Apple Motion 5.1.1 - Manual (Page 560)

Chapter 15 Replicator 560
A special behavior called Sequence Replicator choreographs the parameters of your onscreen
elements (their position, scale, and opacity, for example) in a sequential animation. For more
information, see
Apply the Sequence Replicator behavior on page 596.
Replicators take advantage of Motion’s 3D capabilities. Some replicator shapes are inherently 3D,
and others can have points that exist in 3D space. Additionally, behaviors applied to a replicator
can pull pattern elements out of a plane. For more information, see
Use replicators in 3D
space on page 608.
The difference between a replicator and a particle system
Although the replicator and particle systems share many parameters, they are very different
tools. Although both use layers (shapes, text, images, and so on) as cell sources and both
generate onscreen elements from those sources, each produces a unique effect from those raw
materials. A particle system generates dynamic elements that change over time: Particles are
born, emerging from an onscreen “emitter”; they move across the Canvas; and they die, according
to the “laws of nature” you specify in the parameters of the system.
A replicator, however, is not a dynamic simulation. Its elements are not emitted like particles
(replicator elements do not have birth rate, life, or speed parameters). The replicator builds a
pattern of static copies of a source layer in a shape and arrangement that you specify. Although
the replicated elements you see onscreen are static by default, the replicator parameters can be
animated. For example, you can designate a simple star shape as the source of your onscreen
pattern and then replicate the star multiple times along the outline of a circle. By keyframing a
few parameters of your new replicator layer, you can launch the stars into animated orbit around
the center of the circle, making them change color as they whirl.
To learn more about creating replicators, choose a topic in the Help table of contents (the
sidebar to the left of this window).
Anatomy of a replicator
All replicators begin with a source layer: the layer in your project that is duplicated and arrayed
onscreen in a pattern. When you “replicate” that source layer, two new items appear in the
Layers list:
•
Replicator: A special type of effect that controls the onscreen pattern as a whole
•
Cell: The image or shape layer, duplicated from the source layer, that controls the individual
elements in the onscreen pattern
The replicator cell appears underneath its parent replicator in the Layers list and Timeline. This
cell layer is named for the original source object, which is disabled in the Layers list and Timeline
so that it does not appear in the Canvas composition.
Cell
Replicated source layer
(now disabled)
Replicator
67% resize factor