Presentation Animation Timeline Scene Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing animation user interface in presentation applications like Microsoft PowerPoint is cumbersome, making it difficult for users to effectively utilize and manage animation features, particularly motion path animation effects, which require complex adjustments and visualization.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for generating discrete states in an animation timeline, allowing users to view and manipulate scenes directly, with features like a ghost version of objects to aid in motion path adjustments and a user-friendly interface for adding and managing animation effects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the current animation user interface with drop-down menus, spinners, and dialogs is used, then animation effects can be applied, but the interface becomes cumbersome and difficult to navigate
Solution Approach 1:
The animation creation interface is segmented into distinct functional areas: a visual canvas area for direct object manipulation and a properties panel for parameter adjustment. This segmentation allows users to work with animations through intuitive visual interactions rather than navigating complex nested menus and dialogs.
Solution Approach 2:
A ghost image is introduced as an intermediary visual element that displays the expected final position and appearance of an object after animation. This ghost image acts as a mediator between the user's drag operation and the actual animation effect, providing immediate visual feedback and eliminating the need for complex parameter adjustments through menus.
2Adaptability or versatility
If motion path animation effects are applied with curved paths, then animation complexity increases, but additional logic is needed to properly scale the motion path
Solution Approach 1:
The motion path animation system performs automatic scaling and positioning adjustments without requiring user intervention. When an object is dragged to a new position, the system automatically calculates and applies the appropriate scaling factors to the motion path, maintaining the path's shape and proportions while adapting it to the new endpoints. This self-service approach eliminates complex manual scaling logic.
Solution Approach 2:
The ghost image provides real-time visual feedback during the drag operation, showing users the expected result of their actions. This feedback mechanism allows users to intuitively adjust motion paths without needing to understand or manually calculate scaling parameters, as the ghost image automatically updates to reflect the current state.
3Loss of information
If users need to confidently re-position the end state of motion path animation, then visualization of the end state is helpful, but the current interface does not provide this
Solution Approach 1:
A ghost image is displayed as an intermediary element that shows the expected final state of the animated object. This ghost image appears at the destination position and maintains the visual appearance of the object, allowing users to see exactly where the animation will end before committing to the position. This eliminates uncertainty in re-positioning operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The ghost image is displayed in advance during the drag operation, showing the predicted end state before the user releases the mouse button. This preliminary visualization allows users to make informed decisions about positioning without needing to execute the animation first to see the result.
Data Source
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AI summary
An animation timeline is analyzed to determine one or more discrete states. Each discrete state includes one or more animation effects. The discrete states represent scenes of a slide in a slide presentation. The concepts of scenes allows user to view a timeline of scenes, open a scene, and direct manipulate objects in the scene to author animations. The animations can include motion path animation effects, which can be directly manipulated utilizing a motion path tweening method. To aid in direct manipulation of a motion path of an object, a ghost version of the object can be shown to communicate to a user the position of the object after a motion path animation effect that includes the motion path is performed. The ghost version may also be used to show a start position when a start point is manipulated.