Apple Motion 2 User Manual

Motion 2

User Manual

 Apple Computer, Inc.

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Preface 9 Motion 2 Documentation and Resources

Onscreen Help

Additional Resources

Chapter 1 15 Getting To Know Motion

About Motion Graphics

About the Motion Workspace

The Toolbar

The Canvas

The Project Pane

The Timing Pane

The Utility Window

10 5

The Dashboard

10 7

Preferences

12 4

Menus

Chapter 2 139 Creating and Managing Projects

13 9

Creating New Projects

15 2

Managing Projects

157

Editing Project Properties

15 8

Browsing Media Files in Motion

163

File Types Supported by Motion

174

Adding Media to Your Project

17 9

Managing Objects in Your Project

183

Deleting Objects From a Project

18 4

Exchanging Media in a Project

185

Object Media Tab Parameters

18 9

Using Media in the Library

19 4

Organizing Layers and Objects in Motion

211

Customizing and Creating New Templates

Chapter 3 217 Basic Compositing

219

Layer and Object Order

221

Object and Layer Transforms in the Canvas

243

Editing Opacity and Blending

269

Drop Shadows

Chapter 4 273 Using the Timeline

274

Getting Familiar With the Timeline

282

Working in the Timeline

293

Editing Objects in the Timeline

306

Working in the Ruler

312

Adding Markers

Chapter 5 317 Using Behaviors

320

Browsing for Behaviors

321

Applying and Removing Behaviors

329

Customizing Behaviors

331

Working With Behaviors

335

Changing the Timing of Behaviors

341

Animating Behavior Parameters

343

Saving and Sharing Custom Behaviors

344

Behavior Descriptions

392

Behavior Examples

Chapter 6 401 Keyframes and Curves

405

Animating in the Canvas

409

Animating With the Dashboard

414

Animating Using the Inspector

419

Animating in the Timeline

424

Animating in the Keyframe Editor

446

Animating On the Fly

Chapter 7 453 Using Text

454

Using Text in Motion

456

Setting Object Duration Preferences

457

Working With Text

464

About Fonts

468

Using the Text Tools

473

Editing Text in the Inspector

524

Using Text Animation and Text Sequence Behaviors

556

Using Other Behaviors With Text Objects

559

Animating Text With Keyframes

560

Using LiveFonts

Contents

Chapter 8 565 Working With Particles

567

The Anatomy of a Particle System

569

Using Particle Systems

585

Creating Graphics and Animations for Particle Systems

586

Advanced Particle System Controls

610

Animating Objects in Particle Systems

610

Using Behaviors With Particle Systems

612

Applying Filters to Particle Systems

613

Particle System Examples

619

Saving Custom Particle Effects to the Library

Chapter 9 621 Using the Replicator

623

The Anatomy of the Replicator

627

Using the Replicator

645

Advanced Replicator Controls

673

Animating Replicator Parameters

681

Using the Sequence Replicator Behavior

696

Using Behaviors With Replicators

698

Applying Filters to Replicators

699

Saving Custom Replicators to the Library

Chapter 10 701 Using Filters

701

About Filters

701

Working With Filters

702

An Introduction to Filters

709

Working With Filters

785

Tiling Filters

793

Working With Third-Party Filters

Chapter 11 795 Working With Generators

795

About Generators

Chapter 12 819 Using Shapes and Masks

820

The Difference Between Shapes and Masks

820

Shape and Mask Drawing Tools

835

Illustrating Using the Shape Tools

847

Animating Shapes

851

Masking Objects to Create Transparency

865

Applying Image Masks to an Object

869

Using Masks to Aid Keying Effects

873

Manipulating Alpha Channels Using Filters

Contents

Chapter 13 877 Working With Audio

878

Audio Files in Motion Projects

887

Working With Audio Tracks

894

Keyframing Level and Pan Changes

897

Using Soundtrack Pro With Motion

898

Exporting Audio

Chapter 14 899 Exporting Motion Projects

900

Exporting Your Project

901

Using Export Presets

905

Setting Export Options

909

Exporting With Compressor

912

Exporting an Audio File

Appendix A 913 Keyboard Shortcuts

913

General Interface Commands

915

Motion Menu

915

File Menu

916

Edit Menu

917

Mark Menu

919

Object Menu

920

View Menu

922

Window Menu

923

Help Menu

923

Audio Editor

923

Audio Tab

924

Canvas

933

Dashboard

933

File Browser

934

Inspector

934

Keyframe Editor

934

Layers

935

Library

936 Media Tab 936 Timeline 938 Keyframing Commands 939 Shape and Mask Commands 939 Toolbar

Appendix B 941 Video and File Formats

941 Supported File Formats 944 Standard Definition vs. High Definition Video Formats 948 Popular Video Codecs for File Exchange

Contents

950 What Is Field Order?

951 Using Square or Nonsquare Pixels When Creating Graphics 953 Differences in Color Between Computer and Video Graphics 953 Using Fonts and Creating Line Art for Video 953 Scaling Imported High-Resolution Graphics 954 Creating Graphics for HD Projects

Appendix C 955 Integration With Final Cut Pro

955 Using a Motion Project in Final Cut Pro 957 Using Final Cut Pro Clips and Sequences in Motion

Appendix D 961 Using Gestures

Index 973

Contents 7

Motion 2 Documentation and Resources

Motion is an exciting new motion graphics application that lets you create content for broadcast and video. Discover all the resources you can use to help you learn this versatile application.

This user manual provides a detailed description of the features in Motion and how to use them to create compelling visual projects.

In addition to this document, your software comes with the printed book, Motion Getting Started, which is an introduction to Motion’s major features, including examples and tips. It is recommended that you start by reading through Motion Getting Started to familiarize yourself with the basics of working in Motion.

Onscreen Help

The Motion Help menu allows you to access information about every aspect of the application directly onscreen while you are working in Motion, including the Motion 2 User Manual, Late-Breaking News, the Motion website, and so on.

Preface

The items in the Help menu are described below.

To access the Motion User Manual and other help:

In Motion, choose Help, then choose an item from the list.

User Manual

The Motion 2 User Manual is a comprehensive document that contains detailed information about all features in the application.

When the user manual is first opened, the Motion 2 User Manual access page appears. The Preview drawer on the side contains a list of links that allow you to locate specific information in the user manual. Click on any bookmark in the drawer to begin exploring the user manual.

Links in the body of the access page provide an additional way to locate important help and other documentation tools to assist you in learning and using Motion. Most of these links are also available directly from the Help menu:

• Late-Breaking News

• New Features

• Getting Started

• Tutorials

• Motion Support

• Motion on the Web

• Apple Training Centers

• Feedback

This link takes you directly to the Motion feedback page, where you can provide Apple with your valuable insights, suggestions, and feedback about your experience with working in Motion.

Accessing the Motion User Manual Contents

Once you have chosen Motion User Manual from the Help menu, use the following guidelines to navigate the extensive document.

To access the contents of the Motion 2 User Manual:

In Preview (the application that displays the manual), click the Drawer button on the toolbar to display the contents of the user manual.

Among the useful sections included in the Preview drawer list are the following:

• Keyboard Shortcuts

This item takes you to an appendix containing a comprehensive list of keyboard commands available in Motion. Getting familiar with these shortcuts can dramatically increase your productivity when working in Motion.

• Using Gestures

This item takes you to an appendix that explains how to use a Wacom graphics tablet and pen as an input device in Motion. “Gestures” are pen-tool shortcuts that allow you to navigate and perform various tasks without a keyboard or mouse.

• Index

This item takes you to the user manual index—a comprehensive list of controls, features, and functions within Motion. Each entry is a hyperlink that takes you directly to the page in the user manual where that feature is described. Additionally, common motion graphics tasks and terminology are listed to aid you in learning about specific tasks.

You can also type keywords into the Search field at the top of the Preview drawer to quickly find specific information in the user manual.

10 Preface Motion 2 Documentation and Resources

Because Motion is a creative tool, documentation can only go so far in describing its potential. The Motion 2 User Manual provides a detailed description of the Motion interface, features, and functionality, and introduces you to the built-in templates and resources to give you a sense of the versatility of the product. In the end, you are limited only by your own imagination. The best way to learn all that Motion has to offer is to jump in and start exploring with the documentation at your fingertips.

Late-Breaking News

The Late-Breaking News document contains information about issues with third-party hardware and software, and known bugs. It also contains information about any new features or changes to the software that occurred after the Motion 2 User Manual was completed. It is highly recommended that you review this document in order to be completely up-to-date on the functionality of the software.

New Features

This option opens a PDF version of the New Features in Motion 2 document, which briefly describes what’s new in the latest version of Motion, as well as where to find detailed information about those features in the user manual. This document is identical to the printed New Features in Motion 2 found in the Motion box.

Motion Getting Started

This option opens a PDF version of the Motion Getting Started book, which provides an overview of the application and its workflow. This is identical to the printed Motion Getting Started book found in the Motion box.

Tutorials

This option opens the PDF-format Motion 2 Tutorials. The tutorials are step-by-step lessons that walk you through the basic workflow and interface elements of Motion.

Show Welcome

This option opens the Welcome Screen in the Motion application, which offers access to web-based QuickTime tours of Motion, as well as a library of professionally designed Motion project templates.

Motion Support

This option opens your web browser and takes you directly to the Motion support page on the Apple website.

Motion on the Web

This option opens your web browser and takes you directly to the Motion product page on the Apple website.

Apple Training Centers

This option takes you to the Apple Training Centers webpage, where you can find information about Apple-authorized training centers in your area.

Preface Motion 2 Documentation and Resources 11

Create Support Profile

This option generates a special file describing the technical details about your computer such as processor speed, video card specifications, and so on. This file is used only by authorized Apple technical support technicians.

Additional Resources

For additional information about Motion, use the resources listed below.

Motion on the Web

You can visit the Motion website for general information and updates as well as the latest news on Motion.

To go to the Motion website, do one of the following:

In Motion, choose Help > Motion on the Web.

Open your Internet browser, then enter http://www.apple.com/motion.

There are a variety of forums, discussion boards, educational resources, and marketing materials pertaining to Motion on the web.

Apple Service and Support Website

You can visit the support website for software updates and answers to the most frequently asked questions regarding Motion. Additionally, you can find product specifications, reference documentation, and Apple and third-party technical articles.

To go to the Motion support web page, do one of the following:

Choose Help > Motion Support.

Open your Internet browser, then enter http://www.apple.com/support/motion.

Other Apple Websites

Apple provides a wide array of information that can enhance your experience working with Apple products such as Motion.

http://www.apple.com

Start at the Apple main home page to find the latest information about Apple products.

http://www.apple.com/quicktime

QuickTime is the Apple industry-standard technology for handling video, sound, animation, graphics, text, music, and 360-degree virtual reality (VR) scenes. QuickTime provides a high level of performance, compatibility, and quality for delivering digital video. Go to the QuickTime website for information on the types of media supported, a tour of the QuickTime interface, specifications, and more.

12 Preface Motion 2 Documentation and Resources

http://www.apple.com/creative

This website provides news, information, and other resources on seminars, events, and third-party tools used in digital video, design and print, music and audio, web publishing, and the media arts.

http://www.apple.com/education

Look here for resources, stories, and information about projects developed by users in education using Apple software, including Motion.

http://store.apple.com

Go here to buy software, hardware, and accessories direct from Apple. You can also find special promotions and deals that include third-party hardware and software products.

Preface Motion 2 Documentation and Resources 13

1 Getting To Know Motion

This chapter introduces you to the basic concepts of motion graphics and the Motion interface. It also describes how to work with all of the basic tools you need to get started.

Motion is a behavior-driven motion graphics application that can be used for a wide variety of projects, including titles, broadcast graphics, and simulations.

If you have not yet read the Motion Getting Started book, you are encouraged to explore that guide to get a quick introduction to the major functions and capabilities of Motion. It is also suggested that you take the time to work through the tutorials, to get a hands-on introduction to working in Motion.

This chapter provides an introduction to motion graphics and the Motion workspace, and how to navigate and use common tools and controls.

About Motion Graphics

Motion graphics is a type of visual effects work most commonly associated with title sequences and show openers, bumpers and interstitials, and interface design like DVD menus. It is also frequently used in technical settings for simulations of moving systems such as traffic patterns or scientific models.

Motion graphics usually incorporates multiple objects onscreen simultaneously and is typically governed by design considerations and a strong sense of visual impact. Sophisticated motion graphics artists often combine traditional layout and design techniques with tools borrowed from special effects work such as keying, masking, compositing, and particle systems to create dynamic moving designs. The tools commonly used for motion graphics fall into several categories.

Design Tools

Graphic designers have been using software to facilitate their work for many years. Motion has incorporated many of the most valuable tools commonly found in layout and design applications, including guides, alignment, and direct manipulation for positioning, transforming, and distorting objects. It also contains some of the most flexible and sophisticated tools for creating and handling text elements. This is especially important because text is such a critical component of motion graphics design.

Timing Tools

The principal difference between traditional design and motion graphics is that motion graphics is time based. This means that you are concerned with creating a wellcomposed and readable layout, and you must also manipulate that layout over the duration of the show. Motion provides a Timeline that contains tools usually found in a video editing application (such as trimming, markers, slipping, and snapping) to allow you to hone and compose the temporal aspects of your project.

Motion also supports audio files, including basic audio mixing, so you can create a soundtrack for your project and make timing decisions based upon the audio as well as visual components. Furthermore, you can animate objects, filters, behaviors, and other elements to create elegant and precise compositions.

Compositing

Any time you have more than one object onscreen simultaneously, you must employ some version of compositing to combine the elements. This might mean moving the objects onscreen so they don’t overlap, adjusting the objects’ opacities so they are partly visible, or incorporating blend modes that mix the overlapping images in a variety of ways. Compositing is fundamental to motion graphics work. Fortunately, Motion makes it easier than ever before, allowing you to control layer and object order, group and lock objects, and apply more than 25 different blending options to create unique effects.

Special Effects Tools

You can further enhance your motion graphics projects by employing many of the same tools used in movies to combine dinosaurs with live actors, sink luxury liners in the ocean, or create space battles. Motion provides many of these tools such as keying (isolating an object shot against a solid colored background), masking (to hide wires or other objects that should not be seen in the final image), and particle systems (to simulate natural phenomena such as smoke, fire, and water). In fact, Motion can be used to create special effects shots like these, but its real power is in integrating these tools with the design and editing tools described above.

