After you open a project via the Project Browser, the Motion window appears. Use this window to build, modify, and preview your motion graphics projects.

The Motion window is divided into several functional areas, described in detail below.

Motion window showing the Library, Project pane, canvas, Timing pane, and toolbar

By default, the Library and Inspector appear on the left side of the Motion window. Choose Window > Window Layout, to set your workspace to one of two layouts:

Classic: The Library and Inspector appear on the left side of the Motion window, and the Timing pane is full width. Use this layout when working heavily in the Timeline, Keyframe Editor, or Audio Editor.
Cinema: The Library and Inspector appear on the right side of the Motion window, and the Project pane is full height. Use this layout when working with many layers and groups.

Library

The Library, located on the left side of the Motion window, lets you add effects, content, presets, behaviors, filters, and other elements to your composition. And when you create custom content and effects in Motion, you can save them to the Library for future use.

When you select an item in the Library, a visual preview appears in the top-left corner of the Motion window. This preview area also displays the name, or name and description, of the selected item.

Library showing the preview area and the selected Particle Emitters category

See Add Library content to a project.

Inspector

The Inspector, located on the left side of the Motion window, lets you adjust or animate the parameters for a selected object in your Motion project.

There are four Inspector categories, each of which displays parameter controls for the selected object:

Properties Inspector: Contains controls for setting basic attributes of the selected object, such as position, scale, and blending.
Behaviors Inspector: Contains controls for adjusting attributes of behaviors—animation and simulation effects that you can apply to objects in your project.
Filters Inspector: Contains controls for adjusting attributes of filters—visual treatments that you can apply to objects in your project.
Object Inspector: Contains controls that vary depending on the type of object selected. The name of this Inspector is also context-sensitive, changing depending on the type of object selected, such as Camera, Text, or Shape.

To keep the currently selected object’s inspector open, even when you select a different object in your project, click the pin button in the preview area (at the top of the Inspector).

Inspector showing pin button to lock the Inspector to the selected object

Heads-up display (HUD)

The heads-up display (HUD), a floating window that you can show or hide, lets you access the most commonly used Inspector controls for a selected object. See Transform layers in the HUD.

Project pane

The Project pane contains three lists that let you access different aspects of your project:

Layers list: Displays the hierarchy of objects (groups, layers, cameras, lights, behaviors, filters, and so on) in your project.
Media list: Shows the files imported into your project.
Audio list: Provides access to, and control of, audio files in your project.

More than simple lists of items in a project, these panes let you organize key attributes of your composition, including the stacking order of image layers, audio settings, and source media settings.

Canvas

The canvas is the visual workspace that lets you modify and arrange objects in your composition. What you see in the canvas is what is exported when you share your project.

Toolbar

The toolbar, located at the top of the Motion window, lets you access controls to import media, add effects and other objects to your project, display interface components, and export your finished project.

To arrange toolbar controls to your liking, Control-click the toolbar, choose Customize Toolbar from the shortcut menu, then drag items from the window that appears to the toolbar. Use the Show pop-up menu in the customization window to display toolbar controls without their names, or to reduce the size of toolbar controls.

Canvas toolbar

The canvas toolbar, located in the center of the Motion window (under the canvas), lets you access tools for creating and transforming objects. There are tools to manipulate objects in 2D or 3D space, to zoom or pan in the canvas, and to create text, shapes, and masks.

Timing toolbar

The timing toolbar, located immediately below the canvas toolbar, lets you access controls for project playback (transport controls) and keyframe recording. The timing toolbar also contains buttons to show or hide elements in the Timing pane.

Timing pane

The Timing pane, located at the bottom of the Motion window, lets you view and modify the time component of a project’s contents. There are three views to control different timing aspects of a project:

Video Timeline: Provides an overview of objects in the project and how they’re laid out over time.
Audio Timeline: Provides an overview of audio components in the project and how they’re laid out over time.
Keyframe Editor: Displays the animation curves for animated parameters and effects.

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Helpful?

Motion User Guide

Motion interface

Project Browser

Motion window