5 Replies Latest reply: Mar 29, 2011 9:37 AM by andromeda5000

Module takes ages to load

ROCServe Mar 25, 2011 4:00 AM

Hi,

I appreciate there will be no easy way to answer this because of the number of variables involved, but if anyone has any suggestions for things to look out in the below query, that would be great.

My e-learning modules take waaaay to long to open when launching them from our LMS. Are there any tips for cutting down the time?

My slides are 3 seconds long (mostly - some are a bit longer)

Maybe one or two modules have as many as 100 slides, but mostly they're running at about 45-60 slides.

The zip file is usually about 4-10MB.

I'm going to talk my client's IT dept about any bandwidth restrictions, but in the meantime, are there any other tips you have for cutting down the launch time? Other e-learning I've seen has a very quick launch time, but a small delay when opening a new section of the e-learning module, as it's loading on the fly. Is that possible/feasible in Cp?

I'm using Cp4 and/or Cp5.

Thanks.

1. Re: Module takes ages to load

BaseballBirch Mar 25, 2011 4:59 AM (in response to ROCServe)

I ran into similar issues with projects that run up to 14MB in size. Allen Partridge produced a blog post "Nearly Instant Download & Playback of Captivate Files Online" (http://blogs.adobe.com/captivate/2010/06/nearly_instant_download_playba.html). I followed Allen's instructions but still found that my projects still took too long to load from the LMS. After an e-mail exchange with Allen, he suggested that I convert my slide audio's to object audio's. Seems like slide audio when the course is published become a huge audio string and this string needs to load before the project is launched. So I place a transparent text box on all my slides that had slide audio and attached the audio to the transparent text boxes. My load times went from 30 to 90 sec's to 5-10 sec's. Not sure if you have slide audio but if so try this to see if it helps.

Good Luck
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2. Re: Module takes ages to load

RodWard Mar 25, 2011 5:06 AM (in response to BaseballBirch)

The other trick that achieves this breakup of the audio track is just to back the sound file off from the beginning of the slide by one tenth of a second. I've used that trick since Captivate 1 to help maximise the loading speed.
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3. Re: Module takes ages to load

ROCServe Mar 25, 2011 10:09 AM (in response to RodWard)

Thanks very much for the replies. Using a preloader was exactly the sort of thing I'm after, so that link is extremely helpful.

Interestingly, I'm not using any audio in my e-learning; as I say, I haven't ruled out client bandwidth restrictions causing a few issues either, but wanted to check my own development was up to scratch first. Thanks!
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4. Re: Module takes ages to load

andromeda5000 Mar 29, 2011 9:35 AM (in response to ROCServe)

Google Chrome browser includes some handy developer tools for Network surveillance that allows you to see what is loading when and for how long. It's been a handy diagnostic tool for me to identify what is lagging and what is improving over various publish cycles. More info here: http://code.google.com/chrome/devtools/docs/network.html

Kai
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5. Re: Module takes ages to load

andromeda5000 Mar 29, 2011 9:37 AM (in response to ROCServe)

Google chrome includes some developer tools that are also handy for surveilling what is downloading when and for how long:

http://code.google.com/chrome/devtools/docs/network.html

It's a diagnostic tool to help identify where the problem is
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