Entrance animation/exit animation - can we do emphasis?

+1!

Thanks for casting your vote, folks! We've got our eyes on this request. 😁

Hello, I notice a number of people requesting emphasis for entrance and exit animations going back a few years, including myself. But I haven't heard if it is actually coming. Can you confirm whether or not this affect is in the works?

Thanks very much!

Deb

Hey Deb,

This feature isn't on our immediate roadmap, but I'm happy to share your experience with the team so they're aware this would be helpful for you.

By the way, replying via email includes your signature with contact information in the public forum.  Feel free to edit your reply here!

I have found a little workaround that might be helpful for some. See screenshot attached - 

On this slide I want the yellow arrow to flash or blink 3 times and then disappear, so I create 3 instances of the arrow and adjust their timing to a fraction of a second, and make sure they are spaced out an equal distance. They are not perfectly aligned in the screenshot to show there are 3, but you would want to align them on top of each other, and then group if you want. Applying the fade in and fade out animations with a .1 or .2 duration will help soften the blinking effect.

Would be really great to have this built in though... 

Some of us have been asking for this (and submitting feature requests) since the first beta for SL1. :(

Thanks Alyssa!, reply edited. :O

Could you share with us the rationale for this feature not being implemented yet? I understand that it may not be as easy we (me) may think. But as it 'seems' basic and a number of us are asking for it (its standard in other software), it might make it easier to be patient and accepting to have some clarity on the issues or delays.

Many thanks,

Deb

Tristia, thanks very much for sharing your workaround! I love how this community collaborates and shares. :)

Cheers,

Deb

Hi Deb,

Our team prioritizes feature requests based on the number of users impacted/requesting it, the ease of implementing the feature, the availability of viable workarounds, and the value add to the product. This is one that folks have talked about over a length of time, but hasn't bubbled up to the top based on those other factors. 

Hey, Deb!  Even though I and others have been asking for this since Day 1, I try not to get disappointed by that (and I probably should not have posted what I did since it may have implied negativity). The length of time of a request should not be a weighing factor.   There probably has not been enough total demand for it, they may deem other things more important, or maybe there are technical issues.

I really have to remember it's not my software to develop.  It's theirs and they probably have a road map and goals for what they want to do.  User feedback via feature requests helps with that.  They pick their path and work it, probably adjusting it over time.  Our choice is to trust that process and wait or to move on to another tool, or come up with some workaround.

I bet they've been inundated with thousands of feature requests through the years.  Heck, if Articulate implemented everything that I wanted to see in SL, I'd keep them busy for a year or three at least.  But they can't do everything.  Like any software company, they only have so many resources for improving and fixing things--and also keeping up with technology changes.  I don't envy what they do. :)  It looks damn hard.  But I do think they do a pretty good job with it,

They have their processes and we have to trust they work.  I have no reason (or experience) to doubt that.  If you really want something, you need to enter a feature request and maybe professionally urge others to do so.  The more requests, the better.   Heck, I'm notorious for repeating a feature request or two from time-to-time. ;)

And there have been times when I was sure something I requested was popular with many other folks and I found out later that it wasn't.   (It's humbling to find out you're the only one requesting something. ;) )

Actually, one thing that I've always wanted since Day 1--more editable shapes--was sort of fulfilled this week with the SVG import from PowerPoint.  Having direct import of SVG or the shapes in SL360 would have been better, but I'm one happy camper with what we got.  :)

I think one thing that generates frustration is that some requests feel like "low-hanging fruit." That perception may be wrong, but if it is, Articulate never explains why it is wrong. So some seemingly "easy" requests languish for years and it leaves the impression that Articulate just isn't paying attention or doesn't care. 

This request is a good example. There are already entrance animations, exit animations, and motion path animations implemented in Storyline, so to an outside observer it seems like adding emphasis animations would just be more of the same and not too hard to implement. Yet there's been no forward motion on this request in over 6 years.

