Playing a Project in the Canvas | Apple Pro Training Series: Getting Started With Motion

Before you start playing your project, it's a good idea to know how to set your project duration and move the playhead. By default, the project duration in Motion is 10 seconds. You can change the duration in the Preferences window or in the Project Duration field.

The Project Duration field is located at the lower right of the Canvas window.

Viewing Project Timecode and Frames

You can view the project duration in timecode or frames depending on your workflow. If you work with video, you're probably more familiar with timecode. If your background is graphic design and you are more accustomed to working with frames, you may prefer to view the duration in frames. If you're not familiar with either measurement, you will be by the end of this book.

Let's start with timecode. The timecode you'll be using is the North American broadcast standard rate of 29.97 frames per second and is written from left to right as hours, minutes, seconds, and frames.

To change from timecode to frames, you can use the Stopwatch button to the left of the Project Duration field.

Locate the Project Duration field at the lower left of the Canvas window.

Click the Stopwatch button to the left of the Project Duration field to change from timecode to frames.

The timecode rate for the project is 29.97 frames per second, which translates to 30 frames per second when you work in frames mode. Since the project is 10 seconds long and the frame rate is 30 frames per second, the project is 300 frames total.

Click the Stopwatch again to change the field back to timecode.

MORE INFO

You can find more detailed information about timecode in the Motion documentation that came with the application.

Changing a Project's Duration

You can change the project duration by double-clicking the Project Duration field and typing a new duration, clicking the incremental arrows, or dragging in the field.

Let's try all three methods to change the project duration. Setting timecode with the incremental arrows is like setting your digital alarm clock. You can change the timecode one frame at a time by clicking, or you can click and hold the incremental arrow until you reach the timecode you want. And the control is a little easier to set than an alarm clock, because if you overshoot your mark, you can click the opposite arrow to go the other direction, one frame at a time.

1.	Click once on the small incremental arrow to the right of the Project Duration field to increase the duration by one frame.
2.	Click and hold down the incremental arrow to the right of the Duration field to increase the duration to 00:00:11;00.
3.	Click and hold down the mouse over the Project Duration field.
4.	Move the mouse to the right or left to change the duration in the direction you are moving.
5.	Click and drag the mouse again to change the timecode to 00:00:05;00. Now let's try the last method, and actually type the duration. The good news is that timecode works from right to left, so you don't have to type the entire thing, just the part you need. For this exercise, you need to change the timecode to 6 seconds (00:00:06;00). Since the hours and minutes are zeros, you can skip those and just type 6.00.
6.	Click the timecode in the Project Duration field. The field darkens to show it is selected.
7.	Type 6.00 and press Return to set the timecode duration for the project. The project duration is now set to 6 seconds.

NOTE

Make sure that you type the period between 6 (seconds) and 00 (frames) and then press Return. If you don't type the period, you will be entering 600 frameswhich changes the duration to 20 seconds. If you changed the duration to 20 seconds, simply type 6.00 and press Return to change the duration to 6 seconds.

Scrubbing the Playhead

One of the key features that allows us to see our project is the playhead. The playhead is the thin vertical bar with the yellow arrow on top, located in the scrubber area directly above the mini-Timeline. The playhead moves along your project as it plays and allows you to view one frame at a time in the Canvas. If the playhead is paused, as it is in your project, you will see only the current frame. If the playhead is moving, you will see each frame sequentially, which allows you to see movement over time.

There are many different ways to move the playhead to view your project. One method is to drag the playhead in the scrubber areathis method is called scrubbing. The playhead turns green when you drag it, to show that it has been selected. You can also move the playhead one frame at a time forward or backward using the left and right arrow keys. Let's try both methods to move the playhead.

1.	Locate the playhead at the bottom of the Canvas window.
2.	Click and drag the playhead to the right and then to the left to view different frames in the Timeline.
3.	Tap the right arrow key several times to move the playhead one frame at a time to the right. When the playhead moves to the right, you are moving forward in time through your project.
4.	Tap the left arrow key several times to move the playhead one frame at a time to the left. When the playhead moves to the left, you are moving backward in time (reverse) through your project.

Changing the Current Playhead Position

You have set the duration of your project and learned how to scrub the playhead; now let's look at the Current Frame field, which indicates the current playhead position.

The Current Frame field is located at the lower left of the Canvas window and works the same way the Project Duration field does.

Let's change the current frame.

1.	Click the Current Frame field and type 5.00 and then press Return. The playhead moves forward in time to 5 seconds in the project (5;00). The image in the Canvas changes to show the project 5 seconds from the beginning.
2.	Click and drag the cursor over the Current Frame field to the left to move the playhead in reverse and change the current frame to 1;11.

Now that you know how to move the playhead and change the current frame, let's set the play range for the project.

Setting a Project Play Range

A project's duration determines how long a project can be from start to finish. I stress that the duration is how long it can be, because you may also set a play range for your project that is shorter than the actual duration.

However long you make your project, you may want to view only a portion of the project at a given time. For instance, if your project's duration is 10 seconds and you need to work on only the first 2 seconds, then you may want to play only the first 2 seconds of the project while you work. The portion that you want to view is called the play range and is indicated by In and Out points.

There are two easy ways to set play range In and Out points:

Choose Mark > Mark Play Range In or Mark Play Range Out.
Use keyboard shortcuts: Option-Cmd-I for In and Option-Cmd-O for Out.

By default, the play range In point is the beginning of the project.

Let's set the play range Out point at 3 seconds so you will play back only half of the 6-second project.

1.	Drag the playhead to the right until the Current Frame field reads 3;00. You can also type 3.00 in the Current Frame field and press Return.
2.	Press Option-Cmd-O (that's the letter O, for Out point). The play range Out point appears at the playhead position (3;00).

Now that you've set the play range, let's play the project with the transport controls.