Have you ever seen a presentation that had "special effects" between each slide? Then you've probably
seen transitions in action.
A transition can be as simple as fading from one slide to the next... or it can be a lot
more flashy, like this animation of a bird.
You can create all kinds of effects using the options on the Transitions tab. Start
by selecting one of your slides... then click the arrow here to view all of your choices
at once.
Transitions are divided into three different categories depending on the type of effect
they have. The first category is Subtle...
Followed by Exciting, where you'll find more complex animations...
And finally, there's Dynamic Content, which will affect only the content on your slides.
This might include text and images, for example, but not necessarily the background.
To play a transition again, all you have to do is click the Preview command on the ribbon,
or the tiny star that appears next to the slide.
If you change your mind, you can easily remove the transition by going back to the menu...
and choosing None in the top left corner.
I happen to like this transition, so I'm going to leave it the way it is. I would like to
play with the timing, though, and some of the other options over here on the right.
Let's take a closer look.
The Duration field lets you decide how long the transition is going to take. So in this
example, if we change the length from 2.00 seconds to 1.00 second, it'll cut the time
in half, and the transition will happen a lot faster.
You can even add a sound to the transition using the drop-down menu here. There are quite
a few built-in sound effects to choose from. Just click the one you want... and you'll
hear what it sounds like the next time you play or preview your presentation.
Before we do that, there's one more thing I'd like to show you in the Timing group:
the options under Advance Slide. Here, you can set your slides to advance automatically,
without you having to click your mouse. This is primarily used for presentations that are
going to be left unattended; for example, in the background at a special event, or at
a trade show booth.
To set your current slide to advance automatically, uncheck the box next to On Mouse Click...
then check the box next to After.
In the After field, enter the amount of time you want the slide to be displayed. In this
example, we'll set it to advance automatically after 1 minute and 15 seconds.
At this point, you can select another slide and repeat the process until your slides have
the timings you want. Or you can use the Apply to All command if you want your presentation
to be completely uniform. This will take all the settings you see here—including the
timings and the transition itself—and apply them to the every slide.
Why don't we go to the previous slide... and check out what we just put together in full
slide show view?
Fantastic! I think I'll apply the same effect to some of my other slides later.
The best way to learn about transitions is to practice—so try something new with your
own presentation, and have fun!