GSP Animation Features

Principles of Animation
Starting an Animation
Using Action Buttons
Animation Buttons

GSP Screen

Principles of Animation
Just about every object you can create in Sketchpad can be animated. To animate
an object, you can choose Animate from the Display menu, use the Motion Controller
, or create an Animation action button . Of these three methods, action buttons give
you the most control of the details of motion. The only objects you can't animate are
captions, calculations, functions, action buttons, measurements, and pictures. The
keyboard shortcut for Animateis Ctrl+` (Windows) or z+` (Mac). Different objects in
Sketchpad move in different ways.
*Independent points move freely in the plane.
*Points on pathsmove along their paths. The default direction for points on most
paths is bidirectional. For circle paths, however, the default direction is counter-
clockwise.
*Parameters change their values.
* All other objects move by moving their parent objects.


When you animate a geometric object that isn't a point, GSP animates that object by
animating its parents. For instance, if you animate a triangle interior, GSP animates it
by animating the vertices of the triangle. If one vertex is a point on a path, it is moved
along its path. If another is an independent point, it moves randomly on the plane.
And if the third point is an object such as an intersection that isn't free to move, it is
moved by moving its parents in turn. Thus, your ability to animate any conceivable
geometric object is ultimately based on the animation of independent points and of
points constructed on paths. Most objects that display text (action buttons,
measurements, calculations, functions, and captions) cannot be animated. The one
exception is parameters. A parameter is like an independent point or a point on path
in the sense that the value of a parameter, like the position of an independent point,
does not depend on other objects. This means GSP can animate the parameter by
changing its value. Because independent points, points on paths, and parameters
are the only objects that can be animated independently of their parents, these are
the only objects that Sketchpad directly animates, and they are the only objects that
appear in the Motion Controller's Target pop-up menu. Other objects animate
indirectly by animating their parents. Other objects can be listed as the Motion
Controller target if they are selected. For example, if you select the interior of triangle
ABC, the triangle will be listed as the target. Even though the triangle is listed as the
target, any motion changes you make will directly affect points A, B, and C and will
affect the triangle indirectly. Using the Motion Controller There are many different
animation-related tasks you can accomplish using the Motion Controller.
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Starting an Animation
1. Select one or more objects you want to animate. The objects must be geometric
objects or parameters .
2. Click the Animate button under the Display menu, then each selected object
begins moving and you see a pop-up window called Motion Controller. The play
button , in the Motion Controller help you to play the animation. The stop
button helps you to stop the animation. The only objects you can't animate
are captions, calculations, functions, action buttons, measurements, and pictures.

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Selecting a Moving Object
If you want to modify the motion of a particular moving object, you must select that
object to make it the target of the Motion Controller. If the object were not moving,
you would simply click it with the Arrowtool to select it, but it's not always so easy
to click a moving object. You may be able to select the desired moving object with a
mouse click if it's moving slowly or with a selection rectangle [when you hold your
mouse key and drag it on screen it gives you a selection rectangle] if there aren't any
other objects near it. If not, follow these steps.
1. Press and hold on the Target menu to show the list of target objects.
2. If the object you want appears on the list, choose it. The object is selected, and
you're done. If the object is not an independent point, a point on path, or a
parameter, the object is moved by moving its parents, and it doesn't appear on the
list. In this case, continue with steps 3 through 5.
3. Click the Pause button in the Motion Controller. Motion stops.
4. Select the object.
5. Click the Pause button again to release and restart the motion. The object
remains selected and is listed as the target object.
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Stopping a Moving Object
You can stop the motion of a single object while leaving other objects in motion.
1. Select the moving object as described in the previous section.
2. Click the Stop button in the Motion Controller. The selected object stops
moving. Clicking Stop with nothing selected stops all moving objects.
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Reversing the Direction of a Moving Object
You can reverse the direction of any moving object as long as its not animating
randomly.
1. Select the moving object as described in that section.
2. Click the Reverse button in the Motion Controller. The selected object reverses its
direction. Clicking Reverse with nothing selected reverses all moving objects'
directions.
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Setting, Increasing, or Decreasing the Speed of a Moving Object
You can change the speed of any moving object.
1. Select the moving object as described in that section.
2. To set the speed, click in the Motion Controller's speed control and type a new
speed. The selected object moves at the new speed.
3. Alternatively, click on the up or down arrow in the Motion Controller's speed
control. The selected object speeds up or slows down. When you have several
objects moving at different speeds and you want to make all of them go faster or
slower, use the speed arrows rather than typing a specific speed.
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Action Buttons
Action buttons are objects you create in your sketch which you can press to perform
a variety of actions, including hiding or showing objects, moving or animating
objects, linking to a different page in your document or to a web site, scrolling the
sketch window to a particular position, or making a presentation. Use action buttons
to repeat frequent actions conveniently or to help explain the mathematics of your
sketch to others who may interact with it.
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Using Action Buttons
Create action buttons using the Action Button submenu in the Edit menu. Once
you've created an action button, there are several things you can do with
it. Some buttons stay down after you press them, indicating that their
action is still continuing. You can click such a button a second time to stop its action.
1. Start the button's action by clicking the button body (not the handle) with the Arrow
tool, .
2. Select the button by clicking the handle (not the body) with the Arrow tool, .
Once the button is selected, you can hide it, delete it, and perform other actions on it.
3. Change the button's font, size, style, and color by first selecting it, then using the
Text Palette.
4. Move the button to a different position by using the Arrow tool, , to drag the
button's handle.
5. Change the button's label by double-clicking it with the Text tool, .
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Hide/Show Buttons
A Hide/Show button hides or shows a group of objects. Use Hide and Show buttons
when there are details in a sketch which you sometimes want visible and sometimes
want hidden. For example, your sketch might use a single triangle to show the
construction of the circumcenter, centroid, and orthocenter. If you show all the
construction lines at the same time, the sketch will be very confusing. You can use
Hide/Show buttons to show or hide the construction lines for each of the three
different constructions.
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Animation Buttons
An Animation button animates one or more objects. The objects must be either
geometric objects or parameters. Use Animation buttons to automate motion in your
sketch. You can use an Animation button to move a point along its path, to move an
independent point around randomly in the plane, or to vary a parameter. Use
Animate Properties to set the animation speed and direction and to set the domain
for parameter animation.
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Movement Buttons
A Movement button moves one or more points toward defined destinations. Use a
Movement button to move an independent point or a point on path toward a specific
destination.
Link Buttons
A Link button links to a different page in the current document, or links to a web site
or other location defined by a URL. Use a Link button to make it easy to navigate
among pages in a document that contains more than one page, or use a Link button
to open up a web site that's related to the topic of your sketch.
Scroll Buttons
A Scroll button scrolls the sketch window so that a specific point in the sketch is
located either in the center of the window or at the top left corner of the window. Use
a Scroll button in large sketches to position the window to show a particular part of
your sketch.
Presentation Buttons
A Presentation button automatically activates a group of other buttons. The buttons
can be activated either simultaneously or in sequence. Use a Presentation button to
choreograph a complex set of motions or to present a Sketchpad slide show.
Note that this GSP guide is adopted from Key Curriculum Press's Help Guide
for GSP 4.3
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