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MotionArtist Reference Manual 1.3

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Revision February 04, 2015

ii MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Credits Trademark & Copyright Notice

MotionArtist Development Team includes: The following companies and individuals provided
DEVELOPMENT:
technology or content used in MotionArtist.
Mitch Jones Mike Clifton Eric Long
• Anti-Grain Geometry (www.antigrain.com). Copyright
Erik Martin David Swan
2002-2004 Maxim Shemanarev (McSeem)
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT:
Steve Yatson Jordan Bentley Fahim Niaz • Dojo (www.dojotoolkit.org). Copyright The Dojo
QUALITY ASSURANCE: Foundation.
Jason Cozy Gerard Espinoza James Feathers
DOCUMENTATION: • FreeType (www.freetype.org). Portions of this software
Denise Tyler are copyright 1996-2002 The FreeType Project. All rights
CREATIVE: reserved.
Diego Nargoli
CONTENT DEVELOPMENT: • libjpeg (http://www.ijg.org/). This software is based
Teyon Alexander Carlos Torres in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT: Copyright 1991-1998, Thomas G. Lane.
Jay Robinson Melissa Jay Tinling Matt Ko
• libogg (http://www.xiph.org/ogg). Copyright 2002,
John Csaky
Xiph.org Foundation

• libpng (www.libpng.org). Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000

Glenn Randers-Pehrson.

• libsndfile (www.mega-nerd.com/libsndfile/). Copyright

1999-2009 Erik de Castro Lopo.

• Lua (www.lua.org). Copyright 2004 Tecgraf, PUC-Rio.

iii MotionArtist
Reference Manual

• PortAudio (www.portaudio.com). Copyright 1999-2000

Ross Bencina and Phil Burk.

• SoundTouch (www.surina.net/soundtouch) Copyright

2001-2011 Olli Parviainen

• zlib (www.zlib.net). Copyright 1995-2002 Jean-Ioup

Gailly and Mark Adler.

• DiracLE (www.dspdimension.com). Copyright 2005-

2009, the DSP Dimension.

• libvorbis (http://www.vorbis.com). Copyright 2002-

2008 Xiph.org Foundation

• wxWidgets (www.wxwindows.org). Copyright 1998-

2005 Julian Smart, Robert Roebling, et al.

• libxml2 (xmlsoft.org). Copyright 1998-2003 Daniel

• libcurl (curl.haxx.se/libcurl). Copyright 1996-2007

Daniel Stenberg ([email protected]).

Before using this software or reading this

document, make sure you have read,
understood, and agreed to the license contained in
“MotionArtist End User License Agreement (EULA)
and Limited Warranty” on page iii.

iv MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Contents Part 2: MotionArtist Overview

Chapter 3: The MotionArtist Workspace
47
48
Part 1: MotionArtist Introduction 1
MotionArtist Menu Bar 50
Chapter 1: Welcome to MotionArtist! 2 View and Mode Indicators 50

What is MotionArtist? 2 The Artboard 51

Key Features and Benefits 3 The Library Window 52

System Requirements 4 The Toolbars 53

When You Have Questions 5 Scene Tabs 54

The Timeline 54
Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist 8
Setting Preferences 55
MotionArtist End User License Agreement (EULA) and
Limited Warranty 8 Chapter 4: MotionArtist Views and Modes 62
MotionArtist Mac App Store End User License Working in Director View 62
Agreement (EULA) and Limited Warranty 20 Camera View 67
Installing MotionArtist 31 Panel View 68
MotionArtist Demo 33 View Helpers and Guides 69
Activating Motion Artist 33 Displaying and Setting the Grid 71
Deactivating Motion Artist 37 Resetting the View 73
Creating a Content Folder 40 Chapter 5: Cameras and Stop Points 75
Creating a New Project 41
The Camera Tool 75
The Welcome Screen 44
The Motion Path 75
Registering MotionArtist 45
Editing Stop Points in Director View 76
Checking for Updates 46

v MotionArtist
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Transforming the Camera in Camera View 80 Saving a Project as a Template 112

Using Auto Camera 81 Closing Your Project 112

Chapter 6: The Timeline Window 85 Quitting MotionArtist 113

Zooming In and Out of the Timeline 86 Chapter 9: Working with Scenes 114
Viewing Objects in the Timeline 86 Adding Scenes 114
Minimized Timeline View 88 Changing Scenes 115
Play Controls 88 Deleting Scenes 115
Camera Layer 89 Duplicating Scenes 115
Using Motion Assist 90 Reordering Scenes 115

Part 3: Creating with MotionArtist 92 Using Transitions 116

Chapter 10: Working with Panels 120

Chapter 7: The Layer Settings Window 93
Creating New Panels 120
The General Tab 94 Splitting Panels (S) 128
The Shadows Tab 101 Duplicating Panels 130
Brush Settings 102 Deleting Panels 131
The HTML Export Tab 104 Arranging Panels in 3D Space 131
The Image Tab 105 Flattening Panels 132
Chapter 8: Working with Projects 108 Fitting Panels to Selections 133

Creating and Opening Projects 108 Animating Panels 133

Project Settings 109 Chapter 11: HTML5 Export and Interactivity 134
Saving a Project 111 The HTML Export Tab 134
Saving to a New File or Folder 111 Previewing HTML5 Output 137

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Exporting to HTML5 137 Floating Objects 178

Pausing and Resuming Playback 139 Animating Objects 179
Embedding a MotionArtist Project 143 Locking and Unlocking Objects 186
Embedding Multiple MotionArtist Projects 144 Setting Sequence Visibility 186
Interactivity Techniques and Notes 145 Toggling Selection Visibility 188

Chapter 12: The Library Window 149 Shaking Objects 188

Reversing Layer Order 189
Current Project Folder 150
Scattering Objects on the Artboard 189
My Library Folder 151
Scattering Objects in a Panel 192
Creating New My Library Folders 152
Arranging Objects in a Grid 195
Searching the Library 155
Positioning Objects 197
Chapter 13: Importing Content 156
Working with Text and Word Balloons 198
Importing Images 156
Creating Word Balloons 202
Using Layered Photoshop Files 157
Working with Images 202
Importing Movies 161
Working with Audio 203
Importing OBJ Files 163
Chapter 15: Distributing Your Comics 206
Importing Poser Files 165
Previewing Your Work 206
Making Snapshots 172
Gathering Content 206
Selecting All Content 176
Exporting Movies and Images 207
Clearing Content 176
Exporting iBooks (Mac Only) 210
Undo and Redo 176
Publishing to YouTube or Facebook 213
Cutting, Copying, and Pasting Content 177
Publishing to MotionArtistTV 215
Chapter 14: Working with Objects 178

vii MotionArtist
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Part 4: Appendices 219

Appendix A: Technical Support 220

Appendix B: Keyboard Shortcuts 222

Other Hot Keys 224

1 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Part 1: MotionArtist
Introduction

2 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Chapter 1: Welcome presentation, and then share that presentation on

Facebook, YouTube, or to your own channel on Smith

to MotionArtist! Micro’s MotionArtist community.

MotionArtist can work with many different types of content,
and can solve the needs of many different workflows. Here
MotionArtist is a product with a new approach to are some examples of how you can use MotionArtist to
animation. While developing MotionArtist, we are really create engaging and interactive presentations:
creating an animation and interactivity product with
comic creators in mind. We’re not trying to reinvent the Determine the type of content you want to use. For
wheel. example:

You won’t see any drawing, inking, or coloring tools • You’ve drawn a comic and want to add motion and
here. What you will see is a powerful composition and interactivity to that comic. Scan each page of the
presentation application that’s very intuitive. comic to prepare it for import into MotionArtist.
We’re also trying to bridge a gap between comic
• You might also have digital assets such as photos,
creators and their readers. You can export your comics or
videos, and audio clips that have already been
presentations in common file formats without being locked
created in other software and want to combine them
into a specific format or have to use a service. You can
in a unique way.
export as a common video format or (more importantly)
HTML5! • Create new assets in other applications such as
Manga Studio, Anime Studio, Poser, or Photoshop and
import those assets into the MotionArtist project.
What is MotionArtist?
• You want to create a simple animated presentation
MotionArtist easily allows you to tell a story in motion, for business or for a family event .. complete with
whether it be a motion comic, a business presentation, pictures, movies, music, voice narration, and text.
or an animated slide show of your latest family picnic.
You can easily integrate static assets into a full-blown
Chapter 1: Welcome to MotionArtist!
3 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

• After you gather your content, here are some things to be presented this way. The product is geared more
that you can do in MotionArtist to create an engaging toward creating HTML-based interactive digital comics
presentation: and graphic novels. It is very versatile and the output
is up to you!
• Place your scanned or imported assets on the
artboard in MotionArtist. You can place them in virtual • Your presentations can have animation, sound, and
panels that mask out the areas that lay outside the titling.
panel boundaries.
• You can export your projects as movies or in HTML
• Move the virtual camera above the artboard to format.
change the reader’s point of view and field of vision.
• Working modes and views are laid out with comic
• Move the assets over time to create an animation. creators in mind.

• Overlay music, voice narration, and text. • Comic style panel creation tools that allow you to
create panels of just about any shape. You can go
• Render and export the project as a movie or other back and resize, duplicate, rotate, align, and cut the
interactive digital format. panels at any time.

• Word balloons and dynamic text are vector-based.

Key Features and Benefits You can easily add or edit thought bubbles, dialog
boxes and text at any time.
• MotionArtist is a composition and presentation
tool that is primarily designed for comic artists. You • Photo shows are simple and easy to create, through
can create typical panel-based comics and add automated object placement and camera
animation to them. movement.

• You can create presentations that are built around • Import images, video, and audio of just about any size
comic panels and comic layouts, but they don’t have and type, including 1080p video and high-resolution

Chapter 1: Welcome to MotionArtist!

4 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

photographs and images. Layered Photoshop files and • Included Documentation

Anime Studio files are also supported.
MotionArtist includes the following documentation:
• MotionArtist features a new approach to animation for
• MotionArtist Reference Manual: This Reference
non-animators. We’ve hidden the technical stuff, and
Manual is included in electronic PDF format on your
brought the animation process forward in an intuitive
MotionArtist DVD. Choose Help > Help from within
visual manner.
MotionArtist to launch this manual.
• Export standard video files and share them on
YouTube and Facebook, or save them out as HTML5
with interactive animation.
System Requirements
System requirements for MotionArtist installation are as
• Offers 64-bit support on both Mac and Windows
follows:
computers.

• Improved options for HTML5 export, vastly increasing Windows System Requirements
the possiblilities within an interactive HTML5
environment.
• Windows ® 7, 8, 8.1 or newer
• Supports Wacom touch tablets with multiple gesture
• 64-bit OS required for 64-bit installation
support.
• 1.3 GHz Pentium 4 or newer, Athlon 64 or newer
• Navigation of the art board and timeline has
gone through major improvements to standardize • 2 GB RAM recommended
navigation with trackpad and gesture support.
• 500 MB (Universal) or 250 MB (32-bit) free hard disk
• Improved usabilty and function through multiple space minimum
feature enhancements and bug fixes.
• OpenGL enabled GPU recommended

Chapter 1: Welcome to MotionArtist!

5 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

• 1024x768 display (1280x800 recommended)

When You Have Questions
• DVD-ROM drive (physical version only)
As you begin using MotionArtist, you’ll undoubtedly have
questions or want to network with other MotionArtist artists.
• Internet connection required for periodic product
You’re not alone! There are many resources available for
activation service
you. Here are just a few:
• Windows® Internet Explorer® 9 or newer

Need Help?
Macintosh System Requirements
MotionArtist includes the Help menu, which serves to
answer most of your questions while using the application:
• Macintosh ® OS X 10.8, 10.9 or newer
• MotionArtist Help: Choose Help > Help to open the
• 64-bit OS required
MotionArtist Reference Manual in PDF format.
• 1.3 GHz Intel Processor or newer
• Video Tutorials: Choose Help > Video Tutorials to
• 2 GB RAM recommended open your browser to http://motionartist.smithmicro.
com/motionartist-videos.HTML, where you can find a
• 500 MB free hard drive space minimum number of movies that will help you to learn the basics
of MotionArtist.
• 1024x768 display (1280x800 recommended)
• MotionArtist Communities: Choose Help > Community
• DVD-ROM drive (physical version only) to open your web browser to http://motionartist.
smithmicro.com/socialB.HTML.
• Internet connection required for periodic product
activation service • About: Windows users can select Help > About
MotionArtist to display the MotionArtist version and
copyright information. Macintosh users should look in
Chapter 1: Welcome to MotionArtist!
6 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

the MotionArtist Application menu, and select About About Your Reference Manual
MotionArtist, to see this information. This option will be
useful if you need to obtain technical support, since Smith Micro Software strives to provide documentation
the Technical Support representative will need to know that is complete, accurate, informative, and friendly.
this information. Your feedback is always welcome. Please e-mail your
comments to: [email protected].

Smith Micro Software Resources The MotionArtist Reference Manual is for both Macintosh
and Windows. By convention, Macintosh commands
• Online Support: For technical support, customer precede Windows commands in the text. The MotionArtist
service, downloads, and to visit the Smith Micro interface for Macintosh and Windows platforms is identical,
MotionArtist community and gallery, visit us at https:// unless otherwise specified.
support.smithmicro.com/. For clarity, this manual uses several notational conventions
to present information of special importance. Lists of items,
• Using MotionArtist: For updates, tutorials, and points to consider, or procedures that do not need to be
MotionArtist user stories, visit http://MotionArtist. performed in a specific order appear in bullet format:
smithmicro.com/index.HTML.
• Item 1
• To Learn More: If you’d like to learn more about Smith
Micro Software, visit us at http://my.smithmicro.com. • Item 2

• Contacting Technical Support: If our Web Knowledge Procedures that must be followed in a specific order
Base does not resolve your situation, please contact us appear in numbered steps:
through https://support.smithmicro.com/. Please refer 1. Perform this step first
to “Appendix A: Technical Support” on page 220 to
view our technical support policy. 2. Perform this step second

• Sales: You may reach our sales department via e-mail Specific keyboard keys appear in bold capitalized letters.
at: [email protected]. For example: ESC. If more than one key should be pressed
Chapter 1: Welcome to MotionArtist!
7 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

simultaneously, the notation appears as KEY1+KEY2, for

example ALT+F4. When a modifier key differs between the
Macintosh and Windows platform, the Macintosh modifier
is listed first followed by a slash and the Windows modifier
key. For example, COMMAND/CTRL+I is equivalent to the
Macintosh COMMAND+I and the Windows CTRL+I.
Screen prompts, menu and window names, fields, buttons,
boxes, etc. appear in bold type. Where you need to
access a palette, command, or submenu, the syntax is
Menu > Submenu. For example File > Save As means you
should open the File pull-down menu and then select Save
As to open the Save As dialog box.
Program and script code appears in standard Courier font,
for example:
cd\letters\business\legal [ENTER]

Notes detail tips, tricks, and other important

information.

Warnings alert you to potentially harmful

consequences such as data loss.

Chapter 1: Welcome to MotionArtist!

8 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Chapter 2: Installing The Smith Micro online store will accept the
return of either physical or electronically

MotionArtist downloaded products purchased directly from

Smith Micro within 30 days of the date of purchase.
Products purchased in retail stores must be returned
Before running the installer, please take a moment to read, to the place of purchase and meet their specific
understand, and agree to the End User License Agreement return policy terms. Smith Micro reserves the right to
that pertains to the version that you are installing: change this policy at any time.

• MotionArtist End User License Agreement (EULA): See

• MotionArtist Mac App Store End User License
“MotionArtist End User License Agreement (EULA) and
Agreement: see “MotionArtist Mac App Store End User
Limited Warranty” on page 8.
License Agreement (EULA) and Limited Warranty” on
If you do not agree with the terms of the page 20.
EULA, please return your entire MotionArtist
Returns of MotionArtist Mac App Store version
package including the unopened DVD holder to
should go through Apple support.
Smith Micro Software or your place of purchase.
Once you have read and accepted the EULA, you
may proceed with installing MotionArtist on your
system. MotionArtist End User License
Agreement (EULA) and Limited
Warranty
PLEASE READ THIS END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT (“EULA”)
CAREFULLY BEFORE INSTALLING AND USING THE SOFTWARE.
BY CLICKING THE “AGREE” BUTTON WHEN INSTALLING THE
SOFTWARE, YOU ARE AGREEING TO BE BOUND BY THE
Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist
9 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

TERMS OF THIS EULA. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS 2. Definition

OF THIS EULA, CLICK ON THE “DISAGREE” BUTTON. IF YOU
DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS EULA, YOU MAY NOT “Content” means animations, characters, clothing, faces,
USE OR ACCESS THE SOFTWARE. USING OR ACCESSING hair, geometries, images, documentation, materials,
ANY PART OF THE SOFTWARE INDICATES THAT YOU AGREE meshes, morphs, motion files, props, scripts, textures, bump
TO THE TERMS OF THIS EULA. maps, transparencies, and similar files and data created or
modified with the intent of being used within the Software
This EULA is between you (both the individual installing
and/or third party applications. Content collectively refers
the Software and any single legal entity on behalf of
to Restricted Content, Unrestricted Content and Other
which such individual is acting) (“you” or “your”) and
Content.
Smith Micro Software, Inc. and/or its affiliates (collectively
or individually, “SMSI”).YOU MUST ACCEPT AND ABIDE “Documentation” means all written material in any form
BY THESE TERMS AS PRESENTED TO YOU, AND CHANGES, for installation and use of the Software provided by or
ADDITIONS, OR DELETIONS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE. made available by SMSI, or its authorized representatives
SMSI MAY REFUSE ACCESS TO THE SOFTWARE FOR or agents.
NONCOMPLIANCE WITH ANY PART OF THIS EULA.
“Legitimate Uses” means (a) creating tutorials, books, or
other educational materials using images of the Software
1. General interface or Content for sale, distribution, public display, or
public performance, provided such materials are intended
You agree to use the Software, Documentation and to educate users as to use of the Software; (b) creating
Content only for lawful purposes. Any use of the Software, original Content for sale, distribution, public display, or
Documentation or Content other than as granted in public performance; (c) creating materials for use with
this EULA must be by SMSI’s prior written consent. SMSI either Restricted Content or Other Content; or (d) creating
maintains an ongoing EULA enforcement program. characters or props based on Restricted Content in
Violation of any provision of this EULA automatically proprietary file formats (meaning, MOHO, ANME and any
terminates this EULA. SMSI reserves all other rights that it subsequent/compressed formats), where the original (or
may have for violation of this EULA. modified) art, texture or other Restricted Content files are
not distributed with such characters or props.
Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist
10 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

“Other Content” means Content that is not Restricted Content. This version of the Software contains no
Content or Unrestricted Content. Other Content may be Unrestricted Content.
subject to license terms imposed by the Other Content’s
original creator.
3. Software License
“Restricted Content” means all Content included with
or part of the Software that is not Unrestricted content, A) Subject to the terms and conditions of this EULA and
including without limitation mesh objects (geometry) in any your payment of the license fee, as applicable, SMSI grants
format, files in proprietary file formats (meaning, MOHO, you a limited, personal, nontransferable and non-exclusive
ANME, and any subsequent/compressed formats), images, license (without right to sublicense): (i) to use a single
materials, texture, transparency maps, Documentation, copy of the Software (except as expressly permitted in the
vector-based content, and SMSI’s proprietary data. Except Documentation) solely for your own internal use on a single
as otherwise expressly permitted by this EULA, Restricted computer (as set forth in Subsection E below of this Section
Content extracted or exported from the Software remains 3) either loaded in the temporary memory (i.e., RAM) of
Restricted Content. Except as authorized in this EULA, a computer, or installed on the permanent memory of
Restricted Content may only be used exclusively on one a computer (e.g., hard disk and compact disk) or, on a
(1) computer. temporary basis, on a backup system if such equipment
is inoperative, consistent with the limitations specified or
“Software” means the SMSI computer software and
referenced in this EULA and the Documentation; (ii) to use
associated files (e.g., Content) delivered via the
the Documentation provided with the Software in support
accompanying physical media or electronic media.
of your authorized use of the Software; and (iii) to copy the
“Software” means to also include any upgrades, updates,
Software to make one (1) archival copy of the Software
bug fixes or modified versions or backup copies of the
for your personal archival or backup purposes, and to
Software supplied to you by SMSI or an SMSI authorized
make sufficient number of copies for Legitimate Uses or the
representative or agent (whether or not for a fee).
intended use described in the Documentation, provided
“Unrestricted Content” means Content included with that all titles and trademark, copyright and restricted rights
or part of the Software that is specifically identified in notices are reproduced on all such copies. Any other uses
the Documentation or listed in this EULA as Unrestricted of the Software, including without limitation the Software