16 Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion

Unique Tools

As the field of motion graphics design has evolved, the tool sets in the most common applications have grown, but Motion takes a completely fresh approach to the task. It incorporates the cutting edge of software design and takes advantage of the latest powerful Apple hardware. And while it does include the tools and techniques artists have grown accustomed to, it also incorporates a streamlined, mode-less interface and a new set of tools called behaviors that make previously complex (or near-impossible) procedures as simple as drag and drop. A tool called the replicator creates a customizable pattern from copies of an object, quickly creating complex design effects that would take hours to build in other applications.

Behaviors

The Motion behaviors simplify the most common tasks such as scaling, fading, and moving objects. They also allow you to create complex interactions between objects with behaviors such as Edge Collision (making objects bounce off of one another) or Attractor (which gives one object a gravitational pull on surrounding objects). And because text is such a critical element of motion graphics work, Motion includes several behaviors specifically designed for text elements that treat individual letters uniquely while simultaneously affecting the entire object as a whole.

The Dashboard

One of the things that can bog down an otherwise fluid motion graphics experience is having to stop and hunt for the location of a particular setting. Motion uses a special floating window called the Dashboard to provide at-your-fingertips access to your most frequently used parameters. The Dashboard changes dynamically, depending on what is selected. The Dashboard also provides access to unique visual controls for some of the behaviors.

The Dashboard also allows you to quickly add Parameter behaviors to the parameters of the selected object. To add a Parameter behavior, Control-click a parameter in the Dashboard, then choose a Parameter behavior from the shortcut menu. For more information about Parameter behaviors, see “ page 326.

Real-Time Feedback

Finally, one of the strengths of Motion is that with the right hardware configuration, nearly every effect and adjustment you make can be viewed in real time. This means that you can watch how the various elements of your composition interact as you adjust them. Not only does this mean less waiting time while the computer converts your various clicks and drags into a watchable movie, it means that you can interact with your creation in a more fluid and engaging way. Rather than making a set of assumptions and then waiting to see how they turn out, you can now see how your ideas work immediately, and make adjustments on the fly.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 17

Applying Parameter Behaviors” on

This turns the act of designing a motion graphics sequence into an act of exploration and discovery, which is the way most artists prefer to create. Motion provides not just a new set of brushes for the motion graphics artist, but a whole new type of work environment.

Keyboard Shortcuts

If you have a three-button mouse connected to your computer, you can right-click to access the same controls specified by the Control-click commands in the user documentation. If you are working on a PowerBook G4, keep in mind that some keyboard shortcuts require you to use the Function key (fn–next to the Control key) in conjunction with the keys specified in the user documentation. For more information about keyboard shortcuts in Motion, see Appendix A, “Keyboard Shortcuts.”

About the Motion Workspace

When you open Motion, the workspace fills your entire monitor, but the interface is actually made up of several independent windows. The sizes and arrangements of these windows are flexible to allow for the varying needs of different projects. There are additional panes and windows that can be displayed along with the default set.

Utility window Canvas

18 Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion

The Utility Window

When you open Motion, the Utility window appears on the left side of the screen and contains the File Browser from which you can add files to your project. The Utility window also has tabs to display the Library, which contains all of the effects, templates, and other goodies that come with Motion, and the Inspector, where you can manipulate individual settings for those effects.

File Browser Library Inspector

The Canvas

The majority of your screen is occupied by your main work area, the Canvas. This is similar to the document window in many other applications. It is here that you arrange and lay out the objects that comprise your composite. Adding objects and effects to your project is as simple as dragging them from the Utility window to the Canvas.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 19

When you want to watch your project play back, the transport controls at the bottom of the window allow you to play at regular speed or frame by frame. The mini-Timeline lies just above the transport controls and below the main body of the window. This control provides a view of where selected objects in the Canvas begin and end in time.

Mini-Timeline

The Canvas also contains two additional panes that are hidden in the default view.

The Project Pane

The Project pane contains three tabs, each of which provides access to different aspects of your project. The Layers tab displays the hierarchy of layers and objects in your project. The Media tab shows all the files imported into your project whether or not they appear in the Canvas. The Audio tab provides access to, and control of, any audio objects in your project. All of these tabs are covered in more detail later in the chapter.

20 Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion

Transport controls

The Timing Pane

The Timing pane also has three tabs, each to control a different aspect of your project. The Timeline is a broad overview of all the objects and effects and how they are laid out over time. The Keyframe Editor displays the animation graphs for parameters and effects, and the Audio Editor provides access to the level and pan controls for the audio components of your project.

Project pane

Timing pane

All of these tabs are covered in more detail later in this chapter and throughout the manual.

Window Arrangements

Different workflows require different sets of windows to be visible and in different sizes. For example, when designing a layout for your composition, the bigger the Canvas, the better. However, when tweaking or finessing an animated effect, you may want more room dedicated to the Timing pane and the Inspector. Fortunately, Motion allows you to switch between different layouts quickly and even save your own custom layouts.

Preset Layouts

Motion provides three preset window arrangements, called layouts. These layouts distribute the application’s windows in varying ways to accommodate different workflows.

To choose a preset window layout:

Choose Window > Layouts, then choose a layout from the submenu.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 21

Standard layout: This layout displays the Utility window on the left and the Canvas on

the right.

Alternate layout: This layout displays two Utility windows on the left, the top one containing the Inspector and the bottom one containing the File Browser and Library. The Canvas fills the remainder of the screen to the right.

Cinema layout: The Cinema layout also displays two Utility windows. The left side contains the File Browser and Library and the right contains the Inspector. The Canvas is in the middle with both the Project pane and the Timing pane displayed. This layout is only available if you are using an Apple Cinema Display.

22 Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion

Basic Window Controls

In addition to choosing from the preset arrangements, you can manually arrange your windows, resize them, or minimize them to the Dock.

To move a window:

Drag a window by the title bar to the new location.

To resize a window:

Drag the resize control in the lower-right corner of the window to resize it to the desired size.

To simultaneously resize adjacent windows:

Drag the boundary between the two windows (the black line along the edge of the window). The pointer changes its shape over the boundary, indicating you can drag from there.

Drag the thin black line between two windows to resize them at the same time.

To minimize a window to the Dock:

Click the minimize button in the title bar. You can also double-click the title bar of the Canvas to minimize it to the Dock.

Note: The Utility window cannot be minimized.

To close a window, do one of the following:

Click the close button.

Press Command+W in an active window.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 23

Tabs

Motion uses tabbed windows to provide convenient access to multiple windows at once. You can switch between windows simply by clicking the appropriate tab. In addition, you can drag any tab out of its docked position to show the tabbed window in its own separate window. You can also drag a tab into another window. This lets you view multiple tabbed windows from the same group at one time. For example, you can drag the Inspector tab to a new location so that you can view the Library and the Inspector windows simultaneously.

To detach a tab:

Drag the tab out of its docked position to any new location. When you release the mouse button, the tab becomes its own window, and you can

use all standard window controls, such as closing, minimizing, and resizing.

To reattach a tab:

Drag the tab at the top of the window back to its original location. For example, drag the Inspector tab back to its original group of tabs, and release the mouse button.

The tab is reattached.

To show or hide a tab:

In the Window menu, choose the name of the tab you want to show or hide. For example, choose Window > Timeline to show or hide the Timeline tab. You can also choose Keyframe Editor or Audio Editor to show or hide those tabs.

If the tab is detached from the Timeline area, click the close button. This closes the window, and it does not reappear as a tab. To display the window again, use the Window menu, and choose the appropriate command to show the window you want.

To reorder tabs:

Drag a tab left or right in the tab area to reorder the tabs.

Swapping the Project Pane and Canvas

Similar to changing tab order, you can also change whether the Project pane appears to the left of the Canvas (default), or to the right. This can be especially useful when working with multiple monitors. For example, if the Canvas occupies the entire left monitor and your Utility windows are on the right monitor, moving the Project pane to the right side of the Canvas would make it closer to the Utility windows.

To move the project pane to the opposite side of the Canvas:

Choose Window > Layouts > Swap Project Pane and Canvas.

24 Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion

Saving Custom Layouts

Once you have the windows arranged to your liking, you can save your screen layout with a relevant title so you can switch back to it later. This makes it easy to set up layouts that help you perform certain tasks. For example, you might set up one layout that is good for editing curves, while another layout has an expanded Timeline for editing keyframes. You can switch between layouts in the Layouts submenu, and you can delete and duplicate layouts in the Manage Layouts window.

When you save a layout, you save the following items:

• Window positions (size and location)

• Column orders (in the Project pane)

• Project pane position (left or right)

Note: Tab order, Timeline display options, and Canvas display options are not saved in the custom layout.

To save a layout:

1 Organize the windows on your screen the way you want. 2 Choose Window > Save Current Layout.

The Create Window Layout dialog appears.

3 Type the name you want to use to save the layout, then click Save.

The layout is saved and now appears in the Layouts submenu.

The new layout appears in the bottom section of the submenu.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 25

You can also create a new custom layout (based on the current state) by clicking the Add (+) button in the Manage Layouts dialog.

To switch to a saved custom layout:

Choose Windows > Layouts, then choose the custom layout from the submenu.

To delete a saved layout:

1 Choose Window > Manage Layouts.

The Manage Layouts dialog opens.

2 Select the layout you want to delete. 3 Click the Delete (–) button to remove the item from the list. 4 Click the Done button.

To duplicate a layout:

1 Choose Window > Manage Layouts.

The Manage Layouts dialog opens.

2 Select the layout you want to duplicate. 3 Click the Duplicate button.

A duplicate of the layout is added to the list. The word “copy” is appended to the name.

4 Click the Done button.

To rename a layout in the list:

1 Choose Window > Manage Layouts.

The Manage Layouts dialog opens.

2 Double-click the layout you want to rename in the list.

The name changes to a value field.

3 Type the new name in the value field. 4 Click the Done button.

26 Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion

Full Screen Mode

Motion has an option to cover your entire monitor with the Canvas. This is helpful for watching playback of your project without the distraction of the software interface. In this mode, all of the tools and controls that affect the Canvas remain active, though you have to rely on keyboard shortcuts and shortcut menus (Control-click) to change from one tool or control to another. You can access the menu bar by positioning your pointer at the top of the screen where the menu normally is.

To switch into Full Screen mode, do one of the following:

Choose View > Full Screen Mode.

Press F8.

To return to normal view, do one of the following:

Choose View > Full Screen Mode again.

Press F8 again.

The Toolbar

Motion’s Toolbar is located at the top of the Canvas. The default set of controls provides access to all of the tools you need for manipulating objects in the Canvas and elsewhere in the application. There are tools that create new text and shape objects as well as particle systems and masks. There are also icons to apply filters and behaviors. Finally, there are icons to show and hide the various windows and panes of the Motion interface such as the Timeline, Dashboard, and others.

Tool Groups

Tools are grouped in different ways. Several tools have multiple modes or options, such as Shape tools which can be either a rectangle or a circle. The Circle tool is hidden until you click and hold the Rectangle tool. Tools with additional states are indicated with a tiny downward arrow on the lower-right corner of the tool.

Arrow indicates hidden tool states.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 27

Tools are also grouped into categories of use. The first set of tools is called the View set because they deal with changing the view and manipulation method in the Canvas. The second category is called Create, and contains tools that add new content to the project such as text and shapes. The Mask category contains tools that add a mask to an existing object.

Controls can also be grouped through the use of separators. For example, Interface icons appear on the right side of the Toolbar. These hide and show the various panes, tabs, and windows that comprise the Motion interface. They are grouped through the use of a separator bar.

The following table itemizes each of the tools in the default tool set broken up into groups. The first group is the View set. The first eight tools are all hidden under the first button. Once any tool in that set is selected, you can switch between the tools by pressing the Tab key. Press Shift+Tab to cycle through the tools in the reverse order.

Button Tool name Keyboard shortcut Description

Select/ Transform Tool (arrow)

Adjust Anchor Point Tool

Adjust Shear Too l

Adjust Drop Shadow Tool

S (Ta b cycles through tools.)

The default tool is the Select/Transform tool. This tool selects and moves objects in the Canvas. You can scale objects by dragging their corner points or rotate an object by dragging its center point.

Changes the point around which an object scales or rotates. To use it, drag the current anchor point to a new position.

Distorts an object by moving two adjacent corners at the same time, leaving the other two corners locked into place.

Changes the direction and offset of an object’s drop shadow. This tool never moves the object itself.

Adjust Four Corner Tool

Adjust Crop Too l

Adjust Control Points Tool

Adjust Item Too l

28 Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion

S (Ta b cycles

through tools.)

S (Ta b cycles through tools.)

Allows you to distort an object by moving one of the corner points, leaving the other three corners locked into place. The image is stretched and distorted to fit the shape you create.

Allows you to hide portions of an image by dragging the edge or corner of the object.

Allows you to modify points and Bezier handles for masks, shapes, and motion paths.

Allows you to modify special controls such as the center point of a Circle Blur, or the shape of a particle emitter or replicator, or the start and end points of a gradient.

Button Tool name Keyboard shortcut Description

Pan Tool H Allows you to drag your view of the Canvas in

different directions. The Pan tool never moves individual objects.

To reset the pan, double-click the Pan tool. To pan the Canvas without selecting the Pan tool,

press the Space bar and drag in the Canvas.

Zoom Tool Z Allows you to zoom in and out on the Canvas. Click

the point in the Canvas that you want to zoom around and drag to the left to zoom in on that point or drag right to zoom out around that spot.

To reset the zoom, double-click the Zoom tool. To zoom into a specific area of the Canvas, press

Command+Space bar and drag an area of the Canvas. While still pressing the keys, click to zoom in to the Canvas in 50 percent increments of the current zoom level. Press Command+Option+Space bar and click in the Canvas to zoom out in 50 percent increments.

The second group of tools is the Create set. These are tools that generate new objects. You can modify the attributes for the newly created objects in the Inspector.

Button Tool name Keyboard shortcut Description

Rectangle Tool R Creates a new rectangular-shape object in the Canvas.

Click at the position where you want one corner to appear and drag to the position of the opposite corner. Pressing Shift while you drag constrains the object to a square.

Circle Tool C Creates a new circle-shape object in the Canvas. Click

at the position where one edge of the circle should begin and drag toward the opposite edge. Pressing Shift while you drag constrains the shape to a circle.

