Welcome
- What’s new in Motion 5.5
- What’s new in 5.4.6
- What’s new in 5.4.4
- What is Motion?
- Motion workflow
- Motion interface
- Basic components of Motion
- Using input devices
- Intro to creating projects
- Create a new project
- Open an existing project
- Search for projects from the Finder
- Bypass the Project Browser
- Create and modify project presets
- Save, autosave, and revert projects
- Intro to adding and managing content
- Intro to project playback
- Define the play range
- Project playback performance
- Intro to basic compositing
- - Modify layer opacity
- Intro to 3D compositing
- - Intro to 3D coordinates
  - Relative coordinates
- Transform layers in 3D space
- - Create 3D intersection
  - 2D and 3D group properties
- Intro to the Timeline
- Display or resize the Timing pane
- Navigate in the Timeline
- Show and modify keyframes in the Timeline
- - Intro to the Timeline ruler
  - Edit a range of frames in the Timeline
- Edit in the mini-Timeline
- Intro to behaviors
- Behaviors versus keyframes
- - Browse for behaviors
- - Intro to adjusting behaviors
  - Adjust behaviors
- Intro to keyframing
- Add keyframes
- - Add an animation path in the canvas
  - Modify animation paths
- Animate from the HUD
- - Apply keyframes to behaviors
  - Combining keyframes and behaviors
- Use the mini-curve editor
- Animate on the fly
- Simplify a keyframe curve
- Intro to Final Cut Pro templates
- - Template workflow
  - Placeholders vs. drop zones
- - Create a generator template
  - Modify a Final Cut Pro generator
- - Convert a Motion project to Final Cut Pro
  - Convert a template to another type
- Use placeholder images in templates
- Set template resolution
- Add multiple aspect ratios to templates
- Override the Final Cut Pro color space
- Where are templates saved?
- Using masks in templates
- Guidelines for better templates
- Intro to rigging
- How does rigging work?
- Build a simple rig
- Work with widgets
- Control rigs from Animation menus
- Publish rigs to Final Cut Pro
- Intro to Particles
- - Add a particle system
  - Anatomy of a particle emitter
- Create 3D particles
- Particle system timing
- Using graphics in particle systems
- Using filters and masks with particles
- Save custom particle effects
- Intro to replicators
- Replicators vs. particle systems
- - Add a replicator
  - Anatomy of a replicator
- Work with 3D replicators
- Replicator timing
- Using filters and masks with replicators
- Save custom replicators
- Intro to basic text
- Select and modify text in the canvas
- Preview and apply fonts
- Use preset text styles
- - Intro to editing text
  - Display the Text Inspector or HUD
- Convert standard text to 3D text
- Check spelling
- Find and replace text
- Using filters with text
- Intro to 3D text
- 3D text workflow
- - Add 3D text
  - Convert 2D text to 3D text
- Apply a preset 3D text style
- Move and rotate 3D text
- Add a glow or drop shadow to 3D text
- 3D text intersection
- Intro to animated text
- Apply a text behavior
- - Use the Scroll Text behavior
  - Scroll Text controls
- - Use the Text Tracking behavior
  - Text Tracking controls
- - Use the Type On behavior
  - Type On controls
- Animate individual text glyphs
- Animating 2D text in 3D space
- When to use keyframes to animate text
- Adding nontext behaviors to text
- Save a modified text behavior
- Intro to shapes, masks, and paint strokes
- - Intro to complex shapes and masks
  - Draw complex shapes and masks
- Edit fill, outline, and feathering
- Keyframe shape control points
- Convert between shapes and masks
- Using filters and masks with shapes
- Copy shape styles
- Save custom shapes and shape styles
- Intro to using generators
- Add a generator
- - Modify or animate a generator
  - Controls common to all generators
- Save a modified generator
- Intro to filters
- Browse and preview filters
- Apply or remove filters
- - Animate filter parameters with keyframes
  - Animate filters using behaviors
- Publish filter parameters to Final Cut Pro
- Using filters on alpha channels
- Filter performance
- Save custom filters
- Intro to color keying
- - Intro to the Luma Keyer filter
  - Luma Keyer filter controls
- Intro to 3D objects
- Add a 3D object
- Move and rotate a 3D object
- Reposition a 3D object’s anchor point
- Exchange a 3D object file
- 3D object intersection and layer order
- - Intro to 3D object timing
  - Modify 3D object timing in Motion
- Using cameras and lights with 3D objects
- Save custom 3D objects
- Guidelines for working with 3D objects
- Working with imported 3D objects
- Intro to 360-degree video
- 360-degree projects
- Create 360-degree projects
- Add 360-degree video to a project
- - View 360-degree projects
  - View 360-degree video in a VR headset
- - Intro to graphics in 360-degree projects
  - Use graphics in 360-degree projects
- Create a tiny planet effect
- Reorient 360-degree media
- Creating 360-degree templates for Final Cut Pro
- 360-degree-aware filters and generators
- Export and share 360-degree projects
- Guidelines for better 360-degree projects
- Intro to tracking
- How does motion tracking work?
- Motion tracking behavior types
- Analyze motion in a clip
- Stabilize a shaky clip
- Unstabilize a clip
- Use a range of frames for analysis
- Load existing tracking data
- Track shapes, masks, and paint strokes
- Track a filter’s position parameter
- Adjust onscreen trackers
- Save tracks to the Library
- Intro to audio
- View audio files
- Add audio files
- Play audio files
- Intro to exporting projects
- Export a QuickTime movie
- Export audio only
- Export a still image
- Export an image sequence
- Export to Apple devices
- Export to email
- Export using Compressor
- Create share destinations
- Render settings
- View the status of shared items
- Share notifications
- Intro to preferences and shortcuts
- Touch Bar shortcuts
- Move assets to another computer
- Work with GPUs
Glossary
Copyright

Basic tracking strategies in Motion

Use the following basic techniques to improve your tracking results.

