Using Animation Cues to Sync Narration and Visuals

Overview

Animation cues let you sync scene elements to specific points in your narration. You place a cue anywhere in the narration script, connect one or more placeholders to it, and define what happens at that moment. This is a powerful way to draw the viewer's attention to the right visual as it is mentioned in the narration.

Key Points

• Animation cues are available only in custom scenes.
• You can connect text, media, and button placeholders to a cue, including multiple placeholders on the same cue.
• For each connected placeholder, you choose whether the element will Enter the scene, come into Focus, or Exit the scene at that point.

Adding an Animation Cue

1. Open a custom scene and open its narration.
2. Place your cursor at the point in the narration where you want the animation to happen, then click Add an animation cue.
3. Select the placeholder you want to control.
4. Choose the action for that placeholder: Enter, Focus, or Exit.
5. (Optional) Add more placeholders to the same cue, or add additional cues at other points in the narration.

Once a cue is added, the narration placeholder shows an indication that it contains cues, and each controlled placeholder is marked as well. Behind the scenes, timing is attached to each word in the narration, so the animations play at the right moment. The added cue appears in the narration text with indications for the placeholders connected to it and their selected behavior.

Reviewing and Editing Cues

1. Open the narration and select View all cues to see the full sequence of cues, including which words each cue falls between and which placeholders it controls.
2. Click a cue to view or edit it.
3. To remove a cue, delete it from the cues panel or directly in the narration.

Notes: 

• Deleting a cue removes the entire cue, including all placeholders connected to it, not just one placeholder. If you delete a cue by mistake, you can undo the action.
• The platform also guides you toward valid sequences. For example, an action that is not possible in the current order, such as setting an element to enter after it has already been set to focus, is blocked.
• A cue can be edited also by double clicking the cue in the narration.

Limitations

• At this time, animation cues are supported only in custom scenes.
• At this time, cues cannot be added to a narration that uses a personalization token or Message by Audience. (Personalized visual placeholders are supported — the limitation applies to personalization in the narration itself.)
• At this time, animation cues cannot be added to videos with multiple languages.
• Cues cannot be placed in the middle of a word.
• If timing is not set for a placeholder animation, the default theme behavior applies (e.g. text placeholders enter at the start of the scene).