<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Applying object animations via the ribbon tab "Animation"

You can add an animation effect to objects by applying it directly via the commands on the ribbon tab Animation (also possible: via the sidebar with an additional selection of animation effects). You can then change and manage the applied effects at any time using the sidebar.

Adding an object animation

To add an animation to an object, select the object (also possible for placeholders).

Then choose the command Animations on the ribbon tab Animation.

In the dropdown menu of the command Animations, you can choose from various types of effects:

▪Appear effects make an object fade onto the slide.
Example: The object "flies" into the slide.

▪Emphasize effects change the appearance of the object in order to emphasize it.
Example: The object flashes briefly in a different color or size.

▪Disappear effects make the object disappear from the slide.
Example: The object "flies" out of the slide.

To remove an effect from the selected object, choose None from the dropdown menu. The entry More animations opens the dialog box with additional categories of animation effects. For more information, see Applying object animations via the dialog box. (Note: These additional categories can also be found via the sidebar. For more information, see the description below.)

Some animations also have different available variants , which you can select via this button if necessary. In this case, the icon appears colored.

What is the difference between the buttons Animations and Add animation ?

The command Animations is usually used to initially apply an animation effect to an object. When you use this command again, you can replace the existing effect with another effect for this object. However, you use the command Add animation to add an additional effect to this object. Thus, a sequence of different effects is possible for the same object.

Further commands on the ribbon tab "Animations":

▪Automatic preview: If this option is enabled, the effect is demonstrated immediately on the slide when you hover over it in the dropdown menu of the ribbon commands Animations or Add animation. This makes it easy to find a suitable effect.

▪Start preview: With this command directly above it, you can check the animation for the selected object by starting it at any time after applying an effect.

Tip: In the mini sorter, slides that have an effect are indicated with a little arrow icon in their top left corner. If you click on this icon, you can also preview all effects in the thumbnails.

▪Actions: Use this command to assign an action to an object. This is executed when running the slide show – either when clicking on this object or when the mouse is positioned over it. For more information, see Adding object actions.

▪Properties: This allows you to subsequently edit the properties of the animation effect used, for example, options for starting an animation or its timing. For more information, see Animation properties in detail.

▪Remove all: This command removes all animation effects from the current slide.

▪Animation pane: This option enables (or disables) the sidebar with additional options for animation effects. To use the sidebar for object animations, see the description below.

▪The command group Animation scheme: Animation schemes allow you to apply slide transitions and matching object animations. For more information, see Slide animation schemes.

Using the sidebar ("Animation pane")

Object animations can also be applied very conveniently via the sidebar, which is displayed to the right of the slide. Not only can you select from additional categories of animation effects here, but you can also edit the effects directly.

Tip: Use the ribbon command Animation | Animation pane to show/hide the sidebar.

Select the desired object and click on the icon in the small toolbar above the sidebar. The sidebar then displays options for adding and editing object animations directly.

To add an object animation, proceed as follows:

To change and manage object animations, the sidebar provides the following options:

▪To edit an animation, select it in the timeline and click on the Edit button. For more information, see Animation properties in detail.

▪The buttons with the up and down arrows change the position of the animation that is currently selected in the timeline.

▪The button deletes the selected animation.

▪In addition, the sidebar displays a timeline with bars that represent the duration and delay with respect to the appearance of each animation. To change the timing of an animation, you can simply make the corresponding bar larger/smaller with the mouse (for duration) or move it (for delay).

▪At the bottom of the sidebar, you will find the options for the Preview (which correspond to the aforementioned buttons on the ribbon tab Animation | group Preview) as well as settings for the start and duration of the selected animation.

Notes on using the SoftMaker effects: In the dropdown list Add effect in the sidebar), you will find a category named "SoftMaker". This category contains particularly impressive animations that use a graphics technology called OpenGL. The following restrictions apply when you use these effects:

▪The SoftMaker effects can be saved only in Presentations documents. When you save your presentation as a PowerPoint document, they will be replaced by simple fade effects.

▪When running a slide show, these effects can only be played accordingly in Presentations but not in Microsoft PowerPoint.

Meaning of the icons in the timeline

For your information, the name of the object to which the animation is applied is displayed in the timeline for each animation. Tip: If you hover over it with the mouse here, you will also see an info text about the animation effect used and its duration.

The icons on the left indicate when the animation starts during the slide show:

Note: You can customize these start options at the bottom of the sidebar (dropdown list "Start"). Further settings can be found via the Edit button. For more information, see Animation properties in detail.

The icons to the right of the start icons show the animation type:

For media objects, the following icons are also displayed: