How to Move Objects with PowerPoint Animation: Expert Guide

Are you looking to create engaging and dynamic PowerPoint presentations by making objects move across your slides? PowerPoint’s built-in animation tools allow you to easily apply motion to shapes, images, text boxes, and other elements to bring your slides to life. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to move objects using PowerPoint animation, providing tips and best practices along the way.

Understanding PowerPoint Animation Basics

Before diving into moving objects, it’s important to grasp the fundamentals of PowerPoint animation:

• Animation refers to adding visual effects and movement to slide elements
• Transitions are how one slide moves to the next
• There are four main types of animations in PowerPoint:
• Entrance (element enters the slide)
• Emphasis (draws attention to element)
• Exit (element leaves the slide)
• Motion paths (element moves along a specified path)

To access animation options, go to the Animations tab on the PowerPoint ribbon. Here you’ll find a gallery of quick preset animations as well as buttons to add and manage animations.

Adding Movement to Objects with Motion Paths

Motion paths are the key to making objects move across a slide in PowerPoint. With motion paths, you can create custom animation that makes an element travel along a predefined trajectory. Here’s how to apply a motion path:

1. Select the object you want to animate
2. Go to the Animations tab
3. Click Add Animation
4. Under Motion Paths, choose a preset path (line, arc, turn, etc.) or select Custom Path to draw your own
5. Adjust the start point (green arrow) and end point (red arrow) of the motion path
6. Use the Effect Options button to customize aspects like smoothness and timing

Some tips for working with motion paths:

• Use the Shift key while drawing a path to keep it perfectly straight or locked at 45° angles
• Right-click a path and choose Edit Points to adjust individual points along the path
• Apply Entrance and Exit animations in combination with motion paths for objects that fly in, move across the slide, then fly out

Animating Multiple Objects Simultaneously

What if you want to have multiple objects moving at the same time to create more complex animations? You can achieve this by utilizing PowerPoint’s animation sequence:

1. Apply motion paths (or other animations) to each object you want to move
2. Go to the Animation Pane (under Animations tab)
3. In the Animation Pane, the animations will be listed in the order applied
4. To make animations occur simultaneously, select them and choose Start With Previous from the Start dropdown
5. To introduce a delay between effects, select an animation and choose Start After Previous
6. Adjust additional timing options in the Timing group on the Animations tab

By default, animations start “On Click” (when you advance the slide). Change this to “After Previous” for automatic sequential animations or “With Previous” for simultaneous ones.

Triggering Object Movement with Click Interactions

For more interactivity, you can set objects to animate only when clicked:

1. Select the object and add a motion path animation
2. Go to the Animations tab and in the Start dropdown choose On Click (or in the Animation Pane “Start With Previous”)
3. Now the animation will only play when you click the object during Slide Show mode

To add click triggers to multiple objects:

1. Select an animated object
2. Go to the Animations tab
3. Click Trigger and choose the object to serve as the clickable trigger for playing the selected object’s animation

By assigning different animated objects to trigger one another, you can create a cascade of click-activated sequential animations.

Refining Object Motion with the Animation Pane

The Animation Pane is an invaluable tool for managing and fine-tuning your object animations. To open it:

• Go to the Animations tab
• Click Animation Pane

Here you can:

• Reorder animations by dragging and dropping them within the list
• Rename animations by right-clicking and choosing “Rename”
• Specify animation start times and delays
• Preview individual animations by selecting one and clicking the Play button
• Re-time animations with the timeline bar at the bottom

Click the small arrow next to each animation in the pane to access advanced Effect Options for customizing their behavior.

Animating Objects Along a Motion Path

Applying a Preset Motion Path

1. Select the object you want to move
2. Go to Animations > Add Animation
3. Under Motion Paths, choose from options like:

• Line
• Arc
• Spiral
• Loop

1. Adjust the motion path as needed by dragging the “handles”
2. Specify the start trigger, timing, and duration in the Animation Pane

Drawing a Custom Motion Path

1. Select object to animate
2. Go to Animations > Add Animation > Motion Paths > Custom Path
3. Select a drawing tool:

• Line to draw a freeform path
• Curve to create a curved path
• Freeform to draw a path with both curved and straight segments
• Scribble to create a freehand path

1. Draw your desired path on the slide
2. Configure timing and triggering in the Animation Pane

Tips for Custom Motion Paths:

• Hold down Shift while drawing to snap the path to straight lines or 45-degree angles
• Right-click the path and choose Edit Points to adjust individual points and curvatures
• In the Animation Pane, change the path’s Smooth Start and Smooth End for acceleration/deceleration effects

Ideas for Using Object Motion Animation

Need inspiration for incorporating moving objects into your PowerPoint presentation? Consider these use cases:

Highlighting Key Information

• Have important text or images fly in from off-screen to draw audience attention
• Make an object perform an Emphasis animation like pulse or teeter while discussing its significance

Simulating Processes or Systems

• Use motion paths to illustrate a step-by-step process, with shapes representing each stage
• Show how different parts of a system interact dynamically by having related objects meet at key points

Adding Visual Interest

• Combine object animations like spin and motion paths for engaging visuals
• Animate a series of objects to progressively build a slide’s content in an interesting way
• Create background animations with abstract elements for subtle movement that doesn’t distract

Telling a Story

• Make images or icons move along paths to visualize a sequence of events in a narrative
• Animate characters or props to act out a scenario that reinforces your message

The key is to apply object motion animation purposefully to enhance your content rather than just decorating your slides. Keep movements simple and brief to avoid overwhelming your audience.

Final Thoughts

Moving objects with PowerPoint animation is a powerful way to create dynamic visual aids that capture and hold your audience’s attention. By combining motion paths with other entrance, emphasis, and exit effects, you can bring your slides to life.

Remember to use animations judiciously, time them appropriately, and trigger them in a meaningful way. The Animation Pane is your friend for managing and refining complex object motion.

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Trish Dixon

Trish Dixon is the founder of PPTBliss and a PowerPoint expert with over a decade of experience in presentation design. Passionate about visual storytelling, Trish shares her expertise through easy-to-follow tutorials on slide design, animations, transitions, and best practices, helping professionals create impactful presentations across industries.

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