Bezier Tool B

Toggles Bezier/ B-Spline

Creates a new freeform shape with Bezier point vertices. To create a shape, click repeatedly in the Canvas to add points to your shape. To close the shape, click the first point of the shape or press C. To create an open-ended shape, double-click the last point.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 29

Button Tool name Keyboard shortcut Description

B-Spline Tool B

Toggles Bezier/ B-Spline

Tex t Tool T Creates new text objects and lets you edit the text of

Creates a new freeform shape with B-Spline vertices. To create a shape, click repeatedly in the Canvas to add points to your shape. To close the shape, click the first point of the shape or press C. To create an openended shape, double-click the last point.

existing text objects. To create a text object, click the tool in the Canvas at the position where you want the text to appear, then begin typing. Choose the Select/ Transform tool (or press Esc) to grab or move the new text object. To change the text of an existing text object, select the Text tool, then click the text. The text becomes editable.

The third set, the Mask tools, can only be accessed when another object is selected. Using a Mask tool creates a new mask that hides portions of the selected object. The area inside the mask remains visible. Masks have their own set of controls available in the Inspector.

Icon Tool Name Keyboard Shortcut Description

Rectangle Mask Tool

Circle Mask Too l

Bezier Mask Too l

B-Spline Mask Too l

Option+R Creates a new rectangular mask in the Canvas. Click at

the position where you want one corner to appear and drag to the position of the opposite corner. Pressing Shift while you drag constrains the mask to a square.

Option+C Creates a new circular mask in the Canvas. Click at the

position where one edge of the mask should begin and drag toward the opposite edge. Pressing the Shift key while dragging constrains the mask to a circle.

Option+B

Toggles Bezier/BSpline Mask Tools

Option+B

Toggles Bezier/ B-Spline Mask Tools

Creates a new freeform mask with Bezier point vertices. To create a mask, click repeatedly in the Canvas to add points to your mask. To close the mask, click the first point of the mask or press C. To create an open-ended mask, double-click the last point.

Creates a new freeform mask with B-Spline vertices. To create a mask, click repeatedly in the Canvas to add points to your mask. To close the mask, click the first point of the shape or press C. To create an openended shape, double-click the last point.

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On the right side of the Toolbar, the first four icons make up the Effects controls. These are special controls providing instant access to the most common effects. Since these controls apply effects to existing objects, they are not available unless an object is selected.

Icon Icon name Description

Add Behavior Activates a pop-up menu of behaviors. Choosing an item from the menu

applies that behavior to the selected object(s).

Add Filter Activates a pop-up menu of filters. Choosing an item from the menu

applies that filter to the selected object.

Make Particles Uses the selected object as the source for a particle cell. The originally

selected object is disabled. Controls for the particle system appear in the Inspector. Some controls also appear in the Dashboard. When the Adjust Item tool is selected, onscreen controls are available for the particle emitter.

Replicate Uses the selected object as a source cell for the replicator. The originally

selected object is disabled. Controls for the replicator system appear in the Inspector. Some controls also appear in the Dashboard. When the Adjust Item tool is selected, the replicator onscreen controls are available.

The Interface icons on the far right of the Toolbar provide access to the main elements of the Motion interface. Click any of these icons to show or hide the corresponding window, tab, or pane.

Icon Icon name Keyboard shortcut Description

Show/Hide Dashboard

Show/Hide File Browser

Show/Hide Library

Show/Hide Inspector

Show/Hide Project Pane

Show/Hide Timing Pane

F7, D Toggles display of the Dashboard.

Command+1 Toggles display of the File Browser. Hides and shows

the Utility window if the File Browser is the only open tab.

Command+2 Toggles display of the Library. Hides and shows the

Utility window if the Library is the only open tab.

Command+3 Toggles display of the Inspector. Hides and shows the

Utility window if the Inspector is the only open tab.

F5 Toggles display of the Project pane.

F6 Toggles display of the Timing pane.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 31

Customizing the Toolbar

You have many options for personalizing the Toolbar. You can change which controls appear on the Toolbar as well as the order in which they appear. You can put spaces and separators between them to group them to your liking. You can view all of the controls as icons, icons with a text description, or just as text.

To add controls to the Toolbar:

1 Do one of the following to display the Customize Toolbar sheet:

• Choose View > Customize Toolbar.

• Control-click the Toolbar, then choose Customize Toolbar from the shortcut menu.

2 Drag the buttons or icons you want to add to the position of your choice in the Toolbar. 3 Click the Done button to close the sheet.

To remove an item from the Toolbar:

Control-click the button or icon you want to remove, then choose Remove Item from the shortcut menu.

You can also remove items from the Toolbar when the Customize Toolbar sheet is open by dragging the objects away from the Toolbar and releasing the mouse button. A “poof” appears to indicate that the button has been removed.

Spaces and Separators

In addition to adding and arranging controls in the Toolbar, you can add spaces, flexible spaces, and separators to arrange and group the contents of your Toolbar.

Separator: A separator adds a dotted vertical line between two controls. The separator has no function other than as an organizational tool. The default layout uses a separator between the Effects controls and the Interface controls.

Space: A space adds a single icon’s width of space between other controls.

Flexible Space: A flexible space distributes controls evenly across the Toolbar. It takes

up as much or as little space as needed to fill the empty parts of the bar. The default layout has a flexible space between the Mask buttons and the Effects controls.

32 Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion

Additional Buttons and Icons

The Customize Toolbar sheet provides access to additional icons that are not present in the default set.

Customize: Opens the Customize Toolbar sheet.

Colors: Opens the Colors window.

Fonts: Opens the Mac OS X Font panel. There is also a font browser within the Motion

Library. For more information, see “

Using the Library Font Browser” on page 464.

Layers: Shows or hides the Layers tab in the Project pane.

Media: Shows or hides the Media tab in the Project pane.

Audio: Shows or hides the Audio tab in the Project pane.

Timeline: Shows or hides the Timeline in the Timing pane.

Keyframe Editor: Shows or hides the Keyframe Editor in the Timing pane.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 33

Audio Editor: Shows or hides the Audio Editor in the Timing pane.

Template Browser: Opens the Template Browser.

For more information on using the Template Browser, see “

Creating New Projects From

Templates” on page 141.

External Video: When you have an additional monitor connected to your system, clicking this icon automatically sends output to the external monitor. Clicking it again turns off output to the additional monitor. Without using this icon, you must choose Motion > Preferences (or press Command+,) and change the Output settings. This button has two states, depending on whether External Video is turned on or off.

Changing the Icon View

The Toolbar controls can be viewed as icons, text, or both. By default, both names and icons are displayed. Once you get familiar with the icons, you can choose to hide the names to save desktop space. Alternately, go with just the names to save the most space.

To change the view in the Toolbar, do one of the following:

Control-click the Toolbar, then choose an option from the shortcut menu.

34 Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion

Chose an option from the Show pop-up menu in the lower-left corner of the Customize Toolbar sheet.

Icon & Text

Icon Only

Text Only

Hiding the Toolbar

Once you get familiar with the common controls and the keyboard shortcuts, you may want to hide the Toolbar altogether to simplify the interface and provide more room for the Canvas.

To hide the Toolbar, do one of the following:

Click the roll-up button in the upper-right corner of the Canvas.

Choose View > Hide Toolbar.

Press Command+Option+T.

Roll-up button

If the Toolbar is currently hidden, these same controls all show the Toolbar instead of hiding it.

The Canvas

The centerpiece of the Motion workspace is the Canvas. Whatever you see in the Canvas reflects exactly what you get when you export or output your project. However, this window is not just a place to view the results of your work; this is where you modify and arrange the elements of your project.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 35

You can directly manipulate the items in the Canvas to modify their physical attributes such as position, scale, and rotation, or use familiar drag-and-drop techniques to apply behaviors or filters directly to the items in the Canvas. See “ page 317, and “

Using Filters” on page 701 to learn more about how to use these

Using Behaviors” on

features.

Status Bar View options

Mini-Timeline

The Status Bar

A Status Bar appears at the top of the Canvas below the Toolbar and provides information about your project. There are three types of information that can be displayed: Color, Coordinates, and Frame Rate.

36 Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion

Transport controls

Color

Some motion graphics projects may require you to match or align different colors in your project. The Status Bar can provide visual and numerical information on the color of the pixel currently under the pointer. No clicking is necessary—as you move the pointer, the Status Bar updates.

To display the current pixel color in the Status Bar:

Control-click the Status Bar, then choose Color from the shortcut menu.

This allows you to see the exact color values of the examined pixel. You can view the color numerically in one of three formats:

RGB: The red, green, and blue components of the color are represented in values from 0–255.

RGB (percent): The red, green, and blue components of the color are represented in values from 1–100.

HSV: The hue is represented from 1–360, and the saturation and value (luminance) are represented in values from 1–100.

To choose between viewing color in RGB, RGB (percent), and HSV:

Control-click the Status Bar, then choose the color space you want.

Note: Color must be enabled in the Status Bar to choose a color space.

Coordinates

For precision placement of objects in the Canvas, it may be helpful to know the exact pixel position of the pointer at any given time. The Status Bar can display this information in an X and Y coordinate system (Cartesian). The center point of the Canvas is 0,0.

To display the current pointer position in the Status Bar:

Control-click the Status Bar, then choose Coordinates from the shortcut menu.

Frame Rate

Part of the way Motion plays your project back in real time is by lowering the frame rate when the sequence is too complex to render at full speed. You can monitor the current frame rate in the Status Bar. It is measured in frames per second (fps).

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 37

Note: This number only appears while the project is playing.

To monitor the project’s playback frame rate:

Control-click the Status Bar, then choose Frame Rate from the shortcut menu.

You can also turn the Status Bar items on and off in the Appearance Preferences pane. To display Motion Preferences, choose Motion > Preferences.

Canvas View Options

The Canvas is a versatile workspace with many options to optimize the workflow for different types of projects. For example, there are rulers, grids, and guides to help with alignment and arrangement of objects.

There are also a number of controls for viewing a single color channel in the Canvas. You can use these to examine objects’ alpha channels, or to manipulate effects that only affect a single color channel.

You can also set options to speed up playback by reducing image quality so you can watch even complex projects at high frame rates while you’re constructing the projects. This allows you to rough out your composition quickly. Certain effects that severely impact rendering time, such as motion blur and field rendering, can also be turned off temporarily.

38 Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion

There are four pop-up menus at the right side of the Status Bar that provide access to these settings: Zoom Level, Resolution, Channels, and View and Overlay Options.

Zoom Level

View and Overlay Options

Resolution

Channels

Zoom Level

You can zoom in on the Canvas to allow precision alignment and placement of objects, and you can zoom out to get a sense of the big picture or to see the path of a moving object. The Zoom Level pop-up menu offers several different default zoom levels. You can also use the dynamic zoom modes to quickly zoom in or out of the Canvas, or to zoom specific areas of the Canvas.

Zooming the Canvas does not actually change the size of the images in your project. It merely changes the current view of the entire window.

To zoom in or out on the Canvas:

Choose a zoom level from the Zoom Level pop-up menu. Numbers above 100 percent zoom in on the object (making it appear bigger) and

numbers below 100 percent zoom out beyond the viewable area.

To use the dynamic zoom mode:

Press Command+Space bar, then drag diagonally in the Canvas. The zoom occurs around the spot clicked in the Canvas.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 39

To zoom in and out of a specific area of the Canvas:

Press Command+Space bar, then drag the area of the Canvas you want to zoom. While still pressing the keys, click the mouse to zoom in 50 percent increments of the current zoom level. Press Command+Option+Space bar, and click to zoom out in 50 percent increments of the current zoom level.

Note: To pan the Canvas without selecting the Pan tool, press the Space bar and drag in the Canvas.

To reset the Canvas Zoom level:

In the Toolbar, double-click the Zoom tool.

To reset the Canvas Pan:

In the Toolbar, double-click the Pan tool.

Fit In Window: This option automatically zooms the Canvas so that the entire viewable area of the project fills the window.

Resolution

If you have a complex project that is causing your computer to play at a very low frame rate, you can lower the resolution of the Canvas to reduce the strain on the processor. This frees you from waiting for the image to be rendered at full resolution each time you make an adjustment.

Full: Displays the Canvas at full resolution.

Half: Displays the Canvas at half resolution.

Third: Displays the Canvas at one-third resolution.

Quarter: Displays the Canvas at one-quarter resolution.

To change the Canvas resolution:

Choose the amount of image reduction you want from the Resolution pop-up menu.

Channels

The Channels pop-up menu controls which color channels are displayed in the Canvas.

Note: To see results in most cases, the Background Color parameter in the Project Properties (Command+J) must be set to 0 percent. By default, this parameter is set to 100 percent. This also affects Alpha, Inverted Alpha, and Overlay.

Color: Shows the image just as it would appear on a video monitor. Visible objects appear in natural color and transparent areas reveal the background color as set in the Project Properties. This is black by default. (To learn how to change the Canvas background color, see “

Background” on page 115.)

40 Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion

Transparent: Shows the background area of the Canvas as transparent. A

checkerboard pattern appears where no images block the background.

Alpha Overlay: Displays the image in normal color, but adds a red highlight over transparent areas of the image.

RGB Only: Displays the normal mix of red, green, and blue channels but transparent areas (including semi-transparent areas) are treated as opaque.

Red: Displays only the red channel as a range of black to white. Green: Displays only the green channel as a range of black to white. Blue: Displays only the blue channel as a range of black to white.

Alpha: Displays the alpha (transparency) channel of the objects in the Canvas.

Inverted Alpha: This setting displays an inverted view of the alpha (transparency)

channel.

View and Overlay Options

This pop-up menu provides access to the various types of guides and controls that can be viewed in the Canvas. It also has controls to globally turn off some render-intensive functions, such as motion blur, to accelerate Canvas playback.

Show Overlays: Turns the display of all overlays on and off in the Canvas. This setting must be on in order to view any of the other overlay items (grids, guides, and so on). When Show Overlays is active, a checkmark appears beside the menu item.

Note: You can also choose View > Show Overlays (or press Command+/).

Rulers: Turns display of the rulers along the edge of the Canvas on and off. You can

specify where the rulers appear in the Canvas section of Motion Preferences. For more information on using rulers, see “

Using the Canvas Rulers” on page 43.

Grid: Turns a grid display on and off over the Canvas. You can set the spacing and color of the grid in the Canvas section of Motion Preferences.

