Presentations & Animations

PRESENTATION builds a PPTX file from OcaltQL verbs — titles, body text, images, graphs, tables, bullet lists, speaker notes, and video, positioned per slide. ANIMATE and TRANSITION add motion between slides and to individual elements. The finished deck can be exported as a standard .pptx file, or rendered out as an animated GIF or video clip.

Deck Lifecycle

NEW PRESENTATION builds a deck from nothing. PRESENTATION OPEN loads an existing .pptx back into an editable deck object — the same object NEW PRESENTATION produces, so every verb below works on it identically. SAVE writes back to the file it came from; SAVE INTO writes a copy elsewhere.

Open an Existing Deck, Edit It, Save It Back

PRESENTATION OPEN "/root/deck.pptx" SET ?file
AFTER PRESENTATION ?file SLIDE COUNT SET ?n
AFTER EMIT "opened a deck of " & ?n & " slides"
AFTER PRESENTATION ?file SAVE SET ?file

Save a Copy Instead

PRESENTATION OPEN "/root/deck.pptx" SET ?file
AFTER PRESENTATION ?file SAVE INTO "/root/deck-v2.pptx" SET ?path
AFTER EMIT ?path
(* The original is untouched *)

Structure

A Complete Two-Slide Deck

NEW PRESENTATION INTO "/root/deck.pptx" SET ?file AS
OPEN
  SLIDE LAYOUT "content" DURATION "5s"
  OPEN
    BACKGROUND "#1a1a2e"
    TITLE "Q3 Results" AT 5% BY 5% FORMAT 90% BY 10% ALIGN LEFT TOP
    BODY "Revenue exceeded targets across all regions." AT 5% BY 18% FORMAT 90% BY 12% ALIGN LEFT TOP
    GRAPH TYPE "bar" WITH ?revenue AT 5% BY 32% FORMAT 60% BY 55% ALIGN LEFT MIDDLE
    IMAGE "/root/logo.png" AT 80% BY 2% FORMAT 15% BY 8% ALIGN RIGHT TOP
    BULLET
    OPEN
      ITEM "EMEA up 34%"
      ITEM "APAC up 21%"
      ITEM "Americas up 18%"
    CLOSE
    NOTE "Mention the restructuring impact on EMEA here."
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "blank"
  OPEN
    TITLE "Thank You" ALIGN CENTER MIDDLE
  CLOSE
CLOSE

Themes, Stateful FONT and COLOR, SUBTITLE and TABLE

NEW ARRAY SET ?rows
AFTER NEW OBJECT SET ?r1
AFTER SET ?r1("Region") AS "EMEA"
AFTER SET ?r1("Growth") AS "34%"
AFTER APPEND ?r1 TO ?rows
AFTER NEW OBJECT SET ?r2
AFTER SET ?r2("Region") AS "APAC"
AFTER SET ?r2("Growth") AS "21%"
AFTER APPEND ?r2 TO ?rows
AFTER NEW PRESENTATION INTO "/root/styled.pptx" SET ?file AS
OPEN
  SLIDE LAYOUT "content"
  OPEN
    THEME "ocean"
    FONT "Inter" SIZE 20
    COLOR "#0b3954"
    TITLE "Styled Slide"
    SUBTITLE "THEME sets the palette; FONT and COLOR apply to everything after them"
    TABLE WITH ?rows AT 5% BY 50% FORMAT 60% BY 35%
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "content"
  OPEN
    THEME "pastel"
    TITLE "Pastel"
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "content"
  OPEN
    THEME "dark"
    TITLE "Dark"
  CLOSE
CLOSE
AFTER EMIT ?file

SLIDE Modifiers

Modifier	Description
`LAYOUT "type"`	Slide layout. Types: `"title"`, `"content"`, `"two-column"`, `"blank"`, `"image-full"`, `"title-only"`
`DURATION "3s"`	Auto-advance timing. Omit for manual advance. If no slide has DURATION, all durations are ignored.

Positioning

All positions and sizes use percentages relative to the slide dimensions. AT x% BY y% positions from the top-left corner. FORMAT w% BY h% sets width and height. ALIGN horizontal vertical aligns the element within its bounds.

Explicit Positioning

TITLE "Heading" AT 5% BY 5% FORMAT 90% BY 10% ALIGN LEFT TOP
IMAGE "/root/logo.png" AT 80% BY 2% FORMAT 15% BY 8% ALIGN RIGHT TOP
GRAPH TYPE "pie" WITH ?data AT 5% BY 20% FORMAT 45% BY 60% ALIGN LEFT MIDDLE
BODY "Footer text" AT 5% BY 88% FORMAT 90% BY 8% ALIGN CENTER BOTTOM

Embedded Video

NEW PRESENTATION INTO "/root/video.pptx" SET ?file AS
OPEN
  SLIDE LAYOUT "content"
  OPEN
    TITLE "Product Clip"
    VIDEO "/root/clip.mp4" AT 20% BY 25% FORMAT 60% BY 60%
  CLOSE
CLOSE
AFTER EMIT ?file

If AT and FORMAT are omitted, the element flows automatically in layout order. If only ALIGN is set, the element is placed by alignment alone within the full slide.

Alignment Only — No Explicit Position

TITLE "Centered Heading" ALIGN CENTER MIDDLE
IMAGE "/root/logo.png" ALIGN RIGHT TOP
BODY "Footer" ALIGN CENTER BOTTOM

Every Layout in One Deck

NEW PRESENTATION INTO "/root/layouts.pptx" SET ?file AS
OPEN
  SLIDE LAYOUT "title"
  OPEN
    TITLE "Deck Title"
    SUBTITLE "All six layouts, one deck"
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "two-column"
  OPEN
    TITLE "Two Columns"
    BODY "Flows into the left region first."
    BODY "Then into the right region."
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "title-only"
  OPEN
    TITLE "Title Only"
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "image-full"
  OPEN
    IMAGE "/root/logo.png"
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "blank"
  OPEN
    TITLE "Blank Canvas" ALIGN CENTER MIDDLE
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "content"
  OPEN
    TITLE "Content"
    BODY "The default flowing layout."
  CLOSE
CLOSE
AFTER EMIT ?file

Alignment Values

Horizontal	Vertical
`LEFT`, `CENTER`, `RIGHT`	`TOP`, `MIDDLE`, `BOTTOM`

Slide Content Verbs

Verb	Description
`TITLE "text"`	Slide title text
`SUBTITLE "text"`	Subtitle text
`BODY "text"`	Body paragraph text
`IMAGE "/root/path.png"`	Embedded image
`VIDEO "/root/clip.mp4"`	Embedded video
`GRAPH TYPE "type" WITH ?data`	Embedded SVG chart — any type from Graphs - SVG Charts
`TABLE WITH ?data`	Table from an array of objects
`BULLET OPEN ITEM "..." CLOSE`	Bulleted list
`NOTE "text"`	Speaker notes, not visible on the slide
`BACKGROUND "colour"`	Slide background colour
`THEME "name"`	Slide colour theme
`FONT "Inter" SIZE 24`	Font family and size for subsequent text elements
`COLOR "colour"`	Text colour for subsequent text elements

Color formats. BACKGROUND and COLOR accept a named colour, RGB, RGBA (alpha as a 0–1 decimal), 6-character hex with or without #, or 3-character hex with or without # — the same universal set used everywhere else in OcaltQL.

Animations

TRANSITION controls how one slide replaces the previous one. ANIMATE controls how an individual element enters, exits, or draws attention mid-slide. Both are genuine motion, not merely auto-advance timing.

TRANSITION — Between Slides

A Slide with a Transition In

SLIDE LAYOUT "content" DURATION "5s" TRANSITION "fade" DURATION "0.5s"
OPEN
  TITLE "Q3 Results" ALIGN CENTER TOP
CLOSE

Every Transition Type

NEW PRESENTATION INTO "/root/transitions.pptx" SET ?file AS
OPEN
  SLIDE LAYOUT "blank" TRANSITION "none"
  OPEN
    TITLE "none" ALIGN CENTER MIDDLE
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "blank" TRANSITION "fade" DURATION "0.5s"
  OPEN
    TITLE "fade" ALIGN CENTER MIDDLE
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "blank" TRANSITION "dissolve"
  OPEN
    TITLE "dissolve" ALIGN CENTER MIDDLE
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "blank" TRANSITION "slide-left"
  OPEN
    TITLE "slide-left" ALIGN CENTER MIDDLE
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "blank" TRANSITION "slide-right"
  OPEN
    TITLE "slide-right" ALIGN CENTER MIDDLE
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "blank" TRANSITION "slide-up"
  OPEN
    TITLE "slide-up" ALIGN CENTER MIDDLE
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "blank" TRANSITION "slide-down"
  OPEN
    TITLE "slide-down" ALIGN CENTER MIDDLE
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "blank" TRANSITION "wipe-left"
  OPEN
    TITLE "wipe-left" ALIGN CENTER MIDDLE
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "blank" TRANSITION "wipe-right"
  OPEN
    TITLE "wipe-right" ALIGN CENTER MIDDLE
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "blank" TRANSITION "zoom-in"
  OPEN
    TITLE "zoom-in" ALIGN CENTER MIDDLE
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "blank" TRANSITION "zoom-out"
  OPEN
    TITLE "zoom-out" ALIGN CENTER MIDDLE
  CLOSE
CLOSE
AFTER EMIT ?file

Transition Types

Type
`"none"` — instant cut
`"fade"`
`"dissolve"`
`"slide-left"`, `"slide-right"`, `"slide-up"`, `"slide-down"`
`"wipe-left"`, `"wipe-right"`
`"zoom-in"`, `"zoom-out"`

ANIMATE — Per-Element Entrance, Exit, and Emphasis

Attach directly to any content verb. DELAY is measured from the moment the slide begins.

Animating a Title's Entrance

TITLE "Q3 Results" AT 5% BY 5% FORMAT 90% BY 10% ALIGN LEFT TOP
ANIMATE ENTER "fly-in-left" DELAY "0s" DURATION "0.6s"

Staggered Bullet Reveal

BULLET
OPEN
  ITEM "EMEA up 34%" ANIMATE ENTER "fade-in" DELAY "0s" DURATION "0.4s"
  ITEM "APAC up 21%" ANIMATE ENTER "fade-in" DELAY "0.5s" DURATION "0.4s"
  ITEM "Americas up 18%" ANIMATE ENTER "fade-in" DELAY "1s" DURATION "0.4s"
CLOSE

Every Colour Format

NEW PRESENTATION INTO "/root/colours.pptx" SET ?file AS
OPEN
  SLIDE LAYOUT "content"
  OPEN
    BACKGROUND "navy"
    COLOR "rgb(255,214,102)"
    TITLE "Named background, RGB text"
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "content"
  OPEN
    BACKGROUND "rgba(26,26,46,0.9)"
    COLOR "#0af"
    TITLE "RGBA background, 3-hex text"
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "content"
  OPEN
    BACKGROUND "f0f7fa"
    COLOR "0b3954"
    TITLE "Bare 6-hex, no hash"
  CLOSE
CLOSE
AFTER EMIT ?file

Emphasis on an Existing Element

IMAGE "/root/logo.png" AT 80% BY 2% FORMAT 15% BY 8% ALIGN RIGHT TOP
ANIMATE EMPHASIS "pulse" DELAY "2s" DURATION "0.5s"

Exit Animation

BODY "This will fade out before the slide ends." AT 5% BY 18% FORMAT 90% BY 12%
ANIMATE EXIT "fade-out" DELAY "4s" DURATION "0.5s"

Every Animation Type

NEW PRESENTATION INTO "/root/animations.pptx" SET ?file AS
OPEN
  SLIDE LAYOUT "content" DURATION "6s"
  OPEN
    TITLE "Entrances"
    BODY "fade-in" AT 5% BY 20% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE ENTER "fade-in" DELAY "0s" DURATION "0.4s"
    BODY "fly-in-left" AT 5% BY 30% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE ENTER "fly-in-left" DELAY "0.5s" DURATION "0.4s"
    BODY "fly-in-right" AT 5% BY 40% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE ENTER "fly-in-right" DELAY "1s" DURATION "0.4s"
    BODY "fly-in-top" AT 5% BY 50% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE ENTER "fly-in-top" DELAY "1.5s" DURATION "0.4s"
    BODY "fly-in-bottom" AT 55% BY 20% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE ENTER "fly-in-bottom" DELAY "2s" DURATION "0.4s"
    BODY "zoom-in" AT 55% BY 30% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE ENTER "zoom-in" DELAY "2.5s" DURATION "0.4s"
    BODY "bounce-in" AT 55% BY 40% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE ENTER "bounce-in" DELAY "3s" DURATION "0.4s"
    BODY "wipe-in" AT 55% BY 50% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE ENTER "wipe-in" DELAY "3.5s" DURATION "0.4s"
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "content" DURATION "6s"
  OPEN
    TITLE "Exits"
    BODY "fade-out" AT 5% BY 20% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE EXIT "fade-out" DELAY "1s" DURATION "0.4s"
    BODY "fly-out-left" AT 5% BY 30% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE EXIT "fly-out-left" DELAY "1.5s" DURATION "0.4s"
    BODY "fly-out-right" AT 5% BY 40% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE EXIT "fly-out-right" DELAY "2s" DURATION "0.4s"
    BODY "fly-out-top" AT 5% BY 50% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE EXIT "fly-out-top" DELAY "2.5s" DURATION "0.4s"
    BODY "fly-out-bottom" AT 55% BY 20% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE EXIT "fly-out-bottom" DELAY "3s" DURATION "0.4s"
    BODY "zoom-out" AT 55% BY 30% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE EXIT "zoom-out" DELAY "3.5s" DURATION "0.4s"
    BODY "wipe-out" AT 55% BY 40% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE EXIT "wipe-out" DELAY "4s" DURATION "0.4s"
  CLOSE
  SLIDE LAYOUT "content" DURATION "5s"
  OPEN
    TITLE "Emphasis"
    BODY "pulse" AT 5% BY 20% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE EMPHASIS "pulse" DELAY "0.5s" DURATION "0.5s"
    BODY "spin" AT 5% BY 30% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE EMPHASIS "spin" DELAY "1s" DURATION "1s"
    BODY "grow" AT 5% BY 40% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE EMPHASIS "grow" DELAY "2s" DURATION "0.5s"
    BODY "shrink" AT 55% BY 20% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE EMPHASIS "shrink" DELAY "2.5s" DURATION "0.5s"
    BODY "shake" AT 55% BY 30% FORMAT 40% BY 8%
    ANIMATE EMPHASIS "shake" DELAY "3s" DURATION "0.5s"
  CLOSE
CLOSE
AFTER EMIT ?file

Animation Types

Stage	Types
`ANIMATE ENTER`	`"fade-in"`, `"fly-in-left"`, `"fly-in-right"`, `"fly-in-top"`, `"fly-in-bottom"`, `"zoom-in"`, `"bounce-in"`, `"wipe-in"`
`ANIMATE EXIT`	`"fade-out"`, `"fly-out-left"`, `"fly-out-right"`, `"fly-out-top"`, `"fly-out-bottom"`, `"zoom-out"`, `"wipe-out"`
`ANIMATE EMPHASIS`	`"pulse"`, `"spin"`, `"grow"`, `"shrink"`, `"shake"`

Editing the Slides of a Deck

A deck that has been opened — or one just built — can have slides added, replaced, removed, or reordered. Slide positions are 1-based, matching SLIDE COUNT.

Add a Slide at a Position

PRESENTATION OPEN "/root/deck.pptx" SET ?file
AFTER PRESENTATION ?file ADD SLIDE LAYOUT "content" AT 2
OPEN
  TITLE "Inserted Slide"
  BODY "This became slide 2; everything after it shifted down."
CLOSE
AFTER PRESENTATION ?file SAVE SET ?file

Append a Slide — No AT

PRESENTATION OPEN "/root/deck.pptx" SET ?file
AFTER PRESENTATION ?file ADD SLIDE LAYOUT "blank"
OPEN
  TITLE "Thank You" ALIGN CENTER MIDDLE
CLOSE
AFTER PRESENTATION ?file SAVE SET ?file
(* Omitting AT appends to the end of the deck *)

Replace, Move, and Delete a Slide

PRESENTATION OPEN "/root/deck.pptx" SET ?file
AFTER PRESENTATION ?file SLIDE 3 REPLACE LAYOUT "content"
OPEN
  TITLE "Rewritten Slide 3"
CLOSE
AFTER PRESENTATION ?file SLIDE 5 MOVE TO 1
AFTER PRESENTATION ?file SLIDE 7 DELETE
AFTER PRESENTATION ?file SAVE SET ?file

Frame and Slide Control

Counting and Referencing Slides

PRESENTATION ?file SLIDE COUNT SET ?n
AFTER EMIT ?n

Exporting a Single Slide as an Image

PRESENTATION ?file SLIDE 2 EXPORT AS "png" SET ?frame

Exporting the Finished Deck

Standard PPTX Output

EMIT ?file

Exporting as an Animated GIF or Video

PRESENTATION ... EXPORT renders every slide as a frame — respecting each slide's DURATION, every TRANSITION, and every element's ANIMATE timing — then encodes the result using the same media pipeline documented on Video & Audio Processing.

Export as GIF

PRESENTATION ?file EXPORT AS "gif" SET ?gif
AFTER FILE SHARE ?gif SET ?url
AFTER EMIT ?url

Export as Video

PRESENTATION ?file EXPORT AS "mp4" SET ?video
AFTER FILE SHARE ?video SET ?url
AFTER EMIT ?url