Quizmaker '13: Syncing Animations

Articulate Quizmaker makes it easy to sync animations. After adding animations to objects in your quiz, open the timeline to sync them with narration and other events.

In this tutorial, we'll explore three ways to sync animations:

• Using the timeline to manually adjust object timing and duration
• Using the playhead
• Using cue points

Using the Timeline to Manually Adjust Object Timing and Duration

To manually change the timing of an object, just drag it left or right along the timeline to the point where you want it to appear on the slide.

By default, an object's duration will extend to the end of the slide's timeline, but you can change that, too. If you want it to disappear before the end of the slide, simply drag the right edge of that object along the timeline until you reach the point where you want it to animate out.

When you right-click an object on the timeline, you'll also have the following additional options to help you manage the timing and duration of that object:

• Align to Cue Point: This moves the object along the timeline so its starting point lines up with the Cue Point # that you select. To learn more about using cue points, see the section called "Using cue points to sync animations" below.
• Align to Playhead: This moves the object along the timeline so its starting point lines up with the current position of the playhead (the red vertical line).  
• Show Until End: This displays the object until the end of the slide.
• Show Always: This displays the object for the entire duration of the slide, from beginning to end.
• Timing: This allows you to specify the Start Time and Duration of the object (in seconds).

Using the Playhead to Sync Animations

The quickest and easiest way to synchronize animations is to use the Align to Playhead feature. Here's how:

1. On the slide where you want to sync animations, open the timeline.
2. Press the Play/Pause button in the lower left corner of the timeline to begin playing your audio. Tip: You can also press the spacebar on your keyboard to quickly play/pause audio.
3. When the narration reaches the point where you want an object to animate in, click the Play/Pause button again to pause the audio playback (or press the spacebar on your keyboard).
4. Then right-click the object you want to animate in, and select Align to Playhead. This moves the object along the timeline so its starting point lines up with the current position of the playhead.
5. Repeat steps 2–4 until you've synchronized the entire slide.

Using Cue Points to Sync Animations

Another way to sync animations is to use cue points. Cue points let you precisely align objects on the timeline.

First, you'll need to add some cue points to your timeline. Here's how to add, delete, and move cue points:

• To add a cue point, right-click anywhere in the Timeline panel and select Create Cue Point at Playhead. Or, to add cue points on-the-fly, click the Play button in the lower left of the timeline, and then press C on your keyboard at each place in the narration where you want to insert a cue point.
• To delete a cue point, right-click the cue point marker on the timeline and select Delete Cue Point.
• To delete all cue points on a slide, right-click anywhere in the Timeline panel and select Delete All Cue Points.
• To move a cue point, simply drag it with your mouse left or right along the timeline.

When cue points are in place, you can sync animated objects with them. Right-click an object in the timeline that you want to sync with a cue point, scroll to Align to Cue Point, and select the appropriate Cue Point #. This moves the object along the timeline so that its starting point lines up with the cue point you selected.

Find Out More About the Timeline

For more information regarding the timeline's features and how to control the duration and timing of objects, see this tutorial.