Why does the audio file stop my timeline from progressing?

[student_learner]

I would like for the mp3 file to play on one slide and as the slide progresses different shapes would appear and disappear on the same slide. For this particular slide, I am trying to have a question and answer interaction where on one slide the user can hear a conversation between 2 characters. As the audio is playing , different dialogue shapes appear and disappear on the slide. The issue is that when the project is published, the user can hear the audio on the slide but the dialogue shapes do not appear and disappear. The action on the slide stops.

I am using Adobe Captivate 2017. In my project, I had imported an mp3 audio file onto one slide using Media->Audio. The entire length of the audio file can be viewed in the Timeline on one slide.  As the audio file is playing, different shapes are timed to appear and disappear until the audio file ends. However, when the project is published users will only hear the audio and will not see the shapes that have been timed to appear and disappear throughout the slide. Am I importing the audio file wrong? Is there a way for the audio and timed shapes to play on the same slide?

[RodWard]

This is a common 'issue' which usually turns out to be due to the fact the Captivate developer is unfamiliar with the way the timeline works and how certain interactive objects added to the timeline will pause the playback.

Check through all the objects on your slide looking for any that are interactive and may therefore be pausing the timeline at a given point.  Some interactive objects (e.g. buttons, smartshape buttons, Text Entry Boxes) show a thin vertical line in their timeline layer to indicate where they will pause the timeline.  Other objects (e.g. Click Boxes only show this line right at the end of their time.  Interactive widgets or learning interactions may not give any indication on the timeline but are still capable of pausing it.  Check the Timing tab for details.

[student_learner]

Thank you. I found out that the slide doesn't progress in Firefox. It works in Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. Is there a way for it to work in Firefox?

[Lilybiri]

As I claim in this post Challenges for Starters - Captivate blog not understanding the Timeline is without any doubt the number 1 stumbling block for newbies.

If you want just a quick help, please post a screenshot of the timeline of that slide. That will make it possible to check if you have an early pausing point. You can als check the actions tab for the slide, to see if for 'On Enter' it is not set to Pause.

If you want to learn about the Timeline I have written several articles explaining its functionality, and recently posted an interactive movie based on a presentation at the Adobe Learning Summit in October:

Timeline - Advanced Workflows - Captivate blog

The most important of the articles about the timeline for your use case is:

Pausing Captivate's Timeline - Captivate blog