Find a good reference pattern

In Motion, play the footage several times to locate a reference pattern that satisfies as many of the following rules as possible:
- Contains perpendicular edges, such as dots, intersections, and corners. (Lines and straight boundaries should be avoided.)
- Is a high-contrast pattern.
- Contains smooth or even changes in brightness or color. An example of an uneven color or brightness change is a sharp-edged shadow that passes over your reference pattern.
- Appears in every frame of the clip (does not move offscreen or become obscured by other objects).
- Is distinct from other patterns in the same region in the clip.

Manually modify track points

If you’re not satisfied with the location of a track point on a post-analysis motion path, you can drag an individual point to adjust its position.

In Motion, position the playhead at the frame you want to modify.
The track point at the playhead position is highlighted.
Do one of the following:
- Drag the highlighted track point in the canvas to adjust its position.
- Drag in the Tracker Preview area in the Behaviors Inspector.

For fine-tuning, you can zoom in and out of the clip using the Zoom tool. The zoom follows the pointer, so place the pointer on the track point in the canvas and drag right to zoom in. Drag left to zoom out. To return to normal view, choose 100% from the Zoom Level pop-up menu (above the right side of the canvas). If you have a Multi-Touch trackpad, pinch open or closed to zoom in or out, then scroll the zoomed view using two-finger swipes.

You can also adjust a tracking curve in the Keyframe Editor. For more information on using the Keyframe Editor, see Intro to keyframing in Motion.

Delete bad keyframes in the Keyframe Editor

When an analysis is complete, you might need to reanalyze a portion of the clip. Rather than recording over bad tracking keyframes, delete bad keyframes before reanalyzing. If bad keyframes are not deleted, the tracking behavior may continue to use the old reference point.

In Motion, position the playhead at the frame where you want to reanalyze the reference pattern.
In the Keyframe Editor, drag to select the keyframes you want to delete.
If the Keyframe Editor is not visible, click the Show/Hide Keyframe Editor button on the right side of the timing toolbar.
Control-click in the Keyframe Editor, then choose Cut from the shortcut menu (or press Delete).
In the canvas, drag the tracker to the reference point, then click Analyze.
New track keyframes are created.

Tip: When dealing with multiple problem trackers, you can turn off the trackers you’re not correcting to simplify your view in the Keyframe Editor. Additionally, when fine-tuning tracks in the Keyframe Editor, you can simplify what appears in the graph. The following image displays all curves for a three-tracker analysis.

Keyframe Editor showing curves for many parameters simultaneously

To solo a curve, Option-click the parameter’s checkbox in the Keyframe Editor’s parameter list.

Keyframe Editor showing one parameter soloed

To unsolo the curve, Option-click the parameter’s checkbox again.

Delete bad track points in the canvas

You can also delete bad track points in the canvas, during or after analysis.

Note: Track points in the canvas correspond to keyframes in the Keyframe Editor.

In Motion, during analysis, press Esc to stop the tracking.
If you’ve already completed the analysis, go to step 2.
In the canvas toolbar, make sure the Adjust Item tool is selected.
Ensure that a track point is active in the canvas.
You can to zoom into the canvas to better see the active track points. The track point at the current playhead position appears larger than other track points.
Note: If you press Delete when a track point is not selected, the entire path is deleted.
Do one of the following:
- Press Delete to delete the track point at the current position of the playhead.
- Move the playhead to the frame where you want to begin deleting track points, and press Delete.
  Each press of the Delete key removes one track point. Only active track points are deleted.
  Tip: The direction in which track points are deleted is determined by the Reverse checkbox in the Behaviors Inspector. When Reverse is deselected, each track point you delete moves the playhead toward the beginning of the clip. When Reverse is selected, each track point you delete moves the playhead toward the end of the clip.

Ask Motion for a hint

You can have Motion display suggested tracking points. You need at least one tracker in the canvas to display suggested tracking reference points.

In Motion, press and hold the Option key, place the pointer over a tracker in the canvas, then press and hold the mouse button.
The suggested reference points appear in the canvas and in the magnified inset as small red crosshairs.
When you move a tracker toward a suggested point, the tracker snaps to the point. The suggested points are not necessarily ideal tracking reference points for the feature you want to track in the clip. Motion merely picks locations in the current frame that meet the reference pattern criteria, such as an area of high contrast.

Remove interlacing (fields) from a clip before tracking

In Motion, select the footage in the Media list of the Project pane, then choose an option from the Field Order pop-up menu in the Media pane of the Inspector.
Note: Interlacing can be present in clips stabilized using the automatic analysis mode in the Stabilize behavior.

Perform multiple stabilization analyses on a shaky clip

If a clip is particularly shaky, it may be necessary to stabilize the clip more than once to remove camera movement not corrected in the first stabilization analysis.

In Motion, stabilize a clip, export the clip, import the clip, then stabilize the clip again.
See Improve stabilization in Motion.

Sharpen a clip’s reference area

A sharp, high-contrast pattern can provide a good tracking reference area. You may be able to sharpen the reference pattern of a clip by applying a filter to a clip before tracking. The tracker analyzes the clip, but not the result of a filter applied to the clip.

In Motion, apply the Sharpen filter to the clip and adjust its parameters in the Filters Inspector.
Export the clip, reimport the clip into your project, then delete or disable the original (exported) clip.
Perform your tracking operation again.

Because the tracker analyzes the clip, not the result of a filter applied to the clip, the clip must be exported and reimported to your project.

Kasulik?

Motion User Guide