Selecting Motion Paths already established

Feb 22, 2021

Am I missing something? I have 2 motion paths for one object moving one way on motion path 1 and the other way for motion path 2.

I want to change to the timing of each independently but since they are superimposed over each other graphically, I don't see any easy way that I can see to select each one. Why isn't there a drop down available in the motion path names to do this easily?

15 Replies
Sally Wiedenbeck

Unfortunately you're not missing anything, that's just a frustrating way that it works right now. If you have triggers associated with the motion paths, selecting the trigger will select the corresponding motion path. Otherwise, you may have to move the top path up or down while you work on them, and move it back when done.

Bill Vernola

Thanks for the response. However, I respectfully disagree with your assessment. I selected a trigger in the list referencing a motion path and the only item to get selected in the slide (or layer) is the object itself. Leaving the object selected, and selecting each tab at the top of the window showed that on the Animations tab showed Motion Paths, but it shows all motion paths with no avenue for selecting the individual one. thank You. I appreciate your input. It just appears it is a shortcoming of the program features.

Leslie McKerchie

Thanks, Bill. I appreciate you sharing that example with me and I can understand how overlapping motion paths can be difficult to navigate.

You can toggle between the selected motion paths using Shift + Tab to do so. I recorded a quick Peek 360 video to explain.

In addition, I've included this conversation in our feature request where an animation pane, for more control, has been requested.

Mark Fensom

Hi Leslie. Thanks for that worked for me.

I have an object with four motion paths. If I correctly select the first motion path I created, Shift + Tab will cycle through until I reach the fourth. If I choose the second motion path I created, I only get to see motion paths 2, 3 and 4. 

An easy fix would be returning to the first motion path and cycling through them all instead of selecting another object.

Eric Santos

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for reaching out! You can still use Shift+Tab to toggle through overlapping motion paths in Storyline. Please make sure the Animations tab is selected after clicking on the object with the motion paths for them to appear. In the GIF below, I clicked Shift+Tab to cycle through the four motion paths.

toggle through overlapping motion paths

If that doesn't work, would you be willing to share your Storyline file with us so we can look at what you have set up? You may also share it privately by sending it along in a support case. We'll delete it when we're done testing!

Also, I went ahead and added your voice to the feature request for a more efficient solution for toggling through motion paths, an animation pane in Storyline.

Jose Tansengco

Hello NATEC INTERNATIONAL,

On my end, I am able to cycle through the motions paths using Shift + Tab regardless of the order in which they were added to the slide. 

Would you be willing to share a copy of your project file here or in private by opening a support case so we can take a closer look at what's happening? We'll delete it when we're done testing!

Matthew Bailey

I have found that the shift+tab method does work but if you have a lot of objects on your slide, it may toggle through a LOT of other things before you get to the next motion path on the object you had originally selected.

On the project I was just working on, I could only select the top motion path. When I shift+tabbed, it selected some random other object. But I just kept tabbing and eventually it cycled to the path I was looking for.

The program obviously has a list of objects which includes the motion paths, and we can cycle through it using shift+tab, but we are not allowed to just see the list to make selections therefrom. That would be a super helpful feature, but shift+tabbing does work if you're willing to just mash it enough times until the path you're looking for comes up. (Don't miss it, or you'll have to cycle through every object on your slide again!)

Walt Hamilton

Matthew, you're right, selecting from a list would be the best. In the meantime, I have found you can select the top path, click FORMAT, and record the X Y values of its endpoint. Then move one end slightly out of the way, and select the lower path. When you are finished, type the X Y coordinates back into the boxes to restore the first path to its original position. For me, that is a faster and more accurate method than shift+tab.