Animation Events
Author: Geetesh Bajaj
Product/Version: PowerPoint 2002, 2003, and 2007
Date Created: December 10th 2008
Last Updated: February 25th 2009
Excerpt/Capsule:.
Before you learn to add animation to any slide object, do remember that there are three ways in which your animation can be set to play. These are called animation events:
- On Click
- With Previous
- After Previous
By default, if you don't change anything PowerPoint sets the event to On Click.
Now, let me describe these animation events in a little more detail.
- On Click: This is a default animation event for any animation applied to a slide object. This animation can be played by either clicking the left (or default) mouse button, pressing the spacebar or Next Arrow button on the keyboard, or activating a specific button on a presentation remote control.
- With Previous: This animation event is set to play simultaneously with any pevious animation(s) on the same slide. If there are no previous animations on the slide, this animation plays immediately after the slide transition.
- After Previous: This animation event plays the very instant when previous animation(s) finish playing on a slide. If there are no previous animations on the slide, this animation plays immediately after the slide transition.
Follow these steps to change the animation event for any animation:
- Select the object that has an animation applied to it. If you don't know how to add an animation to a slide object, refer to the Adding an Animation tutorial.
- Now make sure that the Custom Animation task pane is visible as shown in Figure 1. If this task pane is not visible, you won't be able to see or select any animations.
For PowerPoint 2007 users, make sure that the shape is still selected, then activate the Animations tab of the Ribbon -- next click the Custom Animation button to bring up a task pane of the same name that you can see in Figure 1. Remember, this is a toggle option: click once to show the Custom Animation task pane, and click again to hide it!
Users of earlier PowerPoint versions can again make sure that the shape is selected. Then they should choose Slide Show | Custom Animation to access a similar task pane (see Figure 1).
Figure 1: Custom Animation
- The Custom Animation task pane lists all the animations added to slide objects on the active slide. Choose the animation for which you want to change the animation event.
- Now access the animation event drop down list as shown in Figure 2 and select the animation event you want to use for the selected animation.
Figure 2: Animation Events
- Save your presentation.
The following presentation shows you how you can combine different types of animation events added to various slide objects in the same slide:
A lot is at stake -- power, money, reputation, future plans, justice. You need to win this case. Your presentation materials surely will play an important role in helping the judge and jury experience the sights, sounds, and details of the case ... or not. The choice is up to you, says one tech-savvy attorney.
The choice is up to you, says one tech-savvy attorney. It all depends upon whether you are willing to push PowerPoint beyond its normal boundaries to maximize its interactive and persuasive potential. This article by Robert Lane and
Bruce A. Olson
provides a better idea of using PowerPoint in court. 
