CP9 - Can't change slide durations

[brentw46458063]

I have a new project in CP9. It was build with 3 second slide duration as a default. I need to shorten the slide duration for all slides. When I change the value for Slide Duration in the timing panel for the slide, the change is not accepted. After changing the selection to another slide and returning to the original slide, the timing was not changed. I can drag the slide duration on the timeline to extend the slide duration, but not shorten the time. The extended time can't be reset again (shortened) using the Slide Duration setting, and must be reset by dragging the slide duration on the timeline. Even when dragging on the timeline, the slide duration can never be reset to less than the original 3 seconds. I selected all slides and reset the Slide Duration setting to a shorter duration, however the change was not accepted and the default value remained. I have been using CP for quite a while and I don't recall this behavior.

Question: Does this mean that a slide can't be reset to a shorter duration than the default value set in Preferences at the time the slide was inserted? How can I reset the slide duration for the selected slides to a value shorter than the default value?

[KB in FL · Accepted solution]

In all likelihood, a slide object's timing is setting the minimum length of the slide. For example, create a new slide with the same 3 second default. Add an object to the slide (I used a text caption). By default, the object has a 3 second length. If you attempt to make the slide a shorter length, Captivate will not allow it. However, if you right click on the object and set the duration to "Rest of Slide" it has no minimum default calue and you can then set the length of the slide to whatever value you want.

[Lilybiri]

It is perfectly possible to have shorter slides. However, make sure that the objects on that slide are not timed 'Specific Time' but timed for the Rest of the Slide. Be careful also with interactive objects that have a pausing point which by default is set to 1,5 secs. Same for Question slides ad D&D slides which have also such a pausing point.

This was the answer to your question, but I strongly recommend not to have all slides to a shorter duration than 3 secs, especially if they have advanced/shared actions to be executed On Enter/On Exit of that slide. Could you explain why you need absolutely to shorten slide durations?

[brentw46458063]

Thanks to both KB and Lilybiri for providing the correct answer. For some reason I thought slide duration would overrule the object timing. *duh*  I could only set the slide duration to the value for the longest slide object, which makes sense. Once I changed those object timings, I could then change the slide timing.

BTW, I want short slides because I am creating EPSS tools that are like a decision tree, rather than eLearning modules. The slides are mostly Yes/No clicks that walk users through a process. I didn't want the slides to sit for 3 seconds before snapping to the next slide. It made it look like there was a delay in the buttons.

Thanks for the assistance everyone!

Brent