Apple Motion 4 - Manual (Page 1223)

When the Type parameter is set to 3D, the Flatten and Layer Order parameters become
available. When the Flatten checkbox is selected, all of the elements in the 3D group are
flattened like a “card” or “billboard.” When the Layer Order checkbox is selected, the
group’s children are sorted by their order in the Layers tab rather than depth order
(position along the Z axis). For more information, see
Layer Order and Depth Order .
When the Type parameter is set to 2D, the Fixed Resolution parameters become available,
allowing you to manually define the size of a group. By default, Fixed Resolution is disabled
and the size of the group is determined by the layers within that group. For more
information, see
Fixing the Size of a Group .
Note: When selected, Fixed Resolution crops the group to the size specified in the Fixed
Width and Fixed Height parameters, around the anchor point of the group.
2D Group Properties
A 2D group has the following properties:
• Its children are composited in layer order.
• Filters are applied to the group in local space; that is, “flat” to the image.
Checkerboard in 2D group with Twirl filter applied
• The group is lit as a single object; its children are not lit individually.
Note: 2D groups at the root level are not lit.
• Because it is always flat, a 2D group has Crop, Drop Shadow, and Four Corner parameters.
• It can have a fixed resolution.
3D Group Properties
A 3D group has the following properties:
• Its children are composited in depth order (according to their position along the Z axis).
1223 Chapter 18 3D Compositing