Custom Animations in Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint : Custom Animations

by Karyn Stille

MS PowerPoint can create great presentations without the use of animation. However, when custom animations are added to a presentation correctly, a more polished and memorable presentation is the result. Use caution when adding animation! There are so many "cool" effects that can be done, users tend to over-animate and audience members are so busy watching graphics and text move all over the slide that it detracts from the actual presentation. Much like a Web page, animations should enhance the presentation and have a purpose, not distract the user from the content.

Some Appropriate Uses of Animation

Use animation for the text of an opening (title) slide to draw attention to the screen for the presentation.
Use animation to bring on one bullet point at a time for discussion. That way, instead of reading ahead, audience members listen to what you are saying.
Use animation to emphasize an important point or call attention to a particular part of a chart or graph.
Use an animated gif to illustrate the steps of a procedure or flow of an idea.

Some Inappropriate Uses of Animation

Using animation for the sake of having animation. For example, if you use an animated gif of a character typing on a computer that just sits in the corner of the screen, what purpose is served other than distracting the audience?
Over-animating a slide or using too much animation in an entire presentation. You want people to pay attention to the content, not the movement. If you have ever been to a Web page that is full of animated graphics, you fully understand why this is inappropriate.
Too many different types of animation on a slide. Be consistent - if you slide in the first bullet point from the left of the screen, do all the points in the same manner. Audience members will appreciate knowing where the next point is coming from. Better still, use the same animation for all bullet points on all slides.

Adding Custom Animations

In this tutorial, I show how to animate the text on a title slide to draw attention to the start of the presentation. There are, however, many types of animation that can be used, and options that are not used in this example are explained as well.

Note that although we will not be adding an animated gif to our slide, if you add an animated gif the animation will not display unless you view the actual slide show.

In Normal view (View menu, Normal), move to the slide that is to contain the animation. In our case, the title slide.

From the Slide Show menu, choose Custom Animation. The Custom Animation dialog box is displayed as below.

All the objects on the slide, including any movies or sounds, are listed in the Check to animate slide objects field. Clear the checkbox for any objects you do not wish to animate.

Note that you can use the Preview button to view the animation in the small preview window after adding the effects. In this way, you can adjust and make changes to the effects without having to view the show first. What is not previewed, is any timings you have placed on the animation events. Timing can only be checked by viewing the slide show.

Order & Timing Tab

By default, the order of the animations is from the top object on the slide to the bottom. So, if you want something other than the top object to appear or be animated first, you need to change the animation order. This is done by selecting the object in the Animation order field, and using the Move buttons highlighted in yellow above to move the object up or down on the list.

Once you have the correct order, select the first object in the Animation order field.
Choose whether you want to click the mouse during the show for the animation to occur or have it occur automatically after a specified number of seconds in the Start animation field. Mouse clicks are good for bringing on bullet points one at a time. When you are finished speaking, you can simply click the mouse for the next point.

For this tutorial, we'll leave our selection for Title 1 as Automatically and the timing at zero. This will be our first animation, so timing is not necessary.

The Effects Tab

Now the fun begins!

Choose the Effects tab.

Choose the animation drop-down arrow in the Entry animation and sound field. Select an animation. Any options for the animation selected are shown in the drop-down arrow next to it on the right. Select any of the options available.
Preview the animation with the Preview button to be sure it is what you want. Make adjustments necessary.
If desired, choose a sound from the [No Sound] drop-down arrow. There are a number of default sounds available.
Choose how you want the animation to be treated after it is animated in the After animation field. For example, you can have it change colors. Colors that fit your current slide show scheme are presented, but More Colors can be chosen to add something new. The options are displayed below.

Choose how you want the text to be introduced in the Introduce text field. You can have it animated All at once, By word, or By letter. The Grouped by checkbox is available for animating text only. You can choose the level of the paragraph to apply the animation to. So, if you have three main points with sub-points under each one, you can apply an animation to all the main points (1st level) and all will be animated at the same time.

If you have an AutoShape with your text, the Animate attached shape checkbox is available. PowerPoint will animate the AutoShape when checked at the same time as the text if All at once is selected in the Introduce text field. If an option other than All at once is selected, PowerPoint animates the AutoShape before the text.

The In reverse order checkbox is available if the text you are animating contains more than one paragraph or if there is an AutoShape attached with the text and does what it says - reverses the order of the animation.

For our purposes, we'll leave the options as above on the Effects tab. Again, remember that you can use the Preview button to see any options you have chosen.

Because we are not using the Chart Effects and Multimedia Settings tabs, these are explained later in this tutorial.

Adding Animation to Another Object

Go back to the Order & Timing tab.
Select the next object in the Animation order field.
In our case, we want Text 2 to be animated after Title 1, and we want a slight pause after the Title 1 animation before Text 2 appears. So, we have added a 2 second delay to the Start animation field, as below.

Note that when adding a delay of this type, seconds can seem to take forever during a presentation. Always view the slide show to be sure your delays are not too long.

Choose the Effects tab.

Select animations and options as previously noted.
Move back to the Order & Timing tab and continue animating objects as necessary.
When finished animating objects, choose OK on the Custom Animations dialog box.
View the animations and timings by choosing View Show from the Slide Show menu, or simply press F5.

The Chart Effects Tab

If the object you are animating is a chart, use the Chart Effects tab.

You can choose how to Introduce chart elements, as shown above. The Entry animation sound and After animation fields work the same as previously discussed.

The Multimedia Settings Tab

If the selected object you are editing is a movie or sound file, the options under the Multimedia Settings tab become available.

Play using animation order plays the movie or sound (either Automatically or On mouse click, depending on what you select under the Order & Timing tab) before running the rest of the slide's animations. Clear this checkbox if you do not want the movie or sound to play until after all the slides other animations are run.

You can choose to Pause slide show or Continue slide show while the moving or sound is playing in the While playing field. If you choose Continue slide show, the Stop playing field becomes active and you can choose when to stop playing the movie or sound.

The More Options button has options for looping (repeating over and over) and rewinding, as below.

Select any Sound Options and choose OK.

If you do not want a movie to be visible on the slide before or after it plays, check the box for Hide while not playing.

Animations are a great way to polish your presentation and create a lasting impression. Remember to use your better judgment when adding animations - more often than not, less is more.

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