Guides: Turns display of manually created guides on and off. Guides can only be created if rulers are also displayed. You can change the color of the guides in the Canvas section of Motion Preferences.

Dynamic Guides: Turns display of automatic Dynamic Guides on and off. These guides appear when dragging an object past edges of other objects. You can change the color of the Dynamic Guides in the Canvas section of Motion Preferences.

Safe Zones: Turns display of the Title and Action Safe guides on and off. By default, these guides are set at 80 percent and 90 percent. You can change these settings and the color of the guides in the Canvas section of Motion Preferences.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 41

Film Zone: Turns display of the film aspect ratio guides on and off. This can be helpful

if you are creating a project for videotape that is to be transferred to film. You can change the size of the guides as well as their color in the Canvas section of Motion Preferences.

Handles: Turns display of object handles in the Canvas on and off. Viewing object handles is necessary to perform transformations of objects. Handles only appear on selected objects. Handles must be turned on to view either lines or animation paths.

Lines: Turns display of the lines that outline an object on and off. These lines only appear when handles are turned on. If handles are not displayed, the Lines command has no effect.

Animation Path: Turns animation paths on and off. These editable paths indicate the route that animated objects travel along. If no object is animated, this command does not appear to have any effect. If handles are not displayed, the Animation Path command has no effect. Animation paths created by behaviors are not editable.

Correct for Aspect Ratio: Applies an artificial distortion of the Canvas in projects with nonsquare pixels. When the setting is on, the computer monitor simulates what a TV monitor would display. When the setting is off, projects with nonsquare pixels appear stretched. This is because computer monitors have square pixels. This setting does not modify the actual output of the project.

Preview for Float Bit Depth: When working in float space, turning this setting off drops the preview in the Canvas to 8-bit. Since working in float space drastically increases processing time, turn this setting off to speed your workflow. This setting does not modify the actual output of the project.

Note: For more information on float space, see “

About Bit Depth” on page 144.

Field Rendering: Turning this setting off disables field rendering, which is required for smooth motion playback on a TV monitor. Field rendering nearly doubles rendering time, so disabling this may result in a dramatic performance improvement.

When this setting is turned on and you are using a default export preset (such as DV NTSC Movie), your project is exported with field rendering. This is because export presets are exported with “Use current project and canvas settings” turned on by default. When this is turned on, whatever is enabled in the View menu is also exported. This is controlled in the Export Options dialog.

Note: When opening a Motion project in another application such as Final Cut Pro or DVD Studio Pro, this setting does not control whether field rendering is applied or not. This is controlled in the Project Properties dialog (press Command+J). When Field Order is set to anything other than None, field rendering is used in the other application, regardless of the Field Rendering status in the View menu.

42 Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion

To override the current project settings for field rendering on export:

1 Choose File > Export. 2 Optional: Select a name and location for the saved file. 3 In the Save As sheet, click the Options button next to the Kind parameter. 4 In the Output tab of the Export Options dialog, turn off “Use current project and canvas

settings.” The “Use field rendering” and “Use motion blur” checkboxes become available. When “Use field rendering” is turned on, the project is exported with field rendering

regardless of the Field Rendering status in the View menu.

Motion Blur: Turning this setting off disables the preview of motion blur in the Canvas. This may result in a dramatic performance improvement. When using a default export preset, this setting affects the actual output of your project. All export presets are exported with the current project settings enabled.

When this setting is turned on and you are using a default export preset (such as DV NTSC Movie), your project is exported with motion blur. This is because export presets are exported with “Use current project and canvas settings” turned on by default. When this is turned on, whatever is enabled in the View menu is also exported. This is controlled in the Export Options dialog.

Note: When opening a Motion project in another application such as Final Cut Pro, this setting also controls whether motion blur is applied or not.

To override the current project settings for motion blur on export:

settings.” The “Use field rendering” and “Use motion blur” checkboxes become available. When “Use motion blur” is turned on, the project is exported with motion blur

regardless of the Motion Blur status in the View menu.

Using the Canvas Rulers

Using rulers in the Canvas can help you compose or align the elements of your project, as well as snap objects to the rulers.

To turn on rulers:

In the View pop-up menu, enable Rulers. When enabled, a checkmark appears next to the item in the pop-up menu.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 43

By default, rulers appear along the left and top sides of the Canvas. You can change the location of the rulers in the Canvas section of the Motion Preferences.

To add a horizontal or vertical guide to the Canvas:

1 In the Toolbar, click the Select/Transform tool (or press S). 2 Click in the gray area of the horizontal or vertical ruler, and drag into the Canvas.

As you drag, the value of the guide is displayed in the Canvas.

The ruler units are in pixels, with the 0,0 point in the center of the Canvas.

3 When the guide is in the location you want, release the mouse button.

To simultaneously add a horizontal and vertical ruler to the Canvas:

1 In the Toolbar, click the Select/Transform tool (or press S). 2 Drag from the corner in which the rulers meet into the Canvas. 3 When the guides are in the location you want, release the mouse button.

To remove a guide from the Canvas:

1 In the Toolbar, click the Select/Transform tool (or press S), then drag the guide off the

Canvas.

To change the location of the rulers:

1 Choose Motion > Preferences. 2 In the Canvas pane, choose a ruler layout from the Ruler Location pop-up.

44 Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion

To change the color of the guides:

1 Choose Motion > Preferences. 2 In the Canvas section, click the Guide Color color well, then select a color.

Playing Your Project

Use the transport controls at the bottom of the Canvas to play your project and see how it looks over time. You can set playback to loop as well as set playback to begin and end on certain frames in your project. You can also turn audio on and off.

Record

Go to start of project

Go to end of project

Play From Start

Play/Pause

Loop Playback

Play/Mute Audio

Go to next frame

Go to previous frame

Play/Pause: Starts and stops playback. The keyboard shortcut is the Space bar.

Loop playback: Controls whether playback loops indefinitely, or whether playback stops when the end of the play range is reached. The keyboard shortcut is Shift+L.

Play from start: Plays from the play range In point to the play range Out point. This

allows you to watch just a portion of the entire project. To learn how to define the In and Out points, see “

Defining the Play Range” on page 308.

Go to start of project: This button automatically returns your playhead to the beginning of the project. The keyboard shortcut is Home.

Go to end of project: Automatically moves the playhead to the end of the project. The keyboard shortcut is End.

Go to previous frame: Moves the playhead backward by one frame. Clicking the button (or holding down the shortcut key) rewinds the project one frame at a time. The keyboard shortcut is Left Arrow (or Page Up).

Go to next frame: Advances the playhead by one frame. Clicking the button (or holding down the shortcut key) advances the project one frame at a time. The keyboard shortcut is Right Arrow (or Page Down).

Play/Mute audio: Turns audio playback on or off.

Note: Turning audio off may improve your playback performance.

Record: Enables or disables animation recording. When recording is enabled, any action you make, such as moving an object or adjusting a slider, adds keyframes.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 45

Note: When “Record keyframes on animated parameters only” is turned on in the Recording Options dialog, keyframes are added only to parameters that are already animated. For more information, see “

Recording Keyframes on Animated Parameters

Only” on page 451.

RAM Preview

When you play your project, Motion performs complex calculations to represent the objects and effects that appear in each frame. This is called rendering. The project plays back as quickly as possible up to the frame rate specified in the Project Properties dialog. With a very complex project, the frame rate may be significantly reduced, making it difficult to see how the project looks when it is played at full frame rate.

You can render parts of your project and store the frames in RAM. This lets you play back your project and see it play at full frame rate. This is called RAM Preview. You can choose to render the play range, a selection, or the entire project (All). As the frames are rendered, a progress dialog appears and shows which frame is being rendered, how many more frames remain, and an approximation of the time remaining.

You can interrupt the RAM Preview by clicking the Stop button. The section that has already been rendered is stored in RAM.

Note: Since different sections of the project can be of differing complexities, the Time remaining value may be somewhat inaccurate.

To RAM Preview your entire project:

Choose Mark > RAM Preview > All. The RAM Preview dialog appears, and displays a progress bar. When the RAM Preview is

completed, the dialog closes.

46 Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion

When a section of your project is currently stored in RAM, the Timeline and the miniTimeline turn green to indicate which frames are stored.

RAM Preview indicators

RAM Previewing Regions

Previewing large sections of your project using RAM Preview requires large quantities of RAM to store the frames. You may not have enough RAM to store all of the frames you want to preview. You can restrict which frames are rendered either by choosing to preview the play range or a selection. Using RAM Preview on a selection renders all visible layers in the project from the first frame of the selection until the last.

To RAM Preview the play range:

Choose Mark > RAM Preview > Play Range. The RAM Preview dialog appears, and displays a progress bar. When the RAM Preview is

completed, the dialog closes.

To RAM Preview a selection:

1 In the Timeline, Command+Option-drag the region you want to preview.

A light blue band appears over the selected frames.

For more information on regions, see “

Working With Regions” on page 309.

2 Choose Mark > RAM Preview > Selection.

The RAM Preview dialog appears. When the RAM Preview is completed, the dialog closes.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 47

Note: Working in float has no effect on your RAM Preview. Although the project is rendered in float, the preview is down-converted to 8-bit for display on your monitor.

Clearing the RAM Preview

You can manually delete the RAM Preview to make room for a new RAM Preview or to free up RAM for other operations.

To clear the RAM Preview:

Choose Mark > RAM Preview > Clear RAM Preview.

The Mini-Timeline

The mini-Timeline lies just above the transport controls and below the body of the Canvas. This control provides an at-a-glance look at where selected objects fit into your overall project. The mini-Timeline also has a playhead to indicate which frame you are viewing as well as In and Out markers to identify the play range. The width of the miniTimeline represents the entire duration of the project.

In point

Selected clip

Playhead Out point

You can drag the playhead through the mini-Timeline to scrub your project, or to jump quickly to a particular point in time. You can also change the play range or object In and Out points by dragging the In and Out markers to the position you want. When you drag an In or Out point, the playhead temporarily moves along with the mouse. This allows you to see the frame where your In or Out point will be set. When you release the mouse button, the playhead snaps back to its previous position.

Project markers set in the Timeline are indicated in the mini-Timeline by a thin, green line.

Note: Object or layer markers do not appear in the mini-Timeline.

Editing in the Mini-Timeline

You can perform many nonlinear editing functions right in the mini-Timeline. You can drag objects from the Utility window directly to the mini-Timeline. You can also move, trim, and slip objects to change which portion of the clip appears at which point in time. For more information on editing functions such as Move, Trim, and Slip, see

Editing Objects in the Timeline” on page 293.

“

48 Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion

To add an object to the mini-Timeline:

1 Drag the object from the File Browser to the mini-Timeline.

As you drag, a tooltip appears to indicate the frame where your edit will take place.

2 When you reach the desired frame, release the mouse button.

The object is added to the project beginning at that frame.

You can also add multiple objects to the mini-Timeline at once. You can choose to add the objects sequentially (one after another) or as a composite (all at the same point in time).

If the Timeline contains project markers, you can snap the imported object to a marker. As you drag the object over the mini-Timeline, a black bar appears at the snap point.

To add multiple objects to the mini-Timeline:

1 Drag the objects from the File Browser to the mini-Timeline.

As you drag, a tooltip appears to indicate the frame where your edit will take place.

2 When you reach the desired frame, pause the pointer.

A drop menu appears.

3 Choose the desired edit type from the drop menu, then release the mouse button.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 49

To move an object in time:

1 Select the object you want to move.

The object appears in the mini-Timeline.

2 In the mini-Timeline, drag the object to the left or right to reposition it in time.

A tooltip appears to indicate the new In and Out point of the object, as well as the amount of change from the previous position.

3 When you reach the position you want, release the mouse button.

To shorten or lengthen an object:

1 Select the object to display it in the mini-Timeline. 2 Position the pointer over the beginning or ending edge of the object.

The pointer changes to a Trim pointer.

3 Drag the edge of the object to change its duration.

A tooltip appears to indicate the new In or Out point and the amount of change that your edit is causing.

Note: You cannot trim an object to be longer than the amount of frames available in the corresponding media file.

To slip an object in the mini-Timeline:

1 Select the object you want to modify. 2 Position the pointer over the body of the clip in the mini-Timeline and press the

Option key.

The pointer changes to a Slip pointer.

3 Drag the clip to the left or right to use a later or earlier part of the clip.

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Trim pointerStart of media

A tooltip appears to indicate the new In and Out points.

Slip pointerStart of media End of media

Note: You cannot slip a clip unless it has been trimmed first. For more information, see “

Slipping Objects” on page 296.

To snap the playhead to a project marker in the mini-Timeline:

Press Shift and drag the playhead in the mini-Timeline.

Timecode and Current Frame Fields

There are two timecode fields at the bottom of the Canvas, to the left and right of the transport controls. The field to the left is the Current Frame field which shows the frame or timecode number where the playhead is positioned. You can change the playhead position by changing the number in the Current Frame field.

The field to the right is the Project Duration field. This field indicates the length of your current project. You can modify the duration of the project by changing the number in this field.

Both fields can be modified in multiple ways and can be displayed either as incremental frame numbers or as eight-digit timecode numbers.

To change the current frame or duration:

Click the field, type a new number into the field, and then press Tab or Return to confirm your entry.

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To increase or decrease the current frame or duration one frame at a time:

Click the increment or decrement arrow for the field you want to change.

Drag pointer

Decrement arrow

Increment arrow

Value slider

Note: You can also move the playhead forward and backward one frame at a time by pressing Left Arrow (or Page Up) to decrease, and Right Arrow (or Page Down) to increase.

To change the duration in seconds, minutes, or hours, type the following in the Project Duration field:

To set the duration in seconds, type the number of seconds followed by “.” (period). For example, to create a 10-second project, type 10 . in the field, then press Return.

To set the duration in minutes, type the number of minutes followed by “..” (two periods). For example, to create a 10-minute project, type 10.. in the field, then press Return.

To set the duration in hours, type the number of hours followed by “...” (three periods). For example, to create a 1-hour project, type 1... in the field, then press Return.

This procedure works in timecode as well as frames.

To move ahead or back in seconds, minutes, or hours, type the following in the Current Frame field:

To move forward in seconds, type “+” (plus), then type the number of seconds you want to move forward, and then type “.” (period). For example, to move 2 seconds ahead, type +2. in the field, then press Return. To move ahead in minutes, type two periods after the number, and to move ahead in hours, type three periods after the number.

