Working with Builds and Actions

Quick reference

• 00:04 If you were to ask me what one feature sets Apple's Key Note apart from
• 00:08 other presentation tools.
• 00:10 I would tell you that it's the cinematic quality, and precision of its builds and
• 00:13 actions.
• 00:14 So what are builds and actions?
• 00:16 Well, to put it in plain terms, it's how objects on a slide enter, move around on,
• 00:22 or exit a slide.
• 00:23 Its the animation aspect of a presentation.
• 00:26 Telling your story to an audience can sometimes be a challenge.
• 00:30 With key note we not only have images video and
• 00:33 audio to build and tell our story, but
• 00:35 we can use animations to illustrate motion and communicate progress.
• 00:40 There's a lot to cover in this lesson so let's dive right in.
• 00:43 To keep things relatively simple,
• 00:45 I'm gonna use a circle object as our animation subject.
• 00:49 To add a build which is another way of describing how an object enters or
• 00:53 exits a slide,
• 00:54 we first need to click on the Animate button on the right side of the tool bar.
• 00:59 Now we can see the Build In as well as the Build Out buttons, and
• 01:03 we'll come back to the Action button later.
• 01:06 To add a build in, we simply click on the Add an Effect button to reveal a list of
• 01:09 builds specific for this object type.
• 01:12 One thing to note about this list is that it is dynamic, and
• 01:16 it varies depending on the type of object that we are building in.
• 01:19 For example,
• 01:20 a chart would give us a slightly different list of builds to choose from,
• 01:24 some of which are specific to the chart type that we choose to build in or out.
• 01:28 In this example we will choose one of my favorite builds to show off, the Flame.
• 01:33 Before committing the build style to our object,
• 01:35 we can Preview it first by clicking on the Preview link to the right of the build.
• 01:41 If we like it, we can commit the style to our object by clicking on the build name.
• 01:45 That's it.
• 01:46 Now that we've chosen our build type,
• 01:48 let's look at some of the other customization options that are available.
• 01:51 First and foremost is our timing.
• 01:53 We can adjust how long it takes for this bill to complete.
• 01:57 If we want the build to take longer, we simply slide the slider to the right.
• 02:01 We can also choose a value by using the stepper buttons or
• 02:04 even enter a value manually like this.
• 02:07 Once we have the value we want we can test the build by pressing the preview
• 02:10 button above.
• 02:12 Next, let's add a build out.
• 02:14 This will define how the object will exit the slide before we move
• 02:17 on to the next slide.
• 02:18 To add a build out we click on the build out button.
• 02:22 Click on add an effect and choose an effect from the list.
• 02:25 As you've noticed,
• 02:26 this process is exactly the same as it was to choose a build in effect.
• 02:31 Do we have to use a build out if we use a build in?
• 02:33 Absolutely not.
• 02:34 We can choose build in without a build out,
• 02:37 just like we can choose a build out without a build in.
• 02:40 We can also choose to use both or neither, it's completely up to you.
• 02:44 To spice things up a little let's add another object.
• 02:46 This time we will add a text box and add several lines of text using bullets.
• 02:51 Now that we have a text box with content, we want to add a build in for this object.
• 02:56 For this example we will choose the flip effect because we have added our build
• 03:01 effect to a textbox, we have additional customization options to choose from.
• 03:05 For example, we can choose the direction of our build, whether the text bounces or
• 03:10 not, and even the text delivery type.
• 03:13 From here we can choose to have the text appear by object,
• 03:17 which would be the entire textbox at once by word or by character.
• 03:23 To illustrate what this could look like, let's change the timing to 10 seconds and
• 03:26 choose the By Character option.
• 03:32 To take it one step further, we can also choose to deliver this build By Paragraph,
• 03:37 Paragraph Group, or Highlighted Paragraph under the Delivery options.
• 03:42 The most common form of delivery,
• 03:44 especially when working with bullet lists, is by paragraph.
• 03:48 In other words, one bullet at a time.
• 03:51 Let's switch gears just a little bit and talk about actions.
• 03:55 While bullets define how an object enters or exits the slide, and
• 03:59 action defines what happens to the object while its on the slide.
• 04:02 In this example, we will choose to apply a scale effect to our circle.
• 04:07 Once we have selected that effect, we now have options to choose from.
• 04:11 The default action for a scale effect is to enlarge the object.
• 04:15 We can adjust the size of the end result by simply resizing the object like this.
• 04:19 We can also choose to shrink the object using the same scale effect,
• 04:23 byre-sizing the object.
• 04:24 So that it's smaller than the original, like this.
• 04:29 We can even change the location of the final object by relocating the object
• 04:33 like this.
• 04:34 When we do this, Keynote will automatically apply a second action,
• 04:38 called move.
• 04:39 Now that our customizations are done, let's click preview to see what happens.
• 04:44 If we deselected an object with some of these more advanced actions applied we can
• 04:48 go back, and make adjustments by selecting the object and clicking the red diamond.
• 04:54 This will allow us to make changes to the size, and location of the end result.
• 04:58 If we look at the formatting pane we will see one more attribute that
• 05:01 we may want to adjust.
• 05:03 The acceleration type.
• 05:05 We can choose None, Ease In, Ease Out, or Ease Both.
• 05:09 This is a personal preference and you'll need to explore all of these on your own
• 05:13 to see what best suits your needs.
• 05:15 There's no right or wrong way to use any of these builds or actions, and
• 05:19 there's no defined style guide to follow.
• 05:21 It's complete, 100% up to you and your personal judgment.
• 05:25 There are so many various combinations to choose from, so
• 05:28 let your creativity take over as you explore all the options.

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