When I edit an equation, it removes all animations from that slide. Is this an option or a bug? Is it possible to change this?

Question

It's pretty straightforward.

I've recently started teaching a large course (190 students), and this has forced me to teach using PowerPoint instead of a white board. The biggest issue I've faced with PowerPoint is that whenever I edit an equation on a slide, it simply removes all animations from the slide. (The text, etc. that were a part of those animations remain, but the animations themselves are gone.) This happens every time I edit an equation on a slide that also has animations.

I frequently touch up equations for formatting reasons, etc. while reviewing my slides before class, and this has led to me not having the proper animations in a class on multiple occasions.

Is this an error on PowerPoint's part, or is this an option that I've somehow turned on? If the former, does anyone have an idea of how I can fix it? If the latter, how can I change the option to stop this? Thanks for your help!

Details:

• MS Windows 10 Pro (Version 10.0.16299 Build 16299)
• On a work-issued Lenovo ThinkPad X380 Yoga Laptop, Model 20LH0018US, x64-based PC
• Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 MSO (16.0.9126.2282) 64-bit (Account is issued via my employer)

Answer 1

I also use PowerPoint 365 under Windows 10 (due to the pandemic), but typeset my equations using IquanaTex.

This PowerPoint add-in provides you with LaTeX' superior equation capability without the annoying loss of animation. I've considered using animate.sty in LaTeX, but that is a true pain.

The combination of PowerPoint's reasonable animation capability coupled with LaTeX' powerful equation editing provides a "best of both worlds" solution.

FYI: you can sometimes recover the LaTeX code from PowerPoint Equation Editor by clicking the e^x Linear in the Equation toolbar.

---

EDIT

I forgot to mention this. Put the cursor on the right side of the Microsloth equation and backspace it away (this will not kill your animation). Then make space for the IguanaTex equation and insert the equation. From the viewpoint of PowerPoint, the typeset IguanaTex is just an image (although IguanaTex allows you subsequently edit it). Thus, when you animate it, it stays animated even if you change it.

Example: Let {x + 1 = 7}, solve for {x}. //as MS EE equation

backspace the MS EE stuff away (which will NOT kill the animation).

This leaves you with

Let , solve for .

Now open up some space for the IquanaTex "images"

Let ----------, solve for --.

Create the two IquanaTex equations, animate them with the same sequence number as the original line and pop them into the openings.

Let [x + 1 = 7], solve for [x]. // as LaTeX equation

Now you can edit as needed (perhaps having to make more space).