Storyline 360: Adding Audio
In this user guide, we'll explore several ways to add audio to Storyline 360 courses. Choosing Default Playback and Recording Devices Importing Audio Files Recording Narration Converting Text to Speech Adding Background Audio Controlling Background Audio With Triggers Using the Background Audio Volume Variable Importing Slides from Other Content Sources Making Audio Accessible Create Sound Effects with AI Assistant Add a layer of realism to your audio content with AI-generated sound effects. Learn how to use AI Assistant to level up your course authoring game. Choosing Default Playback and Recording Devices Before you import or record narration, you'll want to choose your default playback and recording devices. Go to the Insert tab on the Storyline ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and choose Options. Select a speaker for your default playback device. Select a microphone for your default recording device and set your recording volume. Click OK to save your changes. Importing Audio Files First, do either of the following: In Slide View, go to the Insert tab on the ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and select Audio from File or Media Library. Or, simply drag an audio file from your computer and drop it on your course slide. In Form View, go to the Question tab on the ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and select Audio from File or Media Library. Browse to the audio file you want to insert and click Open. Storyline 360 supports these file formats: AAC AIF AIFF M4A MP3 OGG WAV WMA Tip: If you import an audio file without captions, AI Assistant prompts you to generate them automatically. Click Generate Captions to create captions for your audio. To generate captions automatically next time, check the box to Remember my choice for future imports. You can adjust this preference anytime from the Features tab on the Storyline Options window. Recording Narration First, do either of the following: In Slide View, go to the Insert tab on the ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and select Record Mic. In Form View, go to the Question tab on the ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and select Record Mic. The Record Microphone window opens. If you have a script you want to use, click the Narration Script button, which reveals the text from the Notes panel. (Learn more about adding slide notes.) When you're ready to begin recording, click the red Record button. When you've finished recording, click the Stop recording button. You can preview your recording using the Play/Pause and Rewind buttons. If you need to record your narration again, just click the Record button to start over. If you want to delete your narration altogether, click the Delete button. If you change your mind about recording narration and would prefer to import audio instead, click the Import audio file button. Browse to the audio file you want to insert and click Open. If you want to edit the audio you just recorded, click the Edit audio button to launch the built-in audio editor. Learn more about editing audio. Click the Save button to add the newly recorded audio to your project. (Also, be sure to save your overall project file to retain the changes you just made.) Converting Text to Speech Speed up course development by converting text to speech right in Storyline 360. For example, use the text-to-speech feature to quickly narrate a course for stakeholder review or to localize narration in different languages. You can even choose the voice and language to make sure every word sounds right. In Slide View, go to the Insert tab on the Storyline ribbon, click the Audio drop-down arrow, and choose Text-to-Speech. When the Insert Text-to-Speech window appears, select a Language from the first drop-down list. This ensures that your words are spoken with the correct pronunciations. Then choose a Voice from the second drop-down list. You can hear what a voice sounds like by clicking the Preview Voice button next to the list. Type or paste your script into the text-entry field. Or, if you want to use your slide notes as your script, just click the Copy from Slide Notes button. Tip: You can convert up to 10,000 characters at a time. If your script is longer than that, break it into smaller chunks and generate more than one text-to-speech audio clip. Then place the audio clips back to back on the timeline so they play in sequential order. If you'd like to add closed captions to your text-to-speech narration, mark the Generate Closed Captions box in the upper right corner. Learn more about text-to-speech closed captions. Click Insert to complete the process. Storyline 360 will convert your text to narration, and it'll appear as an audio clip on the slide's timeline. The conversion process is fast, but lengthy scripts will take longer to convert. Learn more about working with text-to-speech narration. Adding Background Audio Set the right tone for your course with a background playlist that keeps learners engaged. Learners can toggle background audio on and off as they prefer. Here's how to add background audio to your course. Go to the Insert tab on the Storyline ribbon and click the Audio drop-down arrow. Then hover over Background Audio and choose Create Playlist. When the Background Playlist window appears, click the plus sign drop-down arrow, and select Audio from File or Media Library to upload your audio. Learn more about background audio. Controlling Background Audio With Triggers As of November 2023, you can control the background audio for each slide using triggers to