5.5

84Motion User Guide
• Pixel Aspect Ratio: A pop-up menu to set the type of pixel relevant to the project,
square or nonsquare. In general, objects created for computer display, film, and high-
definition video use square pixels, while objects created for some video formats (such
as DV, HDV, DVCPRO HD, and others) use nonsquare pixels. A value field to the right of
this pop-up menu displays the numeric aspect ratio, in case you need a custom ratio.
By correctly identifying each object you add to your project, you can mix and match
both kinds of media.
• Field Order: A pop-up menu to choose a field order that matches the field order of the
device used to capture an interlaced clip. There are three choices: None, Upper (Odd),
and Lower (Even). If you choose incorrectly, the video will stutter during playback.
When this happens, choose the opposite field order. Clips shot on film or with a
progressive-scan video camera have no interlacing; therefore, Field Order should be
set to None. By correctly identifying each object in your project, you can mix and match
clips with a different field order. See Field order in Motion.
• Frame Rate: A pop-up menu to choose a frame rate in frames per second (fps) that
matches a clip’s native rate. For example, film is 24 fps, PAL video is 25 fps, and NTSC
video is 29.97 fps. Additional frame rates are available for other video formats. If the
frame rate you require is not listed, enter a number in the text field to the right of the
pop-up menu. If you modify a QuickTime file’s frame rate but need to change it back to
the file’s original rate, choose “From file” at the bottom of the Frame Rate pop-up menu.
Although you can mix clips using different frame rates, clips playing at a frame rate
different from that of the project might not play smoothly.
Note: Project frame rates are determined by the project preset. To edit a preset or to
create a preset, choose Motion > Preferences and use the options in the Presets pane.
• Fixed Width and Fixed Height: Sliders (available for still images) to change the
resolution of source media. When the Large Stills control (in Motion Preferences) is set
to Scale to Canvas Size, these values display the resolution of the original file. See Set
the import size of large images in Motion.
When a PDF is selected in the Media list, these controls set the maximum resolution to
which a PDF object can be smoothly scaled. See PDF files in Motion.
• Crop: Four sliders, visible when you click the disclosure triangle, that define the number
of pixels to be cropped from each of the source media’s four sides, relative to the outer
edge of the bounding box that surrounds that source media. Cropping an item in the
Media list also crops all instances of that item in layers of the project. A similar Crop
parameter appears in the Properties Inspector when you select a layer in the Layers list.
See Properties Inspector controls in Motion.
• Timing: Three value sliders to set the start, end, and duration of the source media:
• Start: Sets the In point of the source media, in constant and variable speed modes.
Adjusting this parameter moves the In point to the specified frame without affecting
the duration of the media.
• End: Sets the Out point of the source media, in constant and variable speed modes.
Adjusting this parameter moves the Out point to the specified frame without
affecting the duration of the media.
• Duration: Sets the total duration of the source media. If Time Remap is set to
Constant Speed, adjusting Duration also affects the Speed and Out point. If Time
Remap is set to Variable Speed (in the Timing controls of the Properties Inspector),
adjusting Duration does not affect variable speed playback.