Zoom troubles... zoom region vs. changing state.. neither look great :-(
Jul 27, 2017
Hello!
I'm having troubles with zooming in on some small text that is on the cover of document--represented in an image. I've tried two ways, and I'm not quite happy with either one. Maybe there's a third way I haven't thought of as well. A sample file is attached.
Sadly, it's government work so I've had to remove the audio and block out some things. I want to call the user's attention to a URL at the bottom of a page. This happens about 1/2 - way through the slide--you'll see a box with a big orange rectangle show up. The text at the bottom of that shape will then zoom out/become larger, and then return.
On the first slide, I tried a zoom region. The problem is that to honor proportion, the text must be very small, hence the need to zoom. When I did the zoom, the effect is close to what I want, but some of the letters are squished together. I don't know if this is a function of the region size, the font, or both, and whether it can be corrected. It also looks a bit messy, as it takes over the whole slide, so perhaps there is a more visually appealing way to do this.
On the second one, I tried changing the state. This looks better. It's not quite the zoom effect, but it will do. Also, the text, when 'zoomed' appears on 4 lines instead of 1 line, but I suppose I can live with that.
Do you have suggestions for how to improve? Is there a better method? Do you have a preference for method, knowing what I'm trying to do?
9 Replies
Changing the font seems to work better. But it doesn't solve the taking over the entire slide issue.
Hi Janet,
I know your pain with this and had to come up with a solution to this kind of an issue a few years back. This should work nicely.
I had to take a screenshot of the bottom section of the text and add animation to the screen shot so it zooms as a section enlarging to fill the screen. I made a 3rd slide on your example to show you what I did. I shortened it's length so I didn't have to wait so long to see it. Let me know if this works for you and if you'll need anymore help.
Daniel,
I like the way this looks, but the issue of the font--letters smooshing together--is still present. I'll experiment with a different font to see if it makes a difference. For some reason, it looks like the letter "c" is the offender. Just tried Arial, which in fact, works a little better.
A couple of questions, as I haven't worked much with Line Motion paths.
1) Are the red broken lines intentional? (to call attention to the fact that that is the text being enlarged)? Or does that happen automatically as a result of using Line Motion paths?
2) Since it looks like you added a second image, could I just as easily make another one that looks right, e.g., instead of a screenshot--I could make it in another file and save it, then pull it in for the motion path? Or are the two objects in the motion path (rectangle 1 and picture 1) one and the same? (Am I making any sense at all?) I'm thinking they aren't. That is, I could substitute anything I wanted for picture 1 in your 3rd slide version...?
The letters are definitely a font issue. Ariel should work better. You could zoom in to the interface and take another screen capture when you have the font all straitened out. And then replace the screen shot I used just by right clicking on it. You'll find the option in the menu. Or make it however you wish in a separate graphic. Just make sure you make it large enough to look good at the zoom level.
For this method it's easier to use an image because you would need to add 2 animations and sync them up for the scaling in the animation to look correct. It's do-able but a little more tricky.
The broken lines are a shape I added and set to look that way to call attention, as you pointed out. You can delete it or alter it if you wish.
Let me know if all of this makes sense.
Daniel--I'm working on this now and playing with it. Check me on this.... The screenshot/picture that is at the end of the motion path--it is the exact same one and same size as the one at the beginning of the path (it's the same image right? Only one image that seems to appear twice). It's larger than what is in the red broken line area. One doesn't notice this because the motion path doesn't start until a certain point in time, so it's hidden up to that point. But when it first appears, it grows (I guess the software determines the starting size) to the size I created as the object.
That's how my preliminary testing is working. Also, did you put a shadow with your image? If so, was it just a regular formatting effect?
Thanks!
Hey Janet. I think you understand it. But to be sure here is my explanation.... The image was made large (by me when I screen captured it) and has a animation attached to it that is a line motion path. This path is essentially working in reverse. Meaning that from the green point of the line motion path the animation moves to the red point of the path. It starts small (you can't see that in the SL work space) and gets larger along the path until it reaches the size I made the picture be. And yes, it starts at a certain point in the timeline.
I did put that shadow on it in SL. You can remove/change it in the "Format" tab using "Picture Effects".
Ok! I think I've got it. It took a little extra oompf because I didn't realize one of the trigger objects had changed (not sure how... probably I clicked on some object by accident while trying to figure out timing, placement, etc.) and it wasn't moving properly.
I'm attaching the revision. First slide is yours, second is mine, trying to be a copy cat. See what you think. Not sure I did the shadow quite right. Might need to play with that a little more. I'll clean it all up back in my 'real' file.
Looks great! I think you've got it! =) And your shadow looks fine. You don't have to make it look just like mine.
Well, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, right? Thanks so much for your help. I really appreciate it.
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