Adding sound to an “Animation”

To add a sound effect, select the effect in the pane.
Click the arrow pointing downwards next to the effect and select “Effect Options” from the drop-down menu.

This opens a dialog box.

Depending on the effect you have chosen, you get to see the “Sound” dialog box.

Click the downward-pointing arrow.
Select a sound from the list, or click the “Other Sound …” option at the bottom of the list.

If you select this last option, a dialog box appears, where you can navigate to the sound file on your computer. The sound file must be of .Wav type.

Select the file and click the OK button.
This will automatically play the sound file.

The “After animation” box allows us to provide a different color for the object after the animation, or to hide it.

The “Animate text:” box gives us the opportunity to set the text to appear in its entirety, by word or even by letter.
If you have selected the “Word” option, or the “Letter” option, you can specify a delay between the appearance of various words or letters.
Click OK to close the dialog box.

“Motion Paths”

With “Motion Paths”, we can move an object on a slide.
To give an object a motion you first select the object in the slide.
Click the “Add Effect” button in the “Custom Animation” pane and select “Motion Paths”.
The first six default paths are left, right, up, etc. which are quite clear.
The last option “More animation paths …” opens a dialog box with more preset “Motion paths”, divided into different categories.
Select the “Motion path” you want, in the list, and click the OK button in the dialog box.

You can move, crop and rotate a motion.
To change the dimensions of a path, click and drag the blocks on the borders or at the corners of the path.

To rotate a motion, click and drag the green circle at the top of the motion.

 

We also have the option to lock or to unlock the path.
Just click the downward pointing arrow next to the “Path” box in the pane.
This opens a drop-down menu:

“Unlocked” is the default setting and when we move the object, the motion path also moves.
Using “Locked” – we can move the object, but the motion path would remain stationary.
“Edit Points” will be explained in the next section of this lesson.
And the option “Reverse path direction”, does what it says, it reverses the direction of the animation.

You can adjust the speed of the animation by clicking the downward pointing arrow next to the “Speed:” box in the pane. Select an option from the drop-down menu.

Motion editing

Each motion has a starting point and an endpoint, interspersed with various anchor points.

By clicking and dragging the anchor points, you can customize the path of the animation.

By clicking and dragging on the line between the anchor points, you can create a new anchor point.

Motion signs

If, you still have not found what you need among all these options, you can create a motion path.
First, select the object in your slide.

Click the “Custom Animation” button on the “Animation” tab in the “Ribbon”.
This opens the “Custom Animation” pane.
Click the “Add Effect” button and select “Motion Paths”.
In the drop-down menu, select “Draw Custom path”.
This opens a drop-down menu where you have the “Line”, “Curve”, “Freeform” and “Comment” options.
I think this is quite clear.
Make your choice by clicking on the respective option.
Your mouse pointer will change to a cross. Only in the “Comment” option, this changes this to a pencil.
Click on the place where you want the motion to start from.
Click and drag the mouse pointer until you’ve reached the end point.
Release the mouse button.
When the pointer is released, the animation is applied automatically.

You can also download and edit the anchors, or move the animation, as you have seen in the previous section of this lesson.

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