Apple Motion 3 - Manual (Page 273)

Chapter 3 Basic Compositing 273
As you drag the rotation handle, the original angle of the object is indicated by a small
circle that appears on a larger circle surrounding the object’s anchor point. Additionally,
an info window appears, showing you the new angle of rotation and the delta of
change between the object’s former angle and the angle to which you’ve dragged it.
Changing an Object’s Anchor Point
You can move any object’s anchor point, changing the way in which different
geometric transforms are performed. Objects rotate around the anchor point, but the
anchor point also affects shearing and resizing operations.
For example, the default anchor point for any object is the center of the bounding box
that defines its edges. If you rotate an object, it spins around this central anchor point.