Adding Animations and Transitions

In PowerPoint, we can use animation to emphasize important points and to increase viewer interest. Animation refers to anything that moves in a PowerPoint presentation. We can animate text, images, charts, diagrams, etc.

We can also improve the flow of our presentation by applying transitions to our slide show. A transition is an effect that occurs in a slide show when we move from one slide to the next.

In an effort to make our presentation more engaging, we will add animation to our title text and several of our bulleted lists, and then we will add transitions to our slide show.

Applying Animation to Text

First we will apply a common animation to the title and subtitle on slide 1. Then we will add animation to the bulleted lists on slide 2.

Step 1. To move to our title slide, press:

Control key+Home key

NOTE for MacOS Users: To move to our title slide, press:Command key+Home key.

Step 2. To move to the Animations tab, on the Ribbon,

Click the Animations tab

Step 3. To select the title,

Click Creating a Presentation

Step 4. To open the Animations gallery, in the Animation group on the Ribbon,

Click

NOTE for MacOS Users: In PowerPoint for Mac 2016, the Animations Gallery looks slightly different, but works the same way.

Step 5. To add an animation to the title, in the Entrance category,

Click any animation

We see a preview of the animation on the slide, and a small, orange box with the number one appears above the animation on the slide. This number tells us that when we are in Slide Show view and click on the mouse the first time, the animation for the title will be activated.

NOTE: If we want the title to appear on the slide automatically, without the presenter or viewer clicking the mouse, we could change the option in the Start field, located in the Timing group on the Ribbon.

Step 6. To apply an animation to the subtitle,

Click Using PowerPoint

Step 7. To add an animation to the subtitle,

repeat steps 4 - 5

Step 8. To move to slide 2, in the slide thumbnail list,

Click on slide 2

Step 9. To begin to add a preset animation effect to the bulleted list on slide 2, in the slide pane,

Click anywhere on the bulleted list

Step 10. To add animation to the list, in the Animations group, on the Ribbon,

Click ,

Click any animation effect

We see a preview of the animation in the slide pane, and three, small orange boxes appear next to the bullet points. This tells us that when we are in slide show view and click the mouse the first time, the animation effect will appear on the first bullet point. When we click a second time, the animation effect will appear on the second bullet point, and when we click the mouse a third time, the animation will appear on the last bullet.

NOTE: If we change the Start option for this animation (in the Timing group on the Ribbon) from "On Click," to "With Previous" or "After Previous," the numbers in the small orange boxes will all change to zeros and the animation effects for all three points will occur automatically, without the click of the mouse.

Previewing the Slide Show

We've done a lot of work on our presentation, but we have yet to see what it will look like to our audience. Let's do that now.

There are several ways to preview our presentation, we will use a button on the Ribbon.

Step 1. To move to the Slide Show tab, on the Ribbon,

Click the Slide Show tab

We want to view our slide show from the beginning.

Step 2. To view the slide show from the beginning, in the Start Slide Show group,

Click

NOTE for MacOS Users: The button label is "Play from Start".

The slide show opens to a blank slide. The animation of our title placeholder was set to "On Click." This means nothing will happen on our title slide until we move forward.

We could use the mouse button to advance through the presentation, but PowerPoint provides other ways to navigate, as well. As with most Office applications, in PowerPoint there are a number of different ways to accomplish a task.

The following keyboard techniques can be used as alternative methods to navigate through a presentation when in Slide Show view:

NOTE: If a presenter is utilizing dual monitors, the Presenter view will automatically display on the second monitor and presenter notes will be visible.

Step 3. To show the title text,

Click the slide

Step 4. To show the subtitle text,

Click the slide

Step 5. To move to the second slide, press:

Right Arrow key

Our presentation moves to the second slide. All of the text (title and bulleted list) is visible. We can view the animation assigned to the bulleted text.

Step 6. To view the first animation, press:

Spacebar

Step 7. To view the animations on the next two bullets,

repeat step 6 two more times

Step 8. To move to the third slide, press:

Spacebar

The third slide appears. This is the slide that contains the linked text. We can test that link now.

Step 9. To see how the hyperlink works,

Click the linked text

Our default browser opens to the IU Knowledge Base article, "How do I create an accessible document using Microsoft PowerPoint?"

Step 10. To return to our slide show,

close the browser

We are returned to our show. Let's take a quick look at our other slides.

Step 11. Use any method to continue to move through the slide show to slide 5.

When we reach slide 5, we can take a moment to play the linked video.

Step 12. To play the linked video, on slide 5.

Point to the video, Click the play button

The video begins playing.

Step 13. Continue moving through the slide show.

When we come to the end of the show, PowerPoint displays a blank slide.

Step 14. To exit Slide Show view, press:

Esc key

When exiting Slide Show view, we are returned to the view we were in previously. Therefore, we are returned to Normal view.

Adding Animation to Objects

We've seen how to add animation to text. Now let's add animation to the images on slide 4. After we add the animation, we will change the way the animations appear.

