Lock and Unlock Paths for Motion Path Animations in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows

A motion path is something along which you want to animate a slide object in PowerPoint. Locking and unlocking motion paths are not much used options, and that may be because these options are not too well documented or even intuitive. However, it's good to know more about these options since locking and unlocking motion paths can help you create better animations. You have already learned how to add a motion path animation to any slide object by either using a preset motion path or by drawing your own custom motion path. We also explained the concept of reversing paths and opening and closing paths.

Now, follow these steps to learn how to access and use the Lock / Unlock options in PowerPoint 2010:

First add a shape to a blank slide, and provide it with a motion path animation. Refer to the adding a motion path or drawing a custom motion path tutorials to get started.
Now, access the Animations tab of the Ribbon, and click on the Animation Pane button, as shown in Figure 1. Remember that this is a toggle button. So, if your Animation Pane is already visible, then clicking this button will make the Task Pane disappear.

Figure 1: Animation Pane button within Animations tab
This opens the Animation Pane as shown highlighted in blue within Figure 2.

Figure 2: Animation Pane within PowerPoint
Select the shape that has a motion path animation applied, and you shall be able to see a dashed line representing the motion path (highlighted in red within Figure 2 above).
Now move the selected shape, and you'll discover that the motion path also moves along with the shape. In PowerPoint parlance, this means that the motion path is unlocked to the shape, we know that it actually seems locked! We told you this wasn't too intuitive, probably the folks who created this meant locked to represent as "lock it in place on the slide".
You can now unlock (Lock in PowerPoint parlance) the motion path from the shape. To do that, first ensure that the correct motion path animation is selected in the Animation Pane (crucial if you have more than one animation applied to a slide object). Within the Animation Pane right-click the animation item to bring up a drop-down list, chose Effect Options from the resultant drop-down list, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Effect Options to be selected
This summons a multi-tabbed dialog box as shown in Figure 4. Click the Effect tab (highlighted in red within Figure 4), and from the Path drop-down list, choose the Locked option (highlighted in blue within Figure 4). Click the OK button to apply the changes.

Figure 4: Locked option to be selected
Now you can drag the shape (slide object) around, and the motion path won't move with it!

Remember: You really don't need to lock/unlock a motion path from its slide object to move it around. To do that, select just the actual motion path, not the slide object to which it has been applied, and drag it around as required. This process just moves the motion path, and leaves the slide object in its original place. But, now if you move the slide object, the motion path also starts moving accordingly, even though it is away from the slide object. Confusing? Yes, it is a little, unless you play around for a few times!
To unlock the locked motion path, first select it within the Animation Pane. Then follow the procedure explained in Step 6 and 7, but within the Path drop-down list, select Unlocked option instead of Locked. Now, the unlocked motion path also moves along when you move the slide object associated with it.