Animation

Using animations such as slide transitions and element animations can add visual interest to your presentation.

Slide Transitions

Slide transitions are used to animate the entrance or exit of a slide. To add transitions, follow these steps:

1. Select the slide whose entrance you want animated.
2. Click the Animations tab on the Ribbon. Animation options for the slide will appear as thumbnails in the Transition to This Slide group. More animation options can be viewed by clicking the arrow to the right of the thumbnails. To see a preview of a transition, hold the mouse over the thumbnail option.
3. When you have selected a transition you like, click the thumbnail to apply it to the selected slide. To apply a transition to all of your slides, click the Apply to All button to the right of the transition thumbnails.

Slides with animations are indicated in the Slides and Outline pane by a small star icon next to the slide number, as shown below:

To customize a slide transition, choose from the following options:

• Transition Sound - You can add a sound to announce the entrance or exit of your slide. To add a Transition Sound, click the drop-down menu to the right of where it reads “Transition Sound” in the Transition to this Slide group. PowerPoint will present you with a variety of sounds to choose from. To hear a preview of a sound, hold the mouse over the option you are interested in. To apply a sound to all of the transitions in your presentation, click the Apply to All button.
• Transition Speed - You can change the speed of the transition between slides by clicking the drop-down menu to the right of where it reads “Transition Speed” in the Transition to this Slide group. To apply this speed to all the transitions in your presentation, click the Apply to All button.
• Advance Slide - There are two options for slide advancement: On Mouse Click and Automatically After. On Mouse Click will advance your presentation to the next slide when you click your mouse or hit an arrow key. Automatically After will advance your presentation after a specified amount of time. Both options are located in the Transition to this Slide group. If you choose Automatically After, you must set the amount of time for each slide to be displayed. You can do this by clicking the arrows to increase or decrease the time.

Element Animations

You can animate individual elements of each slide. For example, you can animate only your text, or only your images. Below, you will find two different ways to animate individual elements of a given slide: The Easy Way (for beginners) and the Hard Way (for those who like more control over their animations).

The Easy Way

1. Select the slide with the elements you want to animate.
2. Click the Animations tab on the Ribbon.
3. Click the Custom Animations button in the Animations group.
4. PowerPoint will open the Custom Animations pane to the right of the window.
   
5. Select the element you want to animate.
6. Click the drop-down menu next to the Animate option in the Animations group.
7. Select the animation you want from the pre-set animations in the drop-down list. To see a preview of an animation, hold the mouse over the animation option you are interested in.

The Hard Way

If you want to animate specific elements of a slide, for example only a portion of your text or a single image, you can use the Custom Animation Pane.

1. Click the Custom Animation button in the Animations group. The Custom Animation Pane will open on the right of the screen.
   
2. Select the element that you want to animate. If you want to animate only a portion of your text, highlight only that portion.
3. Click the Add Effect button in the Custom Animation pane.
4. Select the animation that you want to apply. The animations are grouped into different types, Entrance, Exit, Emphasis and Motion Paths. More animation techniques can also be found by clicking the More Effects option at the bottom of each group.