Applying Behaviors
You can apply behaviors to objects in the Canvas, Layers list, or Timeline. Some behaviors
animate specific parameters of the layer to which they’re applied. For example, the Throw
behavior affects only an object’s Position parameter, and the Grow/Shrink behavior affects
only an object’s Scale parameter. Other behaviors animate the parameters of layers that
surround the layer to which the behavior is applied. For example, the Attractor behavior
causes other layers to move toward the affected layer by animating each of their Position
parameters.
Important:
Text, Particles, Replicator, Audio, Shape, and Camera behaviors should only
be applied to their namesake objects.
Parameter behaviors can be applied to a parameter of an object (such as position). For
more information, see
Applying Parameter Behaviors
.
You can also apply behaviors to groups in the Layers list or Timeline. Depending on the
applied behavior, all objects nested in that group are affected in one of two ways: as if
they were a single object or as individual elements. You can often change this result by
adjusting the Affect or Affect Subobjects parameter in the Behaviors Inspector.
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Tip: If you do not see the expected result when applying behaviors to objects, try turning
the Affect Subobjects parameter on or off or choosing a different option from the Affect
pop-up menu. These parameters determine whether the entire group or its components
(such as the child objects nested in that group) are affected by the behavior and how an
object interacts with surrounding objects, respectively. The Affect Subobjects checkbox
only appears in the Inspector when the Throw and Spin behaviors, or the Simulation
behaviors, are applied to a group or object that contains multiple objects, such as a
particle emitter or text.
To apply a behavior to an object
Do one of the following:
µ
Drag a behavior from the Library to an appropriate object in the Canvas, Layers list, or
Timeline.
To apply a behavior to an object in the Timeline, drag the behavior to the object in the
Timeline layers list or the Timeline track area.
Note: It is usually easier to drag a behavior to a camera or light in the Layers list or Timeline
than to the object in the Canvas.
An advantage to applying behaviors from the Library is the ability to preview the animation
created by the behavior in the Library preview area.
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Select an object in the Canvas, Layers list, or Timeline, then select a behavior from the
Library stack and click Apply in the preview area.
Apply button
µ
Select an object in the Canvas, Layers list, or Timeline, then choose a behavior from the
Add Behavior pop-up menu in the toolbar.
To apply a behavior to multiple objects
1
Select all objects to apply the behavior to.
In the Layers list, Canvas, or Timeline, Shift-click to select a contiguous set of objects, or
Command-click to select individual, noncontiguous objects.
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2
Do one of the following:
• In the toolbar, choose a behavior from the Add Behavior pop-up menu.
• Select a behavior in the Library, then click Apply in the preview area.
Important:
Not all behaviors apply motion to an object. Some behaviors, such as Throw,
require you to set the throw velocity (in the HUD or in the Inspector) before the object
is “thrown.” Other behaviors, such as Orbit Around, require a source object to act as the
central object for other objects to move around.
When a behavior is applied to an object, the object parameters affected by that behavior
are animated based on the behavior’s default settings. For example, if you apply the
Gravity behavior to an object in the Canvas, that object’s position is animated and it
moves down, according to the Gravity behavior’s default setting.
Default Behavior Duration
In most cases, a behavior’s duration is the Timeline duration of the object to which it is
applied. For example, if you apply a Spin behavior to an object that begins at frame 20
and ends at frame 300, the Spin behavior’s duration is also frame 20 to frame 300. For
information on trimming the duration of a behavior, see
Trimming Behaviors
.