- allows you to scale an object horizontally or vertically to make it larger or smaller.
There are three Scale animation actions available:
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| - allows you to scale an object horizontally or vertically to make it larger or smaller. |
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| - allows you to scale an object horizontally to make it wider or thinner. |
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| - allows you scale an object vertically to make it taller or shorter. |
Add the Scale Horizontal / Vertical, Scale Horizontal or Scale Vertical action to your trigger, as described in adding actions. The appropriate tab will automatically appear when you add the action.
At the top of the tab is the Object List. Click the name of the object in the list that you want to skew. By default, This Object is selected (see Note).
Note:
Only one object can be selected from the Object list. The default option This Object refers to the object in which this action has been placed – this option is useful if you want to copy this action to other objects that will follow the same animation because you do not have to re-select the new object name from the list.
Use the Amount panel to set the percentage the object should be scaled by. Enter the percentage in the Horizontally or Vertically box (or both if you are using the Scale Horizontal / Vertical action).
The Horizontally box sets the horizontal position of the object and therefore does not appear in the Amount panel for the Scale Vertical action. Equally, the Vertically box sets the vertical position of the object and does not appear in the Amount panel for the Scale Horizontal action.
You can enter positive or negative numbers in the Horizontally and Vertically boxes. In the Horizontally box a positive number will increase the width of the object, while a negative number will decrease the width. In the Vertically box a positive number will increase the height of the object, while a negative number will decrease the height. In the Scale Horizontal / Vertical action you can use positive and negative numbers to scale an object in a variety of ways.
Use the Duration option to set the time over which the animation will happen. Use the spin buttons to increase or decrease the time.
Note:
If the duration is set to 0 seconds, the animation will happen immediately. In other words, you won’t see the animation, just the end result.
Use the Type panel to set the type of movement the object will make. There are two options: Scale By and Scale To (see Note). By default the Scale By option is selected.
The Scale By option will scale the object from its current scale position by the percentage entered in the Amount panel i.e. if the object is currently scaled by 20% and you enter 80 in the Vertically box of the Amount panel, the object will have a final scale value of 100%.
The Scale To option will scale the object to the percentage of scale entered in the Amount panel regardless of the objects current scale position i.e. if the object is currently scaled by 20% and you enter 80 in the Vertically box of the Amount panel, the object will have a final scale value of 80%.
Note:
You can enter any number in the Amount panel – this means you can have objects scaled off the page. It is also useful to note that Opus will remember an objects current scale position, so you can reset objects you have scaled off the screen.
Click on the …once option if you want the object to animate just once.
Click on the times box if you want to set a specific number of times the object should animate. Use the spin buttons to set a specific number of times.
Click on the …continuously option if you want the object to animate continuously.
Note:
Use the Stop Animation action if you want to stop an object animating continuously.
Click on the down arrow to the right of the Speed Control option to select how the object will animate over a length of time, e.g. at a regular pace or faster at the beginning or end of the animation, and so on. By default, the Constant is selected.
Use the At End options to set the position of the object when it completes its animation. There are three options: Stop, Return and Reset. By default, the Stop option is selected.
Use the Send "Synchronise to End" trigger if you want to start a Synchronise to Animation End trigger when the object reaches the end of the animation.
Click on the Apply button to save your changes.
Note:
When using the Scale actions – the centre of the object is scaled outwards.
You can also scale an object using the Stretch option in the Effects tab of the object’s Properties dialog. For example, you may enlarge an object when a user moves the mouse over an object as a visual effect. Please note, this method does not animate the stretch over a time period, it simply stretches the object to the amount you have set.