play, pause, or stop the playlist. For example, you might want the audio to play when learners click a button. Here's how to create a background audio trigger. After you've added background audio, click the Create a new trigger icon in the Triggers panel, or go to the Insert tab on the ribbon and click Trigger. Select a media action (play, pause, or stop), then fill in the related parameters, such as the playlist and object. Choose when you want the action to happen. Optional: You can add conditions to your trigger so it only occurs in certain circumstances. Note: If you pause or stop the background audio and then jump to another slide, the background audio won't play on that slide. If you want the background audio to play on another slide, create a trigger that plays the background audio when that specific slide's timeline starts. Using the Background Audio Volume Variable As of November 2023, you can customize the background audio experience even further. Fine-tune the volume with this built-in percentage-based variable: Player.BackgroundAudioVolume : The volume of the background playlist in percentage Using the background audio volume variable is easy—it works like any other variable in Storyline 360. Learn more about working with variables. Importing Slides from Other Content Sources When you import slides into Storyline from Microsoft PowerPoint, Quizmaker, or other Storyline projects, audio resources from the external content are also imported and available for editing. You can also import Engage interactions, but their audio resources can't be edited in Storyline 360. Making Audio Accessible Audio accessibility helps make learning inclusive and understandable for everyone—especially for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, have cognitive disabilities, or don’t speak the course language fluently. The following tips can boost your audio accessibility: Enable playback speed control. Let learners explore content at their own pace with an adjustable playback speed. They should be able to slow down or speed up audio as needed. (1.4.2 Audio Control). Use closed captions. More learners can fully engage with and comprehend audio content when you provide closed captions. And in Storyline 360, you have options! You can import captions, create your own, or let AI Assistant generate them for you automatically. Position captions at the top or bottom of your slides and customize the foreground and background colors to maximize readability. (1.2.2 Captions [Prerecorded]). Provide text transcripts for audio content. Include spoken dialogue, speaker identification, and meaningful non-speech sounds so all learners can fully access and understand the audio. To display transcripts, you can use text boxes, layers, markers, or slide notes (1.2.1 Audio-only [Prerecorded]). Keep your language simple. Use plain language in your audio content and descriptions. Straightforward and clear language helps your audience easily read and understand the information. Reduce distractions. Enable the background audio toggle to give learners the option to mute any background tracks. This helps learners stay focused and lets assistive technologies navigate content more effectively. The “Lower background audio volume when slide audio plays” setting is enabled by default to support accessibility. (1.4.2 Audio Control) You Might Also Want to Explore: Editing Audio Using the Audio ToolsStoryline 360: Creating and Editing Closed Captions With the Built-in Editor
Create and edit closed captions and subtitles directly in Storyline 360 using the built-in editor. Fine-tune imported captions or quickly add new ones with placeholders that automatically sync with your audio and video content. As a bonus, Storyline 360 automatically generates synchronized video transcripts from your captions. Open the Closed Captions Editor Explore the Editor Understand Caption States Preview Media and Captions Tab Back and Forth Between Caption Placeholders Add or Edit Text in Caption Placeholders Speed Up Your Workflow for Adding Closed Captions Format Caption Text Use Keyboard Shortcuts Adjust the Timing and Duration of Caption Placeholders Insert New Caption Placeholders Delete Captions Split Captions Import Captions Export Captions Translate Captions Close the Editor and Save or Discard Your Changes Show or Hide the Closed Captioning Button on the Player Use Triggers to Turn Closed Captions On and Off Open the Closed Captions Editor Use any of the following methods to open the closed captions editor: Select your media, go to the Options tab on the ribbon, then click Add Captions or Edit Captions. The button will change depending on whether your media clip already has captions. Right-click your media and choose Add Captions or Edit Captions from the context menu. Right-click your media, select Accessibility from the context menu, then click Add Captions or Edit Captions in the window that appears. Follow these steps to open the closed captions editor from the media library. Caption Placeholders Are Created for You If your media clip doesn’t already have captions, the closed captions editor will automatically analyze the audio track to detect units of speech and add caption placeholders to the timeline that are synchronized with your content. All you need to do is type your captions in the placeholders. Background music can interfere with the auto-generated caption placeholders, so you might need to tweak the timing of captions, add more caption placeholders, or split captions into smaller chunks. Note: The closed captions editor works with all narration and videos, except website videos. Explore the Editor Explore this image of the closed captions editor and the numbered list below it for an overview of the interface. The sections that follow provide details on each feature. # Feature Description 1 Ribbon Commands Use the ribbon to: Preview your media and captions Jump back and forth between caption placeholders Insert new caption placeholders Delete caption placeholders Split caption placeholders Import captions Generate captions Export captions 2 Video Stage When you’re working with a video, it'll display on the video stage. When you’re working with an audio clip, the video stage disappears and the audio waveform fills the editor. 