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About Motion Projects
In Motion, you create 2D or 3D motion graphics and compositing projects with imported
images (such as Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator files), image sequences, QuickTime movies,
and audio files, as well as with objects created in Motion. These objects include text,
masks, shapes, particles, paint strokes, and so on.
A Motion project is made up of groups that contain layers. All media imported into Motion,
or elements created within a project (such as shapes or particles), are referred to as layers.
A layer must live in a group. The group acts as a “parent” to its layers. You can select
multiple layers in a group to create a nested group. A group can be 2D or 3D. For more
information on layer and group basics, see Transforming Layers.
Any item in Motion can be referred to as an object, but an item that you can see in the
Canvas, such as an image, shape, or text, is generally referred to as a layer. A camera,
light, rig, filter, behavior, and so on is generally referred to as an object.
Cameras and lights can be added to projects. When you add a camera to a project, you
can switch the project to 3D mode or to remain in 2D mode (unless the project is empty
or completely 2D, in which case it is switched to 3D mode). 2D groups can exist in a 3D
project. A 2D group can be nested in a 3D group. A 3D group can be nested in a 2D
group. When a 3D group is nested in a 2D group, the group is flattened. This means that
the nested 3D group acts like a flat card and ignores the camera. In addition, the flattened
group does not intersect with layers of the 2D group or other groups in the project. For
more information on working in 3D, see 3D Compositing.
Any transforms, filters, or behaviors applied to a group are applied to all layers in the
group. If you move or apply a filter or behavior to a group, all layers in that group are
affected. You can also apply filters and behaviors to individual layers in a group.
A filter is a process that changes the appearance of an image. For example, a blur filter
takes an input image and outputs a blurred version of that image. For more information
on using filters, see Using Filters.
A behavior is a process that applies a value range to an object’s parameters, creating an
animation based on the affected parameters. For example, the Spin behavior rotates an
object over time at a rate that you specify. For more information on using behaviors, see
Using Behaviors.
Groups and layers can be moved and animated by using behaviors or by setting keyframes.
For information about keyframing, see Keyframes and Curves. Filters can also be animated.
20 Chapter 1 About Motion and Motion Graphics