Showing non-zoomed objects during a zoom

Hi Greg,

Would it work for you to create a layer - you could name it zoom - and insert a larger image here? you could even add a grow animation to the image)

This is where the text boxes and other objects would be added.

On the base layer, insert a button (you could name it zoom) that Learners would click to get to the zoomed in image.

If that's not a workable solution for you, could you perhaps upload an example so the community could take a look?

You can add objects but you need to think about the zoom, add text boxes with smaller fonts, or small buttons that will be normal size on zoom

Hi Greg! It looks like Becky and Phil are assisting you here, just let us know if you need anything further.

@All,

Thanks for your responses and the suggested workarounds. I take it the short answer to my question is that no, Storyline's zoom function is all or nothing-- I can't' have some zoomed and some non-zoomed objects.

@Rebecca,

Your first suggestion is apt. My coworker actually did something similar:
1) Show an equation sheet

2) Zoom in on one equation (Zoom Transition Speed = Very Slow, so people can see it zooming in)

3) To allow the zoom to end instantaneously (see step 4), create a second Zoom region with the same area as the first, but set Zoom Transition Speed = Instantaneous. On the timeline, butt this second Zoom up against the end of the first zoom.

4) At the same time the second zoom ends, appear a high resolution version of the equation of interest.

5) Now we have a "zoomed" version of the equation that we can move, manipulate, and cover with whatever non-zoomed objects we like.

The equation does move noticeably on step 4, as the high-res image doesn't line up perfectly with the zoomed image; however, it effectively communicates the idea.

I hadn't tried the Grow animation. It's an awesome idea; thank you! I tested the following:

1) Show a small version of the image.

2) Behind the small image, grow (from center) the large version of the image.

3) As the large image's size matches the size of the small image, disappear the small image.

4) (the large image continues to grow to its full size-- including going off the screen, if desired, much the way a zoom works)

This technique is fairly fast to set up, and it creates the illusion that I've zoomed in on just one object.

There are a couple limitations.

First, depending on the sizes of the small and large versions of the image, it can be hard to get the disappearance of the small object to line up with the growing object. The Size and Position box definitely helps (right-click the image; select Size and Position), but my impression is that it's much harder to make things line up if there's a large size difference between the small image and the large image.

Second, it seems Storyline lets me grow an image about only its center point (setting the animation to Enter From a side or a corner doesn't work with this technique). As a result, to maintain the illusion that the small image is growing, I can "zoom" only on a location at or near the center of the image. There might be workarounds for this, but the only things I've thought of so far would be time consuming and kludgy.

Really, it would be nice to have more control over the Grow animation, including the options to Grow an existing image and to set the center of growth.

I haven't yet tried your second suggestion-- to add a button and thereby make the "zoom" interactive. I think I can handle the technical issues. Do you have any experience with audience response to this kind of mechanism? My current project has narrations like, "... so if we look at this region of the table..." accompanied by a zoom, but I can see how I might modify the narration script so it would make sense to the Learner to decide when they wanted to zoom/unzoom.

@Phil,

Yeah, it looks like that's the solution I'll go with whenever I can. I discovered after I wrote my OP that I *can* set the font size in Storyline to less than 8 point; I just have to type it into the box manually (rather than use the pulldown).

@Leslie,

Thanks for your attention. Maybe tell your developers how excited people in the forums would be if we had greater control over the Grow animation?

(I'll submit a feature request once I have a bit more experience with the workarounds discussed above).

Again, thank you, everyone.

Thanks for the detailed update Greg! Those requests go to the development team

Hi Greg,

Sounds like you've tried assorted solutions. Interesting. Would be happy to take a look at what you've done so far if you'd like. although it doesn't sound like you need any help!

Re:

I haven't yet tried your second suggestion-- to add a button and thereby make the "zoom" interactive. I think I can handle the technical issues. Do you have any experience with audience response to this kind of mechanism? My current project has narrations like, "... so if we look at this region of the table..." accompanied by a zoom, but I can see how I might modify the narration script so it would make sense to the Learner to decide when they wanted to zoom/unzoom.

I don't have any audience response to this particular interaction, sorry. I CAN tell you something you undoubtedly already know about adult learners (probably true of Learners in general): they often prefer having control over their learning. And you'd be engaging them by suggesting they "click here to look at this region of the table."

I'm NOT suggesting that this is the kind of engagement (clicking on an image) that encourages higher order thinking skills, so please don't misunderstand me. But they at least can't just completely sit back passively. This may (may not!) keep them a bit more alert as they need to periodically respond to an instruction. I know it works for me

If you prefer to have this happen with layers, (my first suggestion) automatically (no Learner intereaction), you could place an object offstage and have the layer triggered when the timeline started for that offstage object.

Yes, the grow animation can add a little more "zoom-like" perception to this. I've used shrink and grow in projects I've worked on to "zoom out" a photo and "zoom in" another.

Yes, please do send along a feature request for more flexibility with animations, more animations, and even motion paths, like PowerPoint! I've done so...the more the merrier.

And if you have any follow up comments or questions, please shout out!