Forum Discussion
Text timing misaligns itself when entrance animation is by paragraph
I've attached a recording of my screen to show the issue I'm having.
I have a number of text boxes throughout my .story file whose entrance animations are set to occur By Paragraph. Each paragraph has custom timing to align with VO and other animations.
After about half of every export of my course, the timing of these paragraphs fall out of alignment with where they are set. Some of them also split up partially through paragraphs. The problem appears in both the published course files and in Storyline.
I'm using Storyline 360 version 3.54.25674.0, but this also occurred for me in version 3.53.25436.0.
What's (partially) worked:
When I move one of the misaligned paragraphs on the timeline then move it back to its correct location, it fixes the problem for that entire text box (not course-wide).
I've also found that republishing the course, or closing the .story file, reopening, then republishing the course, can fix the issue course-wide. This fix only works occasionally and does not prevent the problem from reoccurring in the republished course. It's not rare that I have to publish 3+ times in a row (even as high as 14) to get an export without the issue.
Any idea what might be causing this and how to fix it?
19 Replies
Hello Chris,
Thank you for reaching out and sharing what you are experiencing with your project file.
I took a quick look, and I do not see reports of similar issues, and I'm unable to replicate what your video displays.
- Are you working locally, typically your C: Drive, on your project files (including software, project file, and assets)?
- Your version is out of date, and updating will repair your software installation as well. We are currently on Build 3.56.26219.0 of Storyline 360. You can read all of the details here.
Please share your project file with our support engineers to investigate if you're still experiencing an issue. You can share it privately by uploading it here. It will be deleted when troubleshooting is complete.
Thanks Leslie
I work on a Mac on which I run Dropbox. It's in Dropbox where the project file and its assets live. I'm running Storyline on Windows through Parallels (version 17.0.1). In Windows File Explorer, my Dropbox files appear as if they live on a network drive (Network > Mac > Home > Dropbox > etc) and Storyline appears on the local disk (C: > ProgramData > etc). I've worked with this setup for about four years now.
I'm always reluctant to upgrade my software mid-project. I've done so in the past and certain software upgrades negatively affected elements in an ongoing project. I would hope to leave a software upgrade as a last-ditch solution.
I will go ahead with sharing the project file with your support team – thanks again!
Thanks, Chris. I can see that Chester has reached out to work with you directly, so you're in great hands.
I have had similar problems... in fact, having them right now. Text entrance animations by paragraph are lagging or not showing up at all in preview or in published versions. I'm opening a support ticket, but I have encountered this off and on for months.
Great call on opening a support case with us, Carol! It looks like my teammate Ronaziel reviewed your file and reached out with a suggestion—keep us posted after giving it a try!
Is it possible to share the suggestions and fixes here? I have been having the same issue over multiple versions over the past year. I can't share my .story file for commercial reasons, however I am currently trying to publish a series of 13 separate .story files and every one is getting this error.
I've moved it to a non-cloud synced, high level directory on C:\. I have Saved As before exporting, I've tried restarting before exporting I've and still completely this frustrating error happens randomly but frequently.
As the OP mentioned, moving the time slider slightly can fix it for that slide, however I can't afford to go in and fiddle with the slider on every single slide in every module before publishing.
Just popping in here to let you know I replied to your post here, Malcolm :)
This is happening again, even with deleting the animation and resetting it, which was suggested as a workaround. It's random and means I have to check every single one each time I publish. Has there been any movement into looking into this as a bug?
Hi,
I had a similar experience. I'd recommend moving the active project files to a local drive. In my experience Storyline really dislikes being used on a cloud drive (even a local cloud drive!).
If you work on a local drive everything should suddenly start working fine.
--> Saving to local hard drive or the cloud? - Articulate Storyline Discussions - E-Learning Heroes----------------------
I created a simple .bat-file, that copies every file from the cloud onto my desktop, where I can work with it. When I'm done working, I execute another .bat-file, that copies everything back to the cloud. That way, you don't have to be worried about synchronizing projects with your cloud, because it is automated with a single click.
I added a template for a .bat-file. Just right click, click "edit" and fill out the blanks. It should be ready to go.
ATTENTION:
- please test the .bat-file with some dummy-files first.
- Regularly use new names for project versions (ex.: myproject_2022-02-20, myproject_2022-02-21, etc.) as the .bat will overwrite any old files with identical names. That way you won't accidentally overwrite files you want to keep.
Thanks Tim, I appreciate the tips and it's a good reminder to double-check the basics of my workflow.
What's weird is I work locally, always, have never worked any other way. It doesn't seem to improve the problem. I resave the files with a new name using the recommended naming conventions (short, no spaces, etc.) and again, no improvement.
It's really weird.... once the by-paragraph animation starts to fail, the only thing that seems to work.... sometimes... is to change the animation to none and reset the lines all over again. Very frustrating.
Hi Carol, I'm sorry to hear that. I see you're already working with Ronaziel on our Support team to see if we can sort why you are still experiencing this issue. If you could share the latest source file with her for further testing, here's the unique upload link for your case. I'll follow the troubleshooting as it progresses!
Quick question: is there any evidence that a soft return in sentence would cause the lines to split apart like they're doing? I sometimes use a soft return to copyfit for a more balanced looking paragraph. Would storyline treat that as a new line?
Have done, thank you! Really appreciate the attention to this.
If you are referring to Shift+Enter; the animation by paragraph is displayed differently compared to using Return/Enter.