It's definitely not at the top of my priority list (basic, foundational stuff like being able to combine ANDs and ORs in a trigger are way higher up in my wish-list), but I wouldn't complain if some of the smaller, easier stuff got released first because it makes sense to clear out some quick-fixes that people want from time to time. Maybe an adjustment in how Articulate prioritizes requests would help, giving a little more weight to something when it is easy to implement?

It's hard to give sound advice from my outside position of ignorance, but the optics of 6+ years waiting for a seemingly simple feature is not great and perhaps could be a trigger for some rethinking about how these things are prioritized internally at Articulate.

Love the tool, love these forums, but I think there is room for improvement in this area.

Respectfully,

    -Ray

Interesting that you mention the "easy to implement" stuff. 

Lately, I was also wondering if a once-a-year, "low-hanging fruit" type of release might be possible.

YMMV :), but I'm also prone to give them a lot of slack because so often they have to react to things totally out of their control--a technology changes, a supported browser changes something that breaks something else, a major LMS changes something, a standard changes or dies (e.g., Flash).   And addressing things, perhaps some unexpected, like that may mean diverting resources from adding new things, I don't know--I'm just a user.  Part of why I don't envy them sometimes.  :)  Has to be tough.

And, fairly or not, sometimes success breeds increased expectations.

I'm a former Captivate user. I'm creating scientific educational material. I really need the ability to add an animation for EMPHASIS (not at the start and end). Can we have an update on when we might expect this?

Articulate, as policy, usually never reveals if or when a possible feature might be implemented.  If I were them, I'd probably do the same.  (Heck, I'm a longtime beta tester and I have no idea what's coming.  :) )

The best thing to do is EVERYONE (and I mean everyone) who'd like this feature submit a feature request and include a brief, professional sentence or two business case of why the feature is needed.  The more honest voices, the better.

You can do emphasis with JavaScript.

Sent from my iPhone

Thanks, as always, Phil, :) but I really prefer not to.  :)  Haven't hacked JavaScript in years and have no intention to pick it up again and re-learn things.  Just an old foggie and curmudgeon.

This is something, IMVHO, that should be in the tool itself.  To be honest, it is one of my Top 10 most severe disappointments with Storyline.  Just because something can be done with JavaScript is not an excuse to not put a much-needed feature in the tool IF many, many, many, many users are asking for it, IMVHO.  :)   Of course, YMMV! :)

Most of the users that I know would run if I told them to do JavaScript. :)  Even fewer would spell it right.  ;)

Just saying :-)

I agree it should be in there. I am hoping that they will expose the whole animation engine.

Sent from my iPhone

This would be so so so so helpful! Please add me to the vote. 

Yes please. Have been hanging out for emphasis animations.

It's been a while on this thread, but...

on the off-chance that someone finds this thread, looking for a way to make something Blink from start to end...

I attached a little demo.

These are the steps:

Make a Layer:

Add a box
It will be blinking, so make it look like you want

Timeline for box: 1 second duration
Entrance Fade in animation 0.5 seconds
Exit Fade Out animation 0.5 seconds

1 trigger
 Show this layer when timeline Ends

(layer autohides when new (blinker) layer appears)

On main screen add trigger at top
Show Layer (the one you just made above) when timeline Starts

 Hi Kim!

You can make it a hollow box with the line set as a dashed line, and surround your object of importance with the flashing dashed lines (or a solid line - or a colored box, or with a picture embedded, like I did above)

I put hollow flashing boxes around items on the screen that I want the user to click on. They click right on the box, even though it is hollow (go figure!).
So...
I don't have to add a hotspot. I put the trigger on the blinking hollow box to open another layer, etc.

hope that helps
dave

uhhh.... nope... turns out those hollow boxes don't keep their clickable boundaries very well. I ended up putting hot spots on top of the hollow boxes. That way the running ants (ok, more like ants running in place) were not involved in the clicking.

dave

Dave, you don't need an additional hotspot; just make sure your box shape has a solid fill and then set it to be 100% transparent. That way, there is still something inside the outline to catch the click.

Cheers!

    -Ray