I'm working on a slide that has an object coming in along Motion Path 1, and then retreating along Motion Path 2, back the direction it came.
I wanted to change some timing on the animation, and I'm having trouble selecting one of the Motion Paths, or even telling which one I have selected. Since they overlap, i'm only able to select one.
Is there a way to select which motion path i'm editing without actually clicking on the path? Or a quick way to get to that other path?
You may have to move the motion on top in order to select the one underneath. You could make adjustments, then move them back on top of one another. Also, if you had a trigger associated with the motion path, you can select the trigger and it should highlight the path.
As I couldn´t use the trigger to show the correct path I have the following solution.
I have many pathes and inversed ones laying exactly on top of the original ones.
I name the pathes clearly (i.e. "xxx path" and the other "xxx path inverse" then to swith with the tabkey (or SHIFT + Tabkey) between them. Then I click exactly on the selection frame of the current selected path with the right mouse button to ensure it is the correct name of the path I want to edit.
Thanks so much for sharing how you made this work for you Thorsten. This could certainly help someone that runs across this conversation in the future.
We need a better way to select motion paths and animations in general since they are used si much here. I think an animations selection panel like the one in PowerPoint would be very helpful.
Also, allowing multiple objects to move on the same path would be very helpful!
There has got to be a better way to select different paths including selecting the beginning and end points. I've got several line motion paths on a single object all in line with each other and overlapping. I'm getting carpal tunnel trying to select the endpoints of the right path. It's driving me crazy!!!!
Hey Eric. I'm sorry you're having a tough time grabbing those different motion paths. I'm going to add your voice as well with a feature request so we can track it properly. Thanks for sharing your experience.
I 2nd the frustrations here: motion path selection, value editing, and visualization are all quite frustrating to use. A selection list with point editing would be great, but even better (or in addition to) when doing static animation I suggest visual keyframes on the timeline! (AE style...I know you probably here "make it like AE" a lot...they've really perfected a lot of these conventions so hard to not!)
Next and related frustration: zoom and fade keyframing for all object types!
On the positive side, the actual animations (with the start/end speed easing) that Storyline produces once you get through fussing with the paths.. looks really quite good!
I'd like to throw my voice into the mix as to the need for a better way to edit motion paths besides selecting them. I'm using motion paths to move a group of three objects; two paths to move the objects "up" and two to move them "down". All of the paths overlap and lining them up is getting frustrating.
A panel that lets me select from a list of paths, and set precise start and end points would be great!
Another idea...the ability to tell an object to move along a path "From end A to end B, or from end B to end A"...that way you'd only need one path to move an object back and forth.
Katie...thank you very much for the response. I'd appreciate some insight, if you can provide it, on what Articulate is working on regarding making motion paths easier to manipulate. This thread is 6-years old, and I've seen other posts expressing some of the same frustrations. If Articulate is working on something I'd be curious to know what it is.
I'm also stuck with overlapping motion paths and unable to select the one underneath. There should be an easy way to do this. I submitted a feature request. Hoping it will get done in my lifetime!
I'm also stuck with overlapping motion paths. It's so frustrating.. and literally delaying my deadline. I don't understand why when you click the trigger object it isn't highlighted or why it doesn't show the different motion paths in the timeline. I even named all my paths and tried to sort it that way with triggers, now only some of them work and not all, when before my path was just skipping one.
Has the above been looked into at all since the OP 6 years ago?? I agree with everyone else that this is extremely frustrating and seems like a pretty basic feature that should already have been incorporated into Storyline-- there needs to be a way to easily select individual motion paths that does NOT require having to move other overlapping paths out of the way to select one underneath... surely you could just add a drop-down or something to the tool bar allowing you to select the path you want to edit?
The fastest way is to clic on the Animation tab, then press Tab to navigate throught the all the objects AND animation paths. When a path is selected, you can esealy read its name in the animation tab "name" field and modify options, and as the path is already selected you can easily clic and move Start and End points if needed.
The things that can be improve are : - the TAB navigate through all the object and paths in a list by "time of creation". So if you create 2 paths, then 3 buttons then 2 other paths... the TAB will navigate through the items in that order : path 1, path 2, button 1, etc.... And you can't reorder this list. I think it should be easier if all path of a same object were grouped in the list. - Second, at the end of the list the TAB do not go back at start. You have to clic anywhere to reset the TAB list. - Last, the Animation "name" field should be bigger for long path names
Why are we creating segments of paths and overlapping paths in the first place? Because what we are trying to achieve is what was available to eLearning developers using Macromedia Authorware 25+ years ago: the ability to start and stop an object at any point on a pre-determined path.
