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Apple Motion 3 User Manual

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Chapter 6

Keyframes and Curves

Because so many of Motion’s effects are displayed in real time, you can perform a sort
of “visual mix” and modify the various parameters of your effects while the project is
playing back.

For example, it is not until you see the various elements in your project in concert that
you can know whether each part is behaving as it should. One object may be fading
too slowly and making another element hard to see, or a text element might come and
go so quickly that it cannot be read. With keyframing on the fly, you can make
adjustments to any slider or parameter in the program while your project is playing.
You can also interactively manipulate objects in the Canvas. Then, if you don’t like what
you did, rewind and do it again. Each time you alter a parameter, you replace any
keyframes previously assigned.

To animate a parameter on the fly using the Inspector or the HUD:

1

Click the Record button (or press A) or choose Mark > Record Animation to turn on
keyframe recording.

2

Click the Play button or press the Space bar to begin playback.

3

As your project plays, adjust a parameter slider.

4

Disable Record.

The changes you made during playback are recorded as keyframes for that parameter.
You can view them in the Keyframe Editor.

If you don’t like the animation you made, you can delete the keyframes and try again.
You can choose Edit > Undo (or press Command-Z) to revert to the state before you
began recording your animation, or you can manually delete the keyframes you want
to replace.

To delete keyframes, do one of the following:

m

Select the keyframe, then press Delete.

m

Control-click the keyframe, then choose Delete from the shortcut menu.