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you get when you wiggle your fingers. generated movement of anything on your computer screen.
There are at least three different levels of digital animation:
1 Basic. At the most fundamental level, animation consists of simple transitions (wipes and dissolves between PowerPoint slides, for example) and path animations (moving text and logos).
2 Intermediate. The next level up is cel animation (the method used in cartoons) and special effects, which include all manner of distortions and color effects applied to a graphic, photo or movie.
3 Advanced. The most sophisticated level of digital animation is 3D animation. Movies such as "Toy Story" and "A Bug's Life" are the most prominent examples of what can be achieved through the latest computer technology. Ambitious designers can take advantage of these same tools to manufacture some dazzling 3D creations of their own.
Back when visual aids consisted mainly of transparencies and slides, the only moving element of most presentations was the presenter. That's not the case anymore. Now that the computer has become a favorite tool for creating and giving presentations, the palette of possibilities for bringing the visual part of a presentation to life has become vast indeed. And one of the most fascinating possibilities available to presenters nowadays is digital animation.
The term digital animation doesn't really mean much by itself, though, because it covers everything from the simplest PowerPoint slide transitions to the most sophisticated Hollywood special effects. Likewise, the learning curve for creating animation on a computer ranges from completely effortless to mindnumbingly complex.
Depending on your needs, skills, time and budget, you can create anything from a simple flying logo to the presentation equivalent of "Toy Story."
But before examining the wide range of animation tools available to presenters and learning how to use them, it's important to recognize that knowing when to use animation is as essential to a successful presentation as knowing how.
When does animation work best?
Because animation has become so easy to create and use in presentations, many people -- especially computer neophytes - tend to overuse it. In the hands of someone who has just discovered the possibilities of PowerPoint animation, for instance, words tend to fly in from every corner of the slide, pictures zoom...