Layers.

[Rosemary Profile Private message]

Hi again,
I am greatly interested in Briancbb's description of the four photos in a slide that start in the middle and one goes to each corner. This was posted under "templates and how to use them".
My problem is that I do not know what settings to put in the motion tabs to so as I achieve the desired effect. Can Brian or anyone be a little more explicit for a beginner?
Thanks in advance,
Rosemary

[TinaJ Profile Private messageYIM]

Rosemary, I don't know if I do it the right way, but I can tell you how I do it.
I double click on a slide that has a pic in it, then go to the layers icon on the left so I can add more pics. I add 3 more pics to that slide, and click the motion icon so I have 2 screens to show beginning and end of slide. I make the pics about 40% so I know they will fit. Pan is 0 and 0 so they are centered. Then I click the little copy word that is between the 2 screens and click the copy start to end all layers. Now I have 2 identical screens. Click done. Now right click on that slide, click copy, then highlght the next slide and hit paste, it will add your slide again and push the one there over. You want your transition between these to be Cut, with 0 time. Open the newest slide, go to the second window and grab each pic and put it where you want. I usually have my slides at about 1 second each, that's why I go to the second window, you can do it in the first too. Anyway, keep your eye on the pan numbers so you can even them out. Now you should be able to go back and play the portion of the show with these slides and see them go from a stack in the middle to 4 corners. If you want them to do more, copy the newest slide, open it, use your rotate or zoom or move them.
I have a couple shows in the sample show area, partial show and partial show part 2, the first one is simple basic stuff with lots of transitions, the second is all the movement with mostly fades and cuts, but both should give you idea. I'm definitely not an expert but you can email me if you need more info about my shows.
TinaJ

[DickK Profile Private messageWebsite]

Rosemary,

There are several things that you could be thinking of, so it would help me understand your question if you'd explain how you want the sequence to start and end. That will help narrow down the possible ways to get there because there are usually several ways that work.

Dick

[briancbb Profile Private message]

Rosemary

I dont think there is much I can add to what Tina has so admirably explained. Being able to grasp this general concept of moving pictures arouns leads to so many effects as Dick has stated.

If you have any problems, come back to us.

I use Producer and all this can be acomplished in one slide using keyframes. However most long term users started before Producer came on the market and used this method.

Brian

[Rosemary Profile Private message]

Thank you everyone especially Tina. I have had a try and have had some interesting effects! The object is to have the 4 pictures in the centre of the slide with the background slide and then have one of the 4 layer slides move into each corner. Perhaps I am trying to run before I can walk but I am determined to get the hang of "Layers and Motion"
Rosemary

[DickK Profile Private messageWebsite]

Rosemary,

There are several ways to get there but here's somewhere to start:

We're going to build a series of slides--if we keep the action on any one slide simple you'll see what's happening easier, I think.

1st slide is blank. time for this one is short, just something to transition to so the prior slide clears completely.

2nd slide: put image #1 on it and go to the motions tab. In the starting position, center the image and set the starting zoom level to 0%. In the ending position box, set the zoom level to something in the 40-60% range (you'll have to guess a little here so all 4 pictures will fit, but just get it close for now.) Set the motion type to something--try smooth first but any are okay as long as you use the same thing for all four images as they're added.

3rd slide: this is a copy of the 2nd slide with image #1 in place--make sure its starting and ending position are the same so it doesn't move. Drop image #2 on this slide, again get it centered in the starting position and then set the zoom to 0%. Just as before in the ending position make the zoom something and drag the image to where ever you want it.

4th and 5th slide: continue the sequence by copying the prior slide, and simply add image #3 and image #4 on these two slides.

6th slide: this one is just a copy of slide 5 but all the images are present and static (no motion) and slide duuration of how ever long you want them to appear all together.

The transition between each of these is "cut" with a zero second transition time. Slides 2-5 have the same slide durations, use whatever value will pace the motion the way you like it.

The result of this should be that each image will appear to pop up in the middle and both grow and move to whichever corner it is assigned. You'll probably have to fiddle with the size of each image to get a balanced placement, especially if you have a mix of landscape vs. portrait orientations. The technique is, as you'll see, not hard at all, you just need to visualize the process as a series of steps and make a slide for each step.

This works whether there's two images or twenty. And once you've gotten the idea you'll think of lots of ways to vary it (the rotate motion is one thing you could add, not having them start centered is another, etc, etc). Once built you can tweak it many ways.

Last thing. Having told you that, I'll tell you a little "secret" -- when I do it, I do the sequence in reverse. I actually build the last slide with the multiple images sized and placed, copy it the right number of times and then work backwards taking each image out until there's a blank slide. The result is the same but I've found it easier to get the final placement done so I do less tweaking on the whole sequence to keep the motions smooth and uniform. However, that's just me and I think doing it the other way the first time or two might be easier so you'll see what the mechanics are of making it.

Hope that will help. If you need more tho' just ask!
Dick