Apple Motion 5.1.1 - Manual (Page 706)

Chapter 17 Animated text 706
Use behaviors to animate text in 3D
Although text has no inherent 3D parameters, a text object can be moved and rotated in 3D
space. Simulation behaviors can also influence text characters to move out of their X and Y
planes into Z space. The text must be a member of a 3D group to be pulled out of the X and Y
planes by a behavior. Additionally, text on a Spline path can be manipulated in 3D space.
For example, you can apply an Orbit Around behavior to a text object and assign a target object
that is offset in Z space. With Affect Subobjects selected and all three axes (X, Y, and Z) enabled in
the Orbit Around behavior, text characters circle about the target object in X, Y, and Z space.
When the Face Camera checkbox is selected (in the Text Layout pane), the text characters
actively face the camera if the camera or text is rotated.
Tip: When working with text in a 3D project, especially text that moves close to the camera,
set the Render Quality in the View pop-up menu or the View pull-down menu to Best before
exporting (choose View > Render Quality > Best). Use Normal when working in your project,
because Best mode dramatically slows your project’s interactivity. You can also set the Render
Quality on export in the Export Options dialog: Choose Export, click Options, then choose Best
from the Render Quality pop-up menu. To customize an export, turn off the “Use current project
and canvas settings” checkbox.
For more information about 3D effects in Motion, see 3D compositing overview on page 908.
Animate text with keyframes
You can create keyframes for most of the text parameters. As with all objects in Motion, there are
two ways to create keyframes: by activating the Record button in the Canvas transport controls
or by manually adding a keyframe to a parameter in the Inspector.
Keyframes versus behaviors
The text animation method you use (keyframing or behaviors) depends on your project, or more
specifically, your timing needs. In general, if you need an action to happen at a specific point in
time in your project, use keyframing. For example, if you want text to be completely transparent
at frame 1, become completely opaque at frame 60, become transparent again at frame 90,
and opaque again at frame 120, use keyframing. Keyframes apply specific values to an object’s
parameters at specific frames.
If the effect you want is more general, use behaviors. For example, if you want the text to be
completely transparent at frame 1, become opaque over frames 60–90, and become transparent
by frame 120, use the Fade In/Fade Out behavior. Behaviors generate a range of values that are
applied to an object’s parameters.
You can combine keyframing and behaviors on all objects in Motion. For example, if you
keyframe text opacity, you can then apply the Tracking behavior to animate text tracking, or
you can keyframe the Tracking parameter. However, if you keyframe the text Opacity parameter
and then apply a Fade In/Fade Out behavior to the text, unexpected results may occur. For more
information, see
Combine behaviors with keyframes overview on page 310.
Animate with the Transform Glyph tool
The Transform Glyph tool lets you animate text characters independently of their text objects.
Animate text characters with the Transform Glyph tool
1 Select the text object that contains the glyphs to modify.
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