How to make an object appear before it starts moving

Powtoon does not have a built-in feature for making an object stay still for a few seconds and then move across the stage. This article describes a workaround that uses two copies of the same object to produce that effect.

The technique works by placing the original object on the stage for a set duration with no exit animation, then overlaying an identical duplicate that picks up from the same position and moves to a new destination using the A to B motion setting.

Before you start

This workaround uses Powtoon Studio's timeline, object settings panel, and A to B motion feature. You will need to be comfortable selecting objects on the timeline and adjusting their duration handles. To control how fast the object moves, see Set the speed of the movement.

How to make an object appear before it starts moving

The steps below use a car as an example. In the example, the car appears on the stage at 2 seconds and begins moving at 4 seconds.

Add the object to the stage.
Select the object and drag its timeline tab to the point where you want it to appear. In the example, the car's tab is positioned at 2 seconds.
With the object selected, set its exit effect to No Effect.
Drag the right edge of the object's timeline bar to the point where you want the object to stop being still and begin moving. Then move the playhead to that same point. In the example, the right edge is dragged to 4 seconds.
With the object still selected, copy it. Then paste the duplicate exactly on top of the original using the paste-in-place keyboard shortcut:
- Mac: ⌘ + Shift + V
- PC: Ctrl + Shift + V
The duplicate is placed at the same position as the original on the stage.
With the duplicate object selected, set its enter effect to No Effect. See Applying enter and exit effects to an object for guidance on changing enter effects.
With the duplicate object still selected, click Settings and then select A to B.
Drag the duplicate object to its destination on the stage. The duplicate will animate from its starting position (Camera 1) to the destination (Camera 2).
Adjust the speed of the movement by dragging the right edge of the dark blue slider on the timeline. See Set the speed of the movement for more information.

When you play back the scene, the object will appear at the time you set in step 2 and remain still until the duplicate takes over at the time you set in step 4. From that point, the duplicate moves to its destination.

Notes

You can confirm which object is selected on the stage by checking the timeline — the selected object's tab is highlighted in blue.
The original object and the duplicate must overlap at exactly the same position on the stage for the transition between them to appear seamless. Use the paste-in-place shortcut in step 5 to ensure this.
Setting both the exit effect of the original (step 3) and the enter effect of the duplicate (step 6) to No Effect is essential. If either effect is active, the object will visibly disappear or reappear during the transition.