Step 1. To move to slide 4, in the slide thumbnail list,

Click slide 4

Step 2. To select an image,

Click the image of the bulletin board

Step 3. To select the other three images,

hold down Shift key, Click the remaining images

All three pictures are selected. We can now apply animation.

Step 4. To move to the Animations tab, on the Ribbon,

Click the Animations tab

Step 5. To add animation to the images, in the Animation group,

Click any animation effect

We see a quick preview of the animation. At this point, all three images appear at the same time. We can modify this.

Adjusting Animation Timing

When all three images have animation added, we are ready to work with the timing. Each image has a small, numbered square next to it. This is the order in which the images will appear in our presentation. Because we selected and applied animation to all the images at the same time, they all have a small "1" next to them and will appear together. This can be modified.

Let's change the animation so that the images appear one at a time. We could use the Timing group on the Ribbon to configure this animation, but we can also adjust timing directly from the Animation pane.

NOTE for MacOS Users:  Skip forward to the heading, "Adjusting Animation Timing On MacOS".

Adjusting Animation Timing On Windows

The interface for changing timing on Windows has very specific controls, but also permits the use of the mouse for adjustments.

Step 1. To select an image,

Click the bulletin board graphic

Step 2. To open the Animation pane, in the Advanced Animation group,

Click

The Animation pane opens to the right. The four images are listed with generic names (Picture 6, Picture 12, etc.) and the first image is selected.

The green arrows to the right of the image names provide a visual representation of the timing for the animations. Since all of the green arrows line up, we know that the applied effect will occur at the exact same time for each image. We can use these green arrows to adjust the timing.

Step 3. To adjust the timing for the listed animations, in the Animation pane,

Press & Drag the green triangles until they look something like this:

4. To preview the animation, in the Animation pane,

Click the first image in the list, Click

Note for Windows Users -  Skip forward to the heading, "Viewing Animations in the Slide Show".

Adjusting Animation Timing On MacOS

When working with MacOS, the process of adjusting animation timing is very different.

Step 1. To open the Animation pane,

Click

The Animation pane opens to the right. The four images are listed with generic names (Picture 6, Picture 12, and so on.).

Step 2. To select the first image, in the Animation pane,

Click the first Picture #

When we select an image in the Animation pane, more options become available.

Step 3. To see the Timing options, in the Animation pane,

Click

Step 4. To adjust the animation to begin after the previous animation, in the Start field,

Click Click After Previous

Depending on which animation we choose, the duration may be different. We want each of our images to take one second to appear. To do this, we will set the duration of each animation to one second.

Step 5. To adjust the timing of this animation, in the Duration field,

Click , Click 1 seconds (Fast)

Step 6. Repeat these steps for the remaining images.

When all of the timings have been set, we are ready to preview the animation.

Step 7. To preview the animations, in the Animation pane,

Click

Viewing Animations in the Slide Show

Now let's preview our slide show.

Step 1. To move to the Slide Show tab, on the Ribbon,

Click the Slide Show tab

Step 2. To preview the slide show, in the Start Slide Show group,

Click

The slide show begins on slide 4. The text is visible, but the images are not.

Step 3. To see the images,

Click the slide

The images appear one at a time.

Step 4. To close the slide show, press:

Esc key

Next we will add a transition to our slides.

Applying Transition Effects

Slide transitions occur in Slide Show view as you move from one slide to another. By applying effects such as fades and dissolves, we can prevent the choppy effect that might otherwise occur as one slide moves to the next. We can add a transition to individual slides or to all slides in the presentation. We can also control the speed of the transition and the way that it starts.

Let's explore the available transitions now.

Step 1. Verify that slide 4 is selected.

Step 2. To access the available transitions, on the Ribbon,

Click the Transitions tab

Step 3. To open the Transitions gallery, in the Transition to This Slide group,

Click

You see several transition options.

Step 4. To apply a transition,

Click any transition effect

The transition is applied and we see a brief preview of the transition in the slide pane. To change the transition, we simply choose a different effect.

Step 5. To choose a new transition,

Click any transition effect

The transition is applied to slide 4.

Modifying Transitions

You can also add sound to a transition, change its duration, and/or change various other properties.

Let's change the duration of a transition now. Since there is a direct correlation between a transition's duration and its speed, we can speed up a transition by shortening its duration or slow it down by lengthening its duration.

Let's make this transition slower.

Step 1. To increase the duration of the transition, in the Timing group on the Ribbon,

Click four times

NOTE: Depending on which transition you chose earlier, your Duration field may display a different value.

We can easily apply the same transition and transition speed to all of the slides in the presentation, at once.

Step 2. To apply the transition and transition speed to all slides, in the Timing group,

Click

A small star icon appears on the left side of each thumbnail in the slide thumbnail list on our screen. This indicates that there is some type of animation or transition applied to the slide. We can preview the animation or transition by clicking the icon.

Step 3. To view the animation or transition on any slide, in the slide thumbnail list,

Click

We see how the animation will appear during the slide show.

Step 4. Save the presentation Creating_a_Presentation.pptx.

Up until now, we have been working in Normal View. Let's see what the other views have to offer.