iWork '09: The Missing Manual

Adding Object Builds

While slide transitions create animations between slides, object builds add animations within a slide. Builds got their name because they originally did just one thing: gradually added elements to a slide, building it up block by block until the whole slide was in place. Although builds’ features have expanded with each generation of presentation software, this building function is still very much at the center of what builds do. This lets you do things like make bullet points appear one by one; bring pictures, shapes, or other objects onto the slide individually or in groups; or gradually display a pie chart slice by slice as you talk through each of its elements.

These industrious construction workers are called build ins because they add new objects to your slide. Their counterparts—the demolition workers—are called build outs and, as you might guess, their role is to remove objects from a slide. Both types of builds can be strictly practical, simply popping the object on or off the screen. But Keynote provides lots of eye candy you can use to introduce objects into slides, with an impressive selection of animation styles that make your graphics plunge, blaze, pop, and sparkle as they materialize onscreen. (As with transitions, discretion is advised when creating object builds. It’s nice to have all these options available, but not every slide needs its text to appear as if it’s been shot from a machine gun or whirled in a Cuisinart.)

Builds aren’t only about ...