Apple Motion 2 Getting Started - Manual (Page 31)

Chapter 1 Orientation 31
Motion Dashboards
Whenever an object is added to your project, or an effect is applied to an object, the
Dashboard for that object or effect (behavior, filter, mask, text, shape, and so on)
appears by default (if the Dashboard is not hidden). The Dashboard is a floating
window that contains a group of commonly-adjusted parameters for the selected
object or effect. Using the school analogy, you can think of the Dashboards as the place
where the “popular kids” hang out. As effects are added to the object, the Dashboard
updates to show the most recently-added effect.
The Dashboard is a subset of the main parameters group of an object or effect, which
is located in the Inspector tab of the Utility window. The Inspector contains every
available parameter for any object or any effect. Often, the controls in the Dashboard
provide a more graphical representation of a behavior’s parameters that is easier and
more fun to use than digging into the Inspector (seriously, these things are the cat’s
pajamas). The requirements of your individual project elements are likely to define
when you use the Dashboards and when you use the Inspector.
The following examples illustrate what is probably the biggest difference between the
Dashboard and the Inspector—the Particle Emitter Dashboard and the Particle Emitter
tab in the Inspector. Don’t be alarmed: The single-shape Particle Emitter tab contains
the most parameters of any effect in Motion.
The first image shows the Particle Emitter Dashboard.
Cheeky little monkeys, aren’t they? The Emitter Dashboard contains the following
particle parameters:
• Birth Rate (slider control)
• Life (slider control)
• Scale (slider control)
• Emission Range (“pie-graph” control)
• Emission Angle (“pie-graph” control)
• Speed (length of arrows in “pie-graph” control)
Life slider control
Birth Rate slider control
Scale slider control
Emission Range (the gray
area with the arrows
between the white lines)
Emission Angle (the
angle of the arrows
in between the
white lines)
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