Apple Motion 3 User Manual
Page 143
Chapter 1
Getting to Know Motion
143
Time Display
These settings control how the time counters across the application are displayed.
Display Time As: You can make one of two choices:
 Frames: Displays all counters as incrementing frame numbers.
 Timecode: Displays all counters as eight-digit timecode numbers.
Frame Numbering: This lets you choose whether frame counts begin at zero or one.
Still Images & Layers
These settings control the default duration, placement, and size of still images and
imported layers, as well as layers created in Motion, such as text, shapes, and masks.
Default Layer Duration: You can specify the duration of still images, generators, and
other layers that lack an inherent duration in one of two ways:
 Use project duration: All layers are the same duration as the project.
 Use custom duration: Layers are the duration defined in this value field.
You can set the time in frames or in seconds.
Create Layers At: When you drag layers to the Canvas, the Layers tab, or the Timeline
layers list, they can either be added to the project at the current playhead position or
they can be added at the first frame of the project. This setting also applies to layers
created within Motion, such as text or shapes.
Large Stills: When importing large still images, set this preference to instruct Motion
to import the file at its original size, to change the resolution of the image to fit the
Canvas size, or to scale the image down to fit the Canvas size.
 Do Nothing: Imports the image at its original size.
 Scale to Canvas Size: Imports and scales the image to fit the project size while
maintaining its aspect ratio.
 Down-Res to Canvas Size: This setting changes the resolution of the imported
image so that the image fits the project size while maintaining its aspect ratio.
Note: For more information on the differences between the Large Still options, see
“
Using High-Resolution Still Images
Playback Control
These settings control how Motion plays back your project.
Time View Updating: When the Timing pane is visible, you can set the view to
automatically move along with your project’s playback. Make one of the following
choices from the pop-up menu:
 Don’t update: The Timing pane does not change as you play (improves
performance).