The "wave" effect is a special type of animation path that you can modify relatively freely, allowing you to visualize interesting movements. While this animation is certainly less common in typical business settings, it can be used for specific requirements.
The "Wave" effect was primarily designed for text animation. But as you will see later, you can also animate shapes in this way.
The basic principle
The "wave" effect works as follows:
- Write any text and apply the effect > Emphasize > Wave .
- In presentation mode you can see what happens: Each individual letter is moved upwards by a certain length, one after the other, so that it looks as if the letters of an entire line are moving in a wave.
After applying the effect to the text, you will get different results in the different PowerPoint versions:
In 2010 (left): After adding the animation to the text, you will see the path with the green start and red end arrows in the preview. (In older versions, you may need to save and reopen the presentation to see the path displayed.)
In 2013/16 (right): Here you can immediately see the display of an animation path AND the sample text at the end of the path.
For all versions: In the animation menu, with the timeline enabled, you can see that in addition to the normal representation of the time sequence (the colored field), the overall effect has also been extended significantly to the right with a frame.
For this reason, choosing a standard animation duration is initially misleading. For example, if you select a duration of 2 seconds, this part will indeed be displayed in color, but the overall animation actually lasts much longer!
A) The framed area to the right of the colored bar shows the duration of the entire process until its actual end. This frame is directly related to the value entered in the > Effect Options > (Animate Text).
B) In the Animations menu , select Play (2016: Play All ) and you will see the text animation with the wave. Simultaneously, a line moves above the bar in the Animations menu, showing exactly where the text is rising.
In the next image, you can see the sample texts on the left. Next to them, you'll see that the individual texts have different animation durations: 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 seconds. All effects have a 10% delay between letters. Consequently, the frame next to each animation has become proportionally larger.
TIP: In certain situations, a whole percentage value might not be sufficient. You can also define two decimal places here. Odd values can also be obtained by clicking and freely moving the frame on the right edge. 
Interesting variations in the effect options include > Animate Text > Word by Word and > All at Once . With > Word by Word, the movement looks a little jerkier than when the letters move individually. This option is particularly suitable for shorter words. If you select > All at Once , however, the movement of an entire text can be very impressive.
The "animation path" at the wave
Now, let's turn to the real special feature: the animation path.
A) By default, only a short path vertically upwards is always created.
B) You can modify this animation path in a similar way to the standard animation paths by clicking the endpoint and moving it freely. This will create completely new movements for the letters in this case.
This is how the animation (of the graphic shown above) appears in presentation mode:
A) On the left you see the standard animation.
B) Here you have the animation with the extended and shifted path.
A) You can also move the path downwards or in any other direction.
B) Another standard function of the paths is also possible with the wave effect: You can reverse the path direction. After starting, each letter then jumps in a wave motion to the imaginary position where the text would be if the direction were reversed. IMPORTANT: After the animation, the text will no longer be in the position where the animation began.
The next image shows the respective results in presentation mode.
Visually appealing combinations
You can achieve interesting results by placing identical texts exactly on top of each other and directing the respective paths of the wave in different directions.
A) The two texts are overlapping, and the paths have been shifted up and down. TIP: To ensure both paths are identical, add some guidelines or display the standard guide lines to align the path endpoints.
B) This is what the effect looks like in the animation.
If needed, you can color the texts differently – this will make it more colorful, but depending on the text content and size, also more impressive.
A) In this example, four texts are layered on top of each other, and the paths have been set in four directions. All four texts have a different color.
B) This is what the finished animation looks like.
Especially in the case of intermediate slides or the final slide, you can also use such "little treats" in the business context.
You also have the option to combine the wave animation with the movement of a shape.
In the following example, a shape appears to be dividing a text. A small object moves towards the text from the left, causing it to open up at the top and bottom. The viewer has the impression that the object is splitting the text. However, such combinations require some time to precisely coordinate the movement times.
A) At first, you only see the line of text.
B) A small ellipse has been placed to the right, outside the slide, unnoticed by the viewer.
- Here again, two identical texts are superimposed, with the path set to the top and bottom, respectively.
