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Tutorial: How To Create A Motion Path Animation In Powerpoint?

PowerPoint not only has many built-in animation effects, but also the option to create motion path animations. With such an animation you can move one or more objects on a straight, curved, circular, freeform or other path. Use motion path animation in your interactive PowerPoint projects like presentations and e-learning courses to explain, for example, trends and concepts.

Here’s the step-by-step tutorial that illustrates, with screen shots, how to create a motion path animation in PowerPoint. A feature of this tutorial is that it details how to move an object on a path at one of slow, medium and fast speeds, using an interactive slide.

Create motion path animation, and let user choose its speed, in PowerPoint

Download the above motion path animation PowerPoint source file from PowerPoint Tips and Tricks.

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PART I: Step-by-Step Procedure to Create a Self- Running Path-based / Motion Path Animation in PowerPoint

1. Start PowerPoint. Click View > Master > Slide Master to open the master slide

Click View > Master > Slide Master to open the master slide

If you’re new to the concept of PowerPoint master slides, read Why and How to Use Master Slides in PowerPoint?

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2. Press Ctrl+A to select and delete the default text. Place the objects that appears on all slides, except the object(s) to be animated, on a master slide. For this tutorial, I have placed the background of sky and mountains on the master slide. Again, place the objects you want to animate on normal slides.

Place the objects that appears on most of the slides on the master slide, except the objects to animate

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3. Click View > Normal to return to the normal view.

Click View > Normal to return to normal mode

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4. Draw an object on a normal slide. For this tutorial, I have drawn the trolley, with wood logs, placed on a track. Further, I have grouped the objects into a single object. To group objects, select all the objects and press Shift+Ctrl+G.

Draw the objects to animate on a normal slide

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5. Right-click the object, and from the context-sensitive menu, select Custom Animation. The Custom Animation pane displays on the right.

Right-click the object to animate and select Custom Animation

The Custom Animation pane displays on the right

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6. Click Add Effect (shown highlighted in figure above). From the menu that displays, select Motion Paths > Right (if you wish to move the object to the right on a straight path). PowerPoint creates the path and animates the object. The green and the red arrows indicate the starting and ending points of the motion path.

Click Add Effect > Motion Paths > Right

The green and red arrows indicate the starting and ending point of the animation respectively

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7. If you wish to shorten or extend the path, place the mouse cursor on the red arrow, and when the cursor shape changes, click the arrow. Drag the circular handle to the left to decrease the length of the path or drag the handle to the right to increase the length.

Drag a circular handle to the left / right to increase / decrease the length of the motion path

TIP: To shorten or extend the length of the path in a straight line, hold the Shift key and drag the handle to the left or right.

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8. To specify when the motion path animation should start, in the Custom Animation pane, click the down arrow in the Start field and select an option: For the Part I of this tutorial, I have set the Start field to With Previous.

Specify when the animation should play: On Click, With Previous or After Previous

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9. To adjust the speed of the animation, in the Custom Animation pane on the right, click the down-arrow in the Speed field and select a speed or accept default.

Select an animation speed in the Speed field

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10. To auto-reverse the animation path, in the Custom Animation pane, click the down-arrow next to the relevant group / shape number and select Effect Options. A dialog displays.

Click Effect Options to auto-reverse the path of animation

The dialog that displays when you click the Effects Option

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11. Check the Auto-reverse checkbox and click OK.

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12. Test the animation: Press F5 to run the slide show.

Press F5 to run the slide show

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PART II: How to Interactively Set the Speed for a Motion Path Animation?

If you want to let the user choose the speed, for example, Slow, Medium and Fast, for the motion path animation, in one screen, then:

First, you’ve to duplicate the animation slides thrice, one each