Advice on how to create this

Jan 27, 2022

Please know that I'm VERY new. I apologize in advance for this long post, but I thought it would be helpful to understand what I'm trying to create and what I've done so far.

I'm creating my first project for practice (but that I will use in real life if it works out). I want to create an image of a clock whose hands go backwards at a certain point during narration (conveying the idea of turning back time). I first thought that I could just get a pic of a clock, somehow separate the components so that I could add a motion path to just the hands. But I couldn't figure out a way to separate the components of the pic (I used to be able to do that in a basic WORD doc, so I was surprised that I couldn't find out how to do it in SL).

Then, I thought that I might get a stock clock pic from Adobe (I'm using a free trial now), remove the hands, and put that pic in my slide; then, I could use Shapes to put in arrows that could serve as hands and add a motion path to those. Well, it didn't work out with Adobe (for some reason, I couldn't for the life of me erase the hands on my pic, so I gave up).

Then, I decided to just insert a circle shape in my SL slide and create hands with arrows. When I applied a motion path to the hands, though, it didn't turn out as I expected: The front point of the arrow isn't the turning path. Rather, the entire arrow just moves down. There's no curve as if a hand is turning back.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? What am I missing?

12 Replies

Sarah Hodge
Staff

2 years ago01/27/22 at 2:50 pm (UTC)

Hi Vickie! Those details are very helpful! Would something like this download work?

Storyline: Looped Clock Animation

It has all the pieces to the clock and space on the ends of the clock hands to make it turn a full circle when animated.

2 years ago01/27/22 at 5:29 pm (UTC)

Thank you!

2 years ago01/27/22 at 5:30 pm (UTC)

Unfortunately, it's not opening for me.

2 years ago01/27/22 at 7:45 pm (UTC)

Hey Vickie! What happens when you try opening it? When I open it, I see this pop-up window. If you're seeing this, just click Upgrade and it should open for you.

If this isn't what you're seeing, please let us know.

2 years ago01/27/22 at 8:30 pm (UTC)

Thank you! That worked.

Richard Watson
Hero

2 years ago01/28/22 at 7:01 pm (UTC)

Vickie,

I played around with the idea of a spinning clock. It uses a spin animation and a counter to make it work. It's not what you were looking for but it was still fun to play around with the idea. I created it using a single layer, triggers to jump back to the beginning of the timeline, and a counter to change the state of the hour hand. You can see a demo of it here.

Note: the image below is an animated gif that loops. The actual demo will show the clock run until infinity! :) LOL

Richard

2 years ago01/28/22 at 7:21 pm (UTC)

This is amazing! I am so impressed. I wish I had your skill! Thank you for
the description and demo. I will try to emulate it, although I don't
understand some of the processes referred to (e.g., the counter variable
part). This gives me something to play around with, though. I love the
cat's blink.
Thank you!

Vickie

2 years ago01/28/22 at 7:24 pm (UTC)

When I get some time later today or this weekend, I'll add the .story file for you to see. The best way to learn Storyline is to take what others created and backward engineer it. You are on the right track to developing your skills.

Richard