Motion Paths

Mar 17, 2021

Diane Jacques
By Diane Jacques

Hello. I've created a quiz race car game using motion paths. Learners advance along the track each time they correctly answer a question. Problem is, I can't figure out where to position the cars so they will start where they last left off on the track.  When the learner advances, the cars noticeably jump from their last position, and it doesn't look good. Is there any calculation I can use for this? The guides don't really help. Any help will be appreciated!

2 Replies
Ned Whiteley
3 years ago03/17/21 at 1:19 pm (UTC)

Hi Diane,

The easiest way to align your cars correctly is to make use of the coordinates for the object that are shown in the Size and Position tab in the menu.

For example, on slide 1.3, if you click on the Base layer and then the Try Again layer, you will see that the red car jumps. If you check the coordinates for the car on the Base layer you will see that it is at X: 152px , Y: 27px :

 

If you then check the Try Again layer, you will see that the car is at X: 132px, Y: 72px :

 

If you now edit the X value in the Try Again layer to 151px, the car will remain in the same place when you jump between the two layers.

To ensure the car moves to the correct spot on the previous slide to align with the starting point on the next slide, you need to look at the distance between the starting point on the previous slide and the starting point on the next slide (i.e. the difference in the X coordinates). You then need to adjust the value of the length of your motion path to equal this amount.

For example, if the car is at x=379px at the start of its motion path and is at x=230px at the start of the next slide, the length of the motion path needs to be set to 149px:

I hope this isn't too confusing, but if you have any further queries, just get back to me here.

I have attached a quick adjustment of your original file to help you get going.

Sign In to Reply