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

11 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

interface, other than those granted in this EULA must be works thereof) and the Documentation (and any
expressly pre-approved by SMSI in writing. derivative works thereof) other than those rights expressly
granted under this EULA. Without limiting the generality of
B) The Software is protected by copyright and other
the foregoing, SMSI, Lost Marble, Inc. and/or its licensor(s)
intellectual property laws and international treaties. As
retain all title, ownership, interest and rights in and to the
an express condition of this EULA, you must reproduce
patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret and any other
on the backup copy the SMSI copyright notice in the
intellectual property rights in the copy of the Software
following format: “(C) 2012-2013 Smith Micro Software,
contained on your archival media, and all of the terms
Inc.” This express condition extends to any further updates,
of this EULA apply to such archival copy as if it were the
software patches, or bug fixes made available to you by
original SMSI-produced copy of the Software that was
SMSI, whether distributed on floppy disk, compact disk,
furnished to you when you paid the licensing fee.
or in an electronic format via download, BBS, forum, FTP,
e-mail, etc. The terms of this EULA will govern any upgrades D) Portions of the Software include third party software
and updates of the Software, unless accompanied by a and other copyrighted material (collectively, “TPS”).
separate license agreement, in which case, the terms of Acknowledgements, licensing terms, restrictions and
that separate license agreement will govern accordingly. disclaimers of such TPS are contained in the “About Box” of
the Software and your use of such TPS is governed by such
C) The Software (not including the media on which the
respective terms. Any terms of this EULA that differs from
Software may be provided) is licensed to you, not sold.
the terms of any TPS are offered by SMSI alone, and not by
You expressly acknowledge that SMSI and/or its licensor(s)
any other licensor.
have a valuable proprietary interest in both the Software
and the Documentation. All title, ownership, interest and E) Except as otherwise expressly permitted in the
rights in and to the patent, copyright, trademark, trade Documentation, you will only use the Software on a single
secret and any other intellectual property rights in the computer, meaning that you must treat the Software “like
Software (and any derivative works thereof) and the a book.” “Like a book” means that the Software may be
Documentation (and any derivative works thereof) not used by any number of people and may be freely moved
expressly granted to you by this EULA remain with SMSI from one computer to another so long as no possibility
and/or its licensor(s). You do not acquire any other rights, exists of the Software being used at more than one
express or implied, in the Software (and any derivative computer simultaneously. More than one person at a time
Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist
12 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

cannot read the same copy of a book, and this restriction prior written consent of SMSI or except to the extent
applies to the Software. expressly permitted by applicable law. If the Software is
an upgrade to a previous version of the Software, you
must possess and maintain a valid license to such previous
4. Restrictions version in order to use the upgrade.
A) You will not, and will not permit any third party to, B) You, your employees, and/or authorized agents must
use, copy, modify, derive, or transfer the Software or protect the Software’s confidentiality and act to enforce
Documentation, or any copy, modification, derivation, your obligations under this EULA. You cannot distribute or
or merged portion thereof, in whole or in part via any otherwise make the Software or Documentation available
means or for any purpose whatsoever except as expressly to any third party via any means whatsoever, public
permitted in this EULA or the Documentation. You will or private, for any purpose, commercial or not, unless
not, and will not permit any third party to, modify, adapt, explicitly allowed by this EULA.
translate, rent, lease, loan, resell for profit, or create
C) You assume full responsibility for your selection of the
derivative works based upon the Software or any part
Software to achieve your intended results and for the
thereof. The Software contains trade secrets in its human
installation, use, and results you obtain from the Software.
readable form and, to protect them, you will not, and
SMSI has no obligation to provide support, maintenance,
will not permit any third party to, reverse engineer,
upgrades, modifications or new releases under this EULA.
decompile, disassemble, or otherwise reduce the Software
to any human readable form without the express prior D) You may not use the Software on any supported device
written consent of SMSI or except to the extent expressly that you do not own or control, and you may not distribute
permitted by applicable law. You will not relicense, or make the Software available over a network where it
sublicense, rent, lease, or lend the Software for third-party could be used by multiple devices at the same time.
training, commercial time-sharing or service bureau use.
You will not, and will not permit any third party to, debug,
5. Content License
bypass, circumvent or defeat any security features of, or
interfere with the normal functionality and operation of the A) Subject to the terms and conditions of this EULA and
Software for any reason whatsoever without the express your payment of the applicable license fee, SMSI grants
Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist
13 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

you a limited, personal, nontransferable and non-exclusive by the Other Content’s original creator(s). SMSI makes no
license (without the right to sublicense): representations as to the quality, suitability, functionality,
or legality of the Other Content and you hereby waive
1) To reproduce, prepare derivative works based upon,
any claim you might have against SMSI with respect to the
distribute, publicly display and publicly perform the
Other Content.
Unrestricted Content for any lawful purpose other than to
create a product which is intended to compete with the D) You will not, and will not permit any third party to, use,
Software or to create new content which is intended to copy, modify, derive, sell, distribute, transfer or sublicense
compete with the Restricted Content. the Restricted Content, the Unrestricted Content, or the
Other Content or any copy, modification, derivation, or
2) To prepare derivative works based upon the Restricted
portion thereof, in whole or in part via any means or for
Content solely for Legitimate Uses and lawful uses.
any purpose whatsoever, except as expressly permitted in
3) To reproduce, prepare derivative works based upon, this EULA or the Documentation.
distribute, publicly display, and publicly perform content
E) You expressly acknowledge that SMSI and/or its
you create using Restricted Content, provided that such
licensor(s) have a valuable proprietary interest in the
use of Restricted Content shall be solely for Legitimate Uses
Restricted Content and the Unrestricted Content. All
and lawful uses.
title, ownership, interest and rights in and to the patent,
B) Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing shall limit SMSI’s copyright, trademark, trade secret and any other
right to independently create, develop, own, market, intellectual property rights in the Restricted Content (and
distribute, license, sublicense, import, export, sell, or any derivative works thereof) and the Unrestricted Content
otherwise exploit any content or materials similar to any (and any derivative works thereof) not expressly granted
derivative works based upon the Content. to you by this EULA remain with SMSI and its licensor(s).
C) Other Content included with the Software and You do not acquire any other rights, express or implied, in
Documentation is subject to third-party rights and the Restricted Content (and any derivative works thereof)
is copyrighted and owned by the Other Content’s and the Unrestricted Content (and any derivative works
original creator(s). You may use the Other Content in thereof) other than those rights expressly granted under
accordance with all applicable license terms imposed this EULA.

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F) Except as otherwise expressly permitted in the will need to provide your name, valid e-mail address and
Documentation or unless otherwise provided for herein, applicable valid serial number for activating the Software.
you will only use the Content on a single computer,
B) As part of the activation process you will have the
meaning that you must treat the Content “like a book.”
option to “opt-in” to receive product announcements
SMSI is pleased to offer site licenses (“Site License”) for
and offers from SMSI. In addition, as part of the activation
multiple simultaneous users. Please contact SMSI at the
process, you will have the option to “opt-in” to participate
address below for details. If you purchased a Site License,
in SMSI’s efforts to improve the usability, experience,
you may distribute the Restricted Content between all
functionality and performance of its products and services.
computers containing valid copies of the Software, other
Your participation to allow SMSI to collect such usage
SMSI products, and/or other software able to process
statistics is voluntary. And, you may “opt out” at any time.
Restricted Content.
If you choose to participate, SMSI may collect and use
certain information related to the Software and your use
6. Collection and Use of Your of the Software that include information about: (i) your
computer, such as Operation System, screen resolution,
Information
RAM capacity, CPU frequency, number of monitors; (ii)
A) Activation of the Software is REQUIRED in order to use data about the Software, such as abnormal terminations,
the Software. You must have a valid serial number in order number of runs, program version; and (iii) information
to complete the activation process of the Software. Upon about separate feature usage, such as menu options or
your first installation of the Software, you will be prompted buttons selected. The information described in (i) – (iii)
to activate the Software, and the Software will attempt to above will be combined and utilized in an anonymous
automatically connect to the Internet. Please be sure you manner to help SMSI’s efforts as noted above. If you
have an Internet connection when initially installing the are not comfortable sharing the foregoing described
Software in order to activate the Software. The Software information, please choose not to participate.
includes instructions regarding activation if you are not C) SMSI is very concerned with the privacy and security
connected to (or unable to connect to) the Internet of the information end users provide as part of the
when attempting to complete the activation process of registration, activation and opt-in processes described
the Software. To complete the activation process, you above. Any information collected described above is
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15 MotionArtist
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done and utilized in accordance with SMSI’s Privacy in no way limits SMSI’s right to continue enforcing all rights
Policy. Your election to use the Software indicates your provided by law and does not entitle you to a refund of
acceptance of the terms of the SMSI Privacy Policy, your license fees, except as provided herein. All provisions
so please review the policy carefully and check our of this EULA that protect SMSI’s proprietary rights continue
website at the following URL to review updates: http:// in full force and effect after termination.
www.smithmicro.com/. Further, if you are located in the
European Economic Area (EEA), your use of the Software
constitutes consent by you to SMSI’s and/or its affiliates ‘to
8. Export Law Assurances
the transfer of such information to a location outside the
Export and re-export of this Software and Documentation
EEA.
is governed by the laws, restrictions and regulations of
the United States and applicable export and import laws,
7. Term; Termination restrictions and regulations of certain other countries
(collectively, “Export Laws”). You will comply with all such
A) This EULA remains in full force and effect until Export Laws. Export or re-export of this Software and/or
terminated. You may terminate this EULA at any time Documentation (including any direct product thereof)
by returning or destroying both the Software and to any entity on the Denied Parties List and other lists
Documentation, together with all copies, modifications, promulgated by various agencies of the United States
and merged portions of the Software and the Federal Government is strictly prohibited. In addition, if
Documentation in any form. SMSI is in no way obliged to the Software is identified as an export controlled item
issue refunds. SMSI may terminate this EULA at any time under the Export Laws, you represent and warrant that
upon your breach of any of the provisions hereof. you are not a citizen of, or located within, an embargoed
or otherwise restricted nation (e.g., Iran, Syria, Sudan,
B) Upon termination, you will immediately cease all use of
Cuba and North Korea) and that you are not otherwise
the Software, and you must return or destroy the Software,
prohibited under the Export Laws from receiving the
Documentation, and all copies, modifications, and
Software.
merged portions of the Software and the Documentation
in any form and certify in writing your compliance of this
paragraph to SMSI. Termination of this EULA for any reason
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16 MotionArtist
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9. Limited Warranty and Disclaimer C) YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE SOFTWARE MAY NOT
(I) SATISFY ALL YOUR REQUIREMENTS, (II) BE FREE FROM
A) SMSI warrants that any media on which the Software DEFECTS, OR (III) OPERATE WITHOUT INTERRUPTION OR
may be provided will be free from defects in materials ERRORS. IN ADDITION, DUE TO CONTINUAL DEVELOPMENT
and workmanship under normal use for a period of OF NEW TECHNIQUES FOR INTRUDING UPON AND
ninety (90) days from the date of original purchase. ATTACKING NETWORKS, SMSI DOES NOT WARRANT
Your exclusive remedy and SMSI’s entire liability under THAT THE SOFTWARE WILL BE FREE OF VULNERABILITY TO
this limited warranty will be for SMSI, at its option, to INTRUSION OR ATTACK.
replace the Software media or refund the purchase
D) THE FOREGOING LIMITED WARRANTY IS NEITHER A
price of such Software media. This limited warranty is
SERVICE NOR A SUPPORT CONTRACT. NO ORAL OR
offered solely by SMSI and does not apply to any third
WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY SMSI, ITS
party product, software, content or service offerings. THE
EMPLOYEES, DISTRIBUTORS, DEALERS, REPRESENTATIVES
ABOVE WARRANTIES ON MEDIA ARE EXCLUSIVE AND IN
OR AGENTS SHALL INCREASE THE SCOPE OF THE ABOVE
LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
WARRANTIES OR CREATE ANY NEW WARRANTIES. YOU MAY
AND SMSI EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL OTHER WARRANTIES,
HAVE ADDITIONAL WARRANTY RIGHTS UNDER LAW WHICH
INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY
MAY NOT BE WAIVED OR DISCLAIMED. SMSI DOES NOT
OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, FITNESS FOR
SEEK TO LIMIT YOUR WARRANTY RIGHTS TO ANY EXTENT NOT
A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT.
PERMITTED BY LAW. This Section 9 and Section 10, below,
B) TO THE EXTENT NOT PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW, shall survive any termination of this EULA, howsoever
THE SOFTWARE, RESTRICTED CONTENT, UNRESTRICTED caused, but this will not imply or create any continued
CONTENT, AND DOCUMENTATION ARE LICENSED TO YOU right to use the Software after termination of this EULA.
“AS IS” WITH ALL FAULTS, WITHOUT WARRANTY, CONDITION
OR REPRESENTATION, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, OF ANY KIND,
INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, MERCHANTABILITY,
10. Disclaimer of Liabilities
PERFORMANCE, SECURITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, NON- A) EXCEPT FOR THE EXCLUSIVE REMEDY OFFERED BY SMSI
INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS, OR FITNESS FOR A ABOVE AND REMEDIES THAT CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. LIMITED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL SMSI
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17 MotionArtist
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OR ITS DEVELOPERS, SUPPLIERS, LICENSORS, DIRECTORS, incidental damages, the above limitations may not apply
OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, OR SUBSIDIARIES OR AFFILIATES BE to you.
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL OR
INDIRECT DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF
BUSINESS PROFIT, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF DATA
11. Indemnification
AND/OR BUSINESS INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE), WHETHER
You will indemnify and hold harmless, and at SMSI’s request
FORESEEABLE OR UNFORESEEABLE, ARISING OUT OF THE USE
defend, SMSI and its affiliates, successors and assigns
OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE OR DOCUMENTATION,
from and against any and all claims, losses, liabilities,
REGARDLESS OF THE BASIS OF THE CLAIM, EVEN IF SMSI
damages, settlements, expenses and costs (including,
HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES
without limitation, attorneys’ fees and court costs) which
OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY OTHER PARTY. IN NO EVENT
arise out of or relate to any third party claim or threat
WILL SMSI’S AGGREGATE LIABILITY (OR THAT OF ITS
thereof that your use of the Software, Documentation or
DEVELOPERS, SUPPLIERS, LICENSORS, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS,
Content is unlawful or not otherwise permitted by this EULA.
EMPLOYEES, OR SUBSIDIARIES OR AFFILIATES), UNDER OR
SMSI reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the
IN CONNECTION WITH THIS EULA, EXCEED THE AMOUNT
exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise
PAID BY YOU FOR THE SOFTWARE, IF ANY. THIS LIMITATION
subject to indemnification hereunder.
WILL APPLY EVEN IN THE EVENT OF A FUNDAMENTAL OR
MATERIAL BREACH OR A BREACH OF THE FUNDAMENTAL
OR MATERIAL TERMS OF THIS EULA. 12. U.S. Government Restricted Rights
B) The above limitations will apply even if any warranty The Software and Documentation are provided with
or remedy provided under this EULA fails of its essential RESTRICTED RIGHTS. The use, duplication, or disclosure by
purpose. The above limitations will not apply in case of the United States Government is subject to restrictions as
personal injury (including death) only where and to the set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical
extent that applicable law requires such liability. Because Data and Computer Software Clause at DFARS 252.227-
some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation 7013 or subparagraph (c)(1) and (2) of the Commercial
of implied warranties or liabilities for consequential or Computer Software Restricted Rights at 48 CFR 52.227-19,

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18 MotionArtist
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as applicable. The Manufacturer is Smith Micro Software, agreements or representations, written or oral, concerning
Inc., 51 Columbia, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 USA. the subject matter of this EULA.

13. Applicable Law 14. Other Services and Materials

This EULA shall be governed by the laws of the State of This Software may enable access to SMSI and third party
California, without giving effect to any choice of law services and websites (individually and collectively referred
principles. This EULA will not be governed by the United to as “Services”). This EULA does not apply to any Services.
Nations Convention on Contracts for the International You acknowledge and agree that nothing in this EULA
Sales of Goods, the application of which is expressly guarantees availability or continued availability or uptime
excluded. Exclusive jurisdiction over and venue of any of any Services. Any terms, conditions, warranties, or
suit arising out of or relating to this EULA will be in the representations associated with any third party Services
state and federal courts of Orange County, California. are solely between you and such third party.
If for any reason a court of competent jurisdiction
You understand that by using any of the Services, You
finds any provision, or portion thereof, to be invalid or
may encounter content that may be deemed offensive,
unenforceable, the remainder of this EULA shall continue
indecent, or objectionable, which content may or may
in full force and effect. The waiver by either party of any
not be identified as having explicit language, and that
default or breach of this EULA will not constitute a waiver
the results of any search or entering of a particular URL
of any other or subsequent default or breach. You may
may automatically and unintentionally generate links or
not assign, sell, transfer, delegate or otherwise dispose of,
references to objectionable material. In addition, you
whether voluntarily or involuntarily, by operation of law or
agree not to use the Software to create content that may
otherwise, this EULA or any rights or obligations under this
be deemed offensive, indecent, or objectionable; hateful,
EULA without SMSI’s prior written consent. Any purported
threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains
assignment, transfer or delegation by you will be null and
nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence. Nevertheless, you
void. This EULA constitutes the entire agreement between
agree to use the Services at your sole risk and that the SMSI
the parties and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous
shall not have any liability to you for content that may be
found to be offensive, indecent, or objectionable; hateful
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19 MotionArtist
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threatening or pornographic; incites violence; or contains Viejo, CA 92656 USA (949) 362-5800 fax; Customer Service
nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence. (returns, warranty): http://my.smithmicro.com/support;
and Legal (EULA questions, illegal activity reporting):
You agree that the Services contain proprietary content,
[email protected].
information and material that is protected by applicable
intellectual property and other laws, including but not
limited to copyright, and that You will not use such 16. Copyright & Trademark Notice
proprietary content, information or materials in any way
whatsoever except for permitted use of the Services. No Smith Micro Software, MotionArtist and other SMSI
portion of the Services may be reproduced in any form designated logos, marks, names and trade names are
or by any means. You agree not to modify, rent, lease, trademarks of Smith Micro Software, Inc. All other product
loan, sell, distribute, or create derivative works based on names mentioned in the Software, Content or related
the Services, in any manner, and you shall not exploit the Documentation are used for identification purposes only
Services in any unauthorized way whatsoever, including and may be trademarks or registered trademarks of
but not limited to, by trespass or burdening network their respective companies. Registered and unregistered
capacity. You further agree not to use the Services in trademarks used herein are the exclusive property of their
any manner to harass, abuse, stalk, threaten, defame or respective owners. For purposes of Japan law regarding
otherwise infringe or violate the rights of any other party, unregistered trademarks (e.g., a pending trademark
and that SMSI is not in any way responsible for any such application), the right in and to a trademark in Japan may
use by you, nor for any harassing, threatening, defamatory, not be exclusive until it is validly registered. You may not
offensive or illegal messages or transmissions that you may remove, modify, alter, cover or deface any trademark,
receive as a result of using any of the Services. trade names, product/service names, logo, copyright or
other proprietary notices, legends, symbols or labels in the
Software and all related Content, Documentation and
15. Contact Information materials (in any form). This EULA does not authorize you to
use SMSI’s or its licensors’ names or respective trademarks
If you have questions concerning this EULA or need to
(e.g., logos, name, etc.). Further, any reference to any
contact Customer Service, please contact SMSI at this
third party commercial products, processes or services
address: Smith Micro Software, Inc., 51 Columbia, Aliso
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20 MotionArtist
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by trade name, trademark, logo, and company and/ ANY PART OF THE SOFTWARE INDICATES THAT YOU AGREE
or product/service names mentioned or displayed TO THE TERMS OF THIS EULA.
in the Software (and in any of its related Content,
This EULA is between you (both the individual installing
Documentation and materials in any form) does not
the Software and any single legal entity on behalf of
constitute or imply SMSI’s endorsement, recommendation
which such individual is acting) (“you” or “your”) and
or favoring by SMSI or any of its suppliers/licensors This
Smith Micro Software, Inc. and/or its affiliates (collectively
EULA does not authorize you to use SMSI’s or its licensors’
or individually, “SMSI”).YOU MUST ACCEPT AND ABIDE
names or respective trademarks. All rights not expressly
BY THESE TERMS AS PRESENTED TO YOU, AND CHANGES,
granted in this EULA are reserved by SMSI and its licensors,
ADDITIONS, OR DELETIONS ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE.
respectively.
SMSI MAY REFUSE ACCESS TO THE SOFTWARE FOR
Version: 20150116 MotionArtist (Ming) NONCOMPLIANCE WITH ANY PART OF THIS EULA.