What this meant was that I could, for example, SMOOTHLY move a image of a box moving along an assembly line using a slider control, from one end to the other and back (or stop anywhere along the way). I could SMOOTHLY pan a panoramic image of the Manhattan Island skyline using a slider control, again from left to right and back or anywhere in between. Based on a user-entered number, the box or the panorama could instantly "jump" to that position on the path, whether it was the start point, end point, or somewhere in between, And it wasn't just straight paths. It was paths with an infinite number of segments (straight or curved), or paths that were completely free-form. Paths that shared the same start and end point, so that I could essentially have an object that looked like it was running rings around another object.
I could ALSO have the learner click on the box, and move it along the SAME path, from end to end or anywhere in between. Based on where the learner "let go," I could have the course respond based on the location on the path where the box was dropped, and launch a new exercise, provide additional information, and so on.
Oh, and did I mention it wasn't just static images that could be moved along a predetermined path? It was animations (GIF or SWF, for example) inserted into the same Display Icon.
It is incredibly frustrating that you cannot isolate motion paths on a object. I have a photo that has four separate motion paths, I cant add or edit one without messing up one of the other motion paths. We should be able to see and lock motion paths on the timeline.
Since a link to the feature request associated with this thread was never posted (and a better way of selecting motion paths still doesn't seem to be available EIGHT years later), I'll throw in my "upvote" for this as well. This is so unintuitive and a huge waste of time. If you've produced a product that's primarily there to allow for full customization within your platform, the selection of all those various objects that go into said customization should be easily selectable by the author. This is basic functionality on practically every other content creation product I've used. You can't even get creative by sorting overlapping animation paths into different layers because each layer has no idea what exists on the other layers. Ugh.
This is driving me nuts !!! Doing animations in SL is so much harder because of some simple detail like this...
This would have been made so much easier if the relative startpoint option was true, so one could separate the motion paths and apply them with triggers a bit like vectors.
But no, in relative mode the starting point is still the green dot, so you have to put it in the right starting place.... Thus overlapping motion paths ... What a mess :((((
26 Replies
Hello Joe!
You may have to move the motion on top in order to select the one underneath. You could make adjustments, then move them back on top of one another. Also, if you had a trigger associated with the motion path, you can select the trigger and it should highlight the path.
As I couldn´t use the trigger to show the correct path I have the following solution.
I have many pathes and inversed ones laying exactly on top of the original ones.
I name the pathes clearly (i.e. "xxx path" and the other "xxx path inverse" then to swith with the tabkey (or SHIFT + Tabkey) between them. Then I click exactly on the selection frame of the current selected path with the right mouse button to ensure it is the correct name of the path I want to edit.
Thanks so much for sharing how you made this work for you Thorsten. This could certainly help someone that runs across this conversation in the future.
We need a better way to select motion paths and animations in general since they are used si much here. I think an animations selection panel like the one in PowerPoint would be very helpful.
Also, allowing multiple objects to move on the same path would be very helpful!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Kyle. I've submitted a feature request on your behalf.
Thanks. Much appreciated.
There has got to be a better way to select different paths including selecting the beginning and end points. I've got several line motion paths on a single object all in line with each other and overlapping. I'm getting carpal tunnel trying to select the endpoints of the right path. It's driving me crazy!!!!
Hey Eric. I'm sorry you're having a tough time grabbing those different motion paths. I'm going to add your voice as well with a feature request so we can track it properly. Thanks for sharing your experience.
I'll up vote this feature request too.
Thanks for chiming in, Michael!
I 2nd the frustrations here: motion path selection, value editing, and visualization are all quite frustrating to use. A selection list with point editing would be great, but even better (or in addition to) when doing static animation I suggest visual keyframes on the timeline! (AE style...I know you probably here "make it like AE" a lot...they've really perfected a lot of these conventions so hard to not!)
Next and related frustration: zoom and fade keyframing for all object types!
On the positive side, the actual animations (with the start/end speed easing) that Storyline produces once you get through fussing with the paths.. looks really quite good!
I'd like to throw my voice into the mix as to the need for a better way to edit motion paths besides selecting them. I'm using motion paths to move a group of three objects; two paths to move the objects "up" and two to move them "down". All of the paths overlap and lining them up is getting frustrating.
A panel that lets me select from a list of paths, and set precise start and end points would be great!
Another idea...the ability to tell an object to move along a path "From end A to end B, or from end B to end A"...that way you'd only need one path to move an object back and forth.
