# Adding animations

If you already have animation files in SWF, AVI, or GIF format, you can add them to Captivate slides. You can add animation files to slides the same way that you add other content. You can edit slides containing an animation file as you would any others.

Tip: Captivate contains a gallery that has buttons, sounds, and animations (in SWF format) for you to use in your projects. By default, the gallery is stored in the following location when you install Captivate: C:\Program Files\Macromedia\Captivate\Gallery.

#### To add animations to slides:

1. Open a Captivate movie.

2. In Storyboard view, double-click the slide to which you want to add an animation file.

3. From the Insert menu, select Animation.

The Open dialog box appears.

4. Navigate to the animation file (with the SWF file extension) you want to add to the slide, select it, and click Open.

The New animation dialog box appears.

5. Set properties and options as required.

6. Animation tab

   Statistics: Lists key information about the animation file you selected including version, width, height, and the number of slides that comprise the file. The total duration of the animation file is also shown.

   Transparency: This option defines the transparent quality of the animation file. Select a value between 0-100% with a low number resulting in a very dim version of the animation file and a higher number displaying a brighter animation.

   Change Animation: Select this option to display the Open dialog box and navigate to a different animation file. Select a new animation file, click OK, and the new animation is added to your slide. This feature can be useful if you are testing different formats of the same animation image (e.g., SWF, GIF, or AVI) to see which one looks best on the slide.

7. Options tab

   Continue movie while playing animation: Select this option to continue playing the movie while the animation plays. As the movie plays, the animation overlays all slides and layers. This option is useful if you have an animation file that you want to continually appear in a corner of the movie.

   Stop playing animation when slide ends: Select this option if you want the movie to stop playing when the movie moves to the next slide. (The amount of time a slide displays is set in the various timing options such as the Slide timing dialog box and the Movie Preferences dialog.)

   Show for [#] seconds: Specifies an exact time, in seconds, for the animation to appear. Type in a number or use the arrows to set a number.

   Appear after [#] seconds: Plays the animation file after the slide has displayed for the selected number of seconds. Type in a number or use the arrows to set a number.

   Display for rest of movie: Select this option to display the animation on this slide and keep displaying the animation until the end of the movie.

   Loop: Select this option to have the animation file continuously loop (play over and over again) as the movie plays.

   Effect: Use the pop-up menu to select a transition effect for the animation (e.g., Fade In only or No Transition).

   In [#] seconds: Specifies the amount of time for the animation to fully fade into view.

   Out [#] seconds: Specifies the amount of time for the animation to completely disappear from view.

   Apply effect to all animations in the movie: Select this option to apply the changes you made on this tab to all animations in the movie.

8. Audio tab

   : Click to play the audio file.

   : Click to stop playing the audio file.

   : Click to remove the audio file from the animation.

   Edit: Displays the Edit Audio dialog box. This dialog box lets you edit the audio file in a variety of ways, such as inserting silent periods and adjusting the volume.

   Audio: Displays the name of the audio file, if any, associated with the animation.

   Record new: Click to open the Record Audio dialog box. (Recording audio requires some basic equipment.)

   Import: Displays the Import Audio dialog box. This dialog box lets you browse to an audio file and import it.

   Select Existing: Click to open the Audio Library. The Audio Library lists all audio files that are already part of the currently open Captivate movie.

   Fade in [#] seconds: Specifies the number of seconds for the audio to fade in to full volume.

   Fade out [#] seconds: Specifies the number of seconds for audio to fade out to silence.

6. When you are finished, click OK.

The animation is added to the slide.