5.5

593Motion User Guide
Add text to a project
Set preferences before you add text in Motion
You can set Motion to create text at either the current frame (the frame where the playhead
is positioned when you add the text) or at the start of the project. You can also specify a
default duration for new text layers.
Set layer creation and duration preferences
1. Choose Motion > Preferences (or press Command-Comma), then click the Project icon.
2. In the Still Images & Layers section of the Project pane, select a Default Layer Duration
preference:
• Use project duration: New text layers (and any other new layers you add) run the
length of the project. This means that if you’re working in a 300-frame project and
you create text, the duration of the text (in the Timeline) is 300 frames.
• Use custom duration: New text layers (and any other new layers you add) run for
the duration you enter in the adjacent text field (measured in seconds or frames,
depending on the option you choose in the pop-up menu).
3. Select a Create Layers At preference:
• Current frame: New text layers (and any other new layers you add) are created at the
current location of the playhead.
• Start of project: New text layers (and any other new layers you add) are created at
the beginning of the project, regardless of the playhead location.
Add text in Motion
You can add text to a Motion project in a number of ways.
Add basic text in the canvas
1. In the Layers list in Motion, select the group to add a text layer to.
Note: If no group is selected, the text is added to the last selected group (the
underscored group in the Layers list).
2. In the canvas toolbar, click the Text tool (or press T).
3. Click in the canvas.
The insertion point flashes in the canvas. Before you enter text, an empty text layer is
added to the project, and the Text HUD appears.