I really like that suggestion also!
kylemullaney.com
Hi, Everyone!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us! Each one is safely documented for review, so we'll keep you posted on any motion path animation changes.
Let me know if there's anything else I can do. I'm happy to help!
Katie...thank you very much for the response. I'd appreciate some insight, if you can provide it, on what Articulate is working on regarding making motion paths easier to manipulate. This thread is 6-years old, and I've seen other posts expressing some of the same frustrations. If Articulate is working on something I'd be curious to know what it is.
Thanks.
Second that interest! I'm moving around Motion Paths in my current projects and it's quite tedious :(
I'm also stuck with overlapping motion paths and unable to select the one underneath. There should be an easy way to do this. I submitted a feature request. Hoping it will get done in my lifetime!
I'm also stuck with overlapping motion paths. It's so frustrating.. and literally delaying my deadline. I don't understand why when you click the trigger object it isn't highlighted or why it doesn't show the different motion paths in the timeline. I even named all my paths and tried to sort it that way with triggers, now only some of them work and not all, when before my path was just skipping one.
Has the above been looked into at all since the OP 6 years ago?? I agree with everyone else that this is extremely frustrating and seems like a pretty basic feature that should already have been incorporated into Storyline-- there needs to be a way to easily select individual motion paths that does NOT require having to move other overlapping paths out of the way to select one underneath... surely you could just add a drop-down or something to the tool bar allowing you to select the path you want to edit?
The fastest way is to clic on the Animation tab, then press Tab to navigate throught the all the objects AND animation paths. When a path is selected, you can esealy read its name in the animation tab "name" field and modify options, and as the path is already selected you can easily clic and move Start and End points if needed.
The things that can be improve are :
- the TAB navigate through all the object and paths in a list by "time of creation". So if you create 2 paths, then 3 buttons then 2 other paths... the TAB will navigate through the items in that order : path 1, path 2, button 1, etc.... And you can't reorder this list. I think it should be easier if all path of a same object were grouped in the list.
- Second, at the end of the list the TAB do not go back at start. You have to clic anywhere to reset the TAB list.
- Last, the Animation "name" field should be bigger for long path names
Why are we creating segments of paths and overlapping paths in the first place? Because what we are trying to achieve is what was available to eLearning developers using Macromedia Authorware 25+ years ago: the ability to start and stop an object at any point on a pre-determined path.
What this meant was that I could, for example, SMOOTHLY move a image of a box moving along an assembly line using a slider control, from one end to the other and back (or stop anywhere along the way). I could SMOOTHLY pan a panoramic image of the Manhattan Island skyline using a slider control, again from left to right and back or anywhere in between. Based on a user-entered number, the box or the panorama could instantly "jump" to that position on the path, whether it was the start point, end point, or somewhere in between, And it wasn't just straight paths. It was paths with an infinite number of segments (straight or curved), or paths that were completely free-form. Paths that shared the same start and end point, so that I could essentially have an object that looked like it was running rings around another object.
I could ALSO have the learner click on the box, and move it along the SAME path, from end to end or anywhere in between. Based on where the learner "let go," I could have the course respond based on the location on the path where the box was dropped, and launch a new exercise, provide additional information, and so on.
Oh, and did I mention it wasn't just static images that could be moved along a predetermined path? It was animations (GIF or SWF, for example) inserted into the same Display Icon.
You and me both! I do miss the advanced simplicity of Authorware, everything since seems a step backwards.
It is incredibly frustrating that you cannot isolate motion paths on a object. I have a photo that has four separate motion paths, I cant add or edit one without messing up one of the other motion paths. We should be able to see and lock motion paths on the timeline.
Since a link to the feature request associated with this thread was never posted (and a better way of selecting motion paths still doesn't seem to be available EIGHT years later), I'll throw in my "upvote" for this as well. This is so unintuitive and a huge waste of time. If you've produced a product that's primarily there to allow for full customization within your platform, the selection of all those various objects that go into said customization should be easily selectable by the author. This is basic functionality on practically every other content creation product I've used. You can't even get creative by sorting overlapping animation paths into different layers because each layer has no idea what exists on the other layers. Ugh.
This is driving me nuts !!! Doing animations in SL is so much harder because of some simple detail like this...
This would have been made so much easier if the relative startpoint option was true, so one could separate the motion paths and apply them with triggers a bit like vectors.
But no, in relative mode the starting point is still the green dot, so you have to put it in the right starting place.... Thus overlapping motion paths ... What a mess :((((