Motion 5 - Object

Object

This pane, also referred to as the Object Inspector, contains controls that vary depending
on the type of object selected. The name of the pane is also context-sensitive, changing
depending on the type object selected. The different Object Inspectors are described
below:

• Object: Appears when there is no selected object. There are no parameters in the Object

pane.

• Image: Appears when an image, image sequence, movie, or drop zone is selected.

When media is selected, this pane contains the Drop Zone checkbox, the state of which
determines whether the image selected is a drop zone target. When the checkbox is
selected, additional parameters become available. For more information, see

Drop Zone

Parameters

.

• Group: Appears when a group is the selected object. The pane contains the Type

parameter, which allows you to convert a group from 2D to 3D, and vice versa. A 2D
group has different available parameters than a 3D group.

When set to 2D, Fixed Resolution parameters become available, which allow you to
manually define the size of a group. By default, Fixed Resolution is disabled, and the
size of the group is determined by the layers in that group. For more information, see

Fixing the Size of a Group

.

Note: When selected, Fixed Resolution crops the group to the size specified in the
Fixed Width and Fixed Height parameters around the anchor point of the group.

When set to 3D, the Flatten and Layer Order parameters become available. When the
Flatten checkbox is selected, all elements in the 3D group are flattened like a card or
billboard. When the Layer Order checkbox is selected, the project elements are sorted
by their order in the Layers list rather than their order in Z space. For more information,
see

Layer Order and Depth Order

.

• Project: Appears when the Project object (located at the top of the Layers list) is selected

and contains the Publishing and Snapshots pane. The Publishing pane lists all parameters
set to be published in a template (except for filter onscreen controls). The Snapshots
pane is used to create different display aspect ratios for templates. For more information
on publishing and templates, see

Creating Templates for Final Cut Pro X

.

• Camera: Appears when a camera is selected and contains controls specific to a scene

camera, including angle of view and depth of field parameters. For more information
on using cameras, see

Cameras

.

• Light: Appears when a light is selected and contains controls to change the light type,

color, intensity, and falloff. When the Shadows checkbox is selected, parameters become
available that control the shadow cast by a Point or Spot light. For more information
on working with lights and shadows, see

Lighting

or

Shadows

.

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Chapter 2

The Motion Interface

• Rig: Appears when a rig is selected and contains buttons that allow you to choose

widget types to map multiple parameters to a single control. For more information on
rigging, see

Using Rigs

.

• Media: Appears when an item is selected in the Media list of the Project pane. (For

more information see

Project Pane

.) These parameters deal mostly with attributes of

the file on disk or how the file is interpreted by Motion. Because multiple project objects
can reference a single media file, the pane contains a list of linked objects. Making
changes in this pane affects all objects that refer to the selected media file. For more
information on working with media parameters, see

Source Media Parameters

.

• Text: Appears when text is selected and contains all controls that affect the text. The

Text Inspector is divided into three panes:

• Format: Contains standard controls to adjust font, size, tracking, kerning, justification,

alignment, line spacing (leading), and so on. It also contains a large text-entry field
where you can edit the contents of text used in your project. The Format pane also
includes a pop-up menu of preset text styles.

• Style: Contains controls to adjust the fill, outline, glow, and drop shadow of selected

text. Each section is grouped and can be turned on or off by selecting the checkbox
next to the category name. The Style pane also includes a pop-up menu of preset
text styles.

• Layout: Contains paragraph style controls to set text on a path, direction, rendering,

how text objects are affected when behaviors are applied, and how anchor points
are used. This pane also contains controls to create a type-on effect or to modify text
path options. For more information on working with text parameters, see

Creating

and Editing Text

.

• Mask: Appears when a mask is selected and contains controls to change the mask’s

shape, to define how multiple masks interact, to invert a mask, to smooth the shape
of a mask or adjust its softness, or to change the color of the mask in the Canvas. This
inspector also contains position value sliders for mask control points. For more
information on working with mask attributes, see

Mask Parameters

.

• Image Mask: Appears when an image mask is selected and contains Mask and Mask

Options controls. These controls allow you to change the mask’s source, reference
frame (if the source is a clip), offset, wrap mode, source channel, blend mode, and so
on. For more information, see

Applying Image Masks to a Layer

.

• Shape: Appears when a shape is selected and contains controls that affect the shape.

The controls are divided into four panes:

• Style: Contains controls to modify the fill and outline of a shape and the brush type

of an outline or paint stroke. This pane also includes a pop-up menu of preset shape
styles.

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Chapter 2

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