In Phoenix we don't get to see much snow; although some residents were lucky enough last week to see a few snowflakes, a rare occurrence.
What if you want to bring a little winter snow to your PowerPoint presentation? It's very simple to create a snow animation in your PowerPoint presentation.
To do so, follow these steps.
Insert a New Slide into your presentation.
Change the slide background or scheme to a dark gray or black. A darker color will help the snowflakes stand out.
Click on the "Insert" tab and select the "Shapes" drop down arrow. In the "Shapes" window, select the "Cloud" shape.
NOTE: Any round shape will work, but the cloud shape creates a nice uneven edge that looks like an imperfect snowflake.
Right-click on the cloud shape and select the "Format Picture" option.
Click on the "Line Color" menu item and select the "No Line" option.
Next, click on the "Fill" menu item and select the "Picture or Texture Fill" option.
Click on the "Texture" drop down and select a gray and white texture. This is where your creativity comes in.
Select the color and texture you want. You may also click on the "Transparency" slide to change the amount of transparency. Again, just be creative, you can always change the option if it doesn't turn out the way you hoped.
Once you have made all of the "Fill" selections, click on the "Close" button.
If the snowflake looks how you want, press "CTRL + D" to make a copy of the image.
Next, select the first snowflake and click on the "Animations" tab and click on the "Add Effect" button in the "Custom Animation" wizard on the right side of the screen. Select "On Click" in the "Start" field for the first snowflake.
Next, click on the "Change" button, hover to "Motion Paths" and select the "Diagonal Down Right" option.
Again, this is where you can be creative and select your own animations.
Now select the second snowflake and make the same "Custom Animations" selections except choose "After Previous" in the "Start" field.
For each of the snowflakes, select the speed that you feel looks the best for your animation.
Now with the second snowflake selected, press "CTRL + D" for as many snowflakes as you want to make.
As an option, you can add clouds to cover the snowflakes. I simply inserted another cloud image (or two or three) and selected a bit different texture fill.
Click on the "Play" button at the bottom of the "Custom Animation" window to see the screen begin to snow.
There are so many options when it comes to PowerPoint and making snow animations is no different. Play with the options from the steps listed above and you'll be sure and make your audience feel like it's snowing in Phoenix.
HINT: If using PowerPoint 2003 or earlier, you'll need to format the picture with a grey and white gradient. Right-click on the snowflake and select "Format AutoShape," then click on the "Color" drop down and select the "Fill Effects" option.
