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SebastianChavez's avatar
SebastianChavez
Community Member
12 months ago

Prevent neutral space in object from "counting" as a hotspot intersection?

I am working on a project that requires a user mimic "swabbing" a nose, and to do this I set up a hotspot in the nostril and variables which toggle each time a hand+Q-tip (dragged by user) intersects/stops intersecting with a hotspot. When this happens, triggers change the color of the nasal solution to get a little darker until it's the "correct" shade of yellow. See image.

This largely works great, the problem I'm having is that when the neutral background space within the rectangular borders of the object is intersecting with the hotspot, this also counts as intersecting, making the activity feel a little clunky.

Is there a way to either:

a. Indicate to Storyline to ignore the neutral space, so only the object itself counts?

b. Remove the background of the object so its borders align with the actual object borders?

c. Indicate a specific part of the object to count for intersecting?

d. Group together the primary object with a smaller shape on the Q-tip head, and set the triggers based only on this secondary object? I tried doing this but when I preview, I just get a white box, which seems to indicate something is wrong...

storyline 360
  • EricSantos's avatar
    EricSantos
    Staff
    12 months ago

    Hello Sebastian!

    I'm sorry to hear about this issue; I'm happy to help! Thanks for the screenshot you shared; it's a big help for me to understand the problem.

    The picture of the hand with the cotton swab is a partially rotated rectangular image, and only the tip of the swab needs to be counted as a hotspot intersection for the action to register in Storyline. 

    That being said, from your list, items A to C are not currently possible. We cannot set Storyline to ignore the neutral space nor remove the object's background. To indicate a specific part of the object to count for intersecting, your suggestion in item D should work.

    Unfortunately, I tried item D and grouped a smaller shape with the image but ran into the same issue with the blank preview; this is a bug that we are currently monitoring:

    • The preview is blank when there is an 'intersects' trigger involving an object that belongs to a group

    Apologies for any trouble this has caused. We're still looking for a fix, but we'll notify you once it is available. Here's a peek into our process:

    As a workaround, I suggest using a long rectangular picture that shows only the cotton swab to eliminate the extra spaces that may interfere with the interaction.

    I attached a sample Storyline project file based on your description to illustrate a possible way that the workaround can be executed. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding the sample project!

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