Open and Closed Motion Paths in PowerPoint 2007, 2003, and 2002 for Windows

Motion Paths are essentially just ordinary paths (or lines) that have curves, points, etc. If you are familiar with drawing tools in PowerPoint, or if you use a graphic illustration program like Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW, you know that paths can be either open or closed.

A circle is a good example of a closed path, whereas a curve is an open path. Look at Figures 1 and 2, below to view some samples of open and closed paths.

Figure 1: Closed Paths

Figure 2: Open Paths

So how is the concept of open and closed paths relevant to motion path animations in PowerPoint?

This may not be terribly obvious but any animation that plays on a closed motion path gets back to the original starting point of the animation. Thus the starting and ending points of such motion path animations are the same.

On the other hand, animations that play on open motion paths have distinctly different starting and closing points. Examples of these are animations that play on a line or curve path from one part of the slide to another.

If you know how to edit points in paths using PowerPoint's capable drawing tools, you can easily convert open paths to closed, and vice-versa. Even if you are not too familiar with these drawing tools, you can quickly convert an open path to a closed one, or the other way around using options that we explore next.

Follow these steps to explore open and closed Motion Paths in PowerPoint 2007 for Windows:

1. Create a new presentation with a blank slide. Add two squares or any other shapes, and add motion path animations to both of them. For the first shape, add a closed motion path such as a Pentagon; for the second shape add an open shape such as an S Curve 2. Press Esc to get back to slide editing mode.
2. Now make sure that the Custom Animation Task Pane is visible as shown in Figure 3, below. If this Task Pane is not visible, you won't be able to see or select motion paths.
3. For PowerPoint 2007 users, make sure that the shape is still selected. Then, activate the Animations tab of the Ribbon. Next, click the Custom Animation button to bring up a Task Pane of the same name, as shown in Figure 3. Remember, this is a toggle option: click once to show the Custom Animation Task Pane, and click again to hide it!
4. Users of earlier PowerPoint versions can again make sure that the shape is selected. Then, they should choose the Slide Show | Custom Animation option to access a similar Task Pane, as shown in Figure 3, below.
5. 
   Figure 3: Custom Animation Task Pane
3. Now, observe both motion paths on the slide. You'll notice that the Pentagon animation only has a green arrowhead, whereas the S Curve 2 animation has both red and green arrowheads, as shown in Figure 4, below. This is PowerPoint's way of telling you that one of these is a closed motion path, and the other is an open one. Closed motion paths show only one green arrowhead, whereas open motion paths show both red and green arrowheads.
4. 
   Figure 4: Arrows in Motion Path
4. Select the shape that has the Pentagon animation, and then select the actual Pentagon motion path. Now right-click and choose the Open Path option, as shown in Figure 5, below. The immediate result of choosing this option is that you will now see both red and green arrowheads in this motion path, as shown in Figure 6, below.
5. 
   Figure 5: Open Path option
6. 
   Figure 6: Red and Green arrowsheads
5. You can now right-click the motion path again, and choose the Edit Points option, as shown in Figure 5, above. You'll immediately see vertexes on the path, as shown in Figure 7, below. You can now select any of these vertex points and drag them around to create something that does not resemble a Pentagon anymore! We'll cover the editing of these vertex points in more detail in a future tutorial.
6. 
   Figure 7: Vertex
6. Now, select the other shape on the slide, and then select its S Curve motion path, as shown in Figure 8, below. Right-click and choose the Close path option, as shown in Figure 9, below.
7. 
   Figure 8: S Curve Motion Path
8. 
   Figure 9: Close Path option
7. This action will result in a segment being added to your motion path that connects the closing point back to the start point, as shown in Figure 10, below. If you could see two arrowheads earlier, you'll see only one now.
8. 
   Figure 10: One Arrowhead
8. If you don't fancy the straight line that PowerPoint adds to close the path, you can right-click the motion path and choose the Edit Points option. Thereafter click anywhere in the line segment (make sure you don't click a vertex point), and drag it down or up to create a curve from the line. This looks more smoother and organic than a straight line. Compare Figures 10 and 11.
9. 
   Figure 11: Curved Line
9. Save your presentation often.