5

Using Objects, Behaviors, and Keyframes from Templates
Occasionally, you might want to use a keyframed parameter or behavior from a template
in a project of your own. You can create a template-based project, select the keyframes
or behaviors you want to use, copy them, and paste them into your own project.
All graphics objects used by the templates appear in the Content category of the Library,
in the Template Media subcategory. If there’s a graphic you want to use, you can find
it in the Library.
Drop Zones
Drop zones let you replace footage in a Motion template by dragging clips onto the
Canvas. A drop zone layer appears as a rectangle with a downward arrow in its center.
The drop zone’s layer name appears in the center of the drop zone. Any media item
(image or footage) dragged into the region defined by the drop zone object replaces the
drop zone placeholder graphic. When you drag media over the drop zone, a highlight
appears around the drop zone area.
Blank drop zone QuickTime movie being
dragged onto drop zone
Note: If there are multiple overlapping drop zones in the Canvas, the topmost one has
priority when you drag an item over the zone. You can force all drop zones to appear by
using the expose feature. For more information, see Exposing Drop Zones.
Adding a drop zone to a Final Cut Pro X template in Motion enables Final Cut Pro users
to easily assign media to an editing project. For more information about creating templates
for use in Final Cut Pro, see Creating Templates for Final Cut Pro X.
Creating Drop Zones
You create drop zones in either of two ways: by adding an empty drop zone object or
by converting an existing layer into a drop zone. Any still image or video clip can be
converted into a drop zone via the Image Inspector.
To add an empty drop zone
1 Choose Object > New Drop Zone or press Command-Shift-D.
248 Chapter 6 Creating and Managing Projects