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Mouse and Keyboard Shortcut Considerations
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 the user
documentation (for example, Control-click the Toolbar, then choose Customize Toolbar
from the shortcut menu). If you are working on a MacBook or MacBook Pro, keep in mind
that some keyboard shortcuts may 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 Keyboard Shortcuts.
About Motion Projects
In Motion, you create 2D or 3D motion graphics and compositing projects with imported
images (such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator files), image sequences, QuickTime movies,
audio files, as well as objects created within Motion. These objects include text, masks,
shapes, particles, paint strokes, and so on.
A Motion project is made up of groups that contain layers. All media imported into Motion,
or elements created within a project, are referred to as layers. A layer must live within a
group. The group acts as a “parent” to its layers. You can select multiple layers within a
group to create a nested group. A group can be 2D or 3D. For more information on layer
and group basics, see Transforming Objects and Layers.
Cameras and lights can be added to projects. When a camera is added to a project, you
have the option to switch the project to 3D mode or to remain in 2D mode (unless the
project is empty or completely 2D, in which case it is automatically switched to 3D mode).
2D groups can exist in a 3D project. A 2D group can be nested in a 3D group. A 3D group
can be nested in a 2D group. Once a 3D group is nested in a 2D group, the group is
flattened. This means that the nested 3D group acts like a flat card and ignores the camera.
In addition, the flattened group does not intersect with layers of the 2D group or other
groups in the project. For more information on working in 3D, see 3D Compositing.
Any transforms, filters, or behaviors that are applied to a group are applied to the layers
within the group. If you move or apply a filter or behavior to a group, all layers within
that group are affected. You can also apply filters and behaviors to the individual layers
within a group.
A filter is a process that changes the appearance of an image. For example, a blur filter
takes an input image and outputs a blurred version of that image. For more information
on using filters, see Using Filters.
A behavior is a process that applies a value range to an object’s parameters, creating an
animation based on the affected parameters. For example, the Spin behavior rotates an
object over time at a rate that you specify. For more information on using behaviors, see
Using Behaviors.
18 Chapter 1 About Motion and Motion Graphics