Basic text overview

Although trends in type design change, a balanced use of type and graphics remains key to achieving the right effect in commercials, documentaries, title sequences, broadcast logos, corporate presentations, and personal video projects. No matter what style your project requires, Motion provides unique tools for creating dynamic text effects.

It’s easy to add text to a Motion project. Simply select the Text tool in the toolbar, click in the Canvas, and start typing. A new text layer is created (shown in the Canvas, and represented in the Layers list and Timeline), and you can apply various treatments to it—text styles, special effects filters, animation behaviors, keyframes, and so on.

Further, you can modify text as a single object or as separate glyphs (characters), applying different effects character by character.

This chapter covers the basics of text creation and modification, including how to:

• Add text

• Select and modify text in the Canvas

• Preview and apply fonts

• Use preset text styles

• Edit text in the Inspector

• Modify text glyphs, adjusting text character by character)

After you add text and format it to your liking, you can begin to create dynamic animation effects (see Animated text overview). You can also create and animate sophisticated 3D text (see 3D text overview).