Forum Discussion
It's true that you can't apply an animation to different states of an object. So, for example, if you have a picture, create a new state, and edit the image with the "change picture" function (or with other formatting options), you won't be able to animate the picture in that state.
However, you can apply an animation to an object that is inserted or pasted into another object's state(s). So, using that same picture, if you create a new state, delete the picture from that state, and then insert/paste another picture into that state, you will be able to animate the picture in that state.
In the attached file, I cut the blurred photo from the custom state, pasted it back into the state, and then added animations. The end result is the same as Steve's. (Like him, I only edited the background photo on the first slide.)