MotionArtist Mac App Store End 1. General

User License Agreement (EULA) You agree to use the Software, Documentation and
and Limited Warranty Content only for lawful purposes. Any use of the Software,
Documentation or Content other than as granted in
PLEASE READ THIS END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT (“EULA”) this EULA must be by SMSI’s prior written consent. SMSI
CAREFULLY BEFORE INSTALLING AND USING THE SOFTWARE. maintains an ongoing EULA enforcement program.
BY CLICKING THE “AGREE” BUTTON WHEN INSTALLING THE Violation of any provision of this EULA automatically
SOFTWARE, YOU ARE AGREEING TO BE BOUND BY THE terminates this EULA. SMSI reserves all other rights that it
TERMS OF THIS EULA. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS may have for violation of this EULA.
OF THIS EULA, CLICK ON THE “DISAGREE” BUTTON. IF YOU
DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS OF THIS EULA, YOU MAY NOT
USE OR ACCESS THE SOFTWARE. USING OR ACCESSING

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2. Definition “Other Content” means Content that is not Restricted

Content or Unrestricted Content. Other Content may be
“Content” means animations, characters, clothing, faces, subject to license terms imposed by the Other Content’s
hair, geometries, images, documentation, materials, original creator.
meshes, morphs, motion files, props, scripts, textures, bump
“Restricted Content” means all Content included with
maps, transparencies, and similar files and data created or
or part of the Software that is not Unrestricted content,
modified with the intent of being used within the Software
including without limitation mesh objects (geometry) in any
and/or third party applications. Content collectively refers
format, files in proprietary file formats (meaning, MOHO,
to Restricted Content, Unrestricted Content and Other
ANME, and any subsequent/compressed formats), images,
Content.
materials, texture, transparency maps, Documentation,
“Documentation” means all written material in any form vector-based content, and SMSI’s proprietary data. Except
for installation and use of the Software provided by or as otherwise expressly permitted by this EULA, Restricted
made available by SMSI, or its authorized representatives Content extracted or exported from the Software remains
or agents. Restricted Content. Except as authorized in this EULA,
Restricted Content may only be used exclusively on one
“Legitimate Uses” means (a) creating tutorials, books, or
(1) computer.
other educational materials using images of the Software
interface or Content for sale, distribution, public display, or “Software” means the SMSI computer software and
public performance, provided such materials are intended associated files (e.g., Content) delivered via the
to educate users as to use of the Software; (b) creating accompanying physical media or electronic media.
original Content for sale, distribution, public display, or “Software” means to also include any upgrades, updates,
public performance; (c) creating materials for use with bug fixes or modified versions or backup copies of the
either Restricted Content or Other Content; or (d) creating Software supplied to you by SMSI or an SMSI authorized
characters or props based on Restricted Content in representative or agent (whether or not for a fee).
proprietary file formats (meaning, MOHO, ANME and any
“Unrestricted Content” means Content included with
subsequent/compressed formats), where the original (or
or part of the Software that is specifically identified in
modified) art, texture or other Restricted Content files are
the Documentation or listed in this EULA as Unrestricted
not distributed with such characters or props.
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Content. This version of the Software contains no interface, other than those granted in this EULA must be
Unrestricted Content. expressly pre-approved by SMSI in writing.
B) The Software is protected by copyright and other
3. Software License intellectual property laws and international treaties. As
an express condition of this EULA, you must reproduce
A) Subject to the terms and conditions of this EULA and on the backup copy the SMSI copyright notice in the
your payment of the license fee, as applicable, SMSI grants following format: “(C) 2012-2013 Smith Micro Software,
you a limited, personal, nontransferable and non-exclusive Inc.” This express condition extends to any further updates,
license (without right to sublicense): (i) to use a single software patches, or bug fixes made available to you by
copy of the Software (except as expressly permitted in the SMSI, whether distributed on floppy disk, compact disk,
Documentation) solely for your own internal use on a single or in an electronic format via download, BBS, forum, FTP,
computer (as set forth in Subsection E below of this Section e-mail, etc. The terms of this EULA will govern any upgrades
3) either loaded in the temporary memory (i.e., RAM) of and updates of the Software, unless accompanied by a
a computer, or installed on the permanent memory of separate license agreement, in which case, the terms of
a computer (e.g., hard disk and compact disk) or, on a that separate license agreement will govern accordingly.
temporary basis, on a backup system if such equipment
C) The Software (not including the media on which the
is inoperative, consistent with the limitations specified or
Software may be provided) is licensed to you, not sold.
referenced in this EULA and the Documentation; (ii) to use
You expressly acknowledge that SMSI and/or its licensor(s)
the Documentation provided with the Software in support
have a valuable proprietary interest in both the Software
of your authorized use of the Software; and (iii) to copy the
and the Documentation. All title, ownership, interest and
Software to make one (1) archival copy of the Software
rights in and to the patent, copyright, trademark, trade
for your personal archival or backup purposes, and to
secret and any other intellectual property rights in the
make sufficient number of copies for Legitimate Uses or the
Software (and any derivative works thereof) and the
intended use described in the Documentation, provided
Documentation (and any derivative works thereof) not
that all titles and trademark, copyright and restricted rights
expressly granted to you by this EULA remain with SMSI
notices are reproduced on all such copies. Any other uses
and/or its licensor(s). You do not acquire any other rights,
of the Software, including without limitation the Software
express or implied, in the Software (and any derivative
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23 MotionArtist
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works thereof) and the Documentation (and any cannot read the same copy of a book, and this restriction
derivative works thereof) other than those rights expressly applies to the Software.
granted under this EULA. Without limiting the generality of
the foregoing, SMSI, Lost Marble, Inc. and/or its licensor(s)
retain all title, ownership, interest and rights in and to the
4. Restrictions
patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret and any other
A) You will not, and will not permit any third party to,
intellectual property rights in the copy of the Software
use, copy, modify, derive, or transfer the Software or
contained on your archival media, and all of the terms
Documentation, or any copy, modification, derivation,
of this EULA apply to such archival copy as if it were the
or merged portion thereof, in whole or in part via any
original SMSI-produced copy of the Software that was
means or for any purpose whatsoever except as expressly
furnished to you when you paid the licensing fee.
permitted in this EULA or the Documentation. You will
D) Portions of the Software include third party software not, and will not permit any third party to, modify, adapt,
and other copyrighted material (collectively, “TPS”). translate, rent, lease, loan, resell for profit, or create
Acknowledgements, licensing terms, restrictions and derivative works based upon the Software or any part
disclaimers of such TPS are contained in the “About Box” of thereof. The Software contains trade secrets in its human
the Software and your use of such TPS is governed by such readable form and, to protect them, you will not, and
respective terms. Any terms of this EULA that differs from will not permit any third party to, reverse engineer,
the terms of any TPS are offered by SMSI alone, and not by decompile, disassemble, or otherwise reduce the Software
any other licensor. to any human readable form without the express prior
written consent of SMSI or except to the extent expressly
E) Except as otherwise expressly permitted in the
permitted by applicable law. You will not relicense,
Documentation, you will only use the Software on a single
sublicense, rent, lease, or lend the Software for third-party
computer, meaning that you must treat the Software “like
training, commercial time-sharing or service bureau use.
a book.” “Like a book” means that the Software may be
You will not, and will not permit any third party to, debug,
used by any number of people and may be freely moved
bypass, circumvent or defeat any security features of, or
from one computer to another so long as no possibility
interfere with the normal functionality and operation of the
exists of the Software being used at more than one
Software for any reason whatsoever without the express
computer simultaneously. More than one person at a time
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24 MotionArtist
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prior written consent of SMSI or except to the extent you a limited, personal, nontransferable and non-exclusive
expressly permitted by applicable law. If the Software is license (without the right to sublicense):
an upgrade to a previous version of the Software, you
1) To reproduce, prepare derivative works based upon,
must possess and maintain a valid license to such previous
distribute, publicly display and publicly perform the
version in order to use the upgrade.
Unrestricted Content for any lawful purpose other than to
B) You, your employees, and/or authorized agents must create a product which is intended to compete with the
protect the Software’s confidentiality and act to enforce Software or to create new content which is intended to
your obligations under this EULA. You cannot distribute or compete with the Restricted Content.
otherwise make the Software or Documentation available
2) To prepare derivative works based upon the Restricted
to any third party via any means whatsoever, public
Content solely for Legitimate Uses and lawful uses.
or private, for any purpose, commercial or not, unless
explicitly allowed by this EULA. 3) To reproduce, prepare derivative works based upon,
distribute, publicly display, and publicly perform content
C) You assume full responsibility for your selection of the
you create using Restricted Content, provided that such
Software to achieve your intended results and for the
use of Restricted Content shall be solely for Legitimate Uses
installation, use, and results you obtain from the Software.
and lawful uses.
SMSI has no obligation to provide support, maintenance,
upgrades, modifications or new releases under this EULA. B) Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing shall limit SMSI’s
right to independently create, develop, own, market,
D) You may not use the Software on any supported device
distribute, license, sublicense, import, export, sell, or
that you do not own or control, and you may not distribute
otherwise exploit any content or materials similar to any
or make the Software available over a network where it
derivative works based upon the Content.
could be used by multiple devices at the same time.
C) Other Content included with the Software and
Documentation is subject to third-party rights and
5. Content License is copyrighted and owned by the Other Content’s
original creator(s). You may use the Other Content in
A) Subject to the terms and conditions of this EULA and
accordance with all applicable license terms imposed
your payment of the applicable license fee, SMSI grants
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25 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

by the Other Content’s original creator(s). SMSI makes no F) Except as otherwise expressly permitted in the
representations as to the quality, suitability, functionality, Documentation or unless otherwise provided for herein,
or legality of the Other Content and you hereby waive you will only use the Content on a single computer,
any claim you might have against SMSI with respect to the meaning that you must treat the Content “like a book.”
Other Content. SMSI is pleased to offer site licenses (“Site License”) for
multiple simultaneous users. Please contact SMSI at the
D) You will not, and will not permit any third party to, use,
address below for details. If you purchased a Site License,
copy, modify, derive, sell, distribute, transfer or sublicense
you may distribute the Restricted Content between all
the Restricted Content, the Unrestricted Content, or the
computers containing valid copies of the Software, other
Other Content or any copy, modification, derivation, or
SMSI products, and/or other software able to process
portion thereof, in whole or in part via any means or for
Restricted Content.
any purpose whatsoever, except as expressly permitted in
this EULA or the Documentation.
E) You expressly acknowledge that SMSI and/or its 6. Collection and Use of Your
licensor(s) have a valuable proprietary interest in the Information
Restricted Content and the Unrestricted Content. All
title, ownership, interest and rights in and to the patent, A) Upon launching the Software, you will have the option
copyright, trademark, trade secret and any other to register the Software with SMSI. If you choose to register
intellectual property rights in the Restricted Content (and the Software with SMSI, you agree that SMSI and/or its
any derivative works thereof) and the Unrestricted Content affiliates may collect and process such information about
(and any derivative works thereof) not expressly granted you and the Software in order to enable SMSI to: (i) notify
to you by this EULA remain with SMSI and its licensor(s). you of updates, bug fixes and/or modified versions of
You do not acquire any other rights, express or implied, in the Software; (ii) provide support and assistance of the
the Restricted Content (and any derivative works thereof) Software; (iii) notify you of new version offerings of the
and the Unrestricted Content (and any derivative works Software; and (iv) comply with all applicable laws and/or
thereof) other than those rights expressly granted under regulations, or the requirements of any regulatory authority
this EULA. or government agency.

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B) Your use of the Software constitutes consent by you in no way limits SMSI’s right to continue enforcing all rights
to SMSI’s and/or its affiliates’ collection and use of such provided by law and does not entitle you to a refund of
information and, if you are located in European Economic your license fees, except as provided herein. All provisions
Area (EEA), to the transfer of such information to a location of this EULA that protect SMSI’s proprietary rights continue
outside the EEA. Any information collected is done and in full force and effect after termination.
utilized in accordance with SMSI’s Privacy Policy. Your
election to use the Software indicates your acceptance of
the terms of the SMSI Privacy Policy, so please review the
8. Export Law Assurances
policy carefully and check our website at the following URL
Export and re-export of this Software and Documentation
to review updates: http://www.smithmicro.com/.
is governed by the laws, restrictions and regulations of
the United States and applicable export and import laws,
7. Term; Termination restrictions and regulations of certain other countries
(collectively, “Export Laws”). You will comply with all such
A) This EULA remains in full force and effect until Export Laws. Export or re-export of this Software and/or
terminated. You may terminate this EULA at any time Documentation (including any direct product thereof)
by returning or destroying both the Software and to any entity on the Denied Parties List and other lists
Documentation, together with all copies, modifications, promulgated by various agencies of the United States
and merged portions of the Software and the Federal Government is strictly prohibited. In addition, if
Documentation in any form. SMSI is in no way obliged to the Software is identified as an export controlled item
issue refunds. SMSI may terminate this EULA at any time under the Export Laws, you represent and warrant that
upon your breach of any of the provisions hereof. you are not a citizen of, or located within, an embargoed
or otherwise restricted nation (e.g., Iran, Syria, Sudan,
B) Upon termination, you will immediately cease all use of
Cuba and North Korea) and that you are not otherwise
the Software, and you must return or destroy the Software,
prohibited under the Export Laws from receiving the
Documentation, and all copies, modifications, and
Software.
merged portions of the Software and the Documentation
in any form and certify in writing your compliance of this
paragraph to SMSI. Termination of this EULA for any reason
Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist
27 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

29 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

as applicable. The Manufacturer is Smith Micro Software, agreements or representations, written or oral, concerning
Inc., 51 Columbia, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 USA. the subject matter of this EULA.

13. Applicable Law 14. Other Services and Materials

This EULA shall be governed by the laws of the State of This Software may enable access to SMSI and third party
California, without giving effect to any choice of law services and websites (individually and collectively referred
principles. This EULA will not be governed by the United to as ‘Services’). This EULA does not apply to any Services.
Nations Convention on Contracts for the International You acknowledge and agree that nothing in this EULA
Sales of Goods, the application of which is expressly guarantees availability or continued availability or uptime
excluded. Exclusive jurisdiction over and venue of any of any Services. Any terms, conditions, warranties, or
suit arising out of or relating to this EULA will be in the representations associated with any third party Services
state and federal courts of Orange County, California. are solely between you and such third party.
If for any reason a court of competent jurisdiction
You understand that by using any of the Services, You
finds any provision, or portion thereof, to be invalid or
may encounter content that may be deemed offensive,
unenforceable, the remainder of this EULA shall continue
indecent, or objectionable, which content may or may
in full force and effect. The waiver by either party of any
not be identified as having explicit language, and that
default or breach of this EULA will not constitute a waiver
the results of any search or entering of a particular URL
of any other or subsequent default or breach. You may
may automatically and unintentionally generate links or
not assign, sell, transfer, delegate or otherwise dispose of,
references to objectionable material. In addition, you
whether voluntarily or involuntarily, by operation of law or
agree not to use the Software to create content that may
otherwise, this EULA or any rights or obligations under this
be deemed offensive, indecent, or objectionable; hateful,
EULA without SMSI’s prior written consent. Any purported
threatening, or pornographic; incites violence; or contains
assignment, transfer or delegation by you will be null and
nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence. Nevertheless, you
void. This EULA constitutes the entire agreement between
agree to use the Services at your sole risk and that the SMSI
the parties and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous
shall not have any liability to you for content that may be
found to be offensive, indecent, or objectionable; hateful
Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist
30 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

by trade name, trademark, logo, and company and/ 2. If a previous installation of MotionArtist exists on
or product/service names mentioned or displayed your system, you will be asked to uninstall it before
in the Software (and in any of its related Content, continuing (recommended).
Documentation and materials in any form) does not
constitute or imply SMSI’s endorsement, recommendation 3. The Welcome screen appears. Click Next to continue.
or favoring by SMSI or any of its suppliers/licensors This
4. The License Agreement screen prompts you to accept
EULA does not authorize you to use SMSI’s or its licensors’
the License Agreement. Click I accept the agreement,
names or respective trademarks. All rights not expressly
and then Next to continue the installation.
granted in this EULA are reserved by SMSI and its licensors,
respectively. 5. The Select Destination Location screen prompts you
Version: 20150122 MotionArtist (Ming) to choose an installation folder. If you want to use a
different location other than the default installation
location, click the Browse button to locate the folder
Installing MotionArtist you want to use. Then click Next to continue.

Installing MotionArtist is a straightforward process. Before

If you are installing MotionArtist on a 64-bit
you begin, be sure to save any work in progress. Having
computer, you can optionally install the 32-
this “clean” environment will help the installation process
bit version of MotionArtist as well. The “Install 32-bit
proceed smoothly and will prevent any loss of data in the
files” option is checked by default. Uncheck the
highly unlikely event of a problem. To install MotionArtist,
option to install the 64-bit version only.
complete the following steps:

The File > Relaunch in 32-Bit Mode and File >

MotionArtist Installation (Windows) Relaunch in 64-bit Mode commands allow
you to switch between 32-bit and 64-bit versions of
1. Start the Installer.
MotionArtist.

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32 MotionArtist
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6. The Select Start Menu Folder prompts you to choose a 3. The ReadMe screen displays important information
location in your Start Menu where the shortcuts for the relating to the release. After you read the information,
application will appear. If you want to use a location click Continue.
other than the default, click the Browse button to
locate or create a folder. After you choose your folder, 4. The License screen displays the End User License
click Next to continue. Agreement (EULA). Press Continue after you read the
agreement. A new dialog prompts you to agree to
7. The Select Additional Tasks screen asks if you want to the license before you continue the installation. Click
install a desktop icon. Uncheck the option if you do Agree to continue the installation. If you click Disagree,
not want to install one. the program will not be installed.

8. The Ready to Install screen displays the choices you 5. The Installation Type screen appears, and displays the
made during the installation process. Use the Back amount of space that the MotionArtist application
button to go back and change settings if you need to will need on your hard drive. By default, MotionArtist
do so. To install to the locations specified, click Install. will be installed to your primary hard disk. Click the
Change Install Location button to select another
9. After files are installed, the final setup screen will ask installation folder. Then click Install to continue with the
if you want to view the Readme.txt file after you exit installation.
setup. Uncheck this option if you do not want to read
it. Then click Finish.
As with most Mac software installations, you
may be prompted to enter your Mac system
administrator password to install the software. After
MotionArtist Installation (Mac) entering the password, click Install Software.

1. Double-click on the MotionArtist_1.3.pkg or

MotionArtist_MAS_1.3.pkg Install icon. 6. If the installation is successful, the Summary screen
appears after the software has been installed. Click
2. The Welcome screen appears. Click Continue. Close to exit setup.

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33 MotionArtist
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MotionArtist Demo
The MotionArtist Demo dialog appears the first time you
start MotionArtist. The following four options appear:

Serial Number dialog.

Demo Screen.
• Continue Using Demo: Click this button to continue
using the MotionArtist trial version.
• Buy Now: Opens your web browser to the Smith Micro
store, where you can purchase a licensed copy of • Quit: Exits MotionArtist.
MotionArtist.

