Page is loading ...
What is Motion?
Motion is a behavior-driven motion graphics application used to
create stunning imaging effects in real time for a wide variety of
broadcast, video, and film projects.
In Motion, you can:
Create sophisticated animations on the fly using any of more
than 200 built-in motion and simulation behaviors, such as
Spin, Throw, or Orbit, which allow you to add dynamic motion
to your projects in real time, with no preview rendering time
necessary.
Build complex visual effects using one or more of nearly 300
Motion basics
Build complex visual effects using one or more of nearly 300
filters such as Glow, Strobe, or Bleach Bypass.
Animate the traditional way, using keyframes and modifiable
curves, to create precise timing effects.
Create polished text effects, from the simple (lower-thirds and
credit rolls) to the complex (3D titles, animated effects,
sequencing text).
Create custom effect, transition, title, and generator templates
for automatic export to Final Cut Pro X. You can also modify
the effects, transitions, titles, and generators that ship with
Final Cut Pro.
Use rigging to map multiple parameters to a single control (for
example, a slider that simultaneously manipulates size, color,
and rotation of text) in Motion compositions or in templates
exported to Final Cut Pro X.
Build compositions by selecting from royalty-free content,
such as vector artwork, animated design elements, and high-
resolution images.
Retime footage to create high-quality slow-motion or fast-
motion effects.
Stabilize camera shake or create complex motion-tracking
effects such as match moves and corner-pinning.
Perform advanced compositing and green screen effects.
Build fluid 3D motion graphics for show intros, bumpers,
commercials, or title sequences.
Create sophisticated particle systems involving large numbers
of automatically animated objects in 2D or 3D space.
Build complex patterns of repeating elements using the
Build complex patterns of repeating elements using the
powerful replicator tool, then animate the resulting collages in
2D or 3D space.
Publish your projects directly to websites such as YouTube
and Facebook, or send your motion graphics to iTunes for
syncing with Apple devices such as iPad, iPhone, and Apple
TV.
Motion workflow
The basic process of working in Motion is described below. You
don’t have to do every step, and you might do other tasks that
aren’t listed here.
Create a project
You can create a blank project, open a preset composition, or
create a template for use in Final Cut Pro X.
Add media
Typically, you import media to create a composition. You can,
however, create entire projects using the built-in content that
comes with Motion, such as preset particle emitters, text, or
generators. Each media item added to your project becomes a
layer in your composite.
Add or create effects
Now the fun really begins. Whether you’re building simple
animated backgrounds, creating green screen composites or 3D
composites, or assembling complex motion-graphics animations,
the effect possibilities are nearly limitless.
Share your composition
When your project is finished, you can publish your movie right
from Motion to the web, or send it to iTunes, iPad, iPhone, iPod,
or Apple TV. You can also burn a disc to give to others.
Motion interface at a glance
The Motion interface is divided into several functional areas.
Project Browser
When you open Motion, the Project Browser appears. Use this
window to create new projects or open existing projects.
For more information, see .
Main workspace
After you open a project via the Project Browser, the main
workspace appears. Use this window to build, modify, and
preview your motion graphics projects. The main workspace is
divided into several functional areas, described in detail below.
Create a new project
File Browser
The File Browser, located on the left side of the main workspace,
displays all files on your computer and networked disks.
Navigating the File Browser is similar to navigating a window in the
Finder.
When you select a file in the File Browser, a visual preview
appears in the top-left corner of the Motion workspace, along with
the file’s metadata.
Library
The Library, located on the left side of the main workspace,
contains effects, content, presets, behaviors, filters, and other
elements available in Motion. You can expand the Library content
by adding fonts, music, or photos, or by saving content and
effects that you create in Motion.
When you select an item in the Library, a visual preview appears
in the top-left corner of the Motion workspace. The preview area
also contains text information for the selected item, such as a
description of the behavior, filter, or generator.
Inspector
When you select an object in your Motion project—an image,
video clip, or effect—its parameter controls become available in
the Inspector, located on the left side of the main workspace,
ready for adjustment.
There are four Inspector categories, each of which displays
parameter controls for the selected object:
Properties Inspector: Contains controls for setting basic
Properties Inspector: Contains controls for setting basic
attributes of the selected object, such as position, scale, and
blending.
Behaviors Inspector: Contains controls for adjusting attributes
of behaviors—animation and simulation effects that you can
apply to objects in your project.
Filters Inspector: Contains controls for adjusting attributes of
filters—visual treatments that you can apply to objects in your
project.
Object Inspector: Contains controls that vary depending on
the type of object selected. The name of this Inspector is also
context-sensitive, changing depending on the type of object
selected, such as Camera, Text, or Shape.
Heads-up display (HUD)
The most commonly used Inspector controls are also available in
the heads-up display (HUD), a floating window that you can show
or hide. For more information, see .
Project pane
The Project pane (located between the File Browser, Library, or
Inspector and the Canvas) contains three lists, each of which
Transform layers in the HUD
provides access to a different aspect of your project:
Layers list: Displays the hierarchy of objects (groups, layers,
cameras, lights, behaviors, filters, and so on) in your project.
Media list: Shows the files imported into your project.
Audio list: Provides access to, and control of, audio files in
your project.
More than simple lists of items in a project, these panes let you
organize key attributes of a motion graphics composition,
including the stacking order of image layers, audio settings, and
source media settings.
