"Effects" don't work in preview

[TomRRochesterNY]

Good morning.  I found a similar post with this question, but it never got to a solution.  So apoligies if this is a repeat.  

I'm trying to create a slide (actually, several) that include images and an audio file.  I want the images to appear at times appropriate to the audio file.  I've included 3 images.  The first shows at the beginning of the slide.  The second "should" appear at around 28 seconds, and the third should appear at 73 seconds.  For the latter two graphics, I have the "Appear After" in "Timing" set at 28 and 73 seconds respecrively, and both are set to display for the rest of the slide.  Both of them are assigned the "Fade/Zoomin" effect when they appear.  

When I first created the slide, I saved it and previewed using HTML5 in Browser and everything worked fine.  I then created a second slide.  This one also had an audio file and three graphics, but it was set to appear at 2, 10 and 20 seconds.  Same settings, same effects.  When I tried to preview this slide in HTML5, the graphics don't appear.  The audio plays, but the slide stays blank.  Further, after I tried the first slide, the effects for that slide didn't work in "Preview" either.

When I use the preview button on the Timeline, everything works as it's intended on both slides.  But when I preview the presentation in HTML5, the images do not appear as scheduled.

I'm attaching a copy of the timeline from the second slide mentioned above - the one where the images should appear at 2 seconds, 10 seconds (and 20 seconds which isn't visible here).  

Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks.

[Lilybiri]

I suspect you are using Captivate Classic, but would like to know the exact version number. You can find it under Help, About Captivate.

First tip: Play Slide on the Timeline is NOT a preview at all (neither is that option under the Preview button). Its goal is only for editing reasons, not to show how it will look like.

You posted a timeline but nothing is expanded. Please insert a new screenshot with everything expanded; Assessor, Flag and the Group.

I want first to be sure there is no pausing point anywhere. A pausing point will not pause the audio (unless you featured it that way) but prevent graphics to appear. Have a look at this blog post:

https://blog.lilybiri.com/pausing-captivates-timeline

BTW I wonder about your sentence in the original question: "I found a similar post with this question, but it never got to a solution." This is amazing because this type of question about pausing points in Timeline is probably the question which is top of the list of questions in this forum. Can you please give a link to the 'only' question you found without solution?

[TomRRochesterNY]

I"m using Adobe Captivate 2019 Release, 11.8.1.219.

Attached is the expanded timeline capture - I don't think I put in any pauses.

[RodWard · Accepted solution]

Take another look at your screenshot.  The top two objects are buttons and their pausing point is 1,5 seconds into playback on that slide.  Any object on the timeline after that point is not going to appear.  If you do not want those buttons to stop the timeline at 1.5 seconds then you need to change their settings on the Timing tab to remove their pausing.

[TomRRochesterNY]

Aha, that's the culprit!  Thanks very much for the concise and helpful reply!

[Lilybiri · Accepted solution]

Timeline is not completely visible but my intuition is indeed confirmed. You inserted two buttons without changing their default settings: they pause the slide at 1.5secs, you didn't change that the slide audio should be paused when the buttons paused which is logical. But you overlooked that each graphic element planned to appear after that pausing point including possible effects, will not appear until the button is clicked. I see those are Next and Back buttons, why do you need an instance of those on each slide? Here is a link to another blog post, only for the Next button but similar workflows are possible for the Back button:

Dynamic Next Button - eLearning (adobe.com)

You need to move the pausing point to a frame where all objects and their effects have been finished. This can be done in the Timing panel, or by dragging the pausing point in the timeline of the button.

However I insist you take some time to read the article about Pausing the Timeline which I posted in my previous comment. There is a reason why it has already over 60K views.