• Insert Serial Number: Opens a dialog that prompts you Activating Motion Artist
to enter your current MotionArtist serial number. If you
are upgrading from an older version of MotionArtist After installing MotionArtist, you will need to activate
you can enter your previous serial number. within a seven day grace period. If you do not activate
MotionArtist during the seven day grace period, it will not
start until activated. You will need to reactivate in order to
use the product.

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34 MotionArtist
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If you try to run MotionArtist after the seven

day grace period has expired without
activation, the application will not run. You will need
to enter your serial number again when prompted
to activate the application.

There are two modes of activation:

• If you have installed MotionArtist on a computer

that has an internet connection, see “Automatic
Activation” on page 34.

• If you have installed MotionArtist on a computer

without an internet connection, see “Manual
Activation” on page 35.

Automatic Activation.
Automatic Activation
If your computer has an Internet connection, MotionArtist If you do not want to activate the product at
can be activated as follows: this time, click Activate Later. The product will
continue to operate in trial mode until the trial
expires.

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35 MotionArtist
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While running during the trial period, the analytics information to Smith Micro option if you do
MotionArtist Demo dialog will appear when not want to send this information.
you start MotionArtist. To activate the product, click
the Insert Serial Number button to open the product 7. Click Activate to automatically activate the product
registration screen. while connected to the Internet.

1. To continue with activation, enter your first and last An alert appears if you have exceeded the
name in the Registration Name field. number of activations allowed for the serial
number.
2. Enter your email address in the Registration Email field.

3. By default, the option to receive product

announcements and offers from Smith Micro is
Manual Activation
checked. If you do not want to receive this information
1. Enter your Full Name, MotionArtist Serial Number,
by email, uncheck this option.
Previous Serial Number (if upgrading), and Email
address in the fields provided.
4. Enter the serial number for the MotionArtist version
that you are installing in the Enter Your Current Serial
2. Click OK to continue. If an Internet connection is not
Number field.
detected, a dialog will prompt you to activate later
or to activate manually. Click Activate Manually to
5. If you are upgrading from an earlier version of
proceed with manual activation.
MotionArtist, enter the previous serial number in the
field provided.

6. By default, analytics information and statistics about

your computer and product usage will be sent to
Smith Micro. Uncheck the I allow MotionArtist to send

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

36 MotionArtist
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Click Activate Manually if you do not have an Internet

connection.

3. The Manual Product Activation dialog appears. Click

the Create Activation Request button to generate a
text file named MotionArtist_ActivationRequest.txt. This
file contains the necessary activation information. Click Activate Manually if you do not have an Internet
connection.

4. Locate a folder and click Save to save the info.

It is recommended that you leave the

Manual Product Activation dialog open
while you generate the activation certificate on a
computer that has an Internet connection.

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37 MotionArtist
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Use the Copy Activation URL button to copy 10. Copy the activation certificate file onto the flash drive,
the activation URL to your clipboard. Then and then copy it back to the computer that doesn’t
create a new text file, and save it to your flash drive have an internet connection.
under a different filename (such as ActivationURL.
txt). You can use this text file to retrieve the URL on 11. In the Manual Activation screen, click the Select File
your other computer. button to select the activation certificate file.

12. After you return to the Manual Product Activation

5. Copy the MotionArtist_ActivationRequest.txt file onto
dialog, click Activate.
a flash drive, so you can transfer it to a computer that
does have an internet connection. Transfer the files
from the flash drive to the hard disk on a computer
with an internet connection.
Deactivating Motion Artist
Activated licenses of MotionArtist can be deactivated
6. Open your web browser and go to the www.
automatically (see “Automatic Deactivation” on page
producturlsupport.com/activation web page.
38), or manually (see “Manual Deactivation” on
7. From the Activation page, click the icon to activate page 38). Typical reasons for deactivation include the
MotionArtist. following:

8. From the MotionArtist page, click the Choose File • If you are planning on upgrading your operating
button to open the File Upload dialog. Locate the system, we recommend that you deactivate
Activation Request file on your computer’s hard drive MotionArtist before the upgrade.
and click Open to return to the Activation web page.
• If you have exceeded the number of activations per
9. A small icon appears next to the Choose File button license (three) you will need to deactivate one of
when the file is uploaded. Click the Submit button on the installations in order to install and activate it on
the Activation web page. An activation_certificate.txt another computer.
file will be downloaded to your computer.

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38 MotionArtist
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After you deactivate your license, MotionArtist will 1. Choose Help > Deactivate License. MotionArtist
then display a dialog that tells you that your license is reminds you that you will need to reactivate
deactivated and that your copy of MotionArtist will shut MotionArtist if you want to use it on the same
down. computer. If you are sure you want to deactivate,
click Deactivate to continue.

Automatic Deactivation 2. You are again asked to confirm your decision. Click OK
to continue.
If MotionArtist is installed on a computer that has an
Internet connection, proceed as follows: 3. MotionArtist displays a dialog if it detects that you
1. Choose Help > Deactivate License. are not connected to the Internet. Click Deactivate
Manually to continue.
2. A dialog informs you that you are about to deactivate
the license on your current computer.

Choose Cancel to return to MotionArtist without

deactivating:

Choose Deactivate to deactivate your license. A

dialog informs you that deactivation has occurred,
and that MotionArtist will shut down.
Deactivate Manually button.

Manual Deactivation 4. The Manual Product Deactivation dialog appears.

Click the Create Deactivation Request button
If MotionArtist is installed on a computer that does not
to generate a text file named MotionArtist_
have an internet connection, you will need to use the
DeactivationRequest.txt. This file contains the
manual deactivation, as follows:
necessary deactivation information.

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

39 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

It is recommended that you leave the

Manual Product Deactivation dialog open
while you complete the process on a computer that
has an Internet connection.

7. Copy the MotionArtist_DeactivationRequest.txt file onto

a flash drive, so you can transfer it to a computer that
does have an internet connection. Transfer the files
from the flash drive to the hard disk of a computer that
has an internet connection.

8. Open your web browser and go to the www.

producturlsupport.com/deactivation web page.

9. From the Deactivation page, click the icon to

Create Deactivation Request button. deactivate MotionArtist.

10. From the MotionArtist Deactivation page, click

5. Locate a folder and click Save to save the
the Choose File button to open the File Upload
deactivation request file.
dialog. Locate the Deactivation Request file on your
6. Use the Copy Deactivation URL button to copy the computer’s hard drive and click Open to return to the
deactivation URL to your clipboard. Then create a new Deactivation web page.
text file, and save it to your flash drive under a different
11. A small icon appears next to the Choose File button
filename (such as DeactivationURL.txt). You can use
when the file is uploaded. Click the Submit button
this text file to retrieve the URL on your other computer.
on the Deactivation web page. You will receive a
message when deactivation is successful.

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

40 MotionArtist
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12. Return to the Manual Product Deactivation dialog on • Never: Choose this option if you do not want to set up
the original computer and click Done. Deactivation is a folder, and no longer want to receive this prompt
complete when you start MotionArtist.

If you choose to never show the dialog that

Creating a Content Folder prompts you to create a content folder, you

can choose the Help > Set Custom Content Folder
When you start MotionArtist, you will be asked to create a command at any time to specify a content folder
folder to store your custom MotionArtist content. After the location.
content folder is created, a hierarchy of folders appears
beneath it. You can store user-created word balloons, • Not Now: Choose this option if you want to set up the
brushes, and other custom items that you can use in folder at a later time. You will be prompted with this
MotionArtist. dialog the next time you start MotionArtist.

• Create: Choose this option to browse to the folder that

you want to use for your MotionArtist content. After
you select/create the folder, choose OK.

Use the Help > Open Custom Content Folder

to navigate to your content folder at any
time.

Choosing a content folder.

The choices are as follows:

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

41 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

(Mac App Store version only): When you add

content to your project, MotionArtist will
inform you that a copy of the content must be
added to a Project Resources folder in your User
Content folder. To do this automatically without
being prompted, check the Always copy. Do not
display alert again option. To copy the current item
only, choose Copy. You can also disable this alert in
the Preferences dialog. See “Options” on page
55.

Creating a New Project New Project dialog.

Choose File > New to create a new MotionArtist project.

• Empty Project: Creates an empty 1280x720 project,
The New Project dialog asks what type of project you want
30 frames per second. Default panel duration is 30
to create. You can either double-click a template name,
frames. Background color is set to gray.
or highlight the template you want to use and click Create
New Project.
The following template options are displayed:

Empty Project.

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42 MotionArtist
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You can also choose the File > New Empty

Document command to create a new
empty project.

• 2 Panels: Creates a 1280x720 project with 2 panels,

30 frames per second. Default panel duration is 150
frames. Background color is set to black. No camera
movement. 2 Panels Starburst.

• 3 Panels Basic: Creates a 1280x720 project with 3

rectangular panels, 30 frames per second. Default
panel duration is 150 frames. Background color is set to
black. No camera movement.

2 Panels.

• 2 Panels Starburst: Creates a 1280x720 panel with

two panels. One panel is a vertical rectangular
panel and the other is a starburst. Frame rate is 30
frames per second, default panel duration is 150 3 Panels Basic.
frames. Background color is set to black. No camera
movement.
• 4 Square Panels: Creates a 1280x720 project with 4
square panels, 30 frames per second. Default panel
duration is 150 frames. Background color is set to
black. No camera movement.

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43 MotionArtist
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30 frames per second. Default panel duration is 150

frames. Background color is set to black. Camera
movement starts at the upper left panel and zig zags
down to the lower right panel.

4 Square Panels.

• 5 Panels: Creates a 1280x720 project with 4 square

panels and a circular panel in the middle. Frame rate
6 Square Panels with Camera Movement.
is 30 frames per second. Default panel duration is 150
frames. Background color is set to black. No camera
movement. • 8 Panels Basic: Creates a 1280x720 project with
8 rectangular panels. Frame rate is 30 frames per
second. Default panel duration is 150 frames.
Background color is set to black. No camera
movement..

5 Panels.

• 6 Square Panels with Camera Movement: Creates a

1280x720 project with 6 Square Panels. Frame rate is
Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist
44 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

• Default Demo Project: Opens a complete MotionArtist

demo project for you to study and learn how a
complete project is put together.

8 Panels Basic.

• Custom 12-Frame Template: Custom 12-Frame

Default Demo Project.
Template with camera movement. Creates a 900x500
project with frame rate of 30 frames per second.
Default panel duration is 150 frames. Background color
is black. The Welcome Screen
When MotionArtist opens, a welcome screen appears with
the following options:

• Tell Your Friends: Opens your web browser to http://

motionartist.smithmicro.com/socialB.HTML

• Watch the Intro Tutorial: Opens your browser to http://

motionartist.smithmicro.com/motionartist-videos.
Custom 12-Frame Template. HTML where you can view introductory tutorials about
MotionArtist.

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45 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

• Register Your Bestest App: Opens your browser to

http://store.smithmicro.com/productregistration.aspx,
where you can register your application to qualify for
support, updates, and more.

• Don’t Show Again: Choose this option to stop the

Welcome Screen from displaying each time you start
MotionArtist.

You can manually display the screen at any

time by choosing Help > Welcome Screen.

MotionArtist Welcome screen.

Registering MotionArtist
After installation, you can choose to register your copy
of MotionArtist via the Web. Choose Help > Register to
navigate to the registration page on smithmicro.com.

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46 MotionArtist
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Checking for Updates

Smith Micro Software is committed to supporting all of our
products by releasing Service Releases and other updaters
that address issues present in earlier versions and/or
enhance the product’s usability or functionality.
You can check for updates easily by choosing Help >
Check for Updates from the menu bar.
When you install MotionArtist a dialog also asks if you want
to check for updates automatically.

MotionArtist Welcome screen.

• Choose Check Automatically to enable automatic

update checking.

• Choose Don’t Check to check for updates manually

as desired.

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

47 MotionArtist
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Part 2: MotionArtist
Overview

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

48 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Chapter 3: The
MotionArtist
Workspace
The MotionArtist workspace is arranged in a simple layout
that includes a few main areas: Menu Bar, artboard
(project workspace), main toolbar, timeline with scene
tabs, and library (shown undocked in the following figure).

The Library Window is not included in the

MotionArtist Mac App Store version. MotionArtist workspace.

Chapter 3: The MotionArtist Workspace

49 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Page guides around the artboard are turned

off by default. Choose View > Page Guides
to display them.

4. Toolbars: Provides several tool sections that give

quick access to the most frequently used MotionArtist
features. See “The Toolbars” on page 53.

5. Scene Tabs: Allows you to switch between the scenes

in your MotionArtist project. See “Scene Tabs” on
page 54 for a quick overview, and “Chapter 9:
Working with Scenes” on page 114 for more detailed
information.

MotionArtist workspace (Mac App Store). 6. Timeline: Displays an overview in time of when content
will appear in your project,and the placement of other
1. MotionArtist Menu Bar: Displays most commands items such as Camera and Object stop points. See
available in MotionArtist. See “MotionArtist Menu Bar” “The Timeline” on page 54 for an overview, and
on page 50. “Chapter 6: The Timeline Window” on page 85 for
more detailed information.
2. View and Mode Indicators: Displays your current view
and mode. See “View and Mode Indicators” on page 7. Status Bar and Current Frame indication: Displays
50. helpful tips relating to the usage of the MotionArtist
interface. The right side of the status bar displays the
3. The Artboard: Displays the scenes, panels, and objects current frame in both scene time, and panel time.
in your project. See “The Artboard” on page 51.
8. The Library Window: Provides quick access to ready-
made content, as well as content in your own content

Chapter 3: The MotionArtist Workspace

50 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

folders. See “The Toolbars” on page 53 for an

overview, and “Chapter 12: The Library Window” on
View and Mode Indicators
page 149 for more detailed information. The View and Mode indication appears in the upper-left
corner of the work area. These indicators inform you of
The Library Window is not included in the the view and mode you are working in: You can show or
MotionArtist Mac App Store version. hide these view indicators by toggling the VIew > Show
View/Mode command. A checkbox appears beside the
This chapter gives an overview of each of these areas, command when the indicators are displayed.
along with links to other sections in the manual where
more information can be obtained. • Director View: See “Working in Director View” on
page 62.

MotionArtist Menu Bar • Camera View: See “Camera View” on page 67.

• Panel View: See “Panel View” on page 68.

The MotionArtist Menu Bar displays menu commands in
eight categories: File, Edit, Arrange, Panel, Share, View,
• Standard Mode: See “Standard Mode” on page 64.
Window, and Help. The use of these commands are
covered throughout the manual. For specific locations, • Presentation Mode: See “Presentation Mode” on
refer to the index at the end of this manual. page 65.

Menu Bar.

Chapter 3: The MotionArtist Workspace

51 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

rectangle will be rendered in the final output. A new

project contains one panel in the view of the camera.

You’ll learn more about working with

cameras in “Chapter 5: Cameras and Stop
Points” on page 75

“Chapter 10: Working with Panels” on page

View and Mode indication. 120 goes into more detail about working
with panels.

The Artboard
The Artboard is used to arrange one or more scenes in your
project, with each scene containing one or more panels
or media items. You will learn throughout this manual how
to add scenes, panels, and content to bring your project
together on the artboard.
When you create a new MotionArtist project, the artboard
appears in the center of the interface. The page guide
around the artboard (off by default) defines an 11x17
area, which is sized the same as a traditional comic book.
The View > Page Guides command turns the guidelines on
and off.
The rectangle that surrounds the object in the center
of the project is the camera. Anything within the red
Chapter 3: The MotionArtist Workspace
52 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

The Library window appears when you choose the Window

> Library command (or COMMAND/CTRL+SHIFT+L). It
provides an easy way to access files that are in your
project or on your hard disk. The Library window is
discussed in more detail in “Chapter 12: The Library
Window” on page 149.

Artboard.

The Library Window

Library window.
The Library Window is not included in the
MotionArtist Mac App Store version.

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53 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

The Toolbars Panel, Insert Text., and Split Panel (with width setting).
For more information, see “Chapter 10: Working with
The MotionArtist toolbars appear in a bar directly above Panels” on page 120.
the timeline. There are several categories of tools arranged
in five different categories.

• The View Selector Tools allow you to choose the view

that you are working in. From left to right, the choices Panel Creation Tools
are Director View, Camera View, and Panel View.
Refer to the following sections in this manual for more • The Selection and Workspace Tools allow you to move
information about each of these views: content within the artboard and pan or zoom within
“Working in Director View” on page 62 the workspace. From left to right, these tools are Move,
Camera, Pan, and Zoom. For more information about
“Camera View” on page 67 these tools, see “Chapter 14: Working with Objects”
“Panel View” on page 68 on page 178.

Selection and Workspace Tools

View Selector tools

• The Audio Tools allow you to record and edit audio

• The Panel Creation Tools allow you to create variously- directly in MotionArtist. From left to right, these
shaped panels on the artboard. The content that you icons are Record Audio and Mute Audio. These are
import into MotionArtist can then be placed within discussed in more detail in “Working with Audio” on
these panels to tell a story. From left to right these page 203.
tools are Rectangular Panel, Oval Panel, Polygon
Chapter 3: The MotionArtist Workspace
54 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Scene Tabs
When you first start MotionArtist, or when you create a new
MotionArtist project, there is only one scene in the project.
You can create as many additional scenes as you need,
Audio Tools using the File > Add Scene command.
Each scene in your project appears as a tab at the top of
• There are two Project Tools available in the MotionArtist the timeline. Simply click one of the scene tabs to work on
toolbar. From left to right, these icons are: another scene. The timeline will then display the elements
in that scene, arranged in time and space.
Insert Text: Opens a dialog that helps you
generate text and word balloons that can be Scene tabs, and the tools associated with them, are
edited at any time. See “Working with Text and discussed in more detail in “Chapter 9: Working with
Word Balloons” on page 198. Scenes” on page 114.

Import: Opens the Import dialog, which allows

you to select supported file formats for import
into the selected panel (or to the artboard if no
panel is selected). Refer to “Chapter 13: Importing
Content” on page 156 for more information.
Scene Tab Tools

Project Tools The Timeline

The Timeline appears at the bottom of the MotionArtist
workspace. The Timeline displays the contents of one
scene at a time. You switch from scene to scene by
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clicking on one of the scene tabs that appear just To open the Preferences dialog, choose Edit > Preferences
below the MotionArtist toolbar. “Chapter 6: The Timeline (Windows) or choose the Preferences command from the
Window” on page 85 discusses the arrangement of the MotionArtist menu (Mac). The Preferences dialog consists
Timeline in more detail. of four tabs which are described in the sections that follow.

Options
The Options tab allows you to set various display and
performance options for MotionArtist. The settings in this
The Timeline tab include the following:

MotionArtist also has a standard set of transporter and

current frame indicator controls that allow you to navigate
through the contents in the scene.

Transporter and Current Frame Indicator

Setting Preferences
The Preferences dialog allows you to configure general
options for MotionArtist. You can also specify login
information for your YouTube account and change Editor
and GUI colors.
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Option preferences. Option preferences (Mac App Store version).

• Enable GPU accelerated drawing: Check this option to

enable GPU acceleration in MotionArtist. Uncheck the
option if you do not want to use GPU acceleration.

• Enable export/import hardware acceleration: Allows

specialized hardware acceleration for import/export
of specific video codecs.

