PowerPoint animation made easy

PowerPoint contains exciting opportunities that can add life to your presentations. 
This guide is designed to help beginners navigate through the many custom
animation features. And more than a dozen shortcut tips at the bottom.

Learn more. Schedule a hands-on PowerPoint Master Class.
Would you like to know more?

Download the PowerPoint preview file to see how these animations are accomplished
(requires PowerPoint2002 or 2003). Click the right mouse button and "Save as"
to your computer. Then run PowerPoint.

1 > The Custom Animation process

To animate any text, image, or graphic element:

^ top | question? | download preview file

It's easier to animate a screen after you place all text, visuals, and sound/video files 
on the slide. 

Think: Order, add and customize an Effect, then Timing.

1. Order: Select the first element you want to animate.

2. Effect: Select a category of animation (see left image below):

   • Entrance (green star): how you want it to first appear

   • Emphasis (yellow star): changing or calling attention to it

   • Exit (red star): how it will disappear

   • Motion Paths (white star): direction of movement

   • Movie Actions (camera icon): Play, Pause, or Stop movie

   • Sound Action (speaker icon): Play, Pause, or Stop sound

   Adjust the effect. Click sequence listing pull down menu
   (see Title 1: Watch p...). Open the pull down window 
   (down arrow on the right side); click Effects and make adjustments.

   Each animation requires a separate sequence box for an Entrance,
   Emphasis, or Exit. 

   And you can change the Effect by highlighting the sequence box
   (notice the Add Effect box at the top changes to Change Effect).

Use "After animation" effects to change the change the color of text 
after it's been animated. This keeps the audience focused
on the point you are presenting.

3. Timing: When and how quickly you want the effect to take place.

   All animations default to a mouse click unless you select 
   "After Previous" from the Timing > Start pull down menu.

"On Click": let's you control the timing. If you use the "With Previous," 
make sure any timing "Delay" is the same as the sequence above it,
so both enter/exit at the same time. ]

Review the order of your sequence boxes. Move them up or down 
using the Re-Order arrows (bottom of Custom Animation window).

Run the slide show. If it doesn't appear correctly, recheck the ordering 
of sequences, Effects, and Timing options.

Want to remove an animation sequence? Highlight the sequence box, 
open the pull down menu at the right, click Remove.

^ top | question? | download preview file

2 > Animating text and images

Here are 2 ways to animate text. By the box: Highlight the text box (click on the box outline), then add  an Entrance (Add Effect). By the point (or sentence): Highlight specific text to animate, then add  an Entrance.

[ Click to enlarge. ]

^ top | question? | download preview file

3 > Applying graphic connectors

Connectors focus attention as you add elements to your slide. Click AutoShapes (bottom left) > Connectors > select a style. A line appears: 2 green dots on each end. Pull each green dot until it links with a text box or image: dots turn red. Animate connectors as you would any other text box or graphic image.

[ Click to enlarge. ]

^ top | question? | download preview file

4 > Animating sound and video files

Follow the steps in the blue box  to load and animate video files. If you don't play the file automatically: 1. First add an Entrance for the video    (how you want it to appear) 2. Then add a Movie Action to play it     (Add Effect > Movie Action > Play)	[ Click either image to enlarge. ]
There are several steps, so follow  the directions in the blue box. Sound/video won't play?  Make sure all audio and video files  are in the same subdirectory  as the PPT file.

^ top | question? | download preview file

5 > Adding Emphasis and motion

There are situations when you want  to emphasize text or images. This is Emphasis. Your preview file shows you how to access and animate these features. Follow the steps in the blue box. Use these technique sparingly.

[ Click either image to enlarge. ]

^ top | question? | download preview file

6 > Shortcuts

Before you get over-eager and start to animate everything, keep in mind:

• Each animation should be purposeful. It tells your audience 
  what to look at. Pointless spins or spirals cause your audience
  to think more about what the animation means rather than 
  concentrating on the point you're attempting to make.

• Sequential animations should be consistent. Use the same animation
  effect or screen transition within or among a series 
  of related bullet points, graphic elements, or slides. That also 
  means using the same Entrance/Exits techniques, connectors, 
  and frame or text colors.

Refer to these tips should a question arise.

• Want a text point to fade out while a new one is fading in?
  Make sure the 2 sequences are in order in the Custom Animation window
  (new point with the green star on top of the red star exiting point).
  Highlight the red star exit sequence > Timing > "With Previous"
  (and "0" Delay). Both animate at the same time if set at the same speed.

• How can I modify several sequences at the same time?
  Highlight all sequence boxes that should contain the same effect
  and timing (hold down the Control key as you click each box;
  you'll see 1 pull down arrow; all Effect and Timing changes will affect
  all highlighted sequences).

^ top | question?

• What if my sequences don't play in the proper order?
  Use the Re-Order arrows at the bottom of the Custom Animation Window
  to make sure each sequence is in the proper order.

• Want a sound file to play continuously over several slides? 
  Click the sound icon (blue speaker): Open Custom Animation > Add Effect
   > Sound Actions > Play. Click the sequence box pull down menu
  > Effect Options. From Play Sound > click the "After" box and input
  the number of slides over which you want the sound to play.

• Where should the sound file icon appear on the screen?
  If you plan to click it to play the sound, reduce its size and move
  to a corner of the screen. If it plays in a timed sequence with other
  animations, move it just off the screen so it won't appear.

• How can I use graphics or images to play sound files?
  First ensure the sound file is in the same subdirectory as the 
  PPT file. Click on an image. Right click Action Settings > 
  Play sound > then click the sound file from the pull down window.
  (Note the 2 tabs at the top: you can have the sound play
  when you click the image, when the cursor moves over it—or both.)

^ top | question?

• When minimizing text color in a series of bullet points,
  what causes the second color to appear unfocused?
  Try turning off the font shadow effect: highlight the text box,
  then Format > Font > uncheck Shadow box.

• How do I remove animations?  
  Click on the animation sequence box in the Custom Animation window,
  then the pull down menu > Remove.

• How can I avoid a color change of the final point 
  in a bullet text box? 
  Click the text box and open the Custom Animation window,
  Add Effect > Entrance animation, then select a second color
  in the Effect Options "After animation" window. 
  
  You'll notice a gray sequence box with 2 down arrows appears
  just below. Click the gray bar: the text box expands to show you
  each point. All are animated the same, so simply click on the final text
  point, then Effect Options, and change the "After animation" window
  to Don't Dim.

^ top | question?

• How do you animate complex charts? 
  First build the complete chart and animate each element. 
  
  Decide how you want to break it up (groups of 3-4 elements/data),
  then deconstruct it. Here's how:
  
  Duplicate the complete chart screen: Insert > Duplicate slide.
  
  On the first screen, delete the final 3-4 elements. 
  
  Duplicate the revised screen, as above, and delete the next 3-4 elements
  And so on, until you have a series of builds.
  
  Use a fade or dissolve transition between each slide in the series,
  with the first animation on each new slide appearing "After Previous"
  with a .5 or 1.0 time Delay.

• How long is too long for automatic timings (Delays)? 
  It's natural to have the first animation (headline or graphic image)
  automatically appear after .5 to 1.0 second. That way, all you do
  is read the text headline or caption on an image. Longer Delays
  may cause you to forget and click to bring up the next animation. 

Can't find answer to your question. Click "question?" below. 
We'll get you an answer.

^ top | question?

© 2009 Steve Toms.  All materials posted on the webpage are for educational purposes,
intended for the exclusive use of Steve Toms' clients and students.