- The ellipse has the effect of > creeping in > from the left.
The next image shows the effect in the presentation.
A) The oval comes in from the left and the text diverges with the wave motion directly in front of the shape.
B) The ellipsis appears to completely cut through the text. After the shape, the text closes again. Timing plays a crucial role here. To achieve this trick optimally, you have various minimal settings to adjust, which require a delicate touch.
- First, you should roughly coordinate the basic movement of the form with the simultaneous divergence of the text.
- Then it is advisable to concentrate on one movement/effect: either to change/adjust the wave motion somewhat in time or the arrival of the form.
- Only if you haven't achieved a perfect result with that, then change both values.
- Depending on the text size, type, and the size and shape of the form, you may still encounter difficulties. As a last resort, slightly enlarging or reducing the shape itself, or further adjusting the shape's movement paths, often helps. Lengthening both paths will increase the overall gap for the shape.
If you already have in-depth knowledge of animation and the detailed coordination of movements, you can also make the shape appear several times in succession.
Additional wave effects using the standard animation path
You can also achieve this wave effect in another way. Use a standard animation path.
A) Here, the text has been assigned a normal > animation path > arc .
B) The text box has been copied. The path was clicked, and new points were inserted into the path using > right-click > edit points , thus redirecting the path around the text.
C) Here, the text from A) is shown in motion. Since the endpoint of the animation path is located at a different point than the starting point, the text remains stationary.
D) Here you can see how the letters from B) move around the starting point.
The wave in use in molds
A) Normally, you cannot apply the "Wave" effect to a shape, as you can see from the faded gray text. These effects are not intended to be applied to shapes.
B) However, the effects can still be used with a trick.
A) Type some text into the shape – then you can select the "Wave" effect. This is how the animation will look on the slide.
B) The animation sequence in presentation mode is somewhat unusual at first, because initially only the shape moves in (a kind of) wave motion.
C) Only then is the text animated in the usual way.
You can prevent this by going to > Effect Options > Text Animation and unchecking the box next to > Animate Attached Shape . Normally, the text animation will then start immediately, without the shape moving.
Whether the checkbox is activated or not is also visible in the animation area. In the example, there are six identical rectangles with the same text on the slide.
A) All six rectangles are displayed identically in the animation area, because the checkmark does not exist in any of them.
B) Now, with a rectangle, the checkbox for > Animate attached shape has been selected. In the animation menu, you will immediately see that the label "Rectangle 11" now appears before the text, as the shape is also animated.
However, the movements of several shapes, which are (partially) supposed to occur simultaneously during animation, can result in peculiar sequences that are not always easy to understand.
IMPORTANT: Let's say you have a shape containing text with the wave effect applied. Copy the shape twice and remove the checkmark from both copies. For the two copied shapes, go to Animations > Home > With Previous in the ribbon. You will then see in presentation mode that the rectangle moves first, and then all three text elements together create the wave motion!
The process is illustrated again here.
A) The animation begins. Initially, only the left rectangle with the wave moves. The text in the two rectangles on the right remains stationary.
B) Once the left rectangle has returned to its position after the movement, ALL THREE texts begin to perform the wave movement.
This means that > With Previous in this case explicitly refers to ANIMATING WITH THE TEXTS.
This unusual behavior becomes even clearer in another example. Here, six identical rectangles containing text are placed on the slide. The Wave animation is set to > Start Time > With Previous . The sequence in presentation mode is now displayed as follows:
A) Top: Theoretically, all six rectangles should show movement. Instead, you see that the text in the top three shapes moves accordingly, and at the same time, the gray shape makes a wave-like motion. The text in the bottom row does not move.
B) Below: After the grey shape has completed its movement, the texts in the bottom row then move.
Only over time will you develop a feel for the correct timing of this function.
TIP: Experiment! Use identical letters, different fonts, upper and lower case letters, punctuation, etc. – you will see that these results can also be quite appealing.
Below are examples with
A) Points,
B) Hyphens and
C) Stars.
Although the same time was set and both text boxes are the same length, the movement runs differently three times because the number of characters/letters also plays a role in the timing.
We hope you enjoy trying it out!