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If there is instability with importing or exporting pixels to create a smoother image. Turn this option off
H.264 based video, the user should update if you want the enlarged image to appear blocky.
their video card drivers and/or disable hardware
acceleration. To disable hardware acceleration • Auto save for crash recovery: When turned on,
within the application, go to the MA preferences MotionArtist will automatically save your work every
and uncheck the “Enable export/import hardware thirty seconds to a temporary file. If the application
acceleration” check box. crashes, you can recover your work the next time you
start the application. In the event that you are working
on very large files and your workflow is slowed down
• Zoom with drag box: When this option is on, allows you by saving every thirty seconds, you can turn this option
to draw a box around the area that you want to zoom off to improve performance.
into, rather than using a continuous zoom.
• Automatically check for updates: (Not included in
• Auto-scale imported vectors: Makes it easier to import Mac App Store version): Check this option to perform
multiple Illustrator files (for example, multiple body parts an automatic check for updates when MotionArtist
in a character). The imported files will all be in scale starts.
with each other when this option is checked. When this
option is turned off, you may need to press the Esc key • Open and switch to new file after Gather: Check this
to automatically zoom in to the selected points after option if you want to automatically open and switch
you import the files. to a gathered project that you created with the File
> Gather Media command. When unchecked, you
• Use SMPTE timecode: Shows time in the timeline using will be prompted each time you use the File > Gather
SMPTE timecode instead of frame numbers. SMPTE Media command.
timecode looks like this: 00:02:34:07 That would be 0
hours, 2 minutes, 34 seconds, and 7 frames. • Disable Touch Support: If you are experiencing
incompatibility issues with Wacom tablet drivers, you
• Nearest neighbor sampling for new image layers: can check this option to disable touch support.
When an image is scaled up larger than its original size,
MotionArtist will try to smooth out the areas in between
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• Document Preview Thumbnail Size: Allows you to Web Uploads

choose the display size of the document thumbnail
preview. Choices are None, 128x128, 256x256, 512x512, The Web Uploads tab is used to enter your YouTube user
or 1024x1024 maximum. account name and password. MotionArtist will log into
this account to post YouTube videos when you select the
• Startup File: Use the dropdown list to select the default Share > YouTube Upload command to send a project file
project that you want to load when MotionArtist starts to another person
up. The choices are:

New from Template: Will display the New Project

dialog which allows you to choose a template
from which to create the project.

Default Demo Project: Starts with the default demo

project that is installed with MotionArtist

Empty Project: Creates a blank project with a

single panel that contains no contents

Last Saved Project: Opens the project that was

most recently saved.

Other File: Allows you to select a custom startup

file that you create yourself and save to your hard
disk.

• Poser Location: (Not included in Mac App Store

version): Click the Poser Location button to select the Web Upload preferences.
path to your Poser installation. Choose the folder in
which the poser.exe file is located.
• Username: Enter your YouTube user name.
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• Password: Enter your YouTube password.

• Private uploads: Check this option if you want your

uploads to be private uploads rather than public
uploads.

Editor Colors
The Editor Colors tab allows you to change the color
scheme for the editor window, including various options for
background and object colors.

Editor Color preferences.

• Panel Fill: The default fill color of the panels in your

project.

• Camera Outline: The color of the rectangle that shows

the objects seen in the camera.

• Panel Stroke: The default outline color for the panels.

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• Camera Shade: The color that is overlaid on the

artboard and surrounding workspace which dims
objects that are not in view of the camera.

• Selected Object: The color of the bounding box that

surrounds the currently selected object or objects.

• Camera Target: The color that will overlay on top of

the artboard when a camera target is drawn.

• Grid: The color of the grid when it is displayed.

• Guides: The color of the page guides when displayed.

• Default stroke width: Allows you to specify the default

Stroke Width setting that appears in the document
window.

• Reset: Press the Reset button to return to default

GUI Color preferences.
application colors

If you make any changes to the GUI Colors,

GUI Colors the changes will not appear until the next
The GUI Colors tab allows you to change the color time you start MotionArtist.
scheme for the application, including various options for
background, text, and widget colors. A preview of your • Color Theme: Click the Color Theme button at the top
changes appears in the Sample Widget area as changes of the GUI Colors tab to choose from one of several
are made.

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different color schemes. You can then modify the

color scheme further if desired.

• Press the Reset button to set the color scheme back to

the default settings.

• Check the Use Large Fonts option to increase the size

of the fonts used in the application.

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Chapter 4: MotionArtist • Panels are the next level down from scenes. Each
scene can contain one or more panels contained

Views and Modes within it.

• Floating objects are at the most basic level .. these are

free-floating elements that appear on the artboard,
MotionArtist projects are hierarchical, with the elements of
but are not placed in a panel.
the project being as follows:

• The Artboard is at the top level. The artboard

represents a traditional 11x17 comic artboard. Working in Director View
• Scenes are at the next level. Think of a scene as a You can view your MotionArtist projects in one of three
page in a comic, or a chapter in a book. Each scene different views: Director View, Panel View, or Camera View.
is shown in the timeline with a tab. The timeline displays When you first start your project, you work in Director View.
the currently selected scene.
When you work in Director View, any tool
that you choose from the toolbar will remain
By default, the first scene is named Scene 1.
active until you select another tool.
When you add another scene to your
project, it will be named with the next subsequent
number (Scene 2, Scene 3, and so on). Double-click In Director View, a large rectangle represents a 10,000 foot
the scene tab in the Timeline Window to change view of a traditional 11x17 comic artboard. There is one
the name of the scene. For more information about scene in the project (with the scene tab being displayed
scenes, see “Chapter 9: Working with Scenes” on in the timeline), and one panel in the scene. The panel is
page 114. designed to display graphics or movies, and can also have
sound attached to it.
You’ll do most of your assembling and editing work in
Director View, and can switch to and from this view using
one of the following methods at any time:
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• Choose View > Director View (or COMMAND/CTRL+1).

• Click the Director View icon in the MotionArtist toolbar.

Director View.

A new empty MotionArtist project (Mac App Store version).

Director View allows you to work in two modes. The mode

that you are currently working in appears in the upper-left
corner of the interface:

• Standard Mode allows more control over how the

camera moves through your project. In Standard
Mode, you can use the Camera tool (shortcut C) to
control the motion path, stop points, and timing of the
camera in greater detail. See “Standard Mode” on
A new empty MotionArtist project. page 64.

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• Presentation Mode allows you to add panels or floating Auto Camera command to add camera movement
objects (free-floating content) while automatically and timing.
animating the camera. See “Presentation Mode” on
page 65, which follows. • For more information about using the Camera
Tool, see “The Camera Tool” on page 75.

Standard Mode For more information about using the Auto

Camera command, see “Using Auto
When you create a new scene in MotionArtist, you start in Camera” on page 81.
Standard mode. To switch to Standard Mode at any time,
click the Presentation Mode button in the Scene tab to
deactivate it as shown in the figure below. • You will be able to enable or disable the Camera tool
in Standard mode. When enabled, you can use it to
control camera positions. This gives you more control
over how the camera moves over the elements in your
scene.

• When the Camera tool is activated you can see the

motion path of the camera. Use the Camera tool to
move the camera from panel to panel, or from object
The Presentation Mode icon is deactivated when you are in to object in your scene. You can change the motion
Standard mode. path, add additional stop points to pause at several
places in the same panel, and so on.
When you work in Standard Mode, the following conditions
apply:

• When you design a scene entirely in Standard Mode,

you’ll need to use the Camera tool (shortcut C) or the

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Presentation Mode
When you work in Presentation Mode, you can quickly
assemble a scene by placing panels and content on the
artboard. The camera will automatically move from one
content item to another during playback, based on its
placement in the timeline.
To switch to Presentation Mode at any time, use one of the
following methods:

• Toggle the Presentation Mode icon in the Scene tab

“on” as shown in the inset on the left in the figure
below.

• Double-click the Scene tab in the timeline to open the

dialog. Check the Presentation Mode option in the
Scene section of the General tab.
When you work in Presentation mode, panels and floating
objects will appear dimmed until you reach the frames at
which they appear in the timeline.

Camera View in Standard Mode.

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The Project Settings dialog allows you to set

the amount that panels are dimmed.
Choose File > Project Settings (or COMMAND/
CTRL+SHIFT+P), and enter the desired setting in the
Automatic Panel Opacity field. For more information
about the Project Settings dialog, see “Project
Settings” on page 109.

When you switch to Presentation mode, you

will receive notification that doing so will
change camera movements and timing. Click
Continue to proceed, or Cancel to remain in
Standard Mode.

Presentation Mode allows you to quickly and easily add

panels and floating objects to your project. For more
information about working with content in Presentation
Mode, see “Camera Targets (A)” on page 123,
“Scattering Objects on the Artboard” on page 189 and
“Scattering Objects in a Panel” on page 192.

Director View in Presentation Mode.

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Because the camera is animated look like to the viewer, through the eye of the camera.
automatically in Presentation Mode, the You’ll see the panels and floating objects in the scene
Camera Tool is disabled. move into view of the camera in sequence as the
playhead moves through the timeline.

Camera View
When you view your project in Camera View, it fits the
currently selected panel and all of its contents within the
view. Camera View is stationary and does not animate.
You can switch to Camera View using one of the following
methods:

When you work in Camera View, the

Camera tool becomes active.

• Choose View > Camera View (or COMMAND/CTRL+2). Camera View.

• Click the Camera View icon in the MotionArtist toolbar.

Camera view and Panel view can be used
to display z-depth changes, and will display
the effects of the Arrange in 3D command (see
“Arranging Panels in 3D Space” on page 131),
and the effects of moving objects closer or further
Camera View.
to you in 3D space (Z depth).

If you press the Play button while viewing your project in

Camera View, you’ll be able to see what your project will
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Camera view displays perspective changes.

You may see objects in Camera view that
you will not be able to see while playing your
project in Director view or Panel view, which views
your project only from the front perspective.

Panel View
Choose View > Panel View (or COMMAND/CTRL+3) or click
the Panel View icon to switch to panel view. The view will
fit the currently selected panel into view.

A panel displayed in Panel View.

Panel View.

If your scene contains only floating objects

When you work in Panel View, the Move tool (items that are not placed within a panel),
becomes active. choosing Panel view will be ineffective.

MotionArtist panels are similar to panels on a comic book

page. They can display images, movies, text with word
balloons, and sound, and the content can be animated
over time. A panel allows you to display your content in
a defined area. In other words, if your content exceeds

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the size of the panel, the areas outside the boundaries of • Choose View > Page Guides to show or hide the
the panel will be masked out. This allows you to scale the artboard workspace guides that show the 11x17
content inside the panel without obscuring the view of workspace area. The outlines will display when the this
other areas on the artboard. option is checked, and will be hidden when the option
is not checked.
When you view your scene in Panel View, the contents
of that panel appear in the timeline. You can select an
You can change the color of the page
object in the panel, or in the timeline, and then change
guides in the Editor Colors tab of the General
the position, scale, or rotation of the selected item over
Preferences dialog. See “Editor Colors” on page
time to add animation to the panel.
59.

Panel contents displayed in the timeline.

View Helpers and Guides

While working in MotionArtist, there are a number of
indicators that you can use to help lay out your content.

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Page guides. Camera Frame.

• Choose View > Camera Frame to toggle the display of • Choose View > Video Safe Zones to show or hide the
the camera frame guide. video safe zone rectangles. This option is enabled
when you are viewing your project in Camera View.
These rectangles represent the areas in your project
that will be safe for title (inner rectangle) and content

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(outer rectangle) placement when your project is

viewed in broadcast formats such as NTSC or PAL.
Areas outside the video safe zones may not be visible
due to overscanning. The rectangle is hidden when
this option is unchecked, and visible when the option
is checked.

Thirds grid.

Video Safe Zones rectangle.

Displaying and Setting the Grid
• Choose View > Thirds Grid to divide the view seen MotionArtist also allows you to display a grid that you can
through the camera into three horizontal and vertical use as a placement guide.
sections. This option is enabled when you are working
You can change the color of the grid in the
in Camera View.
Editor Colors tab of the General Preferences
dialog. See “Editor Colors” on page 59.

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1. To display the grid on the artboard, choose View >

Enable Grid (or COMMAND/CTRL+G).

2. Choose View > Grid Settings (or COMMAND/

CTRL+SHIFT+G) to display the Grid Settings dialog.

Setting the grid. Part of a scene showing the Square Grid enabled.

3. Choose the type of grid you want to use from the Grid Polar: Displays a circular grid that radiates from a
Style dropdown list: center point.

Square: Displays a square grid, with equally

measured horizontal and vertical lines

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Part of a scene showing the Polar Grid enabled. Part of a scene showing the Isometric Grid enabled.

Isometric: Displays an isometric grid consisting of 4. The default spacing of the grid is 50 pixels. Enter a new
vertical and diagonal lines. spacing amount in the Grid Spacing field.

5. Click OK to apply the new settings.

Resetting the View

To reset the view of your scene, choose View > Reset. The
workspace view will be reset to the default settings in any
of the views.
In Director View, the view will adjust to center the entire
artboard.

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• In Camera View, the view will adjust to center and fit

the view through the camera.

• In Panel View, the view will adjust to center and fit the
selected panel.

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Chapter 5: Cameras Camera View, you can rotate and zoom the camera as it
travels along this path.

and Stop Points You can edit the motion path in the following ways:

• In Director view, drag and pull the path to change

the shape of the curves. Doing so will add another
The Camera Tool stop point indicator that you can move to the desired
location. The figure that follows shows a camera
The Camera tool (shortcut C) can be used in either motion path in Director View. It begins at the first panel
Director View (while in Standard Mode) or Camera View. and successively moves over each additional panel in
You use the camera tool to move, scale, or rotate the the scene. The dots on the motion path are stop points
camera view while you assemble your scene. At the same (areas where the camera pauses over the underlying
time, you can also make changes to the motion path as area). This motion path and the position of the stop
described in the following section. points are editable, using the Camera tool.

Camera Tool.

The Motion Path

When you have the Camera tool selected, you can see
a spline-shaped motion path, with camera stop points
represented as dots. The MotionArist camera moves
along this spline-shaped motion path. When you switch to

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Editing Stop Points in Director

View
Stop points are places along the path where the camera
will pause to display content. You can think of a stop point
as a key frame for camera movement. The camera moves
between these stop points based on the settings that you
specify in the Camera Stop Point window.

MotionArtist has two different types of stop

points, which are distinct from each other but
work in similar ways. Camera stop points define a
point in time at which a specific point is paused
over an object and viewed through the camera.
Object stop points define a point in time at which
an object is in a specific state (position, rotation,
scale, visible, invisible, etc.) For more information
about Object stop points, see “Object Stop Points”
on page 179.

Motion path and stop points in Camera view.

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When you have multiple Stop Points on the 1. Click the Director View icon in the MotionArtist toolbar,
timeline that have the same translation(x,y) or choose View > Director View (or COMMAND/
values but are occurring at different points in time, CTRL+1).
the Stop Point displayed on the work space will be a
diamond. If you switch to Director’s view and the 2. For the scene that you want to work on, toggle
double click with the camera selection tool on the Presentation Mode off by clicking the Presentation
displayed stop point, the scrubber will move to the Mode icon in the Scene tab, as shown in “Standard
first Stop Point on the timeline in that location. Mode” on page 64.

3. Click the Camera tool, or use the keyboard shortcut

Camera stop points are placed at the center C to select it. The Motion Path and stop points will
of a panel or floating object by default when appear.
Presentation Mode or the Auto Camera command
are used. 4. Double-click the desired stop point with the Camera
tool. The timeline will advance to the location of that
stop point. In addition, the Camera Stop Point window
It is possible to have a stop point at which the panel displays the settings for that stop point.
camera does not stop. This type of stop point
is also displayed dot on the motion path, but has a
If the Camera Stop Point window is not
Hold Duration of 0 in the Camera Stop Point
displayed, choose Window > Camera Stop
window.
Point, or use the shortcut CTRL/COMMAND-SHIFT-M
to display it.
You can show or hide the Camera Stop Point
window with the Window > Camera Stop
Point command.

To edit stop point settings in Director View, follow these

steps:
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You can drag a stop point left or right in the

timeline to visually change the frame at
which the stop point occurs. You can also SHIFT-
click to select multiple stop points.

Pause Playback (HTML only): Allows you to add a

camera pause point for HTML 5 interaction. See
“Pausing and Resuming Playback” on page 139
for more information.

Hold Duration: Displays the number of frames that

the camera will pause over the stop point. By
default, this is 30 frames. You may need to adjust
this value to allow viewers sufficient time to read
text on screen.

When you increase the length of a hold

duration, you’ll need to make sure that there
are enough frames in your animation to
Camera Stop Point window. accommodate the increased hold duration. For
example, if you are at frame 60 of a 100-frame
5. Edit the following settings, as needed: animation, but you want to hold the camera for 90
frames, you’ll need at least 150 frames in your
Stop Point Frame: Displays the frame in the timeline animation to increase the hold duration to 90
that the Stop Point currently appears. You can frames.
enter a new frame number, if desired, to move the
stop point to a different frame in the animation.
Position X, Y: Displays the current X and Y
coordinates of the stop point. By default, a stop
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point appears at the center of a panel that you You can visually adjust the camera angle in
create in Presentation Mode. You can adjust the Camera View by rotating it with the Camera
stop point by entering offset values in the X and Y Tool. See “Camera View” on page 67 for further
fields. information.

You can also adjust the stop point in Director

Reset Position: Click this button to reset back to the
View by moving it with the Camera Tool after
default position.
you exit the Camera Stop Point window. See
“Camera View” on page 67 for further Reset Zoom: Click this button to reset back to the
information. default zoom level.

Reset Roll: Click this button to reset back to the

Zoom: Displays the zoom (or magnification) level default rotation angle.
of the camera when it reaches the stop point. If
the panels were created in Presentation Mode Delete Camera Stop Point: Click this button to
or with the Auto Camera command, the zoom delete the currently selected stop point.
level is automatically set so that entire width (for
Note that you will not be asked to confirm
landscape panels) or height (for portrait panels)
the deletion of the Camera Stop Point;
is framed within the camera view. Smaller values
however you can use the Edit > Undo to reverse the
move the camera away from the artboard,
deletion.
making the panel seem smaller. Larger values
move the camera closer to the artboard, making
6. Choose OK to apply the settings, or Cancel to exit
the panel seem larger.
without saving.
Roll: Displays the angle or tilt of the camera. By
default, the camera roll is set to zero. You can
adjust the tilt of the camera by adjusting the Roll
indicator, or by entering a Roll setting (in degrees)
in the text box.
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Transforming the Camera in

Camera View
If you switch to Camera View while the Camera Tool is
selected, you’ll see a pair of concentric circles in addition
to the motion path and stop points. The circles are filled
with a semi-transparent black so that you can view them
more easily. These concentric circles allow you to control
the position, rotation, and zoom level of the camera. In
Camera View, use the Camera Tool to edit the path as
follows:

• Drag up, down, left, or right inside the inner circle to

move the selected stop point. A move cursor appears
when you can move the camera.

• Drag up or down in the area between the two circles

Motion path and stop points in Camera view.
to rotate the camera. A rotate cursor appears when
you can rotate the camera.

• Drag up, down, left, or right outside the outer circle to Editing Stop Points in Camera View
zoom the camera. A zoom cursor appears when you
can zoom the camera. When you are working in Camera View, you can click on
an empty path segment with the Camera tool to add a
new stop point. This will allow you to adjust the curve of the
path.

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In addition, you can move backward and forward in the into focus. You can then edit the new stop point to pause
timeline to add a stop point to move to a different part the camera for a specified amount of frames.
of an image or panel. For example, if you have a comic
panel that has word bubbles over the illustration, you can
bring that area into focus first. Edit the Hold Duration of
that stop point to ensure that you have given the viewer
enough time to read the text.

Characters brought into the view of the camera.

Using Auto Camera

Word bubbles brought into the view of the camera.
You’ve already learned that the camera is animated for
you automatically in Presentation Mode, and that you
After advancing the timeline after enough time to read
have to animate it manually if you build your scene in
the text in the word balloon, you can create a new stop
Standard Mode. You can use the Auto Camera command
point that pans the camera down to bring the characters
to animate the camera and build a motion path for you

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automatically, based on the arrangement of items that

you have in your timeline.
To demonstrate this, follow these steps:
1. Start a new MotionArtist project.

2. If necessary, switch to Standard Mode by toggling the

Presentation Mode icon off.

3. When you create a new project, an empty panel

appears at the center of the scene. Use the Move
tool (keyboard shortcut V) to position it at the top-left
corner of the current scene.

Move tool.

4. Use the Panel tools (described in more detail in

“Chapter 10: Working with Panels” on page 120) to
create additional panels on the artboard. An example
is shown in the following figure. Five panels created in Standard Mode.

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the frame that the playhead is currently on. For

example, if the playhead is currently on frame 60
and you choose the Auto Camera All command.
the first object will first appear at frame 60 and
each successive object will appear in the camera
after that.

Auto Camera Selected: Runs auto camera only on

the selected objects.

Auto Camera Targets: Runs auto camera only on

designated camera targets. For more information
about camera targets, see “Camera Targets (A)”
on page 123.

