To save a project:
1 Choose File> Save (or press Apple-S).
If the project has not already been saved, the Save As dialog appears.
2 Type a name into the Save As field, choose a location on your hard drive to save the
file, then click Save.
Note: If the project has already been saved, the project file is simply updated.
Collect MediaWhen saving a project, Motion gives you the option to automatically gather together
the media used in your project. The media is collected in a folder of your designation.
The advantage to collecting your media is that it makes portability and backup easier,
as well as organizing all your project media in a single place. By default, Collect Media
is turned off.
To use the Collect Media save function:
1 Choose File > Save As (or press Apple-Shift-S).The Save As dialog appears.
2 Choose Copy to Folder from the Collect Media pop-up menu.
Choosing the Copy to Folder option creates a folder with the name specified in the
Save As field. A Motion project file of the same name is created within that folder, as
well as a folder named “Media,” which contains all the media used in the project.
If the Collect Media option is used, you have the option to specify whether unused
media are collected as well.
Navigation Controls in the File Browser
The six main 2D transform tools are:Select/Transform: Scales and rotates selected objects.
Adjust Anchor Point: Offsets the anchor point used for all object transforms.
Adjust Shear: Tilts objects, either horizontally or vertically.
Adjust Drop Shadow: Manipulates object drop shadows directly in the Canvas.
Adjust Four Corner: Stretches an object into different polygonal shapes.
Adjust Crop: Cuts off pixels from any of the object’s four edges.
Moving Objects in the CanvasThe simplest thing you can do to start arranging the objects in your project is to move
them around.
To move one or more objects in the Canvas:1 Select one or more objects.
2 Do one of the following:
 Drag an object to another location. If more than one object is selected, dragging one
of the currently selected objects moves all of them.
 Press Command, then press the Right Arrow, Left Arrow, Up Arrow, or Down Arrow
key to reposition the selected objects one pixel at a time.
 Press Command-Shift, then press the Right Arrow key or the Left Arrow key to
reposition the selection ten pixels at a time
Transform ToolsThe transform controls do double duty, allowing you to both resize (scale) and rotate
an object within a single mode.
Drag one of the corner handles to resize the object’s width and height at the same
time. By default, you can resize the width and height independently, by any amount.
Press Shift, then drag any of the corner handles to resize the object while locking its
width and height together, maintaining the object’s current aspect ratio.
Drag the top or bottom scale handle to limit scale changes to the object’s height, or
drag the left or right scale handle to limit scale changes to the object’s width.
Editing Opacity and BlendingThe opacity and blending controls for each object appear both in the Properties tab of
the Inspector, and in the default HUD for any selected object.
Opacity
By layering together objects with varying opacities, you can merge them together in
ways not otherwise possible. For example, if you have two full-screen background
images that you want to use together, you can set the opacity of the object in front to
50%, allowing the object in back to show through.
The
Timeline shows all of the objects in your project and provides a “big picture” look
at how your project is arranged over time. You can organize your objects to begin and
end on the frames you choose. You can also align multiple effects so that they occur
simultaneously. You can control objects’ durations and even perform common trim
operations to edit the objects as you would in a video editing program.
Additional controls let you manipulate masks, filters, behaviors, keyframes, and audio
elements along with your visual footage. The Timeline ruler provides an exact reference
for managing timing and synchronizing effects. You can lock tracks to prevent changes,
temporarily hide an object from view, and manage links between audio and video.
The
Timeline is not displayed by default in the Standard layout. It can be viewed by
displaying the Timing pane.
To display the Timing pane, do one of the following:
Click the Timing icon (in the upper-right corner of the Toolbar).
Getting Familiar with the TimelineThe Timeline consists of the Timeline layers list on the left and a track area on the right.
Each object in your project appears as a colored bar, on its own horizontal track,
arranged in a hierarchy identical to the Layers list in the Project pane. This allows you to
quickly see each object’s place in time, as well as its relative position and duration.
Zooming in the TimelineYou can zoom in and out in the Timeline using either the Zoom/Scroll control or the
zoom slider. Each lets you zoom in and out of the Timeline horizontally, showing more
or less time in the Timeline window. As you zoom in, you can see greater detail, which
lets you place objects with greater precision. As you move the zoom slider, the Timeline
remains centered on your current frame.
Timeline Layers ListThe Timeline layers list mirrors the Layers tab in the Project pane and displays your
project objects (groups, layers, filters, behaviors, and so on) and their stacking order.
Behaviors, filters, masks, and keyframes applied to an object can also be displayed. In
the Timeline layers list, you can reorder objects. This change is immediately reflected in
the Layers list in the Project pane. You can also lock tracks to prevent further editing on
those tracks and disable entire tracks to omit them from view in the Canvas.
Enabling Timeline TracksTo the left of each track in the Timeline layers list is an activation checkbox that turns
that track on and off. When a track is turned off (disabled), it is ignored in the Canvas.
Not only can you turn video or audio on and off, but you can also disable or enable
effects such as masks, filters, and behaviors.
To turn visibility for an object on or off:m Click the checkbox at the left edge of the track you want to control.
When the box is checked, visibility is on, and when the box is unchecked, visibility is
off. Additionally, when a track is disabled, the entire track is dimmed in the Timeline.
Managing the Timeline Layers ListMotion allows you to collapse and expand different parts of the Timeline layers list to
show more or less data to accommodate different working styles. Layers with applied
masks, filters, and other objects can be collapsed to hide those effects bars.
Furthermore, whole groups can be collapsed to hide all of the objects contained within
them.
To collapse or expand a layer or group in the Timeline:Click the disclosure triangle to the left of the layer or group name. If no disclosure
triangle is present, that object cannot be collapsed or expanded any further.
Moving ObjectsMove an object when you want it to begin and end at a different point in the project.
To move an object:
In the track area, click an object bar and drag left or right to move it in time.
A tooltip appears that identifies the new In and Out points of the clip, so you can drag
the clip to the frame you want. The Delta symbol (the small triangle) indicates the
number of frames you are moving.
Trimming ObjectsTrim an object when you want to shorten or lengthen its duration in the Timeline. You
can shorten or lengthen either the beginning or end of the object by dragging from
the left or right edge of the object bar in the Timeline (the In and Out points).
To trim a clip:1Move the pointer to one end of the clip you want to trim.
The pointer changes to a trim pointer.
To display keyframes in the Timeline:At the bottom of the Timeline layers list, click the Show/Hide Keyframes button.
