5.5

312Motion User Guide
• Control Points: Value sliders (available when the path shape is Open Spline or Closed
Spline) that set the X, Y, and Z coordinates of the motion path control points. (Click the
disclosure triangle to display the X, Y, and Z value sliders.)
Note: You cannot apply Parameter behaviors to the control points.
Work with the Motion Path behavior
The following tasks demonstrate how to customize the Motion Path behavior.
Change the shape of the motion path
With an applied Motion Path behavior selected in the Layers list, Timeline, or Behaviors
Inspector, do any of the following:
• In the Behaviors Inspector in Motion, click the Path Shape pop-up menu, then choose a
shape option.
• If Path Shape is set to Open Spline or Closed Spline, double-click the motion path in the
canvas to add control point points, and then edit the points. See Intro to editing control
points in Motion.
• If Path Shape is set to Circle, Rectangle, or Wave, drag the transform handles in the
canvas.
• If Path Shape is set to Geometry, modify the shape of the source geometry.
Use geometry for a motion path shape
You can use a shape animated with behaviors or keyframes as the source for a motion
path. This includes animated transforms (a shape changing its location in the canvas) and
animated control points (a shape changing its shape due to keyframed control points).
1. In Motion, import (or draw) the shape to use as the path source.
2. With an applied Motion Path behavior selected, open the Behaviors Inspector, then
choose Geometry from the Path Shape pop-up menu.
The Shape Source well appears in the Inspector and HUD.
3. From the Layers list, drag the shape you created in step 1 into the Shape Source well,
and when the pointer becomes a curved arrow, release the mouse button.
A thumbnail of the shape appears in the well and the shape is used as the source shape
for the motion path.
Note: You can disable the source shape in the Layers list (by deselecting its activation
checkbox) so that the source shape is not visible in your project.
Select another geometry source for a motion path shape
• In Motion, with an applied Motion Path behavior selected, open the Behaviors Inspector,
click the To pop-up menu (located next to the Shape Source well), then choose the
object to use as the motion path’s shape source.
Note: To align the rotation of the object to the shape of its motion path, you can apply
the Snap Alignment to Motion behavior (in the Basic Motion behaviors subcategory).