Using Text Tools
There are two ways to edit a text object:
As with other object in Motion, you can edit text by using the parameters in the Properties Inspector, or by using the onscreen controls.
You can edit the text characters using the Text parameters in the Text Inspector or in the HUD.
The following interface tools are used to edit text in Motion:
Toolbar
Text HUDs
Text Inspector
This section discusses using the Text tool (in the toolbar) and the Text editor (in the Format pane of the Text Inspector) to create and modify text.
Note: When text is selected with the default selection tool, you can use the standard onscreen controls to move and animate the text in the Canvas.
Text Tools in the Toolbar
The Motion toolbar contains several tools that you can use to manipulate text.
- Text tool: Use this tool to create text. Click the Text tool, then click or drag in the Canvas to create a blank text object.
If you click in the Canvas, you activate the Type layout method (the default), which requires that you insert manual line breaks (by pressing Return) to make text wrap to a new line. If you drag in the Canvas, you activate the Paragraph layout method, which wraps text into a column.
- Select/Transform tool: Use this tool to select and transform text. After you finish typing text, click the Select/Transform tool (or press Esc) to select the text as an object. To select existing text, click the Select/Transform tool, then click the text in the Canvas.
Note: When the Select/Transform tool is active, you can double-click the text to enter text-editing mode. When Motion is in text-editing mode, the Text tool is highlighted in the toolbar.
- Transform Glyph tool: Use this tool to select and transform glyphs (individual characters of text objects). After you create text, click the Select/Transform tool and, holding the mouse button down, choose the Transform Glyph tool from the pop-up menu.
For more information on editing text glyphs, see Working with Text Glyphs.