You can use contextual menus in the File Browser to open files in the Viewer or reveal projects in the Finder to open them.
Motion comes with more than 4 GB of content, including background movies.
The Motion content is located in the Library pane in the File Browser window.
You can narrow the search for content in the Library by typing the filename in the refine search field.
The mini-Timeline displays a colored region for the selected element in the Canvas. The different region colors represent different types of elements: blue for media files, purple for behaviors or filters, and green for audio files.
You can view or change the project duration as frames or timecode in the Project Duration field.
There are many different ways to move the playhead, including dragging the mouse, using keyboard shortcuts, changing the Current Frame field, and clicking buttons in the transport controls.
The play range for a project isolates the portion of the project that you want to play in the Canvas. You can change the play range In and Out points by moving the playhead and pressing Option-Cmd-I (for the In point) or Option-Cmd-O (for the Out point). You can also drag a play range In or Out point in the scrubber area to move it.
The spacebar is a keyboard shortcut for playing or pausing a project and will always play the project from the beginning to the end of the play range.
By default, the Loop playback button in the transport controls is on so that playback will loop continuously while you work in the Canvas.
Behaviors allow you to animate objects using simple graphical controls in the Dashboard. You can find behaviors in the Library pane. Behaviors are organized into folders by type, including Basic Motion behaviors and Simulation behaviors.
Particle emitters allow you to create many objects (particles) from a single object (cell). Particle emitters are also organized into categories and are located in the Library.
You can trim a region in the mini-Timeline by dragging the edge or by moving the playhead and pressing I to trim the beginning or O to trim the end to the playhead position.
The Library contains many text behaviors that you can use to animate text. The text behaviors make text appear, disappear, or move around.
You can add audio files to a project by selecting them and then dragging them to the Canvas or clicking the Import button at the top of the File Browser.
Motion includes a Timing pane for viewing the Timeline, and a Project pane for viewing the objects and layers in a project.
