Starting Animtion In Motion - Overview

When You First open Motion It will Ask you what Preset you want to open. We will be using PAL DV Press ok, Motion will load it's default work surface



To the Top right of the main window you will see these buttons, these buttons will open the different windows

Library.
The Library lets you quickly and easily search for one of more than 700 filters, effects, particles, and design elements included in Motion 3. You can also use the Library to save your own sets of favorites. Preview effects and animation presets as you search.
Timeline. The Timeline supports multitrack audio and video editing, including Insert, Overwrite, and Replace edits. Use the Timeline to trim movies, filters, and behaviors or to adjust the speed of video and audio clips.

Heads-up displays. A heads-up display (HUD) is a semitransparent floating palette that offers dynamic control over the most common parameters for a given object. Manipulate shapes or use sliders; the HUD displays just the controls you need, making it simple and even fun to manipulate animation behaviors. Choose the 2D view for creating two-dimensional animations; a single click reveals dynamic 3D controls for working in three dimensions.

Layers. Press the Project Button in the top right, this will pop out the Layers window, Layers let you use unlimited layering to combine video, text, and graphics. You can composite using standard blend modes.

You can group objects and layers for parenting-like control;
movement all a the same time for example.

You can also use any graphic or particle system as an image mask within these layers.

Keyframes

Are the points in which Aniamtion happens.
When using keyframes, the Keyframe Editor (next to the timeline) it lets you draw animation curves. Squish, stretch, and reposition groups of keyframes using the flexible transform
box.

Behaviors

As well as supporting traditional keyframe animation, Motion introduced a system of pre-set 'behaviors' which can be combined to create realistic animations. For instance, the 'throw' behaviour will move an object across the screen. Combined with the 'gravity' behavior, it will simulate a realistic arc of motion. The effects can be tweaked utilizing various parameters, varying the strength of the bounces, the amount of gravity to apply and so on.

This is very different from traditional animation software, which requires the use of keyframes to determine the position of an object at any given time. The software then automatically creates motion to fill the spaces between the keyframes. This makes it easy to know exactly where objects are on the screen at any given time, but it is considerably more difficult to create realistic animations that build up on different, conflicting forces.