released Storyline 360 (Build 3.81.31200.0), which includes a feature to control the background audio for each slide using triggers to play, pause, or stop the playlist.
This was highly requested, so we hope it serves you in your course creation! If you run into any snags, don't hesitate to contact our team in a support case.
Hello Meagan,
I'm happy to jump in here! I ran tests on a sample Storyline file and set the background audio to 0% when the slide audio plays. It is working as expected on my end; the background audio mutes as soon as the slide audio plays. I attached my sample project file so you may confirm my findings.
To troubleshoot the problem, if you're already working on your local drive, try running these steps to fix possible installation issues.
We'd be glad to investigate further if the problem persists. You may share your Storyline project here or privately in a support case so we can take a look. We'll delete it when we're done!
Thank you, Eric! You've helped me identify one issue already: I was misinterpreting the setting. I was reading the text "Lower background audio volume..." as "lower the background audio this set amount," so I was setting it to 100% thinking I was lowering it 100%. Based on your comment the text actually means "set the audio volume to this level" and 100% would be as loud as possible. <insert facepalm emoji here>
I'll play with the setting more and walk through the steps you've provided including a case if it's still giving me trouble. Thanks, again!You're most welcome, Meagan! I know how frustrating it can feel when the settings don't work as expected, but I'm happy I was able to help clarify how the adjustments for the background audio work.
We're here for you if you encounter other issues!
Ctrl+Alt+M
We have courses running on phones and if someone is working on the phone and they need to go to another app or even take a call the background sound continues.
Is there a way to invoke muting automatically if the player loses focus?Hope you can suggest something.
Hi Ian,
Thanks for sharing that you'd like the feature to pause background audio in Storyline 360 when the player loses focus on a mobile device. Currently, this is not the observed behavior, but I'll open the floor to our community members with JavaScript knowledge for a possible workaround.
This feature is currently out of our roadmap, but I'll be sure to update this discussion if our team decides to reroute.
Thank you. I'll take a look and give it a try.
Nedim, thanks.
It works just fine if I publish it to Review 360, so that's great.
I presume I have to add the script to every slide ?
Is there a way to generalise it to the whole SCORM file?
I'll implement this as is in the existing files and pass it to the App developers to check that it solves the problem in that context.Hi, Ian. No, you can place it on the Master slide only.
Hi Nedim
It works if I place it on the individual slides, but not if I include it on the master.
I suspect I may be installing it incorrectly so I've included a screenshotOnce again, thanks.
Hi Ian,
I see now. It works only on every other slide. You have a script placed right. Check this version with updated script. It should now work just fine.
Nedim
Yes that nailed it.
It's working well in Review 360.Thank you
Love this new feature but it looks like it needs more refinement. For example, I can't seem to turn the background audio off for certain slides - or use a different playlist for different scenes. It's one and done for the whole project and that's not super helpful.
Hi, Angie!
Thanks for following up on this! I see you were able to connect with my teammate, Johnrey. That was a great call! Just a quick note that Marianne might not be subscribed to this discussion, but you're welcome to contact them directly through their profile by clicking on their name and selecting Contact Me.