Auto Camera with Pause Points: For projects

that are exported to HTML5, or to published to
MotionArtist.TV. Runs auto camera and places
pause points at the end of the current panel
The same five panels shown in the timeline.
duration. This causes the camera to pause at
the end of each object that you apply the auto
5. You will notice that the new panels appear one on camera to. The user will have to click the scene or
top of the other in the timeline, playing them all in the press the Enter key to continue the presentation.
same 30-frame segment of the timeline. To spread This adds automatic interactivity to your
these panels out over time, choose Arrange > Auto presentation so that the user can follow it at his or
Camera followed by one of the following options: her own speed.

Auto Camera All: Runs auto camera on everything

, and begins the Auto Camera movement at

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If you need to rerun the Auto Camera with

Pause Points command again on the same
selected objects, it is recommended that you clear
your animation before doing so to remove existing
pause points that could affect the desired result.
Select the layers that you want to change, then
choose Arrange > Animation > Clear Camera after
Current Frame, and then reapply the Arrange >
Animation > Auto Camera command.

6. The panels will be spread out across the timeline in

the order in which they were created. The amount
of space between the panels represents the length
of time that it will take to transition from one panel to
another.

Panels spread over time after using Auto Camera.

7. Press the Play button to view the camera motion, and

use the Camera View and the Camera Tool to make
adjustments as needed.

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Chapter 6: The Timeline 3. Frame Numbers: Displays a numerical indication of the

frame numbers in the timeline.

Window 4. Playhead: The playhead moves across the timeline

and serves as an indication of the current frame that is
being played. You can drag the playhead left or right
The Timeline window displays all of the elements in your
to scrub across the timeline.
scene. When you open MotionArtist you will initially see two
things in the timeline: the camera, and the default panel.
5. Camera Layer: Displays content areas, transition
The elements of the timeline are shown in the following areas, and stop points that exist in the current scene.
figure. They are as follows: For further information, see “Camera Layer” on page
89.

6. Camera Stop Point: Camera Stop Points are

represented by small dots in the Camera Layer. You
can select these dots to advance to that place in the
timeline. You can also delete stop points by clicking on
them in the timeline and pressing the Delete key.
Timeline.
7. Transition area (shown in Camera Layer): “Blank” areas
in the timeline indicate places where the camera is
1. Play controls: See “Play Controls” on page 88. transitioning from one content item to another. You
can specify different styles for each transition. For more
2. Scene Tab: Select one of the scene tabs to display
information, see “Using Transitions” on page 116.
the content of that scene in the timeline. For more
information about scenes, see “Chapter 9: Working 8. Scene Content: The contents in your scene appear
with Scenes” on page 114. as bars of different lengths in the timeline. The size of
the bars determines the length at which they play.
The default length of a panel or floating object is
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30 frames. This is adjustable in the dialog. For more

information about scene content, see “Chapter 13:
Zooming In and Out of the
Importing Content” on page 156. Timeline
Use the View > Timeline Zoom In command (or OPTION/
The Timeline will display keyframes for
ALT+Mousewheel Scroll Up to zoom in closer to the timeline
translation, rotation, scale, opacity, blur, and
(displaying half as many frames in the timeline window).
visibility.
Use the View > Timeline Zoom Out command (or OPTION/
Items are displayed in the Timeline in two ways: ALT+Mousewheel Scroll Down to zoom out from the
timeline (displaying twice as many frames in the timeline
• Items are layered such that the panels or floating window).
objects that appear at the bottom of the timeline
Use COMMAND/CTRL+Mousewheel Scroll Up to scroll left
are in the back (or farther away from you), and the
(earlier) in the timeline.
items at the top of the timeline are in the front (closer
to you). This is similar to the way that layers work in a Use COMMAND/CTRL+Mousewheen Scroll Down to scroll
layered image editor such as Photoshop. right (later) in the timeline.

• The content in your scene is also displayed in time, with

items that play first at the left side of the timeline, and Viewing Objects in the Timeline
items that play later toward the right.
When viewing content in the timeline, you’ll notice the
The camera appears at the bottom of the following states:
MotionArtist workspace by default. You can
show or hide the timeline if desired. To display or
• Normal coloring during the content’s duration (as
hide the Timeline window, choose Window >
interpreted by the Auto Camera feature)
Timeline, or use the keyboard shortcut COMMAND/
• Faded coloring when the image is visible but not being
CTRL+SHIFT+T.
tracked by the Auto Camera

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• Blank when the image has been made invisible by the

user. In addition to displaying the name and type
of layer, the timeline now shows whether or not the
If a layer appears before or after the visible section of the
layer is visible. Press the icon to turn the visibility
timeline, the name of the layer will still be visible at the left
on or off. for that layer
or right edge of the timeline. You will be able to click on
the layer name and open the dialog to edit the properties
of the content. A padlock icon in the timeline provides an
indication of whether a layer is locked or not. You
can click the padlock to toggle between locked
and unlocked.

The names of layers that extend beyond the visible areas in

the timeline are listed at the left and right edges of the timeline.

In cases where you have more layers in the timeline than

can be displayed vertically, you will see a vertical scrollbar
at the right edge of the timeline. The scrollbar allows you to
Vertical scrollbar.
move up or down to view the layers, allowing you to select
the layers that you want to work with. Alternately, you
can click an item on the artboard, and the timeline will
automatically scroll to show the newly selected layer.

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Camera Targets will appear in the timeline, and forward in the timeline and play or pause the project
and will be named Camera Target. For more while you work on the animation.
information about Camera Targets, see “Camera
Targets (A)” on page 123.

Minimized Timeline View Play controls.

A resize handle appears in the center top of the timeline.

From left to right, the controls are as follows (keyboard
Drag the handle to reduce the timeline to its minimum
shortcuts shown in parentheses):
height, so that you can see more of the artboard. At
minimum height, the layers in the timeline will not be visible, • Previous Stop Point ([): Click to move to the previous
but a slider will be available to move through the timeline. keyframe for the selected item.
The toolbars will also remain visible.
• Rewind (SHIFT+ALT+Left Arrow): Rewinds to the first
frame in the scene.

• Step Back (Left Arrow): Goes backward one frame at

a time in the scene, each time you click.
When the height of the timeline is reduced, a slider remains
available so that you can navigate through the timeline. • Play/Stop (Spacebar): Toggles between play and
pause.

When Play is pressed in Director View or Camera

Play Controls View, the scene plays in real time until it reaches
the end of the document. Then it will stop and
The Play controls are standard controls that are used in jump back to the frame that you were on when
many animation programs. They help you move backward the Play button was pressed.
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When Play is pressed in Panel view, the scene will

play in real time and continue looping until you
press Pause.

• Step Forward (Right Arrow): Goes forward one frame

at a time in the scene, each time you click.

• Jump to End (SHIFT+ALT+Right Arrow): Advances to the

last frame in the scene.

• Next Stop Point (]): Click to advance to the next

keyframe for the selected item.

• Frame: Displays the frame number where the

playhead currently appears, or allows you to enter a
frame number to advance or rewind to.

The Camera layer is the topmost layer in the Timeline.

Camera Layer
The Camera layer appears at the top of the timeline. This • A stop point appears as a small dot (usually at the end
layer provides a visual indication of where the panels, of a space in the timeline that designates a transition).
transitions, and camera stop points appear in the scene. You can delete a stop point by clicking on it with the
Move tool (keyboard shortcut V), after which the stop
point turns red. Then press the Delete key.

• The white bars in the camera layer designate areas

where the camera is paused over content.

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• The spaces in between the bars indicate transition You will need to make sure that there are no
areas, where the camera is moving from one panel or other items selected before you turn
floating object to another. MotionAssist on for the camera. One way to do this
is to click an empty space with the Move tool.

Using Motion Assist You can also turn Motion Assist off to key camera position,
zoom, or roll individually. An example is as follows:
Choose Arrange > Motion Assist to place MotionArtist in a
mode where it synchronizes changes across different types 1. Switch to Camera View (or, make sure that nothing is
of keyframes. This mode is on by default, and is designed selected in the scene) and choose Arrange > Motion
to make the process of animation easier for those who are Assist to uncheck it.
new to keyframe animation.
2. Click and drag outside the double-circle camera
As you become more comfortable with keyframe controls in Camera View to adjust your camera zoom
animation, and which properties are being keyframed manually. Motion Artist will create a stop point. The
at what time, you can turn the Motion Assist feature off. only value that is keyed here is the scale.
Select the Arrange > Motion Assist command to toggle the
feature off. 3. You can see the indicator with a blue stop point next
to Scale in the Camera Stop Point window. To access
this window choose Window > Camera Stop Point .
Using Motion Assist with Cameras
Motion Assist is a per-object setting (not global). It also
works with the camera, but the object in that case is the
scene.

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in the animation to affect the properties that you want at

that current frame.

A good way to use Motion Assist is to choose

where you want your object to start, and
where you want it to end, including rotation or
opacity settings that you want to include. Then you
can change the path in any manner you choose or
go back to each stop point to make adjustments.

When you turn Motion Assist off, you can move an object
over time to multiple locations. For example, let’s say you
start with an object that is on the left side of the scene.
At frame 150, you move it to the center of the scene.
Then at frame 225, it moves off the right side of the scene,
Camera zoom stop point. making a total of three translation keyframes. Finally, you
rotate the object at frame 300. When you play back the
animation you will notice that the rotation slowly adjusts
between frame 1 and frame 300, where you adjusted the
Using Motion Assist with Objects rotation.

Motion Assist can be turned on or off for a single selected If you had created a similar example with Motion Assist
object. When you make a change in your scene (such as on, the rotation would only occur between frame 225 (the
rotating an object at frame 10), all of the other parameters third translation stop point) and frame 300 (where you
of the object (translation, scale, etc.) will also get a rotated the object).
keyframe at the same frame, thereby ensuring the object
will be exactly at the desired position, rotation, and scale
at that frame. This helps to prevent keyframes from earlier

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Part 3: Creating
with MotionArtist

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Chapter 7: The Layer Click the desired panel with the Move tool and
choose Window > Layer Settings (or COMMAND/

Settings Window CTRL+SHIFT+I).

• To apply settings for one or more selected images or

movies: Select the panel that contains the image(s)
In the chapters that follow, you’ll learn how to work with
or movie(s) that you want to edit. Then switch to Panel
Scenes, Panels, and imported content (referred to as
view, and do one of the following to open the Layer
objects). As you add these items to your project, there will
Settings dialog:
be times that you will want to change the default settings.
The Layer Settings window allows you to customize the Double-click the desired image or movie that you
settings for the content in your project. want to edit.
Choose Window > Layer Settings to open the Layer Settings Click the desired image or movie with the Move
dialog at any time. The options you see in the Layer tool and choose Window > Layer Settings (or
Settings window will change, depending on the view you COMMAND/CTRL+SHIFT+I).
are in, and the items you have selected:
If multiple images or movies are selected, you can
• To apply settings for a scene: Switch to Director View if open the Layer Settings dialog with the Window
necessary. Click the Scene Tab for the scene that you > Layer Settings command, or use the keyboard
want to edit, then double-click on the name of the shortcut CTRL/COMMAND+SHIFT+I.
scene. The Layer Settings dialog contains three buttons at the
bottom, which are used as follows:
• To apply settings for a panel: Switch to Director View
if necessary. Then do one of the following to open the • OK: Click this button to apply any changes that you
Layer Settings dialog: have made. The Layer Settings dialog will close and
Double-click the desired panel on the artboard you will return to the main editing window.
with the Move tool (keyboard shortcut V).

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• Apply: Click this button to apply any changes that you

have made. The Layer Settings dialog will remain open
so that you can make changes in another tab.

• Cancel: Click this button to exit the Layer Settings

dialog without applying changes.

If the Layer Settings dialog has the current

focus, you can also press the ESC key to
close it.

The General Tab

The General tab of the Layer Settings window displays
different options, depending on whether you want to
apply settings to a Scene, a Panel, or an Image. Open the
Layer Settings window as described in the previous section
to view the settings that you want to change:

General Tab options (Floating Object options shown)

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When multiple images or movies are selected, the General Name

tab will display common settings that you can apply to all
of the selected layers. The dialog informs you that multiple The Name field in the Layer Settings window allows you to
layers are selected, and the changes that you make enter a more descriptive name for your Scene, Panel, or
in the General tab will be applied to all selected layers Image:
as applicable. Check or uncheck the Copy all General
settings to other selected layers (except Name) option as • By default, a scene is named Scene x when created,
desired before you click the Apply button. where x is a numerical value based on the existing
scenes in your project.

• By default, a panel is named Panel x when created,

where x is a numerical value based on the existing
panels in your scene.

• By default, the original filename for the image appears

here.

Name field

Motion Assist
Check this option to turn Motion Assist on for the selected
General Tab options (for multiple selected layers) panel or object. For more information about Motion Assist,
see “Using Motion Assist” on page 90.
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Compositing Effects the item will not be visible on the timeline or in the
render. You can turn visibility on or off at any frame.
There are several settings in the Compositing Effects
section of the General Tab that are common to Scenes, • Blur Radius: Lets you apply a blur (in pixels) to the
Panels, and Images. These options are as follows: scene to simulate such effects as camera focus. The
blur can be animated over time to make the scene
look like its coming in and out of focus

• Opacity: Allows you to modify the transparency of the

scene, panel, or image. An opacity value of 100 will
not affect the item at all, while a value of 0 will make
it totally transparent. By changing the value from 0
at frame 1 to 100 at frame 10, the scene will seem
to gradually appear out of nowhere, which in some
cases is more desirable than the type of on/off visibility
provided by the Visible checkbox

• Blend Mode: Identifies how the scene or object will

blend with underlying content. These are similar to
blend modes used in Photoshop. Choices are Normal,
Multiply, Screen, Overlay, Add, Difference, Hue,
Saturation. Color, and Luminosity.
Compositing Effects
• Attached to Camera: When checked, this option
aligns the selected object’s animation to the center of
• Visible: (Panels or Images only). When checked, the
the camera as it moves through the art board. This is a
selected Panel or Image is visible on the timeline and
global parameter, and the animation will return to its
will be rendered in your final output. When unchecked,
original orientation when unchecked.

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Scene-Specific General Settings • Presentation Mode: Check this option to place the
scene in Presentation Mode. Uncheck this option to
The General tab in the Layer Settings dialog displays the place the scene in Standard Mode. These modes are
following unique options when you are applying settings to discussed in “Presentation Mode” on page 65 and
a selected scene: “Standard Mode” on page 64.

• Scene Duration: Enter the number of frames for the

amount of time that the scene will appear in the
timeline.

• Automatic: When this option is checked, the scene

duration will be set automatically by MotionArtist.
Uncheck this option if you want to extend panel
duration beyond the last stop point in the scene, and
enter the desired length in the Scene Duration field.

• Scene background color: Click the background color

square to select a background color for the currently
Additional HTML Export options for Scenes selected scene.

Panel-Specific General Settings

You can speed up workflow by setting a
default panel style in the “scene settings” The General tab in the Layer Settings window displays the
window. This way, every new panel will have the following unique options in the Panel section when you are
same stroke and fill settings. Unchecking this feature applying settings to a panel:
allows for specific tailoring of panel styles.

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options set in the scene settings. Uncheck this box to

apply unique settings to the currently selected panel.

The default panel style setting allows you to

create all your panels with the same styles of
fill and stroke. Simply set the general style
parameters in the current scene settings and every
new panel will be created using that style.

• Apply default settings: Applies the default panel fill

and stroke to the selected panel, as defined in the
scene settings.

• Fill Color: Click to select a fill color for the panel.

Uncheck the option to create a panel that has no fill.

• Stroke Color: Click to select a color for the panel

outline. Uncheck the option to create a panel that has
no outline.

• Stroke Width: Sets the width of the stroke in pixels.

General Tab options for Panels

• Inherits default style from scene: When checked (by

default) the selected panel will retain the fill and stroke

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The Stroke Width setting for panels displays want to add a custom panel duration in the Panel
the width of the stroke as it relates to the Duration field.
scale of the panel at Frame 0. While you cannot
animate the stroke width, MotionArtist will Custom panel durations will not be
automatically increase stroke width when you scale automatically extended if you change the
a panel. If you animate a panel size in later frames, duration of events in the panel. You will need to
the width of the stroke will increase or decrease extend the panel duration manually in the Layer
proportionally. If you want the stroke widths of all Settings dialog if you turn Automatic off.
panels to match, you should create them all
together at the desired size.
• Ignore Auto Camera: Check this option if you do not
want to change settings for the panel when the Auto
• Brush: This box displays a preview of the brush used Camera command is applied to the scene.
to draw the stroke around the panel. Click the box to
• Allow Animation: When checked, panels can have
select a brush from the Brush Settings window. Brush
keyframed translation, scale, and rotation. When
settings are discussed in more detail in “Brush Settings”
unchecked (default), you can only edit the initial
on page 102.
placement of the panel and it will not move.
• Panel Duration: Enter the number of frames for the
amount of time that the panel will appear in the
Image-Specific General Settings
timeline. The panel duration is important for the Auto
The General tab in the Layer Settings window displays the
Camera feature in MotionArtist, and when importing
following unique options in the Outline section when you
files from Anime Studio.
are applying settings to an image. These settings pertain
to the outline or border that surrounds an imported image
• Automatic: When this option is checked, the panel
or movie:
duration will be set to the number of frames as set
in the Preferences dialog. Uncheck this option if you

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artboard or scene, instead of only being displayed in one

panel. In cases such as that, you make sure that there is
no panel selected when you import your image or movie,
and then it is placed on the artboard as a floating object.
When you double-click a floating object on the artboard,
the General tab displays the following settings:

General Tab options for Images and Movies

General Tab options for Floating Objects

• Outline On: Check this option if you want to put an
outline around the image.
• Duration: Automatic duration defaults to the duration
• Width: Specify the width of the outline, in pixels. setting that is specified in the Project Settings dialog
(see “Project Settings” on page 109). To specify
• Color: Click the Color swatch to select a color for the
the amount of time that the camera pauses on the
outline.
floating object, uncheck the Automatic option and
Floating object-Specific General Settings enter the desired duration in number of frames.

There are cases when you do not want your content to • Ignore auto camera: When you use the Auto Camera
be masked within a panel. For example, you might want feature it automatically animates the contents in your
to import a background image that covers the entire scene so that the camera moves over the content

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over time. For background images and similar content,

you can check the Ignore Auto Camera option so
that the background image remains unaffected and
always remains in view of the camera.

The Shadows Tab

The Layer Settings window provides the following options
in the Shadows tab, whether you have a Scene, Panel, or
Image selected.

If multiple images or movies are selected

while you are in Panel view, the Shadows tab
displays notification that the changes you make will
be applied to all selected layers as applicable.
Check or uncheck the Copy all shadow settings to
other selected layers before you click the Apply
button.

Shadows panel options (multiple layers selected in Panel view)

• Layer Shadow: This section lets you apply a drop-

shadow effect to a scene.

Shadow On: Checking the Shadow on checkbox

will make all objects in the layer cast shadows on
the layers underneath.

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Offset: Controls how far the shadow appears from Offset: Controls how far inside the layer the
the actual objects. A larger offset makes objects shading appears. A larger offset makes objects
appear higher up above the layers below them. appear to have more “rounded” edges.

Blur: Determines how hard or soft the edges of the Blur: Determines how hard or soft the edges of the
shadow appear. shading appear.

Expansion: Allows you to expand the reach of the Contraction: Allows you to pull the shading further
shadow. This can be useful for halo-type effects. into the center of the layer.
Try an Offset of 0, Blur of 8, and Expansion of 8.
Shading Color: Clicking on the “Shading
Shadow Color: Clicking on the “Shadow color” color” swatch lets you change the color of the
swatch lets you change the color of the shadow shading that is applied. You can also modify the
that is being cast. You can also modify the transparency of the shading with this control.
transparency of the shadow with this control.
Shading Direction: Controls the direction the
Shadow Direction: Controls the direction the shading appears. Just drag the knob in circles to
shadow is cast. Just drag the knob in circles to change the direction of the shading.
change the direction of the shadow.

