Apple Motion 4 - Manual (Page 168)

Object Menu
This menu contains all of the commands for manipulating objects within Motion. This
includes their placement in the layer hierarchy and physical alignment in the Canvas.
• New Group: Adds a new empty group to the project. (Command-Shift-N)
• New Camera: Adds a new camera to the project, and lets you specify whether to use
2D or 3D mode. (Command-Option-C)
• New Light: Adds a new light to the project, and lets you specify whether to use 2D or
3D mode. (Command-Shift-L)
• New Drop Zone: Adds a new drop zone to your project. Drop zones allow you to quickly
replace footage in a project by dropping clips directly onto the Canvas. A drop zone
appears as a rectangle with a gradient circle in its center. The drop zone’s layer name
appears in the center of the drop zone. Any media item dragged and dropped into the
region defined by the drop zone object automatically replaces the drop zone placeholder
graphic. When media is dragged over the drop zone, a highlight appears around the
drop zone area. (Command-Shift-D)
• Bring to Front: Moves the selected object to the top of the layers within a group.
(Command-Right Brace)
• Send to Back: Moves the selected object to the bottom of the layers within a group.
(Command-Left Brace)
• Bring Forward: Moves the selected object upward in the Layers tab by one object.
(Command-Right Bracket)
• Send Backward: Moves the selected object downward in the Layers tab by one object.
(Command-Left Bracket)
• Alignment: This submenu contains all of the commands for aligning and distributing
multiple objects within the Canvas. For more information on arranging objects within
the Canvas, see
Using Object Alignment Commands .
• Align Left Edges: Moves the selected objects so that their left edges line up with the
leftmost edge in the selection.
• Align Right Edges: Moves the selected objects so that their right edges line up with
the rightmost edge in the selection.
• Align Top Edges: Moves the selected objects so that their top edges line up with the
topmost edge in the selection.
• Align Bottom Edges: Moves the selected objects so that their bottom edges line up
with the bottommost edge in the selection.
• Align Far Edges: In 3D mode, aligns the farthest edges of each object along the Z
(depth) axis.
• Align Near Edges: In 3D mode, aligns the nearest edges of each object along the Z
(depth) axis.
168 Chapter 4 Motion Menus