3 Closed Captions Preview As you type captions into the placeholders at the bottom of the editor, they’ll display on the video stage or audio waveform so you can see how they’ll look in your published output. 4 Timeline and Playhead The timeline shows the duration of your media, and the blue playhead travels along the timeline as you preview your video and audio content. 5 Audio Waveform The audio waveform is a visual representation of the audio track in your media. If there’s no video component for your media, the audio waveform will expand to fill the stage. 6 Caption Placeholders Caption placeholders are where you type and format text. You can also adjust the timing and duration of caption placeholders. If your media clip doesn’t already have captions, the closed captions editor will automatically analyze the audio track to detect units of speech and add caption placeholders to the timeline that are synchronized with your content. All you need to do is type your captions in the placeholders. Caption placeholders have four states, so you know what to expect when creating and editing captions. See the next section to learn about caption states. 7 Time Values The status bar shows you the current position of the playhead on the timeline, the start time of the selected caption placeholder, and the end time of the selected caption placeholder. 8 Zoom Slider Use the zoom slider in the lower right corner to zoom the timeline, audio waveform, and caption placeholders in and out when you need to make precise edits or get a big-picture overview. Understand Caption States Caption placeholders have four states as described in this table. State Appearance Example Unselected caption placeholder without text Solid light gray Unselected caption placeholder with text Dark gray with white text Selected caption placeholder (with or without text) Blue with white text Caption placeholder in edit mode Dark gray with blue outline, white text, and blinking cursor The closed captions editor may behave differently, depending on the current state of a caption. See the following sections for details. For example, if no captions are in edit mode when you preview, playback will continue to the end of the timeline unless you pause it. However, if a caption is in edit mode when you preview, playback will stop at the end of the caption placeholder. And if you resume playback while the caption is still in edit mode, it'll start from the beginning of the current caption placeholder and stop again at the end. This helps you create captions one at a time, letting you hear a clip as many times as you need while typing. Preview Media and Captions To preview the entire video or audio track, move the playhead to the beginning of the timeline—before the first caption placeholder—then click the Play button on the ribbon or press Enter on your keyboard. Drag the seekbar on the ribbon or the playhead on the timeline to scrub back and forth through the video or audio track. To preview one caption, click inside the placeholder so it’s in edit mode. Playback will start as soon as you click inside it and stop when it reaches the end of the caption. To pause the preview, click the Pause button on the ribbon or press Enter. Caption placeholders that have text will display on the video stage or audio waveform during preview. (The size of a caption box and the point at which text wraps could change, depending on the size of the Closed Captions Editor window.) Tab Back and Forth Between Caption Placeholders Press the Tab key on your keyboard to jump to the beginning of the next caption, and press Shift+Tab to jump to the beginning of the previous caption. Or, click the left and right arrows on the ribbon to move back and forth between captions. If no captions are in edit mode when you navigate between them, the playhead will simply move to the previous or next caption, but the media won’t start playing until you tell it to. If a caption placeholder is in edit mode when you jump to another caption, the new caption placeholder will also switch to edit mode so you can immediately start typing. Tip: By using the Tab key to move through caption placeholders in edit mode and pressing Enter to play/pause media, you never have to take your hands off the keyboard while typing captions, speeding up your workflow. Add or Edit Text in Caption Placeholders To add or edit caption text, simply click inside a caption placeholder and begin typing. You can also paste text from external sources, such as text files or Word documents. When you click inside a caption placeholder, it switches to edit mode and your media automatically begins playing. If you need to pause it, press Enter. To resume playback, press Enter again. If you need to add a line break to a caption, press Shift+Enter. Speed Up Your Workflow for Adding Closed Captions By using keyboard shortcuts, you can quickly add closed captions to a video or audio track in Storyline 360. Here’s