• Layer Shading: This section is similar to the “Layer Brush Settings

Shadow” section above. However, instead of
producing a shadow effect behind the layer, these Access to the Brush Settings dialog only occurs when you
controls let you apply a shading effect on top of the are applying settings to a Panel. This allows you to apply
layer. a decorative outline to a panel, rather than using a solid
border line.
Shading On: Checking the “Shading on”
checkbox will make all objects in the layer appear To open the Brush Settings dialog, click the Brush icon in
shaded, giving them a rounded edges effect. the General tab The following options will appear.

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You will need to uncheck the Inherits default

style from Scene option to assign a custom
brush style. See “Panel-Specific General Settings”
on page 97 for a description of this option.

Brush settings dialog (accessed from the General tab when a

panel is selected)

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You can set the following options for brushes: different position at each frame. You can intentionally
use this to make an animation look hand drawn, but
• Brush Style: Click one of the thumbnails to use an too much randomness can make the animation look
image for a brush. If you want a standard brush, jittery and wild. Check this box to instruct MotionArtist
choose None. to make an attempt to minimize the randomness and
jitter between frames of the animation.
• Align Brush with Curve: When this option is checked,
the image that you use for the brush style will align • Tint Brush Using Stroke Color: Brushes that appear
with the curve of the panel outline. When the option black in the Brush Settings dialog always take on the
is unchecked, the image will follow the stroke, but the stroke color of the object. This checkbox controls
angle of the image will not align to curves. the color of the brush when colored brushes (like
the radiation symbol brush) are used. If unchecked,
• Brush Jitter Angle: Causes the brush to rotate random
the stroke uses the colors of the brush (such as black
amounts along the stroke. A value of zero lines up all
and yellow for the radiation symbol). If checked, the
the brush patterns, while a value of 360 causes each
colored brush will get tinted by the object’s stroke
stamp of the brush to be rotated at a totally random
color; for example, if the stroke color is green you will
angle. A small angle value like 60 causes the brush
get a green-tinted radiation symbol.
stamps to be mostly aligned, but with a little bit of
randomness.

• Brush Spacing: Allows you to increase or decrease

The HTML Export Tab
the amount of space between the image used for The HTML Export tab includes settings that add interactivity
the brush style. Lower the percentage to decrease to your MotionArtist projects, for publication to the Web.
the amount of space, and raise the percentage to This tab is discussed further in “The HTML Export Tab” on
increase the amount of space between them. page 134.

• Minimize Frame to Frame Randomness: During the

course of an animation, the randomness factor (jitter
angle) of a brush can cause it to jump around to a
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The Image Tab

When you are applying settings to an image or movie,
an Image tab allows you to set specific options for the
selected image or movie. The options are as follows:

Image options

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• Image Settings: Use this section to specify various whether or not the panel is in the view of the
image display and performance settings for your camera.
image or movie file:
Persist last frame: Check this option to pause the
Set Source Image: Click this button to replace the movie at its last frame after the movie has played
existing image with another file on your computer. once. When unchecked, the movie will animate
After you choose a new image or movie, the whether or not the panel is in view of the camera.
filename in the timeline will not change. You will
need to change the filename in the General tab. To play a movie once, and only when the
associated panel is in view of the camera,
Reveal Source Image: Opens your system file check both the Persist First Frame and Persist Last
browser to the folder that contains the source Frame options, and make sure that the Loop Movie
image. Indefinitely option is off. The first frame will be held
AVI Movie has alpha: This option is enabled only until the camera reaches the panel in which the
when you import an AVI movie. Check this option movie is displayed. Then the movie will play until it
if your AVI file has an alpha channel and you want reaches the end, after which the last frame of the
underlying content to appear behind the movie. movie will remain displayed in the panel.

Loop movie indefinitely: Check this option to play

Movie FPS: Enter the frames per second for your
a movie file in a continuous loop.
original movie. MotionArtist will adjust the playback
Play backwards: Check this option if you want the of the movie accordingly. In other words, you
movie to play in reverse order (from last frame to can take a 30FPS video and set the Movie FPS
first) to 120FPS to play back the movie at 4 times its
original speed.
Persist first frame: Check this option to pause the
movie at its first frame until the current panel is in Nearest neighbor sampling: When an image is
focus. When unchecked, the movie will animate scaled up larger than its original size, MotionArtist
will try to smooth out the areas in between pixels to

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create a smoother image. Turn this option off if you Black Level: Darkens the dark areas of the toon
want the enlarged image to appear blocky. effect.

Unwrapped: Check this option to extend the outer Saturation: Increases or decreases the amount of
edges of the movie outward. This is accomplished color. Negative values make the toon more black
by flipping each edge of the movie and placing a and white.
flipped copy at each side (top, bottom, right, left,
Lightness: Increase the setting to make the image
and corners). By doing so, you won’t see any white
appear more faded.
space when the camera displays the panel at an
angle, such as when you use the Arrange in 3D Quantization: Sets the number of colors in the
command (discussed in “Arranging Panels in 3D image. When set to a value greater than 1, the
Space” on page 131). value you enter is the number of colors in the
image.
• Toon Settings: Use this section to apply toon effects
and shading to the selected image or movie:

Toon Effect: Check this option if you want to add

cartoon effects to the content in your scenes.
MotionArtist will perform color reductions that give
photographs a cartoon appearance, based on
the other settings that you enter.

Edge Level: Controls the width of the edges in

the toon effect. Increase the setting to make the
edges wider, and decrease to make the edges
thinner.

Gray Level: Darkens the middle areas of the toon

effect.

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Chapter 8: Working
with Projects

Creating and Opening Projects

MotionArtist allows you to easily create a new project, or
to open existing projects that are installed or saved to your
hard disk:

• To create a new MotionArtist project, choose File

> New, or use the keyboard shortcut COMMAND/ New Project Dialog
CTRL+N. A dialog will prompt you to choose from one
of several project templates (see “Creating a New • Use the File > Open Recent command to select one of
Project” on page 41). After choosing, click the the five most recent projects that you recently worked
Create New Project button: on. You can remove the list of projects from the list by
clicking the Clear Menu command at the bottom.

• To open a previously saved or installed project, choose

File > Open, or use the keyboard shortcut COMMAND/
CTRL+O. Use the Open dialog to locate the folder that
contains the file you want to open. Then click Open.

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If you open a project file and MotionArtist

cannot find some scene elements, you will
be prompted to locate them manually.

Project Settings
To specify dimensions, frame rate, and background color
for your project, choose File > Project Settings, or use the
keyboard shortcut COMMAND/CTRL+SHIFT+P. The Project
Settings dialog displays the following options:

Project Settings Dialog

• Dimensions: Use the drop-down selector to choose

from a variety of preset project dimensions.

Custom: Allows you to specify a custom width,

height, and frame rate for your project.

NTSC D1: Creates a 720 x 534 project.

NTSC D1 Widescreen: NTSC D1: Creates a 872 x 486

project.

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PAL D1/DV: Creates a 788 x 576 project. • Constrain Proportions: Check this option if you want to
resize the figure proportionally if you change either the
PAL D1/DV Widescreen: Creates a 1050 x 576
Width or Height field.
project.

HDV/HDTV 720p: Creates a 1440 x 1080 project. • Width: Enter the desired width for your project.

HDV 1080p: Creates a 1920 x 1080 project. • Height: Enter the desired height for your project.
HDTV 1080p: Creates a 1920 x 1080 project.
• Frame rate: Enter the desired frame rate for your
VGA: Creates a 640 x 480 project. project. The default is 30 frames per second.

Web: Creates a 320 x 240 project. • Default Panel Duration: Enter the default panel
Web Widescreen: Creates a 426 x 240 project. duration in number of frames. Each time you create a
new panel, the length will default to this duration.
YouTube: Creates a 640 x 480 project.
You can set the panel duration of each
YouTube HD: Creates a 1280 x 720 project.
panel in your project individually, in the
iPhone: Creates a 480 x 320 project. General tab of the dialog. For more information, see
“Chapter 13: Importing Content” on page 156.
iPhone 4: Creates a 960 x 640 project.

iPhone 5: Creates a 1136 x 640 project.

• Automatic Panel Opacity: Panels appear dimmed until
iPad: Creates a 1024 x 768 project. the playhead appears over a panel in the timeline.
The default opacity setting is 10%. Increase the setting
iPad HD: Creates a 1280 x 1024 project.
to make the panels appear brighter.
Android: Creates a 480 x 360 project.
• Automatic Camera Tilt: Move the slider toward the left
Android HD: Creates a 1280 x 1024 project. to reduce the amount that the camera tilts when in

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motion. Move the slider toward the right to increase • Save as Defaults: Click this button to save your project
the tilt amount. settings as the new default.

• Background Color: Click the color square to select a • Restore Defaults: Click this button to retrieve the
background color from your system color palette. original MotionArtist default settings.

• HTML5: Specifies background and playback options for Both of these new features are especially
HTML5 output. helpful when designing web content for
HTML5. A transparent background is often necessary
Background Audio: When checked, background
to overlay on existing HTML content, and auto play
audio will play continuously during a presentation,
ensures your content starts as soon as a user arrives
regardless of what scene is playing or if you add
at the web page.
interactive elements for HTML output.

Transparent background: When checked,

an exported HTML5 project will disregard the
background color or image of the project.
Saving a Project
Auto play: When checked, your exported To save your project, choose File > Save, or use the
HTML5 project will bypass the play button and keyboard shortcut COMMAND/CTRL+S.
automatically play when the web page loads. The file will be saved with the .ming file extension.

If you plan to export your MotionArtist project

to HTML5, be aware that iOS devices (iPhone,
Saving to a New File or Folder
iPad, etc) cannot play more than one HTML audio
element at a time. iOS devices will not play back To save your project to a different folder or file name,
the background audio track. choose File > Save As. A dialog will prompt you to choose
the folder to which you want to save the project, and to
enter a file name.

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Saving a Project as a Template

Use the File > Save As A Template command to save
your current project as a template from which to create
other projects. A dialog prompts you to enter a name and
description for the template. After entering this information,
click Save.
A new folder, with the same name as the template, will
be created in your MotionArtist User content folder which
you configured during installation or with the Help > Set
Custom Content Folder command. If you have not yet set
up a custom content folder, you will be prompted to do so
before the template is saved, and then reselect the Save
As A Template command to save your template.
The next time you use the Project Template dialog to Save As A Template Dialog
create a new project, you will see your custom template in
the list of available templates to choose from.

Closing Your Project

To close your current project, choose File > Close, or use
the keyboard shortcut COMMAND/CTRL+W. MotionArtist
will remain open.

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Quitting MotionArtist
To quit MotionArtist and close all documents, choose File
> Quit, or use the keyboard shortcut COMMAND/CTRL+Q.
You will be prompted to save changes that have not yet
been saved before MotionArtist closes.

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Chapter 9: Working Each scene tab has its own set of controls, as shown in the
following figure.

with Scenes
All MotionArtist projects must include at least one scene.
When you create a new MotionArtist project, it contains Scene tab.
one scene by default.
From left to right, these controls are as follows:
MotionArtist scenes are based on the Anime
Studio file format. Anime Studio files cannot • Scene Name: Double-click the scene name to open
be opened as a MotionArtist project, but they can the Layer Settings window, described in “Chapter 7:
be imported as a content object or floated in a The Layer Settings Window” on page 93.
scene.
• Scene Visibility: When toggled on, the scene will be
One way to think of a scene is as a representation of played back in the timeline, and will be rendered in
one page in a comic book; or one chapter in a book. the final output. When toggled off, the scene will not
Therefore, if you want to create the MotionArtist equivalent play back in the timeline or be rendered in the final
of a 24-page comic book, your MotionArtist project would output.
contain 24 scenes.
• Scene Lock: Toggle the lock on to prevent accidental
changes to the scene. Toggle the lock off to allow
Adding Scenes scene editing.

To add a scene, choose File > Add Scene. When you • Presentation Mode: Toggles Presentation Mode on
choose this command, a new scene tab appears above or off, as discussed in “Presentation Mode” on page
the timeline. 65 and “Standard Mode” on page 64.

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• Transitions: Opens the Transitions menu, as discussed in

“Using Transitions” on page 116.
Duplicating Scenes
To duplicate a scene, choose File > Duplicate Scene. The
new scene will appear immediately after the scene you
Changing Scenes duplicated. All of the content from the original scene will
be duplicated in the new scene.
To change from one scene to another in your MotionArtist
project, simply click the Scene Tab for the scene you want
to edit. When you change from one scene to another, the
document will go to frame 0 in that scene.
Reordering Scenes
You can easily change the order of your scenes by simply
dragging one of the scene tabs, and dropping it into a
Deleting Scenes new location. For example, if your project has three scenes
named First Scene, Second Scene, and Third Scene, you
To delete a scene, choose File > Delete Scene. This
can reposition the scene named First Scene after the Third
command will be disabled when there is only one scene in
Scene, as shown in the following figure.
the project. The scene and all its contents will be deleted
from your project.

The Delete Scene command will not ask for

confirmation before the scene is deleted.
You can use the Edit > Undo command (or
COMMAND/CTRL+Z) to undelete the scene
immediately.

Reordering Scenes.

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Using Transitions
You can use scene transitions when the timeline moves
from one scene to the next. The default transition is a
“cut”, which simply moves to the next scene without
any sort of transitional effect. There are seven additional
transition effects that you can choose from the Transition
popup menu.
The last item in the Transition selector is Duration, which Click the Transition button to display the Transition list.
allows you to specify the length, in frames, for the transition
of the current scene to the next. The default duration is 3. The Cut transition is selected by default. When the
12 frames; to adjust the setting, click Duration in the flyout Cut transition is selected, the Duration command is
menu. The Duration is disabled only when the Cut transition disabled. This option plays the next scene immediately
is selected as shown in the above figure. after the currently selected scene, with no transitional
To create a scene transition, follow these steps: effect.

1. Click the scene tab associated with the scene after 4. If you choose any other transition type, the Duration
which you want to add the transition. command will enable, allowing you to set the number
of frames for the transition. The default setting is
2. Click the Transition button (the last button in the scene
12 frames. You can enter a different value in the
tab) to open the Transition menu.
Transition Duration dialog.

Transitions that have an asterisk (*) after their

name are supported in HTML5.

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Transition duration.

5. Choose the transition effect that you want to add:

Crossfade: The current scene will fade out as the Horizontal wipe.
next scene fades in.

Fade to Black: The current scene fades to a black Vertical Wipe: The next scene wipes in from
background, after which the next scene fades in bottom to top, covering over the previous scene.
from black.

Fade to White: The current scene fades to a white

background, after which the next scene fades in
from white.

Horizontal Wipe: The next scene wipes in from right

to left, covering over the previous scene.

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Vertical wipe. Iris wipe.

Iris Wipe: The current scene is wiped out by a circle Crumble: The current scene will reveal the next
that decreases in size; the next scene is wiped in scene based on lightness and darkness values. It
by a circle that increases in size. starts by turning the current scene into black and
white, and then reveals the next scene in color
gradually until the earlier scene is completely
gone.

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Crumble.

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Chapter 10: Working • To place a new panel as the third panel in the
sequence, select Panel 2. Then create your new

with Panels panel(s).

• The original panels 3, 4, and 5 will move toward the

right in the timeline (playing after the new panels), and
Panels display the content that you import into MotionArtist
will move upward in the layer order (being closer to
in predefined areas. Each MotionArtist project begins with
you than the new panels).
one rectangular panel. However, you can add several
panels to one scene.
Note that the width of the stroke around the
Panels can be rectangular, oval, or irregularly shaped. The panel will change if you rescale the panel
Panel tools, which appear above the Timeline, allow you with the Move tool. If you want to create panels of
to create panels quickly and easily. different sizes but which have the same stroke width,
you will need to create them at the same time and
size them as you want to be sized when you create
Creating New Panels them. Alternatively, you can rescale the panel, but
then manually enter the desired Stroke Width in the
New panels have a 30-frame duration by default. New
General tab of the panel’s Layer Settings dialog, as
panels will always appear directly above a selected
described in “Panel-Specific General Settings” on
panel when you create them. For example, consider this
page 97.
example:

• There are five panels, numbered Panel 1 through There are a couple of different ways that you can create a
Panel 5. new panel on the artboard:

• Panel 1 appears at the bottom of the timeline, and • Choose Panel > New Panel, or use the keyboard
plays first. Each subsequently numbered panel shortcut COMMAND/CTRL+SHIFT+N to add a new
appears in the layer above, and appear in numerical panel to your project. This creates a rectangular panel.
sequence in the timeline.
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• Use one of the panel tools that appear above the

timeline. From left to right these tools are: Rectangular
Panel (shortcut R); Oval Panel (shortcut O); Polygonal
Panel (shortcut M), Camera Target (shortcut A) and
Split Panels (shortcut S).

Panel tools

Use the keyboard shortcut P repeatedly to

cycle forward through the panel tools.
Rectangle Panel
SHIFT+P will cycle backward.

1. Click the Rectangular Panel tool above the timeline, or

You can use the TAB key to cycle to the next use the keyboard shortcut R.
panel on the artboard, or SHIFT+TAB to cycle
to the previous panel.

Rectangular Panels (R)

Rectangle Panel tool
To create a Rectangular Panel, follow these steps:
2. Draw your panel on the artboard as follows:

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To create a rectangular panel, click to create 1. Click the Oval Panel tool above the timeline, or use
the first corner, and then drag in the diagonally the keyboard shortcut O.
opposite direction. Release the mouse button to
set the shape.

To create a square panel, hold the SHIFT key down

while you click and drag to draw the shape.
Oval Panel tool
To create a rectangular or square panel from
its center point, hold the ALT key while you click
(rectangle) or SHIFT-click (square) and drag. 2. Draw your panel on the artboard as follows:

Oval Panels (O) To create an oval panel, click to create the first
To create an Oval Panel, follow these steps: corner, and then drag in the diagonally opposite
direction. Release the mouse button to set the
oval shape.

To create a circle panel, hold the SHIFT key down

while you click and drag to draw the shape.

To create an oval or circle panel from its center

point, hold the ALT key while you click (oval) or
SHIFT-click (circle) and drag.

Polygon Panels (M)

To create a Polygon Panel, follow these steps:

Oval Panel

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2. Click to set the first point in the polygonal shape.

3. Click again to set the next point.

4. To set the last point, double click to both add the point
and then complete the polygon panel.

Camera Targets (A)

The Camera Target tool is used to define focus points for
the auto camera. These panels never show up in final
output.

Polygon Panel Camera Target tool

1. Click the Polygon Panel tool above the timeline, or use To explain how the Camera Target works, assume that you
the keyboard shortcut M. have scanned a page from a comic and want to create
a quick movie presentation that goes from one panel to
the next. The quickest way to accomplish this is to import
your scanned comic book page as a background image,
and then create one or more Camera Targets that move
Polygon Panel tool the camera across the page.

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1. Choose File > Import Background. Locate the scanned

comic page that you want to import. The page
appears as a background image that will not be
affected by the Auto Camera command.

2. Choose the Camera Target tool or use the keyboard

shortcut A, and draw a rectangle around the first
panel in the scanned comic. The camera target
will shade the area within it, and an object named
Camera Target x (where x is a sequential number)
appears in the Timeline.

A camera target is drawn over the first panel in an imported

background image.

3. Draw Camera Targets over the remaining panels on

the scanned comic page.

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duration to the number of frames that are necessary

to read the text comfortably.

All panels on the scanned comic page have been covered

with Camera Targets.

4. Switch to Standard Mode, if necessary, to adjust the

timing of each of the camera targets to give viewers In Standard Mode, adjust panel durations to allow sufficient
a sufficient amount of time to read the text in each time to read the text in each Camera Target.
comic panel. Double-click each camera target to
open the Layer Settings window, and set the Panel

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5. Choose Arrange > Auto Camera to automatically

animate the camera from the first to last panel in the
order that you created them.

You can rearrange the order of the camera

targets in the timeline. Presentation mode will
automatically adjust and update the timeline as
needed when you make changes. However, if you
rearrange the order of the camera targets in
Standard mode you’ll need to re-run the Auto
Camera command to pick up the changes. You will
need to re-run the Auto Camera command after
you clear the camera movement from the
appropriate frames. Preview your project in Camera view before you render it.

6. Switch to Camera view to preview the project before

you render your movie. Adding Panels in Presentation Mode
As mentioned in “Presentation Mode” on page 65,
Presentation Mode allows you to quickly add content
to your scene, and will animate the camera for you
automatically.
To demonstrate this, try this to start:
1. Choose File > New (or COMMAND/CTRL+N) to create
a new project.

