Apple Motion 4.0 - Motion graphics creation solution. (Commercial)

Quickly add dramatic shadows that animate dynamically with the movement of objects and lights. When you set up a point or spot light in Motion 4, a single click lets you designate it as a shadow-casting light. Then Motion adjusts the shadow as you position objects, lights, and the camera.

By default, all objects both receive and cast shadows. For greater control, you can restrict an object to be just a shadow-caster, a shadow-receiver, or a shadow-only object. Further refine the look of any shadow by adjusting edge softness and shadow color.

Create reflections that change naturally as objects move through 3D space. You can now turn any shape, video plane, or paint stroke into a reflective surface. Use sliders to adjust the amount of reflectivity, soften reflections by adding blur, and fade them by using the Falloff feature.

Draw attention to one or more moving objects in 3D space by selectively setting the focal point. Motion 4 makes it easy to highlight or de-emphasize objects by defining a range of focus, with an interface that illustrates the near and far focus planes as well as the point of focus. Add a Focus camera behavior to lock focus to a single object, or create a rack focus effect by using multiple Focus camera behaviors.

Now you can create and edit even a long list of production credits with ease. Just import a text file or type in your credits using the new Scroll layout in the Text tool. An innovative graphical interface lets you jump to any location in the credits with a click.

After you've set up your list, apply the new Scroll Text behavior to animate the credit roll in a single step. If you want to make refinements, you can adjust the speed with a slider and set an option to reduce flicker for progressive or interlaced outputs.

The new Adjust Glyph tool allows you to manipulate a character in a text object the same way you manipulate any shape in 3D. Just select the character to make adjustments directly in the Canvas. Options include Move, Scale, Rotate, and Adjust Four Corner, which lets you skew or corner-pin the face, outline, glow, or shadow style of the character.

In Motion 4, when you make changes to one object, other objects can automatically respond. For example, if you animate a moving bicycle, Motion can dynamically change the rotation of the wheels as you adjust the position of the bicycle.

The new Link parameter behavior lets you associate a parameter value in one object with parameter values in other objects. There is no need to calculate values or manage keyframes. All you have to do is set the scale and offset for each linked parameter. Motion instantly adjusts the linked animations as you make changes.

It's now easier than ever to make a camera fly from one object to another, precisely framing each object as the camera slows or stops. To frame a single object, drop the Framing camera behavior on the camera and identify the target object. To animate the camera passing from one object to another, set up additional Framing camera behaviors and arrange them in the Timeline.

The Sequence Text behavior lets you ripple characters onto or off the screen one character, word, or line at a time — and even modify all of the glyph attributes. Just manipulate a single letter and Motion animates the change through the entire sequence.

Four new Text generators make it easy to create and animate text sequences. Apply the Numbers generator to create an animation that counts up or down in sequence or at random. The Time Date generator lets you animate time and date sequences either forward or backward.

Use the Timecode generator to create running timecode sequences in any standard frame rate. The File generator allows you to rapidly sequence lines from the text contained in a file.

Instantly give your footage a historical look by making it look like bad or damaged film. Just apply the new Bad Film filter, then easily adjust parameters for focus, brightness, grain, jitter, scratches, dust, and more to get the look you want.

Navigate faster with gestures using the Multi-Touch trackpad on your MacBook Pro. Quickly browse tabs and navigate the Timeline with two-finger scrolling. You can pinch to resize icons or to adjust zoom levels in the Timeline and Canvas, and use the Rotate gesture to scrub the Timeline. A three-finger swipe toggles the Timing and Project panes and lets you move forward and backward in the Library and File Browser.

More than ten new or improved features in Motion 4 let you create and manipulate shapes faster than ever. Use the new Roundness shape parameter to round the corners of any geometric shape or mask. Create a mask instantly by dragging a shape onto an object. You can also save time in mask-intensive projects by customizing the color of mask outlines to eliminate confusion.

Several of the new shape features allow you to work with greater precision. You can now modify the control points of multiple shapes, either separately or simultaneously. The new Transform Control Points feature lets you use a bounding box overlay in the Canvas to intuitively scale, move, or rotate all or selected control points on a single object.

Save time by choosing one of 149 new preset Text Sequence behaviors, which feature a wide variety of playful or dramatic effects, such as Scramble In or Shimmer Out, for animating text onto or off the screen. Highlight effects include Scale Through, which makes the text look as if a magnifying glass is being passed over each letter in turn. You can use any preset as is or modify its parameters to get just the effect you want.

With support for the new ProRes 4444 format, Motion 4 makes it possible to work with masks, alpha transparencies, and other high-resolution effects, maintaining pristine image quality at smaller, highly optimized file sizes. Fast, efficient decoding lets you take advantage of dynamic, real-time feedback as you work.

The Concentric Shapes generator is used to generate patterns derived from circles or from polygons ranging from 3 to 100 sides. Choose two fixed colors or set up a flexible multicolor gradient.

The new Spirals generator in Motion 4 lets you instantly create and easily modify precise spiral patterns. You can choose between classic and modern spiral types, and color the spiral with two solid colors or a multicolor gradient. Create a hypnotic visual effect by using the rotation parameter to make the spiral spin.

Take tactile control of Motion 4 with the SpaceNavigator 3D mouse (sold separately). Move the flexible, joystick-like control on this special-purpose controller to smoothly manipulate cameras, objects, and views. You can simultaneously pan, dolly, and orbit cameras, and intuitively position and rotate objects in 3D space.

Delivery to your Apple devices, the web, and disc is just a click away. Choose your output format in the Share window, then keep working while your projects are rendered, compressed, and even published to the web in the background. Use this convenient shortcut to export your file to iTunes for syncing with iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV; publish to YouTube or MobileMe; or burn a Blu-ray disc2 or a DVD, with a choice of Apple-designed menu templates.

The Share window also gives you access to Compressor presets that let you export to other formats — including ProRes 422, ProRes 4444, and H.264 — with a click.

Create complex image distortions with the new Polar filter. Make the image look as if it has been unwrapped from a sphere. Or warp the image by choosing the rectangular polar view.

Motion 4 lets you perform optical flow retiming tasks more efficiently. Optical flow analysis is now automatically limited to just the portion of the clip you're using. The new Task list lets you pause calculations and reorder the analysis tasks so they finish in order of priority.