Learning & Development pros use animation to liven up commonplace or dry concepts in unique and fun ways that keep learners entertained.
To help you create captivating, interactive courses, we’ll walk through how you can create and add animated GIFs, characters, and videos created in Vyond to Articulate Storyline.
Watch this on-demand webinar and read on for our recommendations.
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3 ways to add animation to your Articulate Storyline courses
We’ve picked out three methods to integrate Vyond videos into your Storyline courses that vary in complexity, so you can find one that fits your needs and level of technical experience in both tools.
1. Basic: Ambient video with GIFs
Ambient video (looping background GIFs) draws learners’ attention without distracting from the core message
Here’s an example you could include in an email to learners or as the first thing they see at the beginning of their course. Subtle motion is all you need. This scene template is available in Vyond Studio.
Here’s an example GIF, using our logo. Click here for an advanced tutorial on how to make animations move through letters in Vyond.
2. Intermediate: Animated characters
Animated characters help humanize your topic and encourage learners to build an emotional connection. A character can guide a learner through a difficult topic, act out a scenario, or illustrate a specific example.
You can incorporate Vyond characters into courses as still images, GIFs—or videos with simple animations—or complete video scenarios.
How to create Characters in Vyond
Vyond comes stocked with thousands of characters and creating your own custom character is simple:
As of 2024, all license levels have access to Whiteboard, Contemporary, Business Friendly styles and the Photo-to-Character feature.
Pro-tip: Be intentional with every detail. From clothing items to hairstyles, attributes should convey your characters’ personalities and fit with your course material. For example, the character above is wearing a suit jacket because the course is about workplace scenarios.
3. Advanced: Branching scenarios with video
One of the main benefits of using Storyline to create eLearning courses is the ability to add branching scenarios — different paths your learners can take depending on their actions within the course.
With video, each choice the learner takes can build into a complete story. Watch this example from Kate Tronvig:
Click on the image to play the video
Step 1: Plan AND FINALIZE YOUR IDEA
Any project, whether it’s for an eLearning course or a Hollywood production, benefits from planning. Don’t start making your video until you’ve decided on the complete contents of your course. Getting consensus at an early stage minimizes costly last-minute changes to your project during the production phase.
Outline your content, decide what your branches will be, determine how many videos you’ll need, and then storyboard each one.
If you sort out the details of your video prior to creating it, the production process will progress smoothly and efficiently.
Step 2: Map out your course in Storyline
The details of your course should be set before you begin creating your videos. What paths are you creating for your learners? What questions will you ask, and how do you want the course to branch based on learners’ answers? Think about these things while mapping out your course.
Step 3: Create your video in Vyond.
Once you have a course mapped out and know the videos you’ll have to create, it’s time to start creating your videos.
Creating an animated video may sound intimidating, but it’s easy with Vyond. Watch a how to video below and click here to start a free trial.
Once you grasp the basics, you can learn intermediate to advanced tactics with webinars and other resources.
Step 4: Add Your videos to Storyline.
You’ve planned and created your animated videos. Now it’s time for the easy part—exporting the video and adding it to Storyline.
Once you’ve finished creating your video, download it from Vyond by clicking the download icon in the top right corner of Vyond Studio to download the .mp4.
With your downloaded file, simply import the video into Storyline by clicking the insert tab and selecting video from file.
Congratulations! You’ve successfully planned, created, and added a video to your Storyline course. With an animated video in your lesson, learners will be more likely to connect with your course and understand each of its concepts.
Upgrade your Articulate Storyline eLearning courses with animation
Adding animation to your Storyline courses is a simple process that can seriously upgrade your learning material. With its unique styles and use of movement, animation makes courses more engaging and informative. Use this guide to quickly create animations–characters, GIFs, videos–that make your Storyline courses both useful and captivating.
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