PPT2002: Diagram Animations Are Not Animated When Viewed in Earlier Versions of PowerPoint

When you use a version of Microsoft PowerPoint earlier than version 2002 to view a slide show that was created in PowerPoint 2002, the diagram animations do not work as expected.

Diagram animations other than As one object do not work when viewed in versions of PowerPoint earlier than version 2002. However, if the presentation is saved in PowerPoint 2000, the animations are not lost: These animations work properly when viewed in PowerPoint 2002.

To work around this issue, animate the diagram as a whole. To do this, follow these steps:

1. In normal view, display the slide that has the diagram or organization chart that you want to animate, and then select it.
2. On the Slide Show menu, click Custom Animation.
3. In the Custom Animation task pane, click Add Effect, and do one or more of the following:
   • If you want to make the text or object enter the slide show presentation with an effect, point to Entrance, and then click an effect.
   • If you want to add an effect to text or an object that is on the slide, point to Emphasis, and then click an effect.
   • If you want to add an effect to text or an object that makes the text or object exit the slide at some point, point to Exit, and then click an effect.
4. In the Custom Animation task pane, select the animation that you applied to the chart, click the drop-down arrow, and then click Effect Options.
5. On the Diagram Animation tab, click As one object in the Group Diagram list.
   
   NOTE: Effects appear in the Custom Animation list from top to bottom, in the order that you apply them. If you add diagram effect options, they appear in a collapsed list under the effect that you applied to the chart. The animated items are noted on the slide by a non-printing numbered tag that correlates to the effects in the list. This tag appears only in normal view with the Custom Animation task pane displayed.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.