CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE
 
PowerPoint 97/98 Basics:

6

Building Transitions and Effects on Your Slides

Transitions (slide transition effects) are the movements from one slide to another. Effects (text preset animations) are the movements that give you control over the content flow on each individual slide. 

Before setting transitions or effects you should switch to the Slide Sorter View by clicking the appropriate button in the lower left corner of your screen. Below the toolbar at the top of your screen you will then see a new toolbar (the Slide Sorter Toolbar) containing two drop-down menus (illustrated in the screen capture below). The menu on the left lists Slide Transition Effects (default = No transition). The menu on the right gives choices for Text Preset Animation (default = No effect). 
  

Screen capture showing drop-down menus for Transitions and Builds
 

Transitions

To set a transition, first, in Slide Sorter View, highlight (click) the slide you want to modify. If you would like to set the same transition on multiple slides hold the SHIFT key down and click on each thumbnail you want to modify (or click in the white space outside a thumbnail, hold down the mouse button, and drag a square around the items you want to select). 

To choose a transition, click the triangle to the right of the Slide Transition Effects box on the Slide Sorter Toolbar to see the choices that you have. Highlight (point at) one of the choices and set it by clicking it. The transition immediately plays on the thumbnail of the selected slide(s) and a transitions icon appears below the slide(s). You can click this little icon to see a transition play again. If you want to use different transition effects on different slides, continue highlighting and selecting transitions for each slide. 

Adding Timing and/or Sound

There is also a Slide Transition button (leftmost button on the Slide Sorter Toolbar). Using this feature, you can make transition selections (including timing and sound effects) from a dialog box. There are settings for the following: 
  • The transition effect itself (same list as in the drop-down menu described above). If you click on the image (a dog) in the dialog box, you will be able to see the effect of the transition you choose.
  • The speed of the transition effect — slow, medium or fast (default = fast). Clicking the image (a dog) in the dialog box will show the speed as well as the effect itself.
  • The timing of the transition — on mouse click, or automatically after some number of seconds (that you specify).
  • A sound effect (chosen from a drop-down list). You can also add a .wav sound from elsewhere. You can also set a sound to loop until the next sound.
When you're finished making selections, click the Apply button to apply the effects to the selected slide(s) or Apply All to apply the effects to all the slides in your presentation. 

Effects

To choose a text animation effect use the Text Present Animation menu (as illustrated above). Click the triangle to the right of the menu box to see the choices that you have. Highlight (point at) one of the choices and set it by clicking it. The effect immediately plays on the thumbnail of the selected slide(s) and an effect icon appears below the slide(s). You can click this little icon to see an effect play again. If you want to use different effects (anmations) on different slides, continue highlighting and selecting effects for each slide. 
 
Note: You can also get to the Slide Transition dialog box from the Slide Show menu at the top of the screen by selecting Slide Transition.

Viewing All Your Effects

To see how all your transition effects will play before an audience, view your presentation in Slide Show View. Click the Slide Show View button and then advance through your show by clicking the mouse, or by pressing the spacebar or the up/down arrows. To exit the Slide Show View, tap the ESC key. 

 
 
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Prepared by Chris Sales, User Support Services
September 26, 2000

 

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