Dynamic guides – Apple Motion 2 Getting Started User Manual
Page 15
Chapter 1
Orientation
15
Note: To bring in multiple files, you can Shift-click or Command-click the files (in icon
or list view), or drag-select (when in list view). The files are placed in the same position
in the Canvas. To move the individual files, click away from the selected files to deselect
them, then drag the individual images.
For more information on file management and importing media, see Chapter 2,
“Creating and Managing Projects,” in Motion Help.
Once an object is imported into Motion, a small floating transparent window appears
and displays editable properties, such as Opacity and Blend Mode, for that object. This
window is called a Dashboard. All objects (images, shapes, masks, and text), filters, and
behaviors have associated Dashboards.
The Dashboard includes a title bar that displays the type and name of the currently
selected object, filter, or behavior. For example, the Dashboard title for the example
above reads, “Image: waves.[####],” which represents a Targa sequence (with a four-
digit padding). “Image” is the type of object that is selected (an image, image
sequence, or a QuickTime movie), and “waves.[####]” is the filename of the selected
object. For more information, see “
Dynamic Guides
As you drag your image in the Canvas, yellow guides appear and indicate when the
file is aligned to the horizontal and vertical center of the Canvas. These guides are
called Dynamic Guides, and are enabled and disabled using the View menu in the
Canvas View controls (in the upper-right corner of the interface, below the Toolbar).
To temporarily disable the guides while actively dragging objects in the Canvas, press
Command as you drag. To toggle the Dynamic Guides on or off, press N.
The Dynamic Guides really start to earn their keep when you import and align several
objects in the Canvas, as they indicate when objects snap together in alignment.
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