Keyframing in Motion
Keyframing is the process of assigning a parameter value to an object at a point in time.
For example, you might want a clip to be scaled to fill the screen five seconds into your
project. When you set more than one keyframe, Motion interpolates the in-between
frames, generating a smooth change over time.
For example, if you want a title to change from green to blue over time, you can set two
keyframes at two points in time. The first keyframe defines the text’s color as green, and
the second keyframe sets the color to blue. Motion makes the frames between those
points change smoothly from green to blue.
Motion lets you keyframe color values, position, rotation, opacity, and almost every other
parameter in the application.
There are several places in Motion to create and edit keyframes and the values between
them, represented by animation curves. For example, you can animate basic properties
such as scale, rotation, and screen position by manipulating the object in the Canvas.
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You can also use the Inspector and HUD to set and modify values for most options in the
application. Any time you adjust a slider or other control, you can lock that change to
the current frame, thereby setting a keyframe. From that point on, no matter what else
you do, that parameter finds its way to that specific value when playback reaches that
frame.
Preview area shows state of keyframed
object at the current frame.
Keyframed Opacity
parameter
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HUD displays current
value of animated
Opacity parameter.
You can also view and modify keyframes in the Timeline by clicking the Show/Hide
Keyframes button (in the top-right corner of the Timeline). Keyframes appear as small
red (or white, when selected) diamonds beneath their parent object.
Show/Hide Keyframes button
Selected keyframe
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Additionally, you can open the Keyframe Editor by clicking the Show/Hide Keyframe
Editor button (in the bottom-right corner of the Motion window). Using the Keyframe
Editor, you can see and manipulate a graph for every animateable parameter in the
application. Again, keyframes appear as diamonds, and the lines (or curves) connecting
the keyframes indicate the values for the interpolated frames.
Selected keyframe
For information on filtering the parameter list in the Keyframe Editor to show only the
parameters and keyframes you are interested in, see
Filtering the Parameter List
.
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