how: When you open the closed captions editor, the playhead will be positioned at the beginning of the first caption placeholder, and it'll be in edit mode. Press Enter to start playing your video or audio track, then begin typing text for the first caption based on what you hear. Playback will stop at the end of the placeholder so you have time to finish typing the caption. If you need to hear it again, press Enter and it'll start over from the beginning of the placeholder. You can also use Enter to pause playback. Press Tab to move to the next caption placeholder. It'll switch to edit mode, and your media will being playing. Simply type what you hear. Playback will stop at the end of the placeholder so you have time to finish typing the caption. If you need to hear it again, press Enter and it'll start over from the beginning of the placeholder. You can also use Enter to pause playback. Repeat step 2 to add captions, one placeholder at a time, until you reach the end of the timeline. Format Caption Text Bold, Italic, and Underline: Closed captions in Storyline 360 can have bold, italic, and underline formatting. Select the text you want to format, then use the floating toolbar to make your selections. Or, use these keyboard shortcuts: Ctrl+B = Bold Ctrl+I = Italicize Ctrl+U = Underline Colors, Text Shadow, Font, Font Size, and Position: In the player properties, you can set the foreground and background colors, font, size, and position of your captions. You can also turn the text shadow on or off. Learn more. Voice Tags: The closed captions editor doesn’t support voice tags, but you can identify speakers by typing their names with colons before their statements. (Press Shift+Enter to add a line break between speakers.) For example: Adam: E-learning is powerful. Lucy: And it’s transforming lives every day. If you import a caption file that has voice tags, the tags will be converted to the speakers’ names followed by colons, as shown above. Use Keyboard Shortcuts Work faster in the closed captions editor with these keyboard shortcuts. Key(s) Function Enter Play and pause media Shift+Enter Add a line break when typing text into a caption placeholder Tab Jump to the beginning of the next caption placeholder Shift+Tab Jump to the beginning of the previous caption placeholder Esc Exit edit mode for the current caption placeholder and switch to a blue selected state Ctrl+A Select all the text in a caption placeholder Ctrl+B Bold Ctrl+C Copy Ctrl+I Italicize Ctrl+U Underline Ctrl+V Paste Ctrl+X Cut Ctrl+Y Redo Ctrl+Z Undo Left Arrow If the playhead is at the beginning or end of a caption placeholder and the placeholder is in a selected state, the left arrow key moves the placeholder .25 seconds to the left on the timeline (or less than that if it bumps up against the previous caption placeholder). Otherwise, the left arrow key moves only the playhead .25 seconds to the left on the timeline. Right Arrow If the playhead is at the beginning or end of a caption placeholder and the placeholder is in a selected state, the right arrow key moves the placeholder .25 seconds to the right on the timeline (or less than that if it bumps up against the next caption placeholder). Otherwise, the right arrow key moves only the playhead .25 seconds to the left on the timeline. Shift+Left Arrow If the playhead is at the beginning or end of a caption placeholder and the placeholder is in a selected state, this shortcut moves the placeholder .5 seconds to the left on the timeline (or less than that if it bumps up against the previous caption placeholder). Otherwise, this shortcut moves only the playhead .5 seconds to the left on the timeline. Shift+Right Arrow If the playhead is at the beginning or end of a caption placeholder and the placeholder is in a selected state, this shortcut moves the placeholder .5 seconds to the right on the timeline (or less than that if it bumps up against the next caption placeholder). Otherwise, this shortcut moves only the playhead .5 seconds to the right on the timeline. Alt+Left Arrow When a caption placeholder is selected, shorten its duration by .25 seconds. Alt+Right Arrow When a caption placeholder is selected, lengthen its duration by .25 seconds (or less than that if it bumps up against the next caption placeholder). Shift+Alt+Left Arrow When a caption placeholder is selected, shorten its duration by .5 seconds. Shift+Alt+Right Arrow When a caption placeholder is selected, lengthen its duration by .5 seconds (or less than that if it bumps up against the next caption placeholder). Ctrl+Left Arrow This shortcut moves the playhead to the beginning of the current caption placeholder or the end of the previous placeholder, whichever is closest. This shortcut doesn’t work when a caption placeholder is in edit mode. Ctrl+Right Arrow This shortcut moves the playhead to the end of the current caption placeholder or the beginning of the next placeholder, whichever is closest. This shortcut doesn’t work when a caption placeholder is in edit mode. Ctrl+Mouse Wheel Zoom the timeline in and out Adjust the Timing and Duration of Caption Placeholders To adjust the timing of a caption, simply drag the placeholder left or right along the timeline. To change the duration of a caption, drag either end of the placeholder along the timeline to shorten or lengthen it. You can also use several arrow keyboard shortcuts in the table above to tweak the timing and duration of caption placeholders. Insert New Caption Placeholders Although the closed captions editor does its best to create caption placeholders for you that are already synced with your