• Blog
  • Meet Our Trainers
  • Training Schedule
  • Contact
  • Privacy

As heard in training...

How Do I Loop Motion?

March 18, 2021   Yukon Learning    6 Comments

We have a great time working with motion paths during our hands-on Storyline 360 training. Animation and movement can bring an e-Learning slide to life by increasing engagement or by illustrating a concept that may be best taught when an object is in motion. Well, what if we need that animation to continually repeat? …Like our space example here!

Endless Animation with The Articulate Trainer TM

Creating motion is fairly simple (and yet, versatile) and in doing so, we can determine where and how the object will move across the slide, not to mention the timeframe of when we want it to move.

Sometimes, we also need an animation to keep repeating, like tires spinning on a vehicle. Let’s easily repeat a motion path endlessly (or “loop” it) for this “as heard in training” question, “How do I loop motion?”

 

Select an Object

Insert your object onto the slide (like the spaceship in our space example) and keep it selected. (You’ll notice we added a background image on the slide master to match our spaceship idea for this build, but feel free to experiment.)

Spaceship graphic on a slide with a starry background

 

Add a Motion Path

With the object you’ll animate still selected, build your motion path animation by selecting the Animations tab and the Add Motion Path button. For this build, we have chosen to construct a Custom | Curve motion path in the shape of a figure eight, but you’ll create whatever path you need to move the object along. If you also build a Custom path, you’ll either click and hold to draw the path or single-click around the slide to create anchor points, double-clicking to complete the path.

Spaceship now with a figure eight curved motion path attached to it

Note: We also added a “Fade” Entrance animation to the spaceship for a little added flair, but it is not necessary. Whatever looks best!

 

Name that Path!

Name your motion path in the Name field. I have chosen the name “Spaceship Motion Path,” but call this path anything that helps you remember what this motion path is for.

Tip: For you right-clickers out there, you can also rename your motion path by right-clicking the path and selecting “Rename!”

Window saying "Rename"

 

Make Path Adjustments

Adjust your motion path parameters to be sure you have the desired duration and path options. For this build, we have chosen to increase the duration to 10 seconds. (Remember: this is space…everything moves slower in space!)

Under the Path Options setting, with the motion path selected, we have also chosen to set the Easing | Direction to None. This way, the spaceship will not speed up or slow down (AKA “ease”) at the beginning and ending of the motion path. Feel free to experiment with the Path Options settings that are right for you!

Exploring the Path Options on the Animations tab with a motion path selected

 

Verify the Trigger

Now, you may need to adjust the default motion path trigger to occur at the appropriate time. A trigger is created automatically when a motion path is built, so we just want to verify this trigger before moving forward. For purposes of this build, we have elected to use the trigger as is.

Trigger Wizard window that says Move Spaceship along Spaceship Motion Path When the timeline starts for the spaceship object

 

Looping

Here’s where looping comes in! Right now, the object only proceeds along its motion path one time and stops, but we need to make it happen over and over again. To do this, we’ll add one more trigger to repeat the motion path whenever the motion path completes.

Trigger Wizard window saying Move Spaceship along Spaceship Motion Path When the animation completes on the Spaceship of the Spaceship Motion Path

There are now two triggers that control the motion path: one that starts it moving to begin with and one that moves it along the same path again, and then again, and again… It’s endless…like space!

Preview the project to check out how you did! Spaceship flying by

Looping motion paths can provide yet another way to create engaging content for your learners! Let us know if you have questions, or how you use these concepts in your own designs and development projects.

Plus, download our source file to further explore this build, and if you want to see how we looped the video on the second slide, be sure to try out a similar concept that I shared on our blog exactly a year ago on looping video.

John Berendes

 

 

 

~John B.

Comments

  1. Shane says

    March 18, 2021 at 12:23 pm

    Brilliant John! Thanks for the crystal clear breakdown.

    Reply
    • Yukon Learning says

      March 18, 2021 at 3:07 pm

      Thanks, Shane! 🙂

      Reply
  2. chantal callow says

    March 18, 2021 at 12:50 pm

    I have used the trigger “jump to time (0), to make a motion path repeat, but it appears very jumpy. Is there a way to make it appear more smooth when the object repeats the motion?

    Reply
    • Yukon Learning says

      March 18, 2021 at 3:17 pm

      Hi, Chantal!

      You might try the trigger to “Move” when the “animation completes” (of the very same path) and let us know if that helps. Alternatively, you could potentially slightly adjust either the time the “Jump to” trigger is actually jumping to or the path Easing property in Path Options.

      You call also feel free to email us your .story file at blog@yukonlearning.com if you’d like us to take a peek and potentially provide additional insight, if you’d like!

      Have a great day!

      Reply
  3. Randy Schmidt says

    March 18, 2021 at 3:21 pm

    Makes so much sense once you see it for yourself. Nice and simple! Thanks John

    Reply
    • Yukon Learning says

      March 18, 2021 at 3:29 pm

      Great, glad to hear it, Randy! Thanks!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

     

Join  

Enter your name and email  below to instantly subscribe to The Articulate Trainer blog:

 
 
 

We take your privacy seriously. No spam ever.

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Meet Our Trainers
  • Training Schedule
  • Contact
  • Privacy

Copyright © 2023 The Articulate Trainer

Articulate, Articulate Storyline, and Articulate 360 are the trademarks or registered trademarks of Articulate Global, Inc.
Yukon Learning and Making E-Learning Easy for Everyone are the trademarks or registered trademarks of Yukon Group, Inc.