Behaviors are designed to be flexible and can be combined with one another to create all kinds of effects. Using behaviors, motion graphics design becomes interactive, allowing you to create complex motion effects and simulated object interactions very quickly.
Behaviors can also be used to animate the parameters of nearly any particle system emitter, shape, mask, replicator, filter, generator, camera, or light. This allows you to create animated backgrounds, dynamic filter effects, interesting camera and lighting effects, and incredibly complex particle systems, all using a few simple controls.
Motion Tracking behaviors serve a different purpose than other behaviors. Rather than immediately animating an object to which it is applied, a tracking behavior analyzes the object’s motion, or the motion in a video clip. This analyzed motion can be used to stabilize a shaky clip, or match the movement of an object to the movement in the analyzed clip. For more information, see Motion Tracking.
There are 11 kinds of behaviors in Motion.
Audio behaviors are applied to audio files to create simple audio effects, such as fade-ins and fade-outs, pans, and fly-bys. There is also a separate Audio parameter behavior that can be applied to the parameters of nearly any object. For more information, see Audio Behaviors.
Basic Motion behaviors are among the simplest behaviors. They animate specific parameters of the object to which they are applied. Some Basic Motion behaviors affect position while others affect scale or rotation. Examples include Fade In/Fade Out, Spin, and Throw. All Basic Motion behaviors can be applied to images and clips, particle emitters, shapes, text, and so on. Most of the Basic Motion behaviors can be applied to cameras and lights. For more information, see Basic Motion Behaviors
Camera behaviors are specifically designed to be applied to a camera in a 3D project and create basic camera motions such as dolly moves, panning, and zooming. For more information, see Camera Behaviors.
Motion Tracking behaviors perform multiple tasks. Although all tracking behaviors analyze the motion present in a clip, the application of that data varies depending on the specific behavior. For example, the Stabilize behavior stabilizes movement in a clip created by camera shake. The Match Move behavior analyzes the motion in an object (such as a clip) and applies that motion to another object to integrate it with the tracking source. For more information, see Motion Tracking Behaviors.
A Parameter behavior can be applied to a specific parameter of any object (including filters and behaviors) and the effect is limited to just that parameter. The same Parameter behavior can be applied to different parameters, resulting in different effects. For example, you can apply the Oscillate behavior to the opacity of text to make the letters fade in and out, or you can apply the Oscillate behavior to the rotation of a shape to make the shape rock back and forth. You can also apply Parameter behaviors to filter parameters, generator parameters, the parameters of particle systems and replicators, or even the parameters of other behaviors. Examples include Oscillate, Randomize, and Reverse. Most Parameter behaviors can be applied to cameras and lights. For more information, see Parameter Behaviors.
Particles behaviors are specifically designed to be applied to a particle emitter or cells in particle systems. These behaviors affect how individual particles are animated over the duration of their life. For more information, see Using Particles Behaviors.
Replicator behaviors are specifically designed to be applied to a replicator or cells in the replicator. These behaviors affect how the replicator cell parameters are animated over their pattern. For example, you can create an animation that travels over the replicator pattern in which each cell goes from 0 percent opacity to 100 percent. For more information, see Using the Sequence Replicator Behavior.
Retiming behaviors are applied to footage and cloned layers (or groups) to create hold frames, reverse the footage, change the speed of the footage, create strobe frames or stutter, or scrub the footage. These behaviors are applied to the footage objects in the Layers list. For more information, see Retiming Behaviors.
Shape behaviors are specifically designed to be applied to a shape or mask. Shape behaviors affect the individual vertices of a shape or mask. For example, applying the Randomize behavior randomly animates the control points (or tangents, or both) on the shape. For more information, see Shape Behaviors.
Simulation behaviors perform one of two tasks. Some Simulation behaviors, such as Gravity, animate the parameters of an object in a way that simulates a real-world phenomenon. Other Simulation behaviors, such as Attractor and Repel, affect the parameters of objects surrounding the object to which they’re applied. These behaviors allow you to create some very sophisticated interactions among multiple objects in your project with a minimum of adjustments. As with the Basic Motion behaviors, Simulation behaviors also affect specific object parameters. Examples include Attractor, Gravity, and Repel. Simulation behaviors can be applied to cameras and lights. For more information, see Simulation Behaviors.
Text behaviors animate text parameters to create various animated effects. Examples include Type On, which reveals text letter by letter. For more information, see Text Animation and Text Sequence Behaviors and Sequence Text Behavior.
For an introduction to using and applying behaviors, see Applying and Removing Behaviors. For more detailed information on how to manipulate behaviors in a project, see Working with Behaviors.
Note: Audio, Camera, Motion Tracking, Particles, Replicator, Shape, and Text behaviors are discussed in their respective chapters.