content, there may be times when you need to manually add a caption placeholder to the timeline. Click any space on the timeline that isn’t already occupied by a caption placeholder. The blue playhead will move to that position on the timeline. Then click Insert Caption on the ribbon. New captions are four seconds long by default—unless there isn’t enough space to fit a four-second placeholder, in which case it'll fill the available space. You need at least half a second of empty space on the timeline to insert a new caption placeholder. If there isn’t enough space, the Insert Caption button will be grayed out. Delete Captions There are three ways to delete a specific caption: Select the caption placeholder and press Delete on your keyboard. Select the placeholder and click Delete Caption on the ribbon. Right-click the placeholder and choose Delete from the context menu. To delete all captions at once, click Delete Captions on the ribbon, then click Yes on the confirmation message. Split Captions You can split a caption into two placeholders when you need more control over timing and duration. Select the placeholder and click Split Caption on the ribbon. Or, right-click the placeholder and choose Split Caption from the context menu. The original placeholder will split evenly in half. And if it has text, the text will split where the cursor is located—everything before the cursor will move to the first placeholder; everything after the cursor will move to the second placeholder. Exception: If the playhead is at the beginning of the caption and the placeholder is in a blue selected state, all the text will move to the first placeholder after being split. Import Captions If you already have captions typed in a document, you can import them via the closed captions editor. Note that this replaces all the existing captions for your video or audio track. Click Import Captions on the ribbon. Click Yes when asked to confirm that you want to replace the existing captions. Browse to the SRT, SBV, SUB, or VTT file you want to import and click Open. You can also import caption files without opening the closed captions editor. See this user guide for details. Generate Captions If you haven’t prepared caption files to import, you can generate captions with AI Assistant. Plus, you can review and approve captions before publishing to ensure accuracy. Learn more about generating, reviewing, and approving AI-generated captions. Export Captions Export closed captions when you need to use them in another project, edit them with a different app, or save a backup copy. Click Export Captions on the ribbon, choose a location where you want to save the caption file, then click Save. When you export captions from the closed captions editor, it generates a VTT file. Translate Captions Export the captions file for each video or audio track in your course, translate it, then import it back into Storyline. Here’s how: If the closed captions editor is open, click Export Captions on the ribbon and save the file to your computer. You can also export captions without opening the closed captions editor. Select the video or audio track, go to the Options tab on the Storyline ribbon, and click Export. Open the captions file in a text editor or a translation program, replace the captions with translated text, and save the file with your changes. In Storyline, select the video or audio track again, go to the Options tab on the ribbon, and click Import to bring the translated captions back into your course. Closed captions aren’t included when you export text strings from your course for translation. Close the Editor and Save or Discard Your Changes To save your changes, click Save at the bottom right of the Closed Captions Editor window. To discard your changes, click the X in the upper right corner or click Cancel at the bottom right of the Closed Captions Editor window. Show or Hide the Closed Captioning Button on the Player The closed captioning button on the course player is enabled by default, but you can disable it if you plan to build your own custom controls. Learn more. Use Triggers to Turn Closed Captions On and Off If the closed captioning button is enabled on your course player (see above), learners can toggle captions on and off whenever they want. However, you can also control captions via triggers. Learn more.Storyline 360: Importing Closed Captions for Narration and Videos
Enhance accessibility in your Storyline 360 courses for learners who are deaf or hard of hearing by importing closed captions for narration and videos. Insert standard SRT, VTT, SBV, or SUB files—or create captions and subtitles from scratch with the built-in editor. Prepare Caption Files Import Captions Delete Captions Export Captions Customize Your Closed Captions Show or Hide the Closed Captioning Button on the Player Use Triggers to Turn Closed Captions On and Off Create Closed Captions with AI Assistant Instantly generate high-quality captions for your audio and video content to boost accessibility. Learn how to use AI Assistant to level up your course authoring game. Prepare Caption Files Storyline 360 supports SRT, VTT, SBV, and SUB files generated by third-party captioning services such as YouTube, Amara, and 3PlayMedia. Here are some tips to ensure your caption files are properly formatted for Storyline 360: Storyline 360 supports bold, italic, and underline formatting in caption files as well as voice tags to indicate which person is speaking. All other formatting tags, such as font and font color, will be ignored. (Use the closed caption settings in the player properties to