To move backward in seconds, type “–” (minus), then type the number of seconds you want to move backward, and then type “.” (period). For example, to move 2 seconds backward, type –2. in the field, then press Return. To move backward in minutes, type two periods after the number, and to move backward in hours, type three periods after the number.

To move the playhead to a specific frame:

With the Canvas or Project pane active, type the desired timecode or frame number into the Current Frame field. Press Return to confirm your entry.

To move forward a specific number of frames:

Type “+” (plus) followed by the number of frames you want to move forward.

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To move backward a specific number of frames:

Type “–” (minus) followed by the number of frames you want to move backward.

To modify the current frame or duration dynamically:

Click the center area of the field (where the numbers are), then drag to the left to increase the value, or to the right to decrease the value.

Dragging the Current Frame field in this way is equivalent to dragging the playhead through the mini-Timeline.

To switch between timecode and frame numbers, do one of the following:

Click the Current Frame icon directly to the left of the Current Frame field.

Click the Duration icon directly to the left of the Project Duration field.

Clicking either icon switches between frame and timecode view for all controls in all open projects.

Counting Time

Motion offers two different ways of looking at the frame numbers for your project. You can view the time as incremental frames, starting at 1 or 0 and continuing indefinitely. Or, you can view the time in the video-standard, eight-digit timecode system, which runs like a clock from 00:00:00:00 to 23:59:59:29. The first two digits represent the hours; the second two, the minutes; the third two, the seconds; and the final two, the frames, as in HH:MM:SS:FF.

Some formats of timecode also skip numbers in order to accommodate the inexact frame rates of certain video formats.

Both frames and timecode have advantages, depending mainly on the format with which you are originating and finishing. For example, if you are designing a title sequence for a 35mm film that must be exactly 720 frames, it is easier to set your counters to frames.

If you are building a television spot that is going to be laid onto a videotape or broadcast, you would probably benefit from setting your counters to timecode, so that the frame numbers correspond with the numbers on the videotape.

The Project Pane

Once you begin building more complex projects, you may need to view the components of your project in a list. You can view and modify the hierarchy of layers and objects, including grouping objects and changing layer order. You can turn certain objects and effects on and off to temporarily simplify your composition. You can view and modify the media files associated with the objects in your project. You can also modify certain attributes of the objects, such as opacity, blend mode, and audio levels.

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All of this can be accomplished in the Project pane, which is ordinarily to the left of the Canvas.

To display the Project pane, do one of the following:

Drag the divider bar on the left edge of the Canvas.

Click the Project icon in the Toolbar.

Press F5. You can also switch the arrangement of the windows so the Project pane appears on

the right side of the Canvas.

To switch the sides of the Canvas and Project panes:

Choose Window > Layouts > Swap Project Pane and Canvas.

The Project pane contains three tabs: Layers, Media, and Audio. Each of these tabs allows you to view the elements of your project in a list view.

The Layers Tab

The Layers tab provides an overview of all the objects, effects, and masks currently used in your project. The hierarchy of items in the list illustrates which objects are above or below other objects in the Canvas. Objects reside within layers, and masks, behaviors, and effects are listed beneath the objects to which they are applied. In these cases, the sub-objects are indented in the list.

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To display the Layers tab, do one of the following:

Click the Project Pane icon in the Toolbar.

Choose Window > Layers.

Press Command+4.

If the Project pane is not already visible, click the Layers tab at the top of the pane.

The information is displayed in a column view and there are many controls to let you customize the view while you are working. You can resize or rearrange the columns and you can hide certain columns and display others that are not visible in the default set.

On: Contains an activation checkbox to turn the visibility of the object on or off. When the object visibility is turned off, you can still modify the object’s parameters and manipulate its onscreen controls.

Preview: Contains a thumbnail of the object or mask.

Name: Identifies the object by name. To edit the name, double-click the text area of a

selected object.

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Lock: Lets you lock an object to prevent any changes from affecting that object.

Locking a layer prevents changes to all objects within that layer. This column may also include a Link icon when an object has a corresponding audio element.

Show Columns button

Link icon

To display additional columns, click the Show Columns button at the right of the column headers. A pop-up menu appears containing three items: Preview, Opacity, and Blend.

Checkmarks in the pop-up menu identify which columns are currently displayed. By default, only the Preview column is checked. Choose the other items to add them to the Layers tab view. Choosing a checked item hides it from view.

Opacity: Displays the current opacity (transparency) of the object. You can adjust the slider to change the object’s opacity.

Blend Mode: Displays the object’s current blend mode. Click the pop-up menu to choose a new blend mode for that object. For more on blend modes, see “

Modes” on page 249.

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Using Blend

Editing Columns

Any window that contains columns of data can be reorganized to suit your needs. You can change the order in which columns appear as well as the size of the cells. For example, in the Layers tab, you may want the Preview column to appear to the right of the Name column instead of to its left. You can also sort the items in the column by type of file.

To reorder columns:

1 Click the column header you want to move.

The pointer changes to a fist.

2 Drag the column left or right to the new position.

Motion lets you resize columns in several ways. You can adjust the width of a column, or you can change the height of all cells in the columns at once, including any icons and text inside the cells.

To adjust column width:

1 In the cell at the top of the column, position the pointer over the vertical line at the

right side of the column. The column adjust pointer appears.

2 Drag left or right until the column is the width you want.

To adjust cell height:

1 Position the pointer over any horizontal line until the row adjust pointer appears. 2 Drag up or down to decrease or increase the height of all cells.

Icons and thumbnails resize themselves as you make the adjustment.

You can also drag the scale slider at the bottom of the window. Drag left to decrease the size, and right to increase the size of the cells.

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To sort the items in a column by type of file:

Click the column header.

Click the column header to sort by that column’s data type.

Note: Sorting does not work in the Layers tab or Timeline. The objects are sorted in the column and a small arrow appears indicating the

direction of the sort.

The arrow in the column header indicates the direction of the sort.

To reverse the direction of the sort:

Click the header of the column that contains the small arrow. The arrow points in the opposite direction, and the data is sorted in reverse order.

Adding and Removing Layers

The Layers tab has controls to add new layers and to remove existing objects from the project.

To create a new layer in the Layers list:

Click the Add (+) button in the upper-left corner of the tab. A new empty layer is added at the top of the list.

To remove an object from the Layers list:

1 Select the object you want to remove. 2 Click the Delete (–) button in the upper-left corner of the tab.

The object is removed. Note: This action removes the object from the Canvas as well.

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Filtering the Layers List View

As your project becomes more complex, you may want to temporarily hide certain objects from view. This allows you to focus on one or more objects without the distraction of all the other objects in your list. You can perform this sort of filtering by using the Search field in the upper-right corner of the tab.

Once you begin typing in the Search field, the Layers list hides any objects that do not contain the text you type. Hidden objects continue to appear in the Canvas.

To filter the Layers list:

Type the name of the object(s) you want to view in the Search field. All other objects are temporarily hidden.

Search field

To stop filtering and return to the complete list:

Click the Clear button inside the Search field. The Search field is cleared and the Layers list returns to the unfiltered view.

Hiding and Showing Effect Objects

Masks, behaviors, and filters can be turned on and off in the Layers list by using the buttons at the bottom-right corner of the Layers tab.

Note: Hiding the effect object does not disable it from view in the Canvas nor prevent you from modifying the object’s parameters or manipulating its onscreen controls.

Show Masks

Show Filters

Show Behaviors

To display masks in the Layers tab:

Click the Show Masks button. Click the button again to hide the masks.

To display behaviors in the Layers tab:

Click the Show Behaviors button. Click the button again to hide the behaviors.

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To display filters in the Layers tab:

Click the Show Filters button. Click the button again to hide the filters.

Turning Effects On and Off

When certain effects are applied to an object, icons appear in the Name column for that item. This lets you know that such an effect is applied, especially if you have the effect objects hidden. There are icons for masks, filters, and behaviors. Additionally, these icons let you toggle the effects on and off in the Canvas.

Masks Behaviors Filters

Filter disabled

Note: You can also Control-click the icons in the Layers tab or Timeline Layer list to display a list of the applied effects.

To turn masks off for an object:

Click the Masks icon for the object you want to change. A red slash appears over the icon and the effect is temporarily turned off.

To turn behaviors off for an object:

Click the Behaviors icon for the object you want to change. A red slash appears over the icon and the effect is temporarily turned off.

To turn filters off for an object:

Click the Filters icon for the object you want to change. A red slash appears over the icon and the effect is temporarily turned off.

For each of these controls, clicking the icon again turns the effect back on.

Additional Options

Quite a few additional features are available in the Layers tab, which you can find in the shortcut menu that appears when you Control-click objects in the list. These operations apply to the selected object or objects.

Cut: Removes the object and places it on the Clipboard.

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Copy: Copies the object to the Clipboard. Paste: Places the contents of the Clipboard in the current location. Duplicate: Creates an identical object to the selection. Delete: Removes the selected object. Group: Places the selected objects into a group. (For more on working with groups see

Grouping and Ungrouping Objects” on page 202.)

“ Ungroup: Restores the components to their ungrouped state if the selection contains

a group. Active: Turns the object on or off. This is equivalent to clicking the activation checkbox

in the On column. Blend Mode: Sets the blend mode for the selected object. This is equivalent to setting

a value in the Blend column. Reveal Source Media: Opens the Media tab and highlights the media file associated

with the selected clip.

The Media Tab

The second tab in the Project pane contains a complete list of media in your project. Unlike the Layers tab, the Media tab may contain items that are not used in your Canvas. Also, if you’ve used a single object repeatedly, the Media tab may only show one version of that object. Effects, generators, and other objects created within Motion (such as masks, shapes, or text objects) do not appear in the Media tab.

To display the Media tab, do one of the following:

Choose Window > Media.

Press Command+5.

If the Project pane is already visible, click the Media tab at the top of the pane.

The Media tab provides a great deal of technical information about the media associated with the objects in your project. This data is displayed in the columns for each object.

Preview: Shows a thumbnail of the media.

Name: Contains the name of the media. Media names are not editable because they

refer to the actual names of the files on disk.

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Kind: Identifies the type of media, including QuickTime movie, still image, QuickTime

audio, or PDF. See “

Video and File Formats” on page 941 for a list of supported codecs

and file types.

Duration: Displays the duration of the media in either frames or timecode.

Frame Size: Displays the native size of the image in pixels. The numbers represent

width and height. This column remains blank for audio only objects.

Compressor: Displays the type of compression used in the clip, if any. This is also sometimes referred to as a codec.

Depth: Displays the number of colors (bit depth) of the object. Any item listed as Millions of Colors + indicates that the media contains an alpha channel in addition to the RGB data.

Vid Rate: Displays the original frames per second of the media. Sequences are listed at the current project frame rate and still images display no Vid Rate.

Data Rate: Displays the number of bytes per second at which the media file plays.

Aud Rate: Displays the sample rate in the audio track, measured in kilohertz (kHz).

Aud Format: Displays the bits per sample (usually 8 or 16) and the number of channels

(usually mono or stereo) of the audio track.

File Size: Displays the overall file size of the media on disk.

File Created: Displays the creation date of the media.

File Modified: Displays the last date on which the media was modified.

Hiding Columns

You can choose which of the columns are displayed by clicking the Show Columns button at the right of the column headers.

Items in the list with a checkmark are currently displayed in the Media tab. Items with no checkmark are currently hidden.

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To hide a column:

Click the Show Columns button at the right of the column headers, then choose the item you want to hide from the pop-up menu.

Editing Columns

Any window that contains columns of data can be reorganized to suit your needs. You can change the order in which columns appear, as well as the size of the cells. For example, in the Media tab, you may want the Frame Size column to appear before the Name column. For specific instructions on how to edit columns, see “

Editing Columns”

on page 57.

Adding and Removing Media

The Media tab has controls to add new files and to remove existing objects from the project.

To add a file to the Media tab:

1 Click the Add (+) button in the upper-left corner of the tab.

The Import Files dialog appears.

2 Navigate to the file you want to add to your project, then select the file. 3 Click Import.

The file is added to the Media tab.

Note: Objects added directly to the Media tab are not added to the Canvas.

To remove an object from the Media tab:

1 Select the object you want to remove. 2 Click the Delete (–) button in the upper-left corner of the tab.

The media is removed. If the media is used in the Canvas, an alert appears asking you to confirm that you want to remove the objects.

Filtering the Media Tab

Filtering the Layers List View” on page 59.

Additional Options

Quite a few additional features are available in the Media tab, which you can find in the shortcut menu that appears when you Control-click objects in the list. The actions in this menu apply to the selected object or objects.

Open in Viewer: Opens the selected item in the Viewer window. This is equivalent to double-clicking an object in the File Browser.

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Open In QuickTime Player: Opens the selected item in the QuickTime Player

application. Reveal in Finder: Switches out of Motion, and opens a Finder window where the

Media file resides on disk. Reconnect Media: Opens the reconnect media sheet where you can assign a new

source file on disk to correspond to the Media file in Motion.

Cut: Removes the object and places it on the Clipboard. Copy: Copies the object to the Clipboard. Paste: Places the contents of the Clipboard in the current location. Duplicate: Creates a new object identical to the selection. Delete: Removes the selected object.

The Audio Tab

The Audio tab lists all of the objects in your project that contain audio. You can modify the levels of the individual objects or modify the overall audio level of the project. For more information on working with audio in Motion, see “Working With Audio” on page 877.

To display the Audio tab, do one of the following:

Choose Window > Audio.

Press Command+6.

If the Project pane is already visible, click the Audio tab at the top of the pane.

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The Audio tab contains a number of columns with both display and editable information about the audio components of your project.

On: Contains an activation checkbox to turn the audio for the object on or off.

Name: Identifies the object by name. To edit the name, double-click the text area of a

selected object. This column also contains a slider and value field to control the volume of the object. Numbers in the value field are measured in decibels (dB).

Status: Contains Mute and Solo buttons to control audio playback for the object. When the Mute button is active, all sound from that object is removed from the mix. When the button is released, audio from the object plays back based on the level slider in the Name column.

Mute

Solo

When the Solo button is active, other non-soloed audio elements do not play. This allows you to temporarily play a single item without hearing the other objects in the mix. You can solo more than one object. This allows you to hear just the soloed objects rather than the entire mix.

