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.
102 Replies
Hi - in an attempt to address the erratic volume levels of background audio, I lowered the volume on the actual mp3s before importing them in, so that even at their maximum, the audio wouldn't overpower the voiceover. However, I found that possibly Storyline 360 'boosts' or normalises the mp3 file so it's still so loud. I'm trying to deliver to a client for next Tuesday and the background audio is a real issue because the course is presenter/VO led.
Even when you enable the instruction to lower the background audio when the VO plays, this does not consistently happen.
Hello Natalie,
Sorry to hear that you ran into this snag.
I tried recreating the behavior using a simple file with background audio and narration, and I didn't experience the behavior you encountered where the background audio played over the narration. I've attached the file that I used for testing so you can test to see if we get similar results.
Have you tried making sure that the 'Optimize audio volume' option is not checked for your course before you published it?
If leaving this box unticked doesn't fix the behavior, would you be willing to share a copy of your project file here or in private by opening a support case so we can take a closer look at what's happening? We'll delete it when we're done testing!
Hi Joe
I got my solution from Nejc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNQlWD84AT8It's when you press next in the player mid voiceover that is mostly causing the erratic background audio volume changes.
It meant I had to do every slide in all 3 modules, but for the purposes of delivering to the client, I was just happy to get it solved.
It would be really great if this could be solved in the software itself so that this trigger doesn't have to be applied for every slide containing foregrounded audio.
Can there be an option added in the next update so that the background audio starts on the second slide to avoid the big play button when the project loads?
Hi Justin!
Thanks for reaching out! It sounds like you need to add a custom trigger for more background audio control in your Storyline 360 course!
We currently have that logged as a feature request, so I'll be sure to include your voice in the report! We’ll update this discussion if this feature makes it on our feature roadmap.
Have a great rest of your week!
I can create a trigger to for audio to play when timeline starts, but I still have the large play button that appears at the beginning to start the project.
Is there an alternate trigger I can use so that the project autostarts without clicking anything?
Hi Joe,
The version v3.75.30269.0 had the issue, will install v3.77.30587.0 and test.
Cheers
NatalieHi Natalie,
Thanks for trying out the latest version of Storyline!
Let us know how it goes, and we'll be more than happy to assist further!
This is a great addition to Storyline. Can I ask if it's possible to trim the background audio to fit the Storyline length? I cannot see the background audio in my timeline, as I can with other audio, and therefore cannot click on it to edit. TIA
Hello Gareth,
Happy to help!
There isn't an available feature right now that will allow you to trim the background audio in Storyline 360. If you would like to add a background audio which matches the estimate of your Storyline 360 course's duration, you'll need to edit the background audio using a third-party application to set your desired length. A tool like Audacity can help you with this.
It would be great to have the ability to set background audio for different scenes. In a current project I already have a couple of short clips during the intro scene (tied to different slides) and the exit, but the bulk of the course would greatly benefit from having background audio. So the ability to make it scene-specific would be a great feature.
Hello, Everyone! ✨
I'm happy to share that we have released a new update for Storyline 360 (Build 3.79.30834.0).
In this update, we have an enhancement where:
- Background audio is now supported in the published video output.
As a first step, I recommend updating Storyline 360 to the latest version. Here's how:
If you have any questions, please let us know in this thread or privately in a support case.
Have a great day!
Hi!
I want to start by saying that this feature is so cool! I'm excited about how this is transforming the feel of our courses.
I am having some trouble with the volume, though. Even when I set the "lower background audio volume when slide audio plays" to 100%, it still plays loudly in the background and competes with the slide narration. Is this a known bug?
Hi Meagan,
Happy to help!
You'll want to set the volume of the background audio to 0% instead if you'd like to mute it when slide audio plays.
The lower the value in the box highlighted in the screenshot is, the softer the background audio becomes.
Let me know if this works for you!
Hi Joe,
That's what I've tried, but it isn't muting the background audio. No matter what I set the percentage to, it doesn't get any quieter than a slight reduction in normal volume. It also resets to full volume when the song changes.
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!
Hi
Very good, the new option of inserting background music but... can we insert it on a single scene only? Is the reading list obligatory for the entire duration of a module?
It would be so nice to be able to choose the scene(s) with the background sound (and others without)
THANKS
Frederic
Hello Frederic!
Thanks for sharing that you'd like to be able to mute the background audio in Storyline 360 scenes. We have this logged as an additional feature request, so I'll go ahead and include your voice. Here's a peek into our process for managing feature requests.
