Forum Discussion
Storyline can't trim embedded video from PowerPoint import
I have a large PowerPoint that I want to edit in Storyline to produce a presentation I can embed on a web page. Each slide has video of the presenter, and some have a second video b-roll background. I want to trim the video of the presenter. Every time I try to simply trim a video using the Video Edit tool, Storyline chokes. The trim seems fine, but when I Save and Close, it only takes about 2 seconds to render, and the result is something like 1 frame every 3 or so seconds. Looks the same in Preview. When I upload to Review, it's even worse! The video and audio in it don't show up at all! I tried just importing 1 slide and doing the same thing, with the same result. Happens on more than 1 slide. (the PowerPoint plays perfectly, by the way)
If I save out each video from the PPt slide, trim it externally, then insert it, it works fine (NOT a good workaround for 48 slides, 55 videos!). If I then try to trim that newly inserted video, it chokes again.
By the way, the videos are .mp4, and the external trimming I did is nothing special. Just trimming with the Photos app in Windows, and saving as a new file.
Hi Gordon! I apologize for the issues you are experiencing when trimming your videos in Storyline.
I want to ask you a couple of questions to begin troubleshooting:
- Are you working on your local drive (your C: drive)? Working on a network drive or a USB drive can cause erratic behavior, including file corruption, loss of audio, and other unexpected behavior.
- If you import the original, untrimmed video to Storyline, are you then able to trim without any issues?
Please let me know if those measures help, or if you need additional assistance.
1. Yes, local drive.
2. I don’t have access to the original raw video. If I save the video out from the PowerPoint first then insert it, the same problem happens.Hi again Gordon!
So every time a video is trimmed or edited, it will compress the video and lose quality. If you do not have access to the original, raw video, it may be hard to continue editing and maintain the quality, hence why it may not be working in Storyline. Please refer to Storyline 360: Best Practices for High-Quality Images and Videos. It states that you should start with high-quality images and videos already correctly sized. Scaling media up or down in your course can cause erratic behavior, especially if your images and videos have text.
If you can get access to the original video, edit it, and then upload it to Storyline, that would work best.
If that's not possible, could you share the video file you have either here or privately in a case? Our engineers can take a look at it. We will delete the video from our system when we are finished testing.
Yes, I've already said I can trim it externally. But then it has to be re-inserted, resized, and placed back in the exact position. For a PPt with 50+ video clips in it, all of them needing trimming, that's a crazy amount of work.
I've found out more info about the original PPt. So, the background video that was shot on a video camera can be trimmed in Storyline fine. It is the narrator video that won't trim properly. It was produced by recording the presentation slide by slide directly into PowerPoint. So I'm guess PPt may do its own sort of compression?
I will attach one of the clips here. I am simply saving it out from PPt as an .mp4, which is the only choice.
What would be the ultimate time-saver would be for Storyline to be able to see those in and out points on the PPt embedded videos and give you a choice whether you want to trim them when importing. I know that would take a lot of processing, but it would be worth it. Feature request!
Once they recorded the narrator for each slide, they then set in and out points so that it would be tight. That's why each clip needs trimming in Storyline, because it imports the entire video each time. FYI, I just tried the trim function again on a new Storyline with just 2 of these slides, including the video I just sent. Same result.
Hi, Gordon.
Thank you for clarifying! I also see you have a case with one of our support engineers, Jan, who found broken elements in your video file.
If you have additional questions, please reach out to Jan through the case. You're also welcome to submit a feature request detailing what you'd like to see in the Storyline video editor (such as recognizing in/out points).
