Before you start a project, set up Motion Preferences according to your project requirements. You can set the layer duration preferences so a layer (the text in this case) is created at the current frame (the frame where the playhead is positioned at the time you add the text). Alternatively, you can specify that a layer is created at the start of the project. By default, layers are created at the current frame. You can also specify a default duration for a created layer.
Choose Motion > Preferences (or press Command-Comma).
Click the Project icon.
The Project Preferences pane is displayed.
In the Still Images & Layers section, set the Default Layer Duration preference:
To create text that is the length of the project, select “Use project duration” (the default setting). This means that if you are working in a 300-frame project and you create text, the duration of the text (in the Timeline) is 300 frames.
Note: If Create Layers At is set to “Current frame” and you create text at frame 50, the text spans frame 50 to frame 300.
To create text of a specific duration, select “Use custom duration.” Next, enter a value in the text field, then choose Frames or Seconds from the pop-up menu.
All layers you create will span the entered duration.
Set the Create Layers At preference:
To create text at the current location of the playhead, select “Current frame.”
To create text at the start of the project, select “Start of project.” With this preference, all text is created at the beginning of the project, regardless of the playhead location.