Pan: Displays the left-right balance of the sound. You can modify the Pan parameter by dragging the slider to the right or left or by entering a numerical pan value. Negative numbers move panning to the left, positive numbers move panning to the right.

Lock: Allows you to lock an object to prevent any changes from affecting that object. This column also may include a Link icon when an object has a corresponding video element.

Editing Columns

You can control which columns are displayed by clicking the Show Columns button to the right of the column headers. Clicking that button opens a pop-up menu with a list of columns. Items in the list with a checkmark are displayed in the window. Items without a checkmark are hidden. You can also edit the arrangement and size of the columns. For more on how to hide and show columns, see “ page 62. For instructions on how to edit columns, see “

Hiding Columns” on

Editing Columns” on page 63.

Adding and Removing Audio Files

The Audio tab has controls to add new files and to remove existing files from the project.

To add an audio file to the project:

1 Click the Add (+) button in the upper-left corner of the tab.

The Import Files dialog appears.

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2 Navigate to the file you want to import, then select the file. 3 Click OK.

The file is added to the Audio tab.

To remove a file from the Audio tab:

1 Select the file you want to remove. 2 Click the Delete (–) button in the upper-left corner of the tab.

The object is removed.

Note: This action removes the file from the project.

Filtering the Audio Tab

As your project becomes more complex, you may want to temporarily hide certain audio files from view. This allows you to focus on one or more files without the distraction of all the other files in your list. You can perform this sort of filtering by using the Search field in the upper-right corner of the tab. For instructions on how to filter your view, see “

Filtering the Layers List View” on page 59.

Additional Options

Quite a few additional features are available in the Audio tab, accessible through the shortcut menu that appears when you Control-click files in the list.

Cut: Removes the file and places it on the Clipboard. Copy: Copies the file to the Clipboard. Paste: Places the contents of the Clipboard in the current location. Duplicate: This creates a new file identical to the selection. Delete: Removes the selected file. Active: Turns the file on and off. This is equivalent to clicking the activation checkbox

in the On column. Mute: Sets the selected item to be muted. This is equivalent to clicking the Mute

button in the Status column. Solo: Sets the selected item to Solo. This is equivalent to clicking the Solo button in

the Status column. Reveal Source Media: Opens the Media tab and highlights the media file associated

with the selected clip.

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The Timing Pane

At some point in most projects, you will want to view the contents of your composition represented as a graph over time. This may be to compare when two objects appear or disappear, or when an effect begins or changes. You may want to add or remove objects in your project at a particular point in time, to observe or modify how different parameters of different effects occur. You may also want to view your audio waveforms to allow visual events to synchronize with your soundtrack.

All of this can be accomplished in the Timing pane, which appears at the bottom of the Canvas.

To display the Timing pane, do one of the following:

Drag the divider bar on the bottom edge of the Canvas.

Click the Timing icon in the upper-right corner of the Canvas.

Press F6.

The Timing pane contains three tabs: Timeline, Keyframe Editor, and Audio Editor. Each of these allows you to view the elements of your project stretched out over time.

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The Timeline

The Timeline is the most general of the Timing tabs. It can display not only the visual objects in your project, but also the audio objects and effects such as masks, behaviors, filters, and keyframes. For more information on using the Timeline, see “Using the

Timeline” on page 273.

To display the Timeline tab, do one of the following:

Choose Window > Timeline:

Press Command+7.

If the Timing pane is already visible, click the Timeline tab at the top of the pane.

The Timeline Layer List

The left side of the Timeline is nearly identical to the Layers tab in the Project pane. Objects appear in their layer hierarchy categorized into layers and groups. The three columns are identical to the columns in the Layers list.

Activation checkbox: The checkbox to the left of each object turns the visibility of the object on and off.

Name: Contains the text description of the object. Double-click the text to modify the name of an object.

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Lock: The third column contains the Lock control which prevents any changes from

affecting the object. This column also contains the Link icon for objects with both audio and picture components.

Note: Changes made in the Timeline Layer list also change the Layers list in the Project pane and vice versa.

Effects Controls

When certain effects are applied to an object, icons appear in the Name column for that item. There is an icon for masks, filters, and behaviors. These icons control the visibility of those effects in the Canvas.

Masks Behaviors Filters

Filter disabled

To turn masks off for an object:

Click the Masks icon in the Timeline Layer list. A red slash appears over the icon and the effect is temporarily turned off.

To turn behaviors off for an object:

Click the Behaviors icon in the Timeline Layer list. A red slash appears over the icon and the effect is temporarily turned off.

To turn filters off for an object:

Click the Filters icon in the Timeline Layer list. A red slash appears over the icon and the effect is temporarily turned off. For all three of these controls, clicking the icon again turns the effect back on.

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Display Options

As with the Layers tab, you can choose to show or hide effects such as masks, filters, and behaviors. Additionally, the Timeline lets you display keyframes. You can also choose to display audio objects and, if audio objects are displayed, you can hide visual objects. All of these display options are controlled by the row of buttons in the lowerleft corner of the Timeline.

Show/Hide Keyframes

Show/Hide Layers

Show/Hide Audio

Show/Hide Behaviors

Show/Hide Filters

Show/Hide Masks

Masks, behaviors, and filters can be displayed as objects in the Timeline, just as they are displayed in the Layers tab. Showing or hiding effects in the list does not control whether the effect appears in the Canvas.

To show masks in the Timeline:

Click the Show/Hide Masks button.

To show behaviors in the Timeline:

Click the Show/Hide Behaviors button.

To show filters in the Timeline:

Click the Show/Hide Filters button. Click any of these buttons again to hide those objects.

When keyframes are shown, each track gets a little taller, and the bottom section is used to show any keyframes that exist for the object.

Selected keyframeKeyframe

To show keyframes in the Timeline:

Click the Show/Hide Keyframes button. Click the button again to hide the keyframes.

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Audio files appear in a separate section from visual objects. You can move the divider between the audio and video sections of the Timeline to show more or less of each section.

Divider

To show audio files:

Click the Show/Hide Audio button in the lower-left corner of the Timeline. Click the button again to hide audio files.

To hide video objects:

Click the Show/Hide Layers button in the lower-left corner of the Timeline. Note: You cannot hide video objects unless audio files are currently visible. This is to

prevent the Timeline from becoming completely empty.

To move the divider bar between audio and video tracks:

Position the pointer over the divider bar, then drag the bar up or down to expand or contract the track section.

You can adjust the height of the tracks in the Timeline to provide more or less vertical space. You can also expand the size of the Layer list.

To adjust track height:

1 Position the pointer over any horizontal line, until the row adjust pointer appears.

2 Drag up or down to decrease or increase the height of all tracks.

The tracks expand or contract as you make the adjustment.

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You can also use the track height control at the bottom of the tab. Click the track size indicator to set the tracks to that height.

To change the width of the Timeline Layer list:

1 Position the pointer over the rightmost edge of the Timeline Layer list.

The pointer changes to the column adjust pointer.

2 Drag left or right to resize the Layer list.

Adding and Removing Layers

The Timeline has controls to add new layers and to remove existing objects from the project.

To create a new layer in the Timeline:

Click the New Layer button (+) in the upper-left corner of the tab. A new empty layer is added at the top of the list.

To remove an object from the Timeline:

1 Select the object you want to remove. 2 Click the Delete button (–) in the upper-left corner of the tab.

The object is removed.

Note: This action removes the object from the Canvas as well.

Using the Current Frame Field

Next to the New Layer button (+) and the Delete button (–), the Timeline also contains a Current Frame field that can be used to navigate your project.

To move the playhead to a new time, do one of the following:

Double-click the Current Frame field, then type a frame number.

Drag the Current Frame value slider to the left or right to advance or rewind.

With the Timeline active, type the timecode or frame number where you want to move the playhead. Press Return to jump to that frame.

To move forward a specific number of frames:

Type “+” (plus) and then the number of frames you want to move forward.

To move backward a specific number of frames:

Type “–” (minus) and then the number of frames you want to move backward.

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The Track Area

The main part of the Timeline, to the right of the Layer list, is the track area. Objects in your project are each represented by a colored bar. Different colors represent different types of objects. For example, behaviors and filters are purple and audio objects are green. For a complete table of colors, see “

Getting Familiar With the Timeline” on

page 274.

Layer tracks differ from individual object tracks in two ways. First, there is an overview bar in addition to the area that represents the objects within the layer. Secondly, for areas where more than one object overlaps within a layer, the Layer track displays a special indicator that identifies how many objects appear within that section. Effects objects such as masks, behaviors, and filters are not counted in that total.

Layer collapsed Layer expanded

You can collapse a layer track so the tracks for the individual objects within the layer are temporarily hidden.

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Disclosure triangle

To collapse or expand a layer:

Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the layer name in the Timeline Layer list.

A variety of editing tasks can be done in the Timeline, including moving, trimming, and slipping. For more information on how to perform editing in the Timeline, see “

Editing

Objects in the Timeline” on page 293.

The Timeline Ruler

At the top of the track area is the ruler that provides a gauge for the positions and durations of the objects in your project.

Project marker

In point

The ruler can contain indicators to help mark important frames or sections of the project such as the playhead, play range indicators (also called In and Out points), and markers. The ruler can be viewed in frames or timecode.

To change the ruler view format:

Control-click the ruler, then choose Display Frames or Display Timecode from the shortcut menu.

The playhead tracks the frame currently visible in the Canvas. You can drag the playhead or reposition it using the transport controls described in “

Project” on page 45. The playhead in the Timeline and the playhead in the mini-

Timeline are linked. Moving one automatically moves the other.

The play range indicators limit the area of the project to be played. For more on setting and using the play range, see “

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Playhead

Out point

Playing Your

Defining the Play Range” on page 308.

Markers can be added to your project to identify an important frame or range of frames. For more on creating and using markers, see “

Adding Markers” on page 312.

Zooming in the Timeline

As you get familiar with using the Timeline, you will find yourself wanting to focus on an individual edit point one second, and the next, you’ll want to see the overview of your whole project. Fortunately, you can quickly zoom in and out on the Timeline using a variety of different tools.

The bottom of the Timeline contains a Zoom slider and a Zoom/Scroll control.

Thumb

Zoom slider

Zoom/Scroll control

To zoom the Timeline using the Zoom slider:

Click the thumb of the Zoom slider and drag left to zoom in, and right to zoom out. The Timeline updates as you drag.

To zoom the Timeline using the Zoom/Scroll control:

Click the edge of the scroll bar thumb and drag it away from the center to zoom out and toward the center to zoom in.

The Timeline updates as you drag. You can also automatically zoom the Timeline to include the entire duration of your

project or just the play range as defined by the play range indicators (In and Out points).

To zoom the Timeline to fit the entire project, do one of the following:

Double-click the Zoom Time View button to the right of the ruler.

Choose View > Zoom Time View > To Project.

Control-click the ruler, then choose Zoom to Project from the shortcut menu.

Zoom Time View button

To zoom the Timeline to fit the play range, do one of the following:

Click the Zoom Time View button to the right of the ruler.

Choose View > Zoom Time View > To Play Range.

Control-click the ruler, then choose Zoom to Play Range from the shortcut menu.

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The Zoom Time View button toggles between the Zoom to Play Range and Zoom to Project settings. If no play range is established, choosing Zoom to Play Range performs a Zoom to Project.

Changing the Track Display

The tracks in Motion can be displayed in a variety of ways to satisfy different working styles. You can set your tracks to be viewed as Name Only, Name Plus Thumbnail, and Filmstrip.

Name Only

Name Plus Thumbnail

Filmstrip

To change the Timeline track display:

1 Choose Motion > Preferences (Command+,) to open Motion Preferences. 2 Click the Appearance icon to switch to the Appearance pane. 3 In the Timeline section, set the Timebar Display pop-up menu to the setting you want.

Note: When the Timebar Display is set to Filmstrip, your processing time is increased.

The Keyframe Editor

The Keyframe Editor is where you can view and modify the individual attributes of filters, behaviors, and other effects over time. Each parameter can be displayed as a curve showing how the value changes over time. You can manipulate the points within that curve (called keyframes) to create a variety of powerful effects. For more information on using the Keyframe Editor, see “Keyframes and Curves” on page 401.

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To display the Keyframe Editor, do one of the following:

Choose Window > Keyframe Editor.

Press Command+8.

If the Timing pane is already visible, click the Keyframe Editor tab at the top of the pane.

The Parameter List

The left side of the Keyframe Editor contains a list of parameters. You can choose which parameters are displayed in the list and set keyframing functions in the Animation menu. You can also create custom sets of parameters. This allows you to focus on certain parameters at a time. For more information on creating and viewing parameter sets, see “

Custom Parameter Sets” on page 430.

Use the Show pop-up menu to select what is displayed in the Keyframe Editor. The Show options include:

All: This option displays all parameters for the currently selected object in the list, whether or not the parameters are animated.

Animated: This option displays only the animated parameters and curves for the currently-selected object. This is the default setting.

Active: This option shows only the parameters currently being modified. When this option is selected, nothing appears in the Keyframe Editor unless you are actively modifying an object (in the Canvas, Inspector, or Dashboard). For example, when Active is selected and you are moving an object around in the Canvas, the X and Y Position parameters and curves are displayed.

The Parameter list is divided into four columns.

Activation checkbox: This checkbox, to the left of each parameter, toggles the display of that parameter on and off in the keyframe graph. Clicking the checkbox next to the object name turns all of the parameters for that object on or off.

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Name: Lists the name of the object and its parameters.

Value: Displays the value for the current playhead position for that parameter. You can

drag in the value field to set new keyframe values, or double-click in the field and type a new value. For more information, see “

Keyframes and Curves” on page 401.

Animation menu: The last column contains a pop-up menu to control animation and keyframing attributes for that parameter. The menu items are listed below.

• Enable/Disable Animation: Remains dim until keyframing is applied to the channel,

either by using the Record button or by directly adding a keyframe. Once the channel is animated, the menu item is automatically renamed to Disable Animation. Activating it at that point hides the keyframes you have set, restoring the parameter to its default value. However, the keyframes are not thrown away. Choosing Enable Animation restores the channel to its last keyframed state.

• Reset Parameter: Removes all keyframes and settings for this parameter. The

parameter value is restored to its default value.

• Add Keyframe: Adds a keyframe at the current frame. If your playhead is positioned

on a frame where a keyframe has already been added, this menu item is dimmed.

