Forum Discussion
Storyline very slow to save
I have a 92MB Storyline file that is taking approx 43 secs to save. This is the time it takes from clicking the save button on the toolbar until the blue file save progress bar at the bottom of the window disappears to indicate the file is saved. It may be noteworthy that this blue file save progress bar actually completes its full animation from left to right in less than 10secs but it remains on screen for the 43 secs, after which it goes away.
This happens even when there have been no edits made to the file. I can just open a file then immediately click save and 43s later its finally saved.
I'm working locally - the file location is not being sync'd to any online backup tool or system. I've just updated storyline to the most current version a few days ago but this was happening prior to that ....I'm feeling it has become apparent over the last couple of storyline updates?
I can see other complaints of this type of issue in the forum over a number of years so maybe its my turn to experience this. None of the other 20 or so other apps I use take more than a few secs to save anything, in fact having to consciously stop work and wait for a file to save is an experience unique to Storyline.
Would anyone have any suggestions as to what could be going on?
7 Replies
Congratulacions, you're the latest Storyline user to notice this. As I understand it as both the program gets larger and has to disconnect links to other programs for AI, the base SL file is taking longer to close. Also, as your presentation gets larger, it will take longer. I had a file that took about 3 minutes to save and close due to a very large video as well as it had more than just 1. As we start using more powerful programs, this will be the situation.
Good luck
I've had to wait upwards of 15+ minutes for some very large projects, but agree even 43s is a long time for such a small file. I imagine it has something to do with the project saving all the assets with the project file. After Effects as an example doesn't have this issue even if you're working with terabytes of video files and tons of comps because the project file is decoupled from the assets.
Wow - 15mins - that would drive me nuts. I don't use After Effects but completely understand what you're saying as I do use a 3D authoring tool that can really drive up the complexity and also using other video editing and compositing tools. None of them take more than a few secs to save anything. I guess they all decouple the project file from the assets - as you point out. With Storyline I'm always crossing my fingers hoping that it will actually complete the save and not break.
Hi PeterMoore1!
Sorry to hear that Storyline 360 has been slowing you down!
I'd like to take a look at your project file to see how long it would take the same project to save on my end. This can help determine if the behavior is isolated to your local install or if it has something to do with the file itself.
Do you mind sharing a copy of your .story file here or privately through a support case? We'll delete it from our system once we're done!
Hi Steven - Thanks for the offer to look at the file - I'll have to pass on this. I'm aware of the offer to delete after review and also the possibility of an NDA - but unfortunately its not an option at this time. There have been a number of incidents reported in the community over the years of lengthy file save times and those of us with many years of experience using S/L know how unreliable S/L can actually be relating to file management and in maintaining file integrity. Perhaps the developers should have a good long look at this in the first instance?
Frankly, if there were any other product on the market I would recommend at least trying that - it is becoming so unproductive to use Articulate Storyline 360, I have been waiting 14 mins to save a file - it only has 17 slides, on my local drive, with no heavy media in it - the product is very very poor indeed!
How much spare space is there on your C: drive? I used to have issues with SL gobbling up space in the form of multiple temporary folders (in //USER/AppData/Local/Temp/Articulate/Storyline) where it gathers the various XML and media files that comprise a SL project, before zipping them up to save. It then failed to delete the folders & content, eventually consuming many GB on my system drive to the extent I had to write a little app to purge them every so often. Most annoying.
Anyway - worth checking.
PS. A *.story file is a ZIP file in case you didn't know!
