OpenOffice.org 2, Firefox, and Thunderbird for Windows All in One [Electronic resources]

1.

Select Text to Animate

Click to select the text you wish to animate. Opening titles make good candidates for animated text, perhaps with some music in the background as your presentation's title flies in from the side of the screen. Self-running presentations should have slightly more animation than presentations that you give simply to keep the presentation from becoming stagnant. But even self-running presentations shouldn't overdo the effects at the expense of the content.

2.

Request Text Animation

With the text still selected, click to open the

Format menu and select

Text . This displays the

Text dialog box. Click the

Text Animation tab to display the

Text Animation page in the

Text dialog box.

3.

Select an Effect

Click the

Effect list box to display the possible effects from which you can choose. Select an effect that you want Impress to use when bringing the text onto the screen during the presentation.

4.

Click the Direction from Which Text Comes

Once you've selected an effect from the

Effect list, the

Direction arrows will activate. Click one of the arrows to indicate the direction from which the text is to arrive. For example, if you click

To Bottom button (the down arrow), the text will arrive on the screen from the top of the slide and drop downward until it rests in its proper position in the text box.

Depending on which effect you chose, you may or may not be able to change the

Properties section. If the

Start inside option is available, clicking it will make the animation begin inside the text box instead of entering the text box first from the direction you indicate. In other words, if you selected the

Scroll Back and Forth effect, the text will first enter its area from the direction you chose and then shake back and forth. If you've clicked to select the

Start inside option, however, the text instantly appears inside its text box area and begins moving back and forth without any entrance. If available, click to select

Text visible when exiting option to keep the text on the screen after the animation completes (for when you don't request a continuous animation). Click the

Continuous option to keep the animation going after it has performed its first cycle. The

Continuous option keeps the animation going until the next slide appears on the screen.

NOTE

You're sure to lose your audience's attention if you keep the animation continuous as you talk! Leave the

Continuous option unchecked for presentations you'll be controlling while speaking. You can keep the

Continuous option checked for any animations that take place on automatic presentations that run on their own.

The

Increment value determines how many

pixels the animation moves at each step. The smaller the number, the slower the animation moves; the larger the number, the faster the animation moves. The

Delay option determines how long Impress waits before repeating the animation if you've elected to use continuous animation. Click the

OK button to close the dialog box.

KEY TERM

Pixels An abbreviation for

picture elements , which refers to the smallest addressable dot, or graphic element, on a screen or printer.

5.

Test the Animation

You don't have to run your entire presentation to test each text animation effect. Once you set up text for animation, click anywhere outside the text area (to remove the resizing handles) to see the effect immediately. To edit the effect, click the text once again and select the

Format, Text menu option to adjust the animation.