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2. Use the Panel tools (described in “Creating New When the playhead moves over an empty space
Panels” on page 120) to create several new panels in the timeline, the camera transitions from the
and add them to the workspace. current panel to the next panel.

3. Notice that when you add a panel, it also appears The gaps between the panels in the timeline vary
in the timeline. Each additional panel appears in the in size. This is because the camera moves at a
timeline with some space in between the two. constant speed, and the transition between two
panels will take less time when panels are closer
4. Now press the Play button. Notice the following: together, and more time when they are farther
apart.
When the playhead appears over a panel in the
timeline, the camera is stationary. The panel is When you are working in Presentation Mode,
displayed in full opacity, while the other panels in dragging a panel left or right will not increase
the artboard are displayed with less opacity. or decrease the speed of the camera or the
amount of time it takes to transition from one panel
Panels have a default duration of 30 frames, to the next.
unless set otherwise in the Preferences dialog.
If you double-click the panel in the timeline you can 5. If you want to change the order of your panels, select
open the Layer Settings window to specify a a panel and move it up or down in the timeline. For
different panel duration. Simply uncheck the example, if you want Panel 2 to play last instead of
Automatic option and enter the desired duration in second, drag it to the top of the stack in the timeline.
the Panel Duration field. When you change the Panels that once followed Panel 2 will shift backward
duration of a panel, the panels that appear in the timeline, and Panel 2 will appear last.
afterward will shift to accommodate the new
length.

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Splitting Panels (S)

The Split Panel tool allows you to split a panel into two or
more sections. To split a panel, follow these steps:
1. Use the Move tool (keyboard shortcut V) to select the Split Panel tool
panel that you want to split. You can select the panel
by clicking in the artboard, or in the timeline. The Width field that appears to the right of
the Split Panel tool allows you to enter a
gutter setting between 1 and 256 pixels.

3. Enter the pixel width of the gap that you want to

appear in between the panels after they split. The
default is 32 pixels.

4. Draw a line over the panel with the Split Panel tool, in
the area where you want the panel to split. Click to
start the line, and then release the mouse when you
drag the tool to the other end of the split.

Use the Move tool to select the panel you want to split.

2. Select the Split Panel tool, or use the keyboard shortcut

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Draw a line over the panel with the Split Panel tool, where you The panel will split into two pieces after you release the mouse
want the panel to split. button.

You can quickly create a vertical split that Panels can be split in Presentation Mode, or in Standard
divides a panel into right and left sections by Mode. The main difference is as follows:
simply clicking the panel with the Split Panel tool in
• When you split a panel in Presentation Mode, the new
the area that you want the split to appear.
panel section will appear in the layer immediately
above the panel that you split. Subsequent panels will
be moved toward the right in the timeline to make
room for the new panel section so that it plays in the
correct sequence.

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• When you split a panel in Standard Mode, the new Select the Move tool above the timeline, then
panel section will appear in the layer immediately click to select a panel from the artboard in
above the panel that you split, but it will not shift in Director view,
time. You will need to reposition the timing of the new
Click to select a panel in the timeline. Use the SHIFT
panel section and all subsequent panels manually.
key to select a contiguous range of panels, or the
• If the panel that you split uses a default panel name CTRL key to add additional panels by clicking on
(such as Panel 2), the new panel section will use the them.
next consecutive number (such as Panel 3). If your 2. Choose Panel > Duplicate Panel to duplicate the
project already has a panel named as such, this will selected panel.
result in duplicate panel names in the project.
If your panels are named numerically (such as Panel 1,
• If the panel that you split uses a custom panel name Panel 2, Panel 3, and so on), the duplicated panel will
(such as “My First Panel”), the new panel section will use the next number in sequence to the panel that you
be named the same but with a number appended to duplicated. For example, if you duplicate Panel 2, the new
it (such as “My First Panel 2”). panel will be named Panel 3. The new panel will appear in
the layer directly above Panel 2 (therefore being closer),
and immediately after Panel 2 in the timeline (therefore
Duplicating Panels playing after Panel 2).

If you have a panel that contains a lot of content that you Double-click on a panel in the artboard or in
want to reuse in the scene, you can duplicate the panel. the timeline to open the Layer Settings
Follow these steps: window. You can assign a new name for your panel
1. Select the panel that you want to duplicate, using one in the General tab. For more information about
of the following methods: panel settings, see “Chapter 13: Importing
Content” on page 156.

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When you duplicate a panel in Presentation 1. Select the panel that you want to delete, using one of
Mode, the duplicated panel will appear in the following methods:
the layer above the panel you selected for
duplication, and will also appear immediately after Use the Move tool above the timeline to select a
the original panel in the timeline. The other objects panel from the artboard in Director view,
on the timeline will shift forward in time to
Click to select a panel in the timeline. Use the SHIFT
accommodate the duplicated panel.
key to select a contiguous range of panels, or the
CTRL key to add additional panels by clicking on
them.
2. Do one of the following:

Choose Panel > Delete Panel to delete the

selected panel(s).

Press the Delete key to delete the selected

panel(s).

MotionArtist will not ask to confirm the

deletion of panels. However, you can
choose Edit > Undo (or COMMAND/CTRL+Z) to undo
Duplicated panel the deletion.

Deleting Panels Arranging Panels in 3D Space

To delete a panel, follow these steps: The Panel > Arrange in 3D command allows you to
arrange selected panels in three-dimensional space.

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When you apply this command, the effect will not be

obvious in Director View. However, when you switch to
Camera View and play the animation, you will see the
panels increase and decrease in size, depending on the
position of the camera.
When you look at the 3D-arranged panels in Camera
View, you see the panels in a parallax. The appearance
of the panels changes depending on your line of sight. A
good analogy is to think of the appearance as though you
are standing in front of a house. The panel immediately in
front of you is the front door. Panels that are to the left or
right of the panel are first-floor windows. Panels that are
above the door are upper-level windows, and panels that
are below the door are basement windows. When you
look at the windows at the sides, above and below the
door, they are angled based on your view.

The Arrange > Arrange in 3D command

allows you to perform a similar function on
Panels arranged in 3D (shown during a transition in Camera
other objects besides panels.
view)

Flattening Panels
The Panel > Flatten Panel command removes the 3D
effect on a panel. For example, if you had previously run

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the Arrange In 3Dcommand, you can choose the Panel If you uncheck the Allow Animation option
> Flatten Panel command to reverse the effect. It will on a panel that has previously been
rearrange all the objects inside the panel to be at the animated, it will clear the animation on that panel.
same Z depth.
Animated panels allow you to accomplish some unique
effects. For example, you can place a movie in a panel,
Fitting Panels to Selections and then “shatter” the panel as follows:

The Panel > Fit Panel to Selection command allows you to 1. Select the panel that you want to shatter.
resize a panel so that it fits to the items that are currently
selected. In Panel view, select an item in the panel, and 2. Move the timeline to the point at which you want the
then choose the Panel > Fit Panel to Selection command panel to shatter.
to resize the panel to fit around it.
3. Open the Layer Settings dialog for that panel, and
enable the Allow Animation option. (See “Panel-
Animating Panels Specific General Settings” on page 97.)

4. Use the Split Panel tool to cut the panel up into smaller
You can animate a panel in much the same way that
sections. (See “Splitting Panels (S)” on page 128).
you can animate any other MotionArtist object. To make
a panel animatable, select the panel that you want to
5. Select all individual parts that were once a single
animate, and open the Layer Settings dialog. Then check
panel, and transform them as a group.
the Allow Animation option discussed in “Panel-Specific
General Settings” on page 97. 6. Select all of the pieces and then run the Scatter
command to define where the pieces will shatter to.
When you set the Allow Animation option,
MotionArtist will add a stop point at the
frame at which the option was set.

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Chapter 11: HTML5 which allows for engaging presentations. You can assign
a multitude of actions that will trigger when the user clicks

Export and Interactivity or taps a panel or object in the presentation in their web
browser or tablet.
The Layer Settings window provides the following options
Creating interactive presentations of your comics is one in the HTML Export tab when you have a panel or object
of the most powerful and useful features of Motion Artist. selected:
HTML5 Export options allow you to upload your comics to
a web page that will display your project in the viewer’s
default browser. You can also give your objects interactive
scene directions and make your presentation come alive
on tablets and computers. This section will explain in detail
exactly how to give your MotionArtist project that extra
interactive element to entertain your readers!

The HTML Export Tab

The HTML Export tab in the Layer Settings dialog is the main
go-to for adding interactivity to your presentation. This tab
appears in the Layer Settings dialogs relating to scenes,
panels, and objects.

Panel and Object Behaviors

Nearly every object or animated panel you create in
MotionArtist can have interactive actions applied to them, HTML Export options for panels and objects

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• Delayed animation: Delays the selected object’s To navigate to a specific frame in your
animation indefinately, or untiled triggered by another presentation, enter frame, followed by the frame
HTML5 action. (Often used in conjunction with the number that you want to jump to (example:
“trigger:[object name]” command.) frame:217).

• Click or Tap Action: Check this option to enable HTML5 To navigate to a specific scene in your
interactivity for the selected object. Then enter the presentation, enter scene: followed by the exact
desired instruction in the neighboring text box. For scene name you want to jump to (example:
example, you can enter a target URL if you want the scene:Cliffhanger).
web browser to navigate to a web address when the To navigate to the next scene in your presentation,
panel is clicked. Or, to jump to another scene, simply enter scene:next.
enter the command Scene:Scene 4 to jump to the
beginning of Scene 4. The dialog presents several To navigate to the previous scene in your
examples for information that can be entered in this presentation, enter scene:prev.
field, and will be used to create navigation elements To trigger a specific object animation, enter
and menu systems in your HTML output: tigger: followed by the name of the object whose
animation you wish to start.
Interactivity directions are case-sensitive and
space-sensitive; entering an incorrect By combining “Delayed animation” and the
command will result in no action. “trigger:[object name]” command, you can
greatly increase the possibilities of interactive
To navigate to a web page when a panel or elements in your HTML5 web project. Try to play and
object is clicked or tapped, enter the URL for get familiar with this behavior, as it can be very
the web page you want to open. Then check or effective, and isn’t limited by the number of
uncheck the Open in a New Browser Window or simultaneous triggers.
Tab option, depending on whether you want the
web page to open in the same window as your
presentation, or to open the URL in a new page.
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Please note employing auto play on iOS

devices with prevent audio from playing. This
is a restriction of mobile Safari.

End of Scene Behaviors

When you are using the Layer Settings dialog to apply
settings to a scene, the HTML export tab displays options HTML Export options for Scenes
that occur when the end of the scene is reached. While
the End of Scene directions are not exclusively necessary
• End of scene behavior: This drop-down list allows you
for interactive projects, they are extremely helpful.
to choose one of four options that will happen when
When no end of scene directions are the end of the scene is reached:
specified for a scene, the default behavior is Continue to Next Scene: This is the default choice.
to continue with the next scene, until the end of the When the end of a scene is reached, MotionArtist
project is reached. The project will stop and the will continue to the next scene automatically, if
viewer cannot access click or tap scene directions one exists. Playback will stop at the end of the last
unless the viewer chooses Replay. To get around scene.
this, you can add one of the end of scene directions
as described below. These options will pause or loop Pause at End of Scene: When the end of a scene
the project, and allow the viewer the opportunity to is reached, playback will pause until an element
advance or navigate the project as he or she on that scene is clicked. For example, you can use
chooses. the Layer Settings dialog to configure an image as
a button that takes the user to another scene in
The end of scene behavior options are as follows: your movie.

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When you choose Pause at End of Scene, be

sure to also include an element on the page
Exporting to HTML5
that advances to the next scene (such as a button The File > Export HTML5 command will export your project
or something else to click or tap). Otherwise, there in HTML5 format, ready to be viewed directly on the web.
will be no way for the user to advance any further in A dialog appears with a few options to choose from.
your presentation.
When you publish your projects to the
Loop Scene: When the end of a scene is reached, MotionArtist.TV portal, they are exported in
playback will return to the first frame in the scene HTML5 format before they are published online. For
and replay continually. more information about MotionArtist.TV, see
“Publishing to MotionArtistTV” on page 215.
Jump to Project Beginning: When the end of a
scene is reached, playback will return to the
beginning of the project. When you export your project to HTML5, MotionArtist
creates a folder that contains one or more HTML
files. The folder will use a name that is similar to the
Previewing HTML5 Output project that you are exporting. The main file in that
folder will be named index.html. If you have multiple
Use the File > Preview HTML5 command to generate and scenes in your MotionArtist project, Scene 2 will be
open a preview of your project in HTML5 format. After exported as index2.html, Scene 3 will be exported
MotionArtist generates the content, it will open in your as index3.html, and so on. Exported images and text
default web browser. balloons will be placed within an images folder, and
style sheets (if used) will be placed in a CSS folder.

To export your comic to the web, follow these steps:

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1. With your completed project open in MotionArtist, MotionArtist provides two basic style sheets
choose File > Export HTML5. The Export HTML 5 dialog for your web pages, in colored or black and
appears. white versions. You may also choose no style sheet
at all, which will simply load your project to a blank
page.

You can also create your own custom style

sheet, and save it to your MotionArtist
content folder, in a subfolder named HTML Export
Styles. For more information about creating a
content folder, see “MotionArtist Demo” on page
33.

Scale images for the Web: When checked,

large images (such as those used for print) will
be downsized appropriately for display in web
browsers. This will speed up the loading process and
frame rate of your exported presentation.

Full-screen playback: When checked, the

Export HTML5.
exported project will fill the whole screen of the
viewing device or window.
2. Choose one or more of the following options:
Click OK to export the comic. The Browser for
Style Sheet: Allows you to choose a CSS style sheet Folder dialog will prompt you to choose or create
that will format the appearance of the HTML a folder for exporting. MotionArtist will export to this
pages.
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folder any audio, images, and movies that your

project contains in addition to HTML and CSS files.
Pausing and Resuming Playback
3. After exporting, the web page will open in your default Camera pause points can be used to add another level
browser where you can test it. of user interactivity, and allow a user to interact with your
presentation from panel to panel with clicks or taps.
The window displays each panel in your scene within a
canvas on the HTML page. A button beneath the canvas Camera pause points must be configured in
allows you to play or pause playback. If a scene contains Standard Mode. Be sure that Presentation
multiple panels, PREV and NEXT buttons allow you to move Mode is turned off to configure these options.
forward or backward between those panels.

Pausing Playback
You can pause the camera at any camera stop point in
your project and turn this feature on or off for any camera
stop point at any time in your project.
To configure a camera pause, double-click the camera
stop point that you want to pause. The timeline will
advance to that stop point, and its properties will appear
in the Camera Stop Point window. Then check the Pause
Playback option. When checked, playback will stop at the
desired stop point until the user responds with a click or tap
action.

A project as viewed in a web browser. Camera pauses will not affect the
background soundtrack.

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You can also use the Arrange > Animation > Add
Camera Pause Point command to add a camera
pause point anywhere in the camera track.

Camera Pause Point on Timeline.

Resuming Playback
To resume playback after a camera is paused, the reader
of the comic or presentation can click or tap anywhere.
However, if they click an object that has a different HTML
interactivity assigned to it, that object’s configuration will
take precedence over the camera pause.
For example, if the user is on a screen that contains a
Add Camera Pause Point. button that says “Jump to Chapter 5”, the presentation will
jump to Chapter 5 if he or she clicks that button; but if the
user clicks on the background in that screen, playback will
continue from the current screen.

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If an interactive element is assigned to the 4. Playback will resume anywhere the user clicks or
scene itself (a click or tap action such as taps, unless the clicked object has another HTML tag
scene:next, or frame:23, as discussed in “Panel and applied to it.
Object Behaviors” on page 134) then the scene is
considered to be an interactive element. The user
will be unable to continue from the pause point, as
the scene action will take precedence.

Suggested Uses
Following are some suggested uses of camera pause
points.

Example 1
5. Camera Pause Point on Timeline.
You want playback to pause when the reader gets to
a certain panel, until the reader clicks on something Example 2
to continue the animation. You can accomplish this as
follows: You want playback to pause when the animation in a
panel finishes playing, at which point the user needs to
1. Verify that Presentation Mode is turned off.
click a button or tap to move to the next panel. Follow
2. Move the playback head to the first frame of that these steps:
panel. 1. Verify that Presentation Mode is turned off.

3. Choose Arrange > Animation > Add Camera Pause 2. Move the timeline playback head to the last frame in
Point. the panel.

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3. Choose Arrange > Animation > Add Camera Pause 4. Choose Arrange > Auto Camera. A camera stop point
Point. will automatically be created for each image.

4. Playback will proceed with the next panel anywhere 5. In Director’s view, choose the Camera tool (shortcut
the user clicks or taps, unless the clicked object has C).
another HTML tag applied to it.
6. Double click on any Camera Stop Point to open the
Camera Stop Point window.

7. Check the Pause Playback option.

8. Repeat steps 6-7 for each stop point at which you

want the presentation to stop until the viewer clicks or
taps.

Camera Pause Point at the end of a panel.

Example 3

You want to create an interactive slideshow of images.

1. Verify that Presentation Mode is turned off.

2. Import your images and select them all.

3. Choose Arrange > Scatter to scatter the images on the

artboard.

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or Notepad), open the index.html file that was saved

with MotionArtist. The HTML code will look similar to the
following:
<!DOCTYPE HTML>

<HTML lang=”en”>
<head>
<meta charset=”utf-8”>
<title>MotionArtist -
_974ad49b16f9468aaa34258596f972dd</title>
<link rel=”stylesheet” type=”text/css” href=”css/
MA_style.css”>
<script src=”http://motionartist.smithmicro.com/
public/motionartist_1.0.js”></script>
<script src=”scripts/_974ad49b16f9468aaa34258596f972
dd.js”></script>
</head>
<body>

Adding a Pause Point in the Camera Stop Point window. <div class=”MADoc”>
<canvas id=”_974ad49b16f9468aaa34258596f972dd_canvas”
width=”780” height=”440”></canvas>
</div>
<div class=”MAButtons”>
Embedding a MotionArtist Project <ul class=”MAButtonSet”>
<li><button class=”MAButton” id=”_974ad49b16f9468a
aa34258596f972dd_pauseButton”>Play</button></li>
Advanced web users can embed the MotionArtist HTML </ul>
scripts into their own HTML files and embed the MotionArtist </div>
presentation directly into their web pages A small amount </body>
of web design knowledge is required, but the basic steps </HTML>
are described here. 2. Copy the CSS and script section from your MotionArtist
1. Using a text editor that allows you to ignore rich text index.html page (example shown below) between the
commands when you save a file (such as TextEditor <head> .. </head> tags of your custom web page:

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• Finally, in Step 4, you will need to copy the multimedia

<title>MotionArtist -
f2dc8479c90b4769a3b8bf4c8c8c5ed5</title> resources from the audio, css, images, and scripts
<link rel=”stylesheet” type=”text/css” href=”css/ folders into the same relative folders as your HTML file.
MA_style.css”>
<script src=”http://motionartist.smithmicro.com/
public/motionartist_1.0.js”></script>
<script src=”scripts/f2dc8479c90b4769a3b8bf4c8c8c5ed5.
js”></script>
Interactivity Techniques and
• In Step 3, you will need to copy the <div> section for
Notes
each project into your web page, as shown in the MotionArtist allows you to publish your comics to the
following example (again, separated by a space for Internet, so that they can be viewed in web browsers that
clarity): support HTML5. Your MotionArtist projects will be placed
<div class=”MADoc”>
<canvas id=”_974ad49b16f9468aaa34258596f972dd_canvas”
within a canvas on the HTML5 web page.
width=”780” height=”440”></canvas>
</div>
The elements of your MotionArtist scene are placed in
<div class=”MAButtons”> a CANVAS element inside the HTML5 web page. The
<ul class=”MAButtonSet”>
CANVAS element is supported by Internet Explorer 9
<li><button class=”MAButton” id=”_974ad49b16f9468a
aa34258596f972dd_pauseButton”>Play</button></li> (and later), Firefox, Opera, Chrome, and Safari browsers.
</ul> Detailed information on the CANVAS tag can be found at
</div>
