Hi

I have spent a couple of hours going over the help within web engine. I have understood the basic principals of paths and linear motion. I the basic principals of how to start a text object in 1 spot and stop it a little ( 300 pixles ) later. The helps dialogues are not helping me much. Can someone help me please with an idiots step by step guide to achieveing this rudimentary tast ?

Thanks


I can not for the life of me

for the sake of clarity I would like some help on on to start and stop a text box using animation,

thanks vincej

Hi Vince,

Well, to do that you would use the 'Enable Motion Path' option and create a path from point A to point B. But... in the current beta, motion paths are not quite working. If you need that functionality (as opposed to the linear paths which work fairly well but move right across the page) You might find it better to wait for the next update (which we hope won't be too much longer). The tutorials for Web Engine have not been written yet.

Ok, I was just reminded that you can also do that with an object path.

- Create a line with the Path tool (right-click to end the drawing)

- Create an action on your Text object and select the line in 'Follow Object Path'

- Press OK.

The text will follow the line when you preview.

thats what i did, but what i would like to know is if i have a line (see diagram below)is it possible to start from A but then stop at B rather than going back and forth?


A <--(start)
|
|
|
|
|
B <--(stop)

*sorry for the bad diagram, i tried

Thanks - I tried that approach - it seemed to have promise.

Ideally I want object 1 to travel across the page to a give point and stop. Then object 2 automatically starts it's travel across it's path to the same location. Object 1 now disappears leaving object 2.

It is easy to start the object off traveling down the path, but then I could not figure out how to stop it ( without reversing ) at a given point. I tried experimenting with the non reverse button.

Also it persistend in wanting to execute the action continously even though I had unchecked the continous button.

thanks Vincej

Using Harpo's instructions the object should start and stop without any additional settings. Try this:
Create a new, blank project
create a line across your screen using the Polygon tool to use as a path (as per Harpo's instructions above).
Create another object, such as a rectangle or text object
Select the second object and click the 'Action' function and select OK when prompted
Click the 'Paths' tab, and for Object Path select obj1.

Now Preview. The rectangle should follow the line and then stop.

ok....i got that working, how would you put a time delay on it, e.g for it to start one second after the page has loaded?

Select the animated object, go back to the Action Editor > Timing > Start Delay

i've tried that, but it doesn't work, i clicked the timed in seconds but it makes no difference, i have tried the delay at 1, and 100 but still no luck. Do you know why it doesn't work, or more to the point, what am i doing wrong?

it will alter the speed, the number of times, all of the variables except the time one has absoloutly no affect, why?

It could be a bug in the beta - I'll report it to development.

If it turns out to be a bug a work-around would be to extend the length of the line you are using as a path.