Objective 4.2 Animate slide content

  • 4.2.1 Apply animations
  • 4.2.2 Configure animation effects
  • 4.2.3 Configure motion paths

4.2 Contents

4.2.2 Configure animation effects

The animation names reflect the basic action of each animation. After you apply an animation effect, you can fine-tune its action by using the commands on the Animations tab. Depending on the basic action of the animation and the element you are animating, you can configure one or more of the following settings for an animation: Amount, Color, Direction, Number of spokes, Sequence, Shape, and Vanishing point.

The available effect options vary based on the specific animation. Many animations, such as Appear/Disappear, Fade, Grow & Turn/Shrink & Turn, Swivel, Bounce, Pulse, Teeter, Desaturate, Darken, and Lighten don’t have effect options when applied to individual objects, but you can customize other aspects of the animation such as the associated sound, the action of the object after the animation finishes, and the timing aspects such as trigger, duration, and delay.

You can manage animations by using tools on the ribbon and in the Animation pane, which displays a visual description of the animation sequence occurring on a slide.

The effect option thumbnails provide visual guidance for making selections

Several information points are visible for each animation:

  • The number (corresponding to the number next to the animated object on the slide) indicates the order in which a manually triggered animation occurs. An unnumbered animation starts in relation to the numbered animation it follows.
  • The icon indicates the animation category. A green star indicates an entrance effect, a yellow star indicates an emphasis effect, a red star indicates an exit effect, and a blue double-ended line indicates a motion path. The specific animation is not indicated by the icon.
  • The description indicates the object being animated.

Tip: Object names can be edited in the Selection pane. For information about the Selection pane, see “Objective 2.4: Order and group objects.”

The Advanced Timeline displays a triangle or bar that indicates the duration of the animation. The color of the triangle or bar corresponds to the animation category (green, yellow, red, or blue).

Tip: The display of the Advanced Timeline can be controlled from the Animation pane object shortcut menu.

The timing bar at the bottom of the Animation pane indicates the time scale. The time scale can be modified by clicking the time unit to the left of the timing bar (Seconds, by default) and then clicking Zoom In or Zoom Out.

Pointing to an animation in the Animation pane displays a summary of the animation information in a ScreenTip. Clicking an animation displays an arrow. Clicking the arrow displays a list of actions.

Clicking Effect Options in the list displays a dialog box of options specific to the effect.

Control the settings for individual animations

Depending on the type of animation, the refinements you might be able to make include the following:

  • Change the animation direction.
  • Specify whether the animation should be accompanied by a sound.
  • Dim or hide the object after the animation, or make it change to a specific color.
  • If the animation is applied to text, animate all the text at once, word by word, or letter by letter.
  • Change the Start, Delay, and Duration settings, repeat the animation, and specify what will trigger its action.
  • If a slide has more than one level of bullet points, animate different levels separately.
  • If an object has embedded text, animate the object and the text together (the default) or separately, or animate one but not the other.
  • Specify whether a sequenced animation progresses forward or backward.

Refine options for an animation effect

To select an animation for further configuration

  • On the slide, click the animation number.
  • In the Animation pane, click the animation number or description.

To configure basic effect options for a selected animation

  • In the Animation group, click the Effect Options button.
  • On the Effect Options menu (or in each section of the menu, if it has multiple sections), click the option you want.
  • To open the Animation Style dialog box of options for an animation
  • On the Animations tab, click the Animation dialog box launcher.

Or

  1. In the Animation pane, do either of the following:
    • Click the animation and then click the arrow that appears.
    • Right-click the animation.
  2. On the menu, click Effect Options.

To configure advanced effect options for a selected animation

  1. Select the animated object, and open the Animation Style dialog box of options.
  2. On the Effect tab, do any of the following:
    • To add sound to an animation, in the Sound list, click the sound you want.
    • To dim, hide, or change the color of text or an object after its animation completes, in the After animation list, click the color or effect you want.
    • To animate all the text in a container at once, in the Animate text list, click All at once.
    • To animate the text in a container by word, in the Animate text list, click By word.
    • To animate the text in a container by letter, in the Animate text list, click By letter.
  3. Click OK to close the dialog box and implement the changes.

To change the way multiple paragraphs of text are animated

  • On the Animations tab, in the Animation group, click Effect Options and then click As One Object, All At Once, or By Paragraph.
  • Open the Effect Options dialog box. On the Text Animation tab, expand the Group text list and then click As One Object, All Paragraphs At Once, or the paragraph level by which you want to group the text.

To change the order in which text is animated

  • Open the Effect Options dialog box. On the Text Animation tab, select the In reverse order check box.