149 Replies
chiranjit chakraborty

@Thor, this has been the makeshift technique that I have been using for some time now and like you mentioned it's not 100% accurate, but the best possible option at this point. For translations the xliff format does allow you to get an idea about the word count. I. Sure there must be some other alternatives too. 

Thor Melicher

@Alexis,
As Chiranjit mentioned, there is a way to use the translation export feature to get a word count.  I wrote an application that will translate your Rise 360 / Storyline 3 / 360 courses using Amazon Translate.  I decided not to do a word count but it's a feature I could add if there's a need.  With Amazon Translate, the cost is very reasonable so I'm not sure how helpful it would be?

As for accuracy of word count, it depends on how you've designed your course.  The XLIFF file that is created does 'double duty' - not only does it handle the text for translation, it also stores information such as formatting. 

Why this matters is because if your lead character is a font size larger and bold while the rest of the text is not, it *might* get broken into two parts.  This would then result in a miscount of words (technically you would have two words instead of one.)  This is done to retain the integrity of the original design and how the XLIFF file handles text for translation.

 

Thor Melicher

If you want to try a different approach to getting a word count, you can try the app I created to do this.  It's a Windows 10 app (completely free and doesn't require Amazon Web Services like my other apps) and can be found here:

https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9ND6JRMKF74Q

You'll need to export the XLIFF file and then load it into the application.  Works with both Rise 360 and Storyline courses.  Hopefully it will be more accurate than the PDF > Word option but your mileage will vary depending on how you create your courses.

Some notes:

  • Storyline courses will vary on word count because slide names, scenes, etc. are included in the word count
  • Storyline courses will *not* count closed caption files as they're not accessible in how they're stored
  • For Rise 360, this method *should* be faster to get a count as you won't have to wait for the export to PDF.  It should also count your answer-based feedback in quiz questions. 

I hope this helps and *crossing my fingers* the word count is more accurate to boot!