When applying an attribute to something in Motion, such as a behavior, What is the difference if you open the library and apply it or if you apply it from the toolbar under the canvas? Also, I tried to apply a particle emitter from the toolbar icon under the canvas and it worked but it didn't give me an option to pick which emitter I wanted to use.
Can somone explain how this works?
Thanks
MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mountain Lion
A particle emitter consists of an emitter and one or more particle cells. When you choose a particle emitter from the library it already is complete in that it has an emitter and particle cell with the emitter controls set to accomplish the effect you see in the preview window. When you select emitter from the tool bar you get just an emitter and you have to create and add the particle cell(s) which can be shapes, pics, drawings from drawing program etc. You then configure the particle emitter in the inspector for the effect you want such as direction of emission, lifetime of particles, point, line or shape of the emission, speed etc. In essence the particle emitters from the library are complete and if you find one that suits your need it saves a lot of work. You can, of course, adjust the effect in the inspector to your liking. The tool bar approach allows you to create your own particle emitter from scratch just as you want it. I suggest you read about emitters in the FCP user manual as it is very descriptive.
A particle emitter consists of an emitter and one or more particle cells. When you choose a particle emitter from the library it already is complete in that it has an emitter and particle cell with the emitter controls set to accomplish the effect you see in the preview window. When you select emitter from the tool bar you get just an emitter and you have to create and add the particle cell(s) which can be shapes, pics, drawings from drawing program etc. You then configure the particle emitter in the inspector for the effect you want such as direction of emission, lifetime of particles, point, line or shape of the emission, speed etc. In essence the particle emitters from the library are complete and if you find one that suits your need it saves a lot of work. You can, of course, adjust the effect in the inspector to your liking. The tool bar approach allows you to create your own particle emitter from scratch just as you want it. I suggest you read about emitters in the FCP user manual as it is very descriptive.
Thanks Jim. Now that I understand the emitters, what about using the toolbar for behaviors, generators, etc. Any reason to use the toolbar vs opening the library other than speed?
Behaviors, Generators and Filters are the same in terms of content whether you use the library or the tool bar. The only advantage of the library is you have the preview window at the top which gives you a preview of the behavior, generator or filter and since they are shown in alphabetical order it is easy to find a particular one. Once you become familiar with the effects and know what you want I think the tool bar is faster. The Replicators are essentially like emitters. Use the library to find a readybuilt one or build your own starting with the tool bar.
Applying attributes in Motion 5