• Delete Keyframe: Deletes the current keyframe. The Delete keyframe command is

only available if the playhead is positioned on a frame where a keyframe already exists.

• Previous Keyframe: Moves the playhead to the previous keyframe for this

parameter. The Previous Keyframe command is only available if a keyframe exists earlier in the project.

• Next Keyframe: Moves the playhead to the next keyframe for this parameter. The

Next Keyframe command is only available if a keyframe exists later in the project.

• Interpolation: Sets the type of curve for the parameter. See the table in the section

called “Modifying Curves” on page 437, for examples of the different interpolation methods.

• Before First Keyframe: Defines what happens between the first keyframe and the

beginning of the clip. See “Extrapolation” on page 441 for examples of the different extrapolation methods.

• After Last Keyframe: Defines what happens between the last keyframe and the end

of the clip.

• Lock/Unlock Parameter: Locks the parameter to prevent changes. When a

parameter is locked, neither keyframes nor curves are adjustable.

• Reduce Keyframes: Applies a “thinning” algorithm to the keyframes for the selected

parameter. This reduces the number of keyframes in a parameter while attempting to maintain a similar curve shape.

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Animation Menu States

Depending on the current condition of the parameter, the Animation menu displays a different icon. The following table shows the Animation menu icons.

Icon Name Description

No Keyframes

The parameter has no associated keyframes.

Keyframing Active

Current Keyframe The playhead is currently positioned on a keyframe for

Behavior Applied This parameter is being controlled by a behavior, as

Keyframing is active on this parameter but the playhead is not currently positioned on a keyframe.

this parameter.

opposed to a keyframe.

The Keyframe Graph

The remainder of the window contains the keyframe graph. This area contains all of the curves and keyframes for the selected parameters. Each parameter is represented in its own color. Keyframes appear as diamonds and curves appear as solid lines. Areas before the first keyframe and after the last keyframe are represented by dotted lines. Selected parameters appear in white.

You can manipulate keyframes directly by dragging them in the graph. Moving keyframes left and right changes their position in time, while dragging them up and down changes their values. You can also double-click a keyframe, type a value into the Value field, and then press Return to change its value. For more information on manipulating keyframes and curves in the graph, see “

Modifying Keyframes” on

page 433, and “Modifying Curves” on page 437.

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The Ruler

At the top of the keyframe graph is a ruler which provides a gauge for the positions and durations of the keyframes and curves. The ruler is identical to the one in the Timeline. For more information on working with the ruler, see “

The Timeline Ruler” on

page 74.

Zooming in the Keyframe Editor

As you get familiar with using the Keyframe Editor, you may want to switch between focusing on an individual keyframe or curve and seeing the overview of your whole project. Fortunately, you can quickly zoom in and out on the Keyframe Editor using a variety of different tools.

The bottom of the Keyframe Editor contains a Zoom slider and a Zoom/Scroll control.

Thumb

Zoom slider

Zoom/Scroll control

To zoom the Keyframe Editor using the Zoom slider:

Click the thumb of the Zoom slider and drag left to zoom in or right to zoom out. The Keyframe Editor updates as you drag.

To zoom the Keyframe Editor using the Zoom/Scroll control:

Drag the edge of the scroll bar thumb away from the center to zoom out and toward the center to zoom in.

The Keyframe Editor updates as you drag. You can also automatically zoom the Keyframe Editor to include the entire duration of

your project or just the play range as defined by the Play Range indicators (In and Out points).

To zoom the Keyframe Editor to fit the entire project, do one of the following:

Choose View > Zoom Time View > To Project.

Control-click the ruler, then choose Zoom to Project from the shortcut menu.

To zoom the Keyframe Editor to fit the play range, do one of the following:

Choose View > Zoom Time View > To Play Range.

Control-click the ruler, then choose Zoom to Play Range from the shortcut menu.

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Control Buttons

In the lower-left corner of the Keyframe Editor, four buttons provide additional control over the Keyframe Editor window: Snapping, “Show audio waveform,” “Fit curves,” and “Clear curve list.”

Show audio waveform

Snapping

Clear curve list

Fit curves

Snapping: When snapping is enabled, keyframes snap to other keyframes, markers, grid points, and other snappable items.

Show audio waveform: Turns on the display of audio waveforms for the selected object.

Fit curves: Automatically scales the graph vertically and in time to include all visible keyframes and curves.

Clear curve list: Empties the parameter list. This control is only active for custom curve sets.

Auto scale: Use the Auto scale mode to continuously stretch the graph vertically to fit all of the curves in view.

Auto scale button

To turn on automatic scaling:

Click the Auto scale button just below the right edge of the ruler.

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The Audio Editor

The Audio Editor provides a view of your audio elements over time. You can view and modify the level and pan information for the audio files in your project. You can also view the audio waveforms of your objects. In many ways, the Audio Editor is simply a specialized Keyframe Editor just for audio. For more on using the Audio Editor, see “Working With Audio” on page 877.

To display the Audio Editor, do one of the following:

Choose Window > Audio Editor.

Press Command+9.

If the Timing pane is already visible, click the Audio Editor tab at the top of the pane.

Audio Editor Controls

The left side of the Audio Editor contains four rows of controls for the audio object currently in view. The top row controls playback, the second row controls the In and Out points of audio clips, the third row controls the selected object’s level, and the fourth row controls its pan settings.

Playback controls

Play Range controls

Level controls

Pan controls

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Playback Controls

The playback controls in the Audio Editor do not control playback in the Canvas. This allows you to listen to the audio component of your project without being distracted by (or slowed down by) the visual component.

Use marked region

Jump to start

Snap

Current FramePlay/Pause

Jump to start: Moves the playhead to the beginning of the audio clip or to the beginning of the marked region (if the Use Marked Region button is on).

Play/Pause: Starts and stops playback in the Audio Editor.

Use marked region: Restricts playback to the play range for the selected audio file.

Current Frame: Indicates the current playhead position in the Audio Editor. You can

also use this field to change the current frame.

To change the playhead position, do one of the following:

Drag the center of the Current Frame field. Dragging to the right advances and dragging to the left rewinds.

Click the increment or decrement arrows at the side of the Current Frame field to move forward or backward by one frame.

Click the Current Frame field, then type a new number into the value field.

Play Range Controls

The second row provides two controls to set the In and Out points for the audio file. Changing a file’s In or Out point in the Audio Editor is reflected in the Timeline as well.

To change the object start time, do one of the following:

Drag the center of the In control. Dragging to the right advances, and dragging to the left rewinds.

Click the increment or decrement arrows at the side of the In control to move forward or backward by one frame.

Click the In field and type a new number into the value field.

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To change the object end time, do one of the following:

Drag the center of the Out control. Dragging to the right advances, and dragging to the left rewinds.

Click the increment or decrement arrows at the side of the Out control to move forward or backward by one frame.

Click the Out field and type a new number into the value field.

Level Control

The third row contains controls to adjust and keyframe the selected file’s level.

Activation checkbox: This checkbox at the left of the row turns the level curve on and off. It does not disable existing level settings or prevent you from making new settings.

Level slider: Controls the level (volume) of the object. If the playhead is currently positioned on a keyframe, the slider controls the level of that keyframe. If the playhead is not on a keyframe, the slider adjusts the entire curve.

Level value field: Indicates the level value at the playhead position. You can modify the value by adjusting this control instead of using the slider for more precise values.

Animation menu: Appears to the right of the value field and is similar to the one found in the Keyframe Editor. The menu is represented by different icons depending on the current state of the parameter. For a table describing the different icons, see

Animation Menu States” on page 79. The commands within the Animation menu are

“ listed below:

• Enable/Disable Animation: Turns keyframing on and off for this parameter. Once

keyframes are added, choosing Disable Animation does not delete the keyframes, it just globally hides their effect.

• Reset Parameter: Removes any keyframes and restores the parameter to its default

value.

• Add Keyframe: Adds a new keyframe at the current playhead position.

• Delete Keyframe: Deletes a keyframe at the current playhead position, if one exists.

• Previous Keyframe: Moves the playhead to the first keyframe to the left of the

current playhead position.

• Next Keyframe: Moves the playhead to the first keyframe to the right of the current

playhead position.

• Show in Keyframe Editor: Displays the audio parameters in the Keyframe Editor and

brings that tab to the front.

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The Pan Control

The fourth row contains controls to adjust and animate the selected file’s pan setting (left-right balance).

Activation checkbox: Turns the keyframe graph on and off. It does not disable existing pan settings or prevent you from making new settings.

Pan slider: Controls the left-right balance of the object. If the playhead is currently positioned on a keyframe, the slider controls the pan setting of that keyframe. If the playhead is not on a keyframe, the slider adjusts the entire pan curve.

Pan value field: Displays the pan value at the playhead position. Negative numbers move panning to the left, while positive numbers move panning to the right. When the value is zero, the balance is split evenly between left and right. You can modify the value by adjusting this control instead of using the slider for more precise control.

Animation menu: Appears to the right of the value field and is similar to the menu found in the Keyframe Editor. The menu is represented by different icons depending on the current state of the parameter. For a chart describing the different options, see

Animation Menu States” on page 79.

“

Level Meters

Audio level meters appear to the right side of the Audio Editor controls. There are two vertical bars that show the level at the current playhead position. The left bar shows the levels for the left audio channel and the right bar shows the levels for the right audio channel. As you play, the meters change to indicate the changing audio level.

Peak indicators

Peak indicators appear at the top of the meters. These small lights illuminate red when the volume exceeds acceptable levels (called peaking). They remain red for a short time after the peak occurs.

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The Audio Editor Keyframe Graph

The remainder of the window contains the keyframe graph. This area contains the curves and keyframes for the level and pan of the selected object. Keyframes appear as diamonds, and curves appear as solid lines. Areas before the first keyframe and after the last keyframe are represented with dotted lines. The waveform of the selected object is displayed behind the curves.

Object bar

At the top of the graph a green bar shows the duration of the audio file. As you change the file’s In and Out points, the bar shrinks or expands to show the new duration.

You can manipulate keyframes by dragging them in the graph. Moving them left and right changes their position in time, while dragging them up and down changes their value. Since audio keyframes work exactly the same as keyframes for other parameters, you can learn more about working with audio keyframes in “

Adding and Editing

Keyframes” on page 895.

The Ruler

At the top of the Audio Editor graph is a ruler that provides a gauge for the positions and durations of the level and pan keyframes and curves. The ruler in the Audio Editor shows different time than the rulers in the Timeline and Keyframe Editor. This ruler shows the time for the selected audio object rather than for the whole project.

To change the ruler view format:

Control-click the ruler, then choose Display Frames or Display Timecode from the shortcut menu.

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Markers can be added to your project to identify an important frame or range of frames. For more information on creating and using markers, see “

Adding Markers” on

page 312.

Note: The playhead in the Audio Editor is not the same as the playhead in the Timeline and the Canvas. The Audio Editor playhead shows the position within the selected object rather than the position within the entire project.

Zooming in the Audio Editor

You may want to zoom in or out in the Audio Editor just as you do with the Timeline or Keyframe Editor.

The bottom of the Audio Editor contains a Zoom slider and a Zoom/Scroll control.

To zoom the Audio Editor using the Zoom slider:

Click the thumb of the Zoom slider and drag left to zoom in and right to zoom out. The Audio Editor updates as you drag.

To zoom the Audio Editor using the Zoom/Scroll control:

Click the edge of the scroll bar thumb and drag it away from the center to zoom out and toward the center to zoom in.

The Audio Editor updates as you drag.

Audio Scrubbing

You can choose whether or not you want to hear the audio play when you drag the playhead through the ruler in the Audio Editor. This is called audio scrubbing. To turn audio scrubbing on or off, click the control in the lower-left corner of the Audio Editor.

The Utility Window

The Utility window is where you locate and organize the media, effects, and parameters that go along with your project. This includes sorting through the media on your disk, browsing all of the effects, presets, templates, and other content that is created within the application, and viewing and manipulating all of the parameters that control how your objects and effects behave.

The Utility Window has three tabs: The File Browser, the Library, and the Inspector. In the default window layout, all three of these tabs reside in a Utility window on the left side of the Canvas. If you choose the Cinema layout, two Utility windows are displayed, one to the left of the Canvas, containing the File Browser and Library, and one on the right side of the Canvas, containing the Inspector.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 87

The File Browser

The File Browser is a view of all of the files on your computer. Navigating the File Browser is similar to navigating a window in the Finder. You can drag items directly from the File Browser into your project.

The Preview Area

The top area of the File Browser contains a preview of the selected object. The Preview area contains both a visual preview, complete with a Play button to show the multiple frames of moving footage, and text information about the object such as the filename, media type, file size, and frame rate.

Note: Audio files contain a text description but no image preview.

To play a preview of a file on disk:

1 Select the file in the File Browser. 2 The preview starts playing.

Note: If you do not want items to play automatically in the Preview area when you click them (in the File Browser or Library), you can turn off the “Play items automatically on a single click” checkbox in the General pane of Motion Preferences.

To import an object displayed in the preview area:

1 Select the file in the File Browser. 2 Click the Import button in the Preview area.

The file is added to the Layers tab, Timeline, and Media tab in your project.

Note: For a larger preview, you can double-click any file listed in the File Browser. This opens the Viewer window where you can preview the object at its native size.

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The Sidebar

The middle section of the File Browser contains navigational controls as well as a list of servers, drives, and folders available on your computer.

Path pop-up menu

Forward/Back buttons

View buttons Search field

Clicking a drive or folder in the Sidebar displays its contents in the file stack below. Above the list of drive and folder icons in the Sidebar are several controls to navigate and sort the contents of the window.

Forward and Back buttons: Step backward and forward through the folders most recently viewed. This works similarly to the Forward and Back buttons in the Finder.

Path: Displays the file system hierarchy (folders inside of folders) for the currently viewed folder.

Icon View and List View buttons: Controls the view of the file stack. Click the left button to set the display to icon view. Click the right button to set the view to list view.

Search: Filters the contents of the file stack to include only objects whose names contain the text you type into the Search field.

Note: Folders are not filtered out.

To clear the Search field:

Click the Clear button in the body of the search field.

The File Stack

The bottom section of the File Browser shows the contents of the folder selected in the Sidebar or the contents of a subfolder.

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You can Control-click an object in the File Browser stack to display a shortcut menu. For most items, the following options are available in the menu:

Open in Viewer: This option opens the file in a Viewer window.

