How to create a special effect for 'wipe' and 'wheel'

[pooljt_2]

New to Captivate. Recently purchased Captivate 7. I'm trying to obtain an object 'add effect' similar to the "wipe" (from left) and the "wheel" animation effects found in PowerPoint. I want to simulate hand-drawing an emphasis line under text. I have a .png graphic of a hand-drawn red line (transparent background) that I'd like to appear by "wiping" from left to right. The "stretch" effect (from left to right) found in Captivate's "Add Effect" doesn't look right; it's obviously a 'stretch' instead of a 'wipe'.  Likewise, I would like to hand-draw a circle or oval around certain text or other objects to draw attention to these items. The "wheel" animation in PowerPoint works perfectly for this.

Is there a way to do this in Captivate? Maybe some variation of one of the built-in effects that I've missed? Camtasia Studio has "sketch motion graphics" built in - which also does this nicely.

[Lilybiri]

With the slider widget of Infosemantics you can create the wipe effect. And think that the rotator widget could do the same for your wheel effect, but didn't try it out.

[pooljt_2]

Thanks for the info on Infosemantics and their widgets. As a Newbie I wasn't aware of them and their cool, useful products. However, after going through all the tutorials I couldn't figure out how the 'slider' widget would serve my need to simulate a hand-drawn line, from left to right, under text on a Captivate 7 slide. Yes, it can be used to animate (or move) any object, but not to "reveal" an object like the "wipe" animation in other programs.

I'm thinking now that it would be easier to just build an animated GIF or a small flash file to show a hand-drawn red line moving from left to right. I have Flash CS4 but have never used it. Something else new to learn.

Thanks again.

[Lilybiri]

I would use exactly the same technique that I use to create such an animated GIF in Photoshop: have a mask (object in same color as background) moving with the slider widget. I thought they have somewhere an example of that use?

Lilybiri

[RodWard · Accepted solution]

To create a wipe effect, you might be better off using the Masquerade widget instead of the slider.  Just animate the mask object using a Captivate motion effect.  This will give you a realistic wipe effect.

See some examples of masking effects with Masquerade widget here:

http://www.infosemantics.com.au/adobe-captivate-widgets/masquerade

[Lilybiri]

Indeed, Rod, sorry but I'm still jet lagged and confused.

[pooljt_2]

Rod, yes, it's the Masquerade widget that performs the "reveal" or "wipe" effect. I'm trying it out now. Thank you.

Tom

[alfredmack]

I'm trying to implement wipe animations in my captivate project, unfortunately the suggested solution isn't working in HTML5. I'm just try to ask if is there any other solution for implementing wipe animation in captivate 2019.

[Lilybiri]

In those good old SWF days there were a lot of very useful widgets around, like this one which I have used a lot.

If the background is a solid color, I often use a shape as a mask, to which I apply a motion path.

[alfredmack]

I have the same idea but I have seen an option to go the effect xml file, I have opened it in notepad I still believe there is someone around who can help on editing this xml file to create custom effect. Unfortunately there is no documentation for it so I'm still struggling where to start editing.

[Lilybiri]

I have edited the XML files, but find it easier to create a custom effect IN Captivate . Have a look at this blog post:

How to use Custom Effect in Actions? - Captivate blog

It is not really about the creation of the effect, but may be an inspiration. For motion pahts I always use guides and its snapping featture to have the correct position of the points of the path.

[Brett_Conlon]

Unfortunately, it seems that there is no way to create the simple wipe effect if exporting to HTML5, yes? Is this a limitation of HTML5 or just of Captivate?

There's so many great opportunities where this effect could be employed when animating layered elements on the slide.

If I can find a good XML coder in the business, do you think it could be possible to create an action script that could be adapted to create this effect or would each code need to be set up differently for each object?

Again, I'm sadly finding Captivate lacking in some of the most simple features. 😞

Chz, Brett

[Lilybiri]

Bit contradictory information here: ActionScript is for SWF output....

I have quite a bit of custom effects, wipe can be simulated with motion paths.  You can create an animation (OAM) with Animate CC. A way to roundtrip with After Effects would also be great. Whether this 'simple' feature makes learning more efficient, I am bit doubtful. Engaging courses do not depend on glitter effects.