5.5

226Motion User Guide
Reflection controls in Motion
Reflections are controlled by adjusting settings in the Reflection section and Blending
section of Properties Inspector:
Reflection section controls
• Reflection: An activation checkbox that enables reflections based on the settings of the
parameters in the object (a layer or group).
• Reflectivity: A slider that controls how shiny the object’s surface appears. 0% indicates
no reflectivity, while 100% is perfectly reflective, like a mirror.
• Blur Amount: A slider that controls whether real reflections appear in sharp focus or
quite blurry, depending on the surface quality of the reflecting object.
• Falloff: A checkbox that determines whether the reflection fades with distance from the
object, producing a more realistic result.
When the Falloff checkbox is selected, additional controls become available. Click the
disclosure triangle beside the Falloff checkbox to reveal these controls:
• Begin Distance: A slider that determines the distance (inside the reflection) where
the falloff begins. When the slider is set to 0, falloff starts at the reflection plane.
• End Distance: A slider that determines the distance where the falloff ends, beyond
which the reflection isn’t visible. Adjusting this slider moves the falloff point closer
to the reflection plane, which causes less of the reflected image to appear.
• Exponent: A slider that controls how quickly a reflection gets fainter as the reflected
object gets farther from the reflective surface.
• Blend Mode: A pop-up menu that sets the blend mode used for the reflection. Blend
modes other than Add are useful for achieving different looks, even if they aren’t
physically intuitive. For more information about blend modes, see Intro to layer
blending in Motion.
Note: The Reflection parameter is not available for 3D text and 3D objects.