format your captions.) A caption will automatically wrap if it's too long to fit on a single line. However, if you need a caption to break at a specific point, add one line break in your caption file in the appropriate place. On the other hand, if you need to split a caption into two separate caption boxes that display simultaneously, add two line breaks in your caption file. You might do this when two people are speaking and you want each speaker's dialogue to display in its own caption box. If some letters or characters in your captions are unexpectedly replaced by symbols in Storyline 360, make sure your caption files are encoded for UTF-8. Import Captions Closed captions are supported for audio tracks and videos. You can import captions simultaneously with your media, or you can import captions separately. We describe both options in the table below. Import Captions Simultaneously with Media If your caption files have the same names as your media files and are stored in the same folder with the media, they'll automatically import into Storyline 360 when you import your media. For example, if I have a video called MyVideo.mp4 and the corresponding caption file is named MyVideo.srt and is located in the same folder, I only need to import the video into my Storyline 360 project, and the captions will automatically import and sync with the video. To learn how to import audio and video files into Storyline 360, read these user guides: Importing Audio Files Importing Video Files Import Captions After Adding Media To import captions after adding media to your Storyline 360 project: Select the audio track or video that you want to caption. Go to the Options tab on the ribbon and click Import. Browse to the caption file you want to import, then click Open. Another way to import captions is to right-click the video placeholder or the speaker icon that represents your audio track, choose Accessibility, then click the Import icon. (Read this user guide to learn more about the Size and Position window.) Note about captions in markers: When you right-click an interactive marker and choose Accessibility, you'll see closed caption features for audio and video since a marker can have both types of media at the same time. Pro Tips: You can import closed captions from the ribbon or the Size and Position window, as described above. Even better, you can use the media library to import and manage closed captions for all audio clips and videos in your project. You can add captions to all audio clips and videos, except website videos. Storyline 360 automatically generates synchronized video transcripts from closed captions. Media content with closed captions displays a CC label in their media icons on the timeline and slide stage for quick identification. Delete Captions To delete existing captions, follow these steps: Select the audio track or video that has captions you want to remove. Go to the Options tab on the ribbon and click Delete. (It will be grayed-out if there aren't any captions to delete.) Export Captions To export captions from Storyline 360, follow these steps: Select the audio track or video that has captions you want to export. Go to the Options tab on the ribbon and click Export. (It'll be grayed-out if there aren't any captions to export.) Choose a location where you want to save your caption file, then click Save. Exported captions always generate a VTT file. Customize Your Closed Captions You can set your captions’ foreground and background colors, font, size, and position, and turn the text shadow on or off. In the player properties window, click Colors & Effects on the ribbon, use the Closed Captions formatting options, then click OK to save and close. If you're using the classic player, you can choose the captions font. You can also set the font size for all player elements and captions as a single unit by adjusting the Player font size percentage. Show or Hide the Closed Captioning Button on the Player The closed captioning button on the course player is enabled by default, but you can disable it if you plan to build your own custom controls or use accessible video controls. Go to the Home tab on the ribbon and click Player. When the player properties open, mark the Captions box to show the closed captioning button or uncheck it to hide the closed captioning button. Click OK to save and close the player settings. Tips for interacting with the closed captioning button: The closed captioning button may not always be visible throughout your course. It's only visible when captions are available on the current slide or layer. It'll disappear for slides and layers that don't have captions. This gives learners a visual clue when captions are available. When a learner clicks the closed captioning button to turn on captions, the button will remain turned on throughout the course until the learner clicks it again to turn it off. Use Triggers to Turn Captions On and Off If the closed captioning button is enabled on your course player (see above), learners can toggle captions on and off whenever they want. However, you can also control captions via triggers by adjusting the built-in Player.DisplayCaptions variable to either True (on) or False (off). Here are a couple scenarios where you might control captions via triggers and how to set them up. Turn Captions On by Default Captions are turned off by default, but if most of your learners need captions, consider turning them on automatically when the course starts. Just add a trigger to the first slide in your course with these trigger wizard parameters: Action: Adjust variable Operator: = Set Variable: Player.DisplayCaptions Value: Value = True When: Timeline starts Object: Select the first slide in your course from the drop-down list. Build Your Own Custom Navigation Buttons If you disable the built-in player features and build your own custom navigation buttons, you can use triggers to show and hide captions. Just add a trigger to a button with these trigger wizard parameters to create a toggle: Action: Adjust Variable Operator: Toggle Variable: Player.DisplayCaptions When: User clicks Object: Select your custom button from the drop-down list.Interrogating the Future: An AI Confession
