Adobe Captivate: ZigZag Motion Paths

by Kevin Siegel
 
Back in June, I wrote about the new Effects feature in Adobe Captivate 5. Now I'd like to introduce you to Motion Paths (specifically, ZigZag Motion Paths).

A Motion Path allows you to control not only where an object appears on your slide, but the path it takes across the slide before it exits.

To create a Motion Path, first apply an effect to an object: Right-click and select Apply Effect to open the Effects panel (which will appear at the bottom of your window, grouped with the Timeline by default).

In the lower left of the Effects panel, click the Add Effect button (the FX icon).

Select an Entrance effect (I selected Entrance > Fly In > Fly In From Right).

Entrance effect

To apply the ZigZag Motion Path effect, right-click the same object, click the Add Effect button again and choose Motion Path > ZigZag.

On the Effects panel, drag the ZigZag effect right until its left edge lines up at the 7s mark (you'll find that working with the Effects panel is similar to working with the Timeline).

Effects panel

And now for the zigging and zagging: Select the object and notice the number 1 that appears in the lower right of the selected object.

Click the number 1 to reveal the object's current ZigZag motion path.

ZigZag1

Drag the green arrow at the end of the motion path to the right and just off the slide.

ZigZag2

Drag the white dots at the top and bottom of the path to change the height of each zig and zag.

ZigZag3

Preview the new few slides to see your new motion path.

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Looking to learn Captivate? We have a couple of options… we offer two online classes for Captivate 4, Beginner and Advanced. Click here for details on the Beginner class. Click here for details on the Advanced class. We also have a 3-hour class devoted to Advanced Actions. Click here to learn more about that class. Lastly, the new Captivate 5 has been released by Adobe. We are currently offering a Captivate 5 Essentials class (the Advanced class is under development).
 
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Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kevin_siegel

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