Golf Ball Animation using Custom Path in PowerPoint 2010

Motion paths allow you to define custom paths in your animated PowerPoint presentations. We already covered PowerPoint motion paths in our previous article but today we want to see a real example on how we can use custom paths in PowerPoint to animate the path in a golf ball until reaching the hole.

To make this demonstration we will use the PowerPoint golf ball shape available on SlideModel which is a simple golf ball created with PowerPoint shapes (not an image).

How to animate the Golf Ball using Custom Path in PowerPoint 2010

First of all, we will choose a nice background to make this presentation. You can just leave the default background or download any of our free Golf PowerPoint templates. In our demonstration, we are using a nice green golf court with the hole and flag.

Then, insert the ball somewhere in the slide and choose Animation in the PowerPoint ribbon. Now in the animation pane choose Custom Path.

Then, draw the path from the ball to the hole. Don’t worry if the path doesn’t look very well, we will edit the path points to achieve any desired direction and effect.

Then, right click over the path and click Edit Points. Now you can choose to add points, delete segment or close the path. In our case we will use a curved path. If you click over the small points while editing, you can choose the Bezier curves.

Finally, you can play the animation or the slideshow to see the effect.

Using Smooth End to make a realistic animation effect

If you want to make a more realistic effect while the ball is moving through the path, then you can customize the animation options in PowerPoint and choose the smooth end value. Open the Animation Pane to list your animations and then right click over the custom animation path. Here you can see a new dialog box with Effect options. Choose Smooth end value to 2 secs for example and then play the animation again. The ball will go slowly while reaching the end of the path.

Using the Spin Animation combined with all other animations you can make the ball rotate while rolling. You can learn more about how to rotate objects in PowerPoint using animations here.

Alternatively you can download ready-made PowerPoint templates and presentations for PowerPoint or download animated PowerPoint templates.

http://slidemodel.com/templates/golf-ball-shapes-powerpoint/