New CS5 Script: Animation Encyclopedia

James Fritz

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The new animation features of InDesign may seem overwhelming if you have never worked with interactive documents before. Adobe kindly included a document that showcases what types of animations you can create, but don’t waste your time looking for an animation template because you won’t find one (in fact, Adobe removed all of the InDesign templates in CS5). Instead, use the new script “Animation Encyclopedia” to automatically generate a 6-page document that creates buttons with different animation properties. To run the script, go to window >utilities > scripts and double-click on Animation Encyclopedia to create the tutorial.

In case you don’t have CS5, I have included a SWF for each page of the tutorial. Click on the image to interact with each page.

Animation Properties

The first page demonstrates the main properties of the animation panel. Each animation is set to on-page click, so you just have to click to trigger each animation. Every animation is pretty straightforward with the exception of Color Fade.

At first glance it looks like you are able to change the color attributes of an object via animation. In reality it is just two frames of top of each other moving at the same time and the top object fades out to reveal the object underneath.

Animation Events

Each animation can have a series of events that triggers the animation. I covered this topic in an earlier blog post.

Additional Animation Properties and Settings

The additional properties give you even more control over the animation.

Animate Options

Animate options can be pretty confusing to write about or explain verbally. Here is the explanation from the help system for each property. I personally feel that experimenting with this feature yourself is the best way to figure out how it really works.

From Current Appearance
Use the object’s current properties (scale percentage, rotation angle, and position) as the starting point of the animation.

To Current Appearance
Use the object’s properties as the ending point of the animation. Using this option is especially useful in slide shows. For example, objects that fly in from off the page can appear on the page rather than on the pasteboard, improving the appearance of the printed document.

To Current Location
Use the current objects properties as the starting point of the animation and the object’s position as the ending point. This option is similar to From Current Appearance, only the object finishes in its current location and the motion path is offset. This option is especially useful for certain presets, such as blurs and fades, to prevent the object from appearing in an undesirable state at the end of the animation.

Timing Panel – Timing Groups and Delays

The timing panel lets you set the order, group and delay your animations.

Scripted Animation with Multiple Property Changes

This animation was generated entirely with scripting. Currently it is not possible to create this series of animation effects with the InDesign UI. This page was created to showcase some of the possibilities that can be achieved via scripting. Hopefully some of these advanced controls will make it into InDesign in a future version. Maybe some of these controls could be harnessed the same way that Rorohiko was able to create the TransformMaster Plug-in/Script.