Apple Motion 4 - Manual (Page 262)

Note: Dragging a media object into the Content category leaves its corresponding file
on disk in its original location. For this reason, it’s recommended you centralize all media
you plan on importing into the Library for future use into a dedicated and predictable
location on disk, to prevent accidentally moving, renaming, or deleting those files.
Favorites and the Favorites Menu
It’s easy to customize the behaviors, filters, particle systems, gradients, and generators
used in Motion to create your own effects. These customized objects are saved into their
corresponding categories. The Favorites category provides a place to put objects—built-in
or custom-made—that you frequently use. You can also place frequently used media
files into the Favorites, such as PDF or TIFF files. Objects you put in the Favorites category
are available to every project you create in Motion.
Objects you place in the Favorites Menu folder appear in the Favorites menu, for even
faster access. When you choose an item from the Favorites menu, that item is placed into
the currently selected layer, positioned at the center of the Canvas. Objects you put in
the Favorites Menu are available to every project in Motion.
Objects that are dragged into the Favorites and Favorites Menu categories are saved into
the /Users/username/Library/Application
Support/Final Cut Studio/Motion/Library/Favorites/ and /Favorites Menu/ directories,
respectively.
Note: Objects placed into subcategories that correspond to a folder in the
/Library/Application Support/Final Cut Studio/Motion/Favorites/ folder are shared among
all user accounts on that computer.
Adding Your Own Content to the Library
You can add your own customized versions of generators, filters, behaviors, and gradients
to categories in the Library. Furthermore, if you work on one or more programs that
frequently recycle the same graphics elements, or if you have a library of graphics that
you use regularly, you can add these media files to the Favorites category. It is
recommended that you add custom content to the Favorites category. Content you put
into the Library is available to every project in Motion.
To add Motion-generated objects to a Content category
µ
Drag an object to the Favorites folder in the Library Category list or subcategory list, or
directly into the Library stack.
Important: Each category except the Content, Favorites, and Favorites Menu is filtered
by the type of object it represents. For example, you can place a user-customized filter
in the Filters category, but you cannot put a filter into the Behaviors category.
You can also place media from disk into the Content, Favorites, or Favorites Menu
categories.
262 Chapter 6 Creating and Managing Projects