bezier line path move

Download the keynote file to practice: download bezier line path.key

In this "how-to" I will show you how to use a bezier line as an object path. The magic move transition is great if you have an object or objects and you want them to move from one point to another in a straight line between slides, but there are going to be times when you need to hand animate an object for more complex movements.

The way that you hand animate something is  to go into the build inspector and select action>move. As you can see the object moves from right to left. Also note that when an item has a move build attributed to it, it is represented by a red diamond with a dot in the center next to the object. Let's say you want the dot to move in a more complex manner. You can add points on the movement path by option clicking on the path. Then you can slide these points to make a more complex movement.

This is good but it is not the fastest way. The fastest way to make a complex move is to create a bezier line and use that line as the object path. First you will want to create a bezier line by selecting the line and creating the motion path you desire. You finish the bezier line by double clicking on the last point. Once you have the path you desire, select both objects, and from the menu options select format > shape> Make Motion Path from Shape. You'll notice when I do this the dot becomes a dashed red line circle. This is not the desired outcome. The dot has become the motion path for my line. See how the line moves in a circle instead of the dot moving along the line.  The reason this happened is because the dot was on a layer more towards the back than the motion path line. Of the two objects you select, the object more towards the back will become the motion path for he object more towards the front. The way you fix this is to move the motion path to the back by selecting the line by itself and selecting back from the tool bar. Then reselect both the line and the dot and from the menu option click Format> Shape> Make Motion Path from Shape. This will give the desired outcome. You can also adjust the time in the build pallette to make the dot move faster or slower. And that is how you use a bezier line as the movement path for a dot. Thanks for watching!

Comments

[Lance Lockwood]

Jeff,

Thanks for the tip! This answered one of my questions I was going to ask you!

[Essence]

As for me it is a very useful post.
http://www.pdfqueen.com