“The suspect knew too much about AI. Or maybe… she just knew how to answer the right questions.” Check out the recorded Pod Cast Here: Interrogating the future How It All Began It started as a simple reflection, ten questions about how AI is shaping my design work. But instead of writing a straight blog, I found myself drawn to something more atmospheric. Something that felt like the process itself, shadowy, uncertain, full of creative tension. So, I turned the reflection into a crime-show-style interrogation, complete with tape recorder hums, flickering lights, and a narrator whose voice demanded answers. The irony? Every part of the production was built with AI. The words, the sound, the visuals, even the interrogation room itself, were all digitally generated and then manually composed by me. Built by AI, Crafted by Hand I started by feeding the ten questions into ChatGPT, but instead of plain responses, I asked for a script. Together, we created a dialogue between a suspicious interrogator and me — a learning designer “accused” of collaborating with Artificial Intelligence. Then came the layers: Voice: generated using AI text-to-speech, giving each character a distinct tone and rhythm. Sound Effects: sourced and blended through AI-assisted sound libraries; tape clicks, fluorescent hums. Images: created with AI image generation and enhanced in Photoshop’s Generative Expand to build the noir interrogation room. Editing: every frame and cue assembled manually — timed to each pause, each flicker, each breath. It wasn’t just automation, it was orchestration. Why Noir? Noir has always been about truth hiding in plain sight. It’s smoky, suspicious, human. And that’s exactly how AI feels right now, part mystery, part revelation. The interrogation format gave me a way to ask the big questions: Is AI saving us time or stealing our craft? Can it really understand empathy, context, and culture? Or is it just pretending well enough to fool us — and our learners? The Real Interrogation Behind the theatrics, the project became a metaphor for the design process itself. Every day, learning designers interrogate ideas: “What’s the story here?” “What does the learner need?” “Is this real, or just noise?” AI doesn’t replace that questioning, it amplifies it. It’s like having an endless brainstorm partner who never sleeps, never stops suggesting, and occasionally hands you brilliance on a platter. The Craft of Collaboration What fascinated me most was the balance. AI built the assets — but I gave them shape. It’s a partnership that works best when humans stay in control of tone, meaning, and emotional truth. “AI gave me the pieces. But I had to make them make sense.” That’s the new creative muscle, knowing when to hand over, when to edit, and when to override. Lessons from the Interrogation Room By the end, I realised the project wasn’t about AI at all, it was about agency. The ability to stay curious, playful, and skeptical, even when technology feels all-knowing. If AI has a role in the future of learning design, it’s not to automate creativity, it’s to augment it. To make space for designers to ask better questions, faster. To amplify storytelling, not silence it. Final Word So yes, I built my own interrogation. I wrote the script with AI. I voiced it with AI. I scored, illustrated, and expanded it with AI. And then I did what no algorithm could: I stitched it all together with intuition, timing, and story sense. Because creativity isn’t about the tools you use. It’s about what you do with them.AI in E-Learning: Opportunities and Innovation in Instructional Design
Our new micro e-learning course dives into the top 3 questions shaping the future of AI in instructional design. Hear expert audio insights, explore real-world examples and discover practical ways to bring AI into your own projects. 👉 Click the link below to start learning and unlock new possibilities with AI: https://www.swiftelearningservices.com/ai-in-e-learning/Why I Am [Not] Afraid of AI
Hello! It's that time of year again, folks! You get to hear my dulcet tones for the annual "Podcast" Challenge... As I'm off to World of Learning this week, I don't have time to record responses to all ten of DavidAnderson's questions on the impact of AI on learning design. So I've focused on three areas where I think we need to challenge the slight 'bunker mentality' that has built up around AI. Although this isn't a standard 'media player', I thought it was still best to add a bespoke 'progress' bar, so you can see how long each track lasts, and include a 'skip' button. Pop by for a chat. I won't invite you in, if that's all the same. WHY I AM [NOT] AFRAID OF AI | EngageBrainTrain.com
E-Learning Podcast: 10 Things Course Designers Should Know About AI #526
This week, your challenge is to record audio responses to the questions listed below. The questions highlight where AI is making an impact, where it still has some growing to do, and how e-learning designers are experimenting with it in their projects.
