Use the Scroll Text behavior

Use the Scroll Text behavior

The Scroll Text behavior (in the Text Animation category of behaviors in the Library) creates scrolling or crawling text, and is often used to create end credits in film and television production. However, Scroll Text is flexible and can be applied to other objects in a Motion project—shapes and images, for example—to create integrated credits, prologues, and so on.

You can apply the Scroll Text behavior to any kind of text in your project, including text imported from RTF or TXT files. When you apply the Scroll Text behavior, text scrolls vertically in the Canvas by default. However, you can set the Scroll Text behavior to scroll horizontally (a text crawl), as well.

Create a vertical scroll

  1. Apply the Scroll Text behavior (from the Text Animation behavior category) to the text layer (or any object) you want to animate.

    For more information, see Apply a text behavior.

    Because vertical scrolling is the default option, the text shifts to below the Canvas for the beginning of the scroll. You can change the direction, position, and speed of the scroll in the Behavior Inspector or HUD.

  2. Click the Play button below the Canvas (or press the Space Bar).

    The text scrolls upward in the Canvas.

  3. To edit the text, double-click the text in the Canvas.

    The text stops scrolling, the ruler appears at the top edge of the text, and the scroll control becomes available at the right edge of the text. To continue playback, deselect the text by pressing Esc or by clicking in an empty area of the Layers list or the Timeline layers list. For more information on scroll controls, see Layout controls in the Layout pane.

  4. To customize the scroll, adjust the parameters in the Behaviors Inspector.

    For more information on Scroll Text behavior parameters, see Scroll Text controls.

Create a horizontal scroll

  1. Apply the Scroll Text behavior (from the Text Animation behavior category) to the text (or any object) you want to animate.

    For more information, see Apply a text behavior.

  2. In the Scroll Text HUD or Behaviors Inspector, click the Scroll Direction pop-up menu, then choose Horizontal.

    The text shifts off the Canvas to the right for the beginning of the crawl, and is positioned in a single line, as the Layout Method parameter in the Layout pane of the Text Inspector switches to Crawl.

    Note: When the Scroll Text behavior is applied to text, the Layout Method parameter is dimmed, indicating that you cannot manually change the layout method in the Layout pane. However, you can override this limitation by selecting the Allow Layout Override checkbox in the Behaviors Inspector. For more information, see Scroll Text controls.

  3. Click the Play button.

    The text crawls leftward in the Canvas.

  4. To edit the text, double-click the text in the Canvas.

    The text stops scrolling, and the scroll control becomes available at the lower edge of the text. To continue playback, deselect the text by pressing Esc or clicking in an empty area of the Layers list or Timeline layers list. For more information on scroll controls, see Layout controls in the Layout pane.

  5. To customize the scroll, adjust the parameters in the Behaviors Inspector.

    For more information on Scroll Text behavior parameters, see Scroll Text controls.

Change the speed of the scroll in the Timeline

In the Timeline, do one of the following:

  • Trim the behavior by dragging the end of the its bar to the left to speed up the scroll.

  • Trim the behavior by dragging the end of its bar to the right to slow down the scroll.

    For more information about adjusting behaviors in the Timeline, see Behavior timing overview.