Canvas
Canvas
The Canvas is the visual workspace where you modify and
arrange objects in your composition. Adding layers and effects to
your project is as simple as dragging them from the Library or File
Browser to the Canvas. The composition in the Canvas is what will
be output when you share a project.
The buttons centered at the bottom of the Canvas are transport
controls. Use them to play your project and see how it looks over
time.
Toolbar
You can access tools for editing and creating objects in the
toolbar, located in the center of the Motion workspace. There are
tools that transform objects in 2D or 3D space; tools that create
text, shapes, and masks; buttons that add cameras, lights,
generators, particle systems, and replicators; and pop-up menus
that apply filters and behaviors to objects.
Timing pane
The Timing pane, located at the bottom of the Motion workspace,
lets you view and modify the time component of a project’s
contents. There are three panes that control a different timing
aspect of a project:
Video Timeline: Provides an overview of objects in the project
and how they’re laid out over time.
Audio Timeline: Provides an overview of audio components in
the project and how they are laid out over time.
Keyframe Editor: Displays the animation curves for animated
parameters and effects.
Basic components of Motion
The composition you build in Motion, then save and share, is
called a project. The basic components of your project—images,
video clips, applied special effects, and so on—are represented in
the interface as objects that you can select, drag, and manipulate
in various ways. There are several categories of objects that you’ll
use in every project:
Groups: The basic containers used in a project to organize
imported media and Motion content and effects. A group can
contain one or more objects, as well as other, nested groups.
Layers: A specific kind of object that you can see in the
Canvas, including:
Images or video clips: Still pictures and movies that you
import into Motion. See
.
Shapes: Rectangles, circles, lines, and more complex
Add and manage content
overview
Shapes: Rectangles, circles, lines, and more complex
shapes that you create in Motion using the shape tools.
See .
Masks: A special type of shape used to create regions of
transparency in layers. See
.
Paint strokes: Freehand shapes drawn in a single,
continuous movement. See
.
Text: Type that you can add and animate in a project. See
.
Particle systems: Sophisticated animation effects
composed of swarming small particles. You can create
your own particle systems or apply the pre-built particle
systems that come with Motion. See .
Replicators: Patterns of repeating visual elements you can
create or apply to build cascading arrays of kaleidoscopic
imagery. See .
Generators: Graphical images that come with Motion,
including colors, bars, stripes, and gradients that you can
add to your project. See .
Effects objects: Special effects that you apply to visual layers.
Effects objects are not visible in the Canvas on their own;
rather, they modify the visual layers you see in the Canvas.
Motion includes the following effects objects:
Cameras: An angle of view that you can adjust or animate
to create the illusion of panning, dollying, or zooming
through your composition. See .
Lights: Simulated illumination sources that you can direct
Shapes, masks, and paint strokes overview
Shapes, masks, and paint
strokes overview
Shapes, masks, and paint
strokes overview
Basic text overview
Particles overview
Replicator overview
Generators overview
Add a camera
Lights: Simulated illumination sources that you can direct
at any visible layer in the canvas. See .
Behaviors: Sophisticated animation and simulation effects
that you can apply to the visual layers in your project. For
example, you can use the Spin behavior to make a shape
rotate over time at a rate you specify. See
.
Filters: Special visual effects used to modify the
appearance of visual layers in Motion. For example, you
can use a blur filter to make an image or shape appear to
be out of focus. You can also animate filters. See
.
In Motion Help, the term object is often used to describe the
superset of all elements (groups, layers, and effects objects) that
comprise and act upon a composition. Layer, however, always
refers to the image-based elements acted upon—the visual media
you see in the Canvas.
About mice, keys, and multi-touch
devices
If you have a two- or three-button mouse connected to your
computer, you can right-click to access the same controls
specified by the Control-click commands in this documentation.
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 .
Add lights
Behaviors
overview
Filters
overview
Keyboard shortcuts overview
If you have a multi-touch device, such as a Magic Mouse or
trackpad, you can use various gestures for interface navigation,
scrolling, frame-scrubbing, and zooming. You can also use
gestures to change the size of icons in the File Browser and
Library. These gestures are discussed in their relative sections of
the documentation.
Create and manage projects
overview
Creating a project is the first step in the Motion workflow. The
easiest way to create a new project (or to open an existing
project) is to use the Project Browser window. When you open
Motion, the Project Browser appears.
Use the options in the browser to specify the type of project you
want to open:
A new standard (“blank”) Motion project
Create and manage projects
A new standard (“blank”) Motion project
A previously opened Motion project
A predesigned composition template that you can customize
A new blank project based on one of the supplied
Final Cut Pro templates (effects that you build in Motion for
use in Final Cut Pro X)
Before opening the new project, you can also use the Project
Browser to modify your project properties—resolution (width and
height), frame rate, and duration. For example, you might want to
choose properties that will match your planned output format.
Regardless of the project properties you choose, after you create
a project, Motion lets you import nearly any kind of media file
supported by QuickTime. Further, you can mix media files with
different properties in the same project. For example, you can
combine video clips of different frame sizes with graphics files. In
the end, the file you output uses the frame size and frame rate
specified by the project properties.
After you create a project, you can or save or revert it, play it
back, or modify its properties.
Create a new project
You can create a Motion project from scratch, using the standard
project settings in the preview area of the Project Browser. If none
of the presets meets your needs, you can create a project with
custom properties. You can also create projects prepopulated
with selected media. Additionally, you can create projects based
/