Open in QuickTime Player: This option opens the file in a QuickTime window.

Reveal in Finder: This option displays the location of the file in the Finder.

Rename: This option turns the name of the file into an active text field so you can

rename the file.

Move to Trash: This option moves the object into the Trash.

To view the contents of a folder displayed in the file stack, do one of the following:

Double-click the folder.

Select the folder, then press Return. The contents of the folder replace the current file stack view.

To return to a previously viewed folder, do one of the following:

Click the Back button directly beneath the Preview area.

Choose a new folder from the Path pop-up menu directly beneath the Preview area.

Press Command+Up Arrow.

To rename a folder or file, do one of the following:

Control-click the file or folder, then choose Rename from the shortcut menu. When the text field becomes active, type the new name, then press Return.

In the stack, click the name of the folder or file once to select it, then click it again to activate the text field. Type the new name, then press Return.

Warning: Renaming folders or files from within the File Browser renames the item on

your hard disk or network. If projects are using files from the originally named folder, Motion may list the footage as missing.

To delete a folder or file, do one of the following:

In the stack, Control-click the file, then choose Move to Trash from the shortcut menu.

Drag the file from the stack to the Trash icon in the Dock.

Warning: Deleting folders or files from within the Motion File Browser removes the

files from your hard drive or network and places the files in your Trash.

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Organizing Your Files

You can organize the files and folders displayed in the File Browser just as you manipulate files in the Finder. You can move objects in and out of folders and create new folders. All of the changes you make to your file structure from within Motion are reflected in the Finder.

To create a new folder:

Click the “Create new folder” button at the bottom of the window.

To move a file into a folder:

Drag the file onto the folder icon. The object is moved inside that folder.

Icon View and List View

The file stack can be displayed in icon view or list view. Each view is useful for different situations. There are certain options that only affect the icon view (such as icon size) and certain options that only affect list view (such as sorting by columns).

Icon View

Icon view List view

To view the File Browser in icon view:

Click the Icon View button near the Path pop-up menu above the Sidebar.

To view the File Browser in list view:

Click the List View button near the Path pop-up menu above the Sidebar.

List View

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In icon view, you can control the size of the icons using the Size slider at the bottom of the window.

To change the icon size:

Drag the icon size slider. Dragging to the right enlarges the icons while dragging to the left shrinks them.

In list view, the contents of the selected folder are displayed as a series of columns. The columns are Name, Date, Size, Duration, and Kind.

You may need to expand the width of the Utility window to see all of the columns.

Sorting Columns

You can sort the list by any of the columns. This can be helpful if you are looking for a particular file and you know the approximate size or modification date.

To sort the File Browser list:

Click the header for the column by which you want to sort. The column header darkens and the contents of the window are sorted by that

column.

Collapsing Animations

Frequently, animated sequences may be delivered as a series of sequentially numbered still images. Motion can save you time by allowing you to import these sequences as a single object where each image becomes a sequential frame in a movie.

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To import a series of numbered still images as a single object:

1 Click the “Show collapsed image sequences” button.

This changes the view in the File Browser to see the multiple items collapsed into a single object.

2 Drag the object from the File Browser to the Canvas, Layers tab, Timeline, or Media tab.

Note: Images from digital cameras are often numbered sequentially but are not part of an animation sequence. You may want to turn off this option to import a single still image from a digital camera.

The Library

The second tab in the Utility window is called the Library. This is similar to the File Browser but rather than showing the files on your disk, it shows all of the effects, content, generators, and fonts available from within Motion.

The contents of the Library can be expanded by adding certain plug-ins, fonts, and files such as gradient or particle presets that become available from Apple or from thirdparty vendors in the future. You can also expand the Library by saving versions of existing effects.

The Library is divided into three sections. The top section is the Preview area, the middle section is the Sidebar, and the bottom section is the file stack where the actual effects and other objects are displayed.

The Library Preview

The Preview area contains a visual preview, which has a Play button to show the multiple frames of moving footage, previews of filters, behaviors, generators, particle emitters, and so on. The Preview area also contains text information for the selected object, such as a description of the behavior, filter, or generator. The Library preview is almost identical to the File Browser preview, but instead of an Import button, it has an Apply button.

Note: When certain particle emitters are selected in the stack, an animated preview of the selected particle emitter plays in the Preview area. While it is playing, you can drag the pointer around in the Preview area to see how the particle looks while in motion.

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To play a preview of an effect such as a generator:

Click the object you want to preview. The preview starts playing.

To apply an effect:

1 Select the object to which you want to apply the effect. 2 Select the effect in the Library. 3 Click the Apply button in the Preview area.

The effect is added to the object. You can also drag the effect from the Library directly to the object.

The Sidebar

The middle section of the Library contains navigational controls as well as a list of folders of effect types available in Motion.

Path pop-up menu

Forward/Back buttons

View buttons Search field

Clicking a folder in the Sidebar displays it’s contents in the file stack below. Above the list of drive and folder icons in the Sidebar are several controls to navigate and sort the contents of the window.

Forward and Back buttons: Step backward and forward through the folders most recently viewed. These work similarly to the Forward and Back buttons in a web browser.

Path: Displays the file system hierarchy (folders inside of folders) for the currently viewed folder.

View as icons/View as list: Controls the view of the file stack. Click the left button to set the display to icon view. Click the right button to set the view to list view.

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Search: Filters the contents of the file stack to include only those objects whose names

contain the text you type into the Search field. Note: Folders containing no matches are filtered out.

To clear the Search field:

Click the Clear button in the body of the Search field.

Library Content

The Library contains all of the effects, presets, fonts, and other content available within Motion. These are grouped into categories which are listed on the left of the Sidebar. Choose any of these items to display a list of subcategories on the right. The Library also contains two additional categories—Music and Photos—which provide quick access to your iTunes and iPhoto libraries.

Behaviors: Contains Basic Motion, Parameter, Particles, Replicators, Simulation, Text Animation, and Text Sequence behaviors. Different kinds of behaviors can only be applied to specific types of objects. For example, Text Animation and Text Sequence behaviors can only be applied to text objects. For more on how to apply behaviors, see

Applying and Removing Behaviors” on page 321.

“

Filters: Contains all of the built-in filter effects divided into individual subcategories. Most filters can be applied to any object in your project.

3rd Party Filters: Contains all of the filters that work within Motion but are manufactured by third-party vendors.

Generators: Contains a selection of checkerboards, noise patterns, and other computer-generated elements for use in your projects. Generators are added to a project like other objects.

Particle Emitters: Contains a selection of preset particle systems organized into subcategories. Particle presets are added to a project like other objects.

Replicators: Contains a selection of preset replicators organized into subcategories. Replicator presets are added to a project like other objects.

Shapes: Contains a collection of preset shape objects.

Gradients: Contains a selection of preset gradients. These can be applied to any object

where the fill or outline can contain a gradient.

Fonts: Contains all of the fonts available on your system. It includes both TrueType and Type 1 fonts. These can be applied only to text objects. For more information on changing fonts in this browser, see “

Changing Fonts” on page 466.

LiveFonts: Contains all of the LiveFonts currently installed on your computer. These can be applied only to text objects.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 95

Tex t Styles: Contains a collection of preset type styles that can be applied to text

objects.

Music: This Library category allows you to browse for and import audio files directly from your iTunes library. The Music subcategories include the library and any playlists created in iTunes. The contents of each playlist appear in the file stack. When displayed in list view, the Music category shows the Name, Artist, Album, Duration, and Size information created in iTunes.

Note: Rights-protected AAC files cannot be imported into Motion and do not appear in the file stack. This includes all music purchased from the iTunes store.

Photos: This Library category allows you to browse for and import image files directly from your iPhoto library. The Photos subcategories include the library and any albums created in iPhoto. The contents of each album appear in the file stack.

Note: When importing large-scale images into Motion, you have the option to import the files as is, to scale the images to the size of the Canvas, or to change the resolution of the images to fit the Canvas. For more information, see “

Using High Resolution Still

Images” on page 165.

Content: Contains individual elements used in the templates and other presets.

Favorites: As you make custom versions of any type of effect, you can store them in

the Favorites folder. You can also add shortcuts to frequently used items. By default, this folder is empty.

Favorites Menu: This is another category of favorites. Items stored in this folder appear in the Favorites menu in the menu bar.

The File Stack

The bottom section of the Library shows the contents of the folder selected in the Sidebar, or the contents of a subfolder.

To view the contents of a folder displayed in the file stack, do one of the following:

Double-click the folder.

Select the folder, then press Return. The contents of the folder replace the current file stack view.

To return to a previously viewed folder, do one of the following:

Click the Back button directly beneath the Preview area.

Choose a new folder from the Path pop-up menu directly beneath the Preview area.

Press Command+Up Arrow.

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Organizing Your Effects

You can organize the effects and folders displayed in the Library just as you manipulate files in the Finder. You can move objects in and out of folders, create new folders, and even delete some files or folders.

Note: You cannot modify the objects and folders that are built in to Motion.

To create a new folder:

Click the “Create new folder” button at the bottom of the window.

Icon View and List View

The file stack can be displayed in icon view or list view.

Icon view

Icon view List view

To view the Library in icon view:

Click the Icon View button near the Path pop-up menu above the Sidebar.

To view the Library in list view:

Click the List View button near the Path pop-up menu above the Sidebar.

List view

In icon view, you can control the size of the icons using the Size slider at the bottom of the window.

To change the icon size:

Drag the icon size slider. Dragging to the right enlarges the icons, while dragging to the left shrinks them.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 97

The Inspector

Every effect in Motion, from behaviors to particle systems to gradients, is controlled by a collection of parameters that modify the various attributes for that effect. For example, a Blur filter has an amount slider that controls how much blur is applied.

Some parameters are controlled with sliders, some with dials or pop-up menus. In fact, there are thousands of parameters using 11 types of controls. All of them are accessed in the Inspector.

Even objects without applied effects have many parameters that you can modify to alter the nature of the object and how it appears in your project. These include the object’s scale, opacity, and position onscreen, as well as more obscure attributes such as its pixel aspect ratio or field order.

The Inspector contains four tabs, each of which contains a set of parameters for the selected object. The first three tabs, Properties, Behaviors, and Filters, are present for any selected object. The fourth tab, generically called the Object tab, changes its name and contents depending on the type of object selected.

Types of Controls

There are 11 different types of controls that may appear in the Inspector. Each one provides you the opportunity to change the value of a parameter in a special way. Since different types of objects and effects require different parameters, varied sets of controls to appear in the Inspector depending on what is selected. The following table describes the various types of controls and how to use them.

98 Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion

Control Control type Description

Slider Perhaps the most basic type of control,

dragging the thumb of a slider changes the value of the parameter. Typically, dragging to the right increases the value and dragging to the left decreases the value. An example of a parameter that uses a slider is Scale.

You can Option-click to the left or right of the slider marker to decrease or increase by a value of 1.

Value slider A special type of slider that includes the

numerical value of the parameter in the control. Dragging the middle area (where the number is) works just like an ordinary slider; dragging to the right increases the value and dragging to the left decreases the value. Some parameters allow you to increase or decrease the value indefinitely. Additionally, you can click the increment or decrement arrow to change the value one step at a time. You can double-click the number itself to convert the slider into a value field so you can type a specific number directly into the control. An example of a parameter that uses a value slider is Position.

Note: When a value slider or value field is active (highlighted), press Ta b to move to the next field.

Dial This control is used for values based on angles

or degrees. Rotate the dial by dragging it in a clockwise or counter-clockwise motion. A parameter that uses a dial is Rotation.

Value field This control allows direct entry of text to set

the value of the parameter. An example of a parameter that uses a value field is the Text Entry field.

Pop-up menu A menu with preset values. Click the menu and

choose the value you want. An example of a pop-up menu is Throw Increment.

Value list Another type of pop-up menu. You can click

the arrow to the right of the field to display preset values or you can type a value directly into the value field. An example of a value list is Typeface.

Activation checkbox

An on/off toggle for a parameter. An example of an Activation checkbox is Preserve Opacity.

Chapter 1 Getting To Know Motion 99

Control Control type Description

Color well The box you click to open the Colors window.

You can also Control-click to pick a color from the pop-up color palette (pictured), or click the disclosure triangle to manipulate the individual R, G, B, and A sliders. An example of a color well is Drop Shadow Color.

Gradient Editor Allows you to select a preset gradient style or

create a new one. When collapsed, you can choose only from the Preset pop-up menu to choose an existing preset. Alternately, click the disclosure triangle to reveal the additional controls to set the gradient’s opacity as well as its color values. An example of a gradient control appears in the Text Style pane when the Face Fill With parameter is set to Gradient.

Image well Allows you to drag an object (usually a clip or

still image) to provide input data for a type of effect. For example, a bump map filter needs an image to provide the bumps, or a Repel From behavior needs to know what object to repel. An example of an Image well is the Attracted To behavior’s Object parameter.

Parameter Selection menu

A special type of pop-up menu, specifically for Parameter behaviors. When a Parameter behavior is applied to an object, you need to identify which parameter the behavior should affect. You can either type the name of the parameter directly into the value field, or you can choose from the Go pop-up menu which lists all current parameters. An example of the Parameter Selection menu is the Average behavior’s Apply To parameter.

In addition to the common parameter control types listed above, there are several other controls that are widely used within the Inspector tab.

Reset button: Automatically restores the parameter value (or in some cases, an entire set of parameters) back to its default value.

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Reset button

Apple Motion 2 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Motion 2 Documentation and Resources

Onscreen Help

User Manual

Late-Breaking News

New Features

Motion Getting Started

Tutorials

Show Welcome

Motion Support

Motion on the Web

Apple Training Centers

Create Support Profile

Additional Resources

Motion on the Web

Apple Service and Support Website

Other Apple Websites

1 Getting To Know Motion

About Motion Graphics

Design Tools

Timing Tools

Compositing

Special Effects Tools

Unique Tools

About the Motion Workspace

The Utility Window

The Canvas

Window Arrangements

The Toolbar

Tool Groups

Customizing the Toolbar

The Canvas

The Status Bar

Canvas View Options

Playing Your Project

RAM Preview

The Mini-Timeline

Counting Time

The Project Pane

The Layers Tab

The Media Tab

The Audio Tab

The Timing Pane

The Timeline

The Keyframe Editor

The Audio Editor

The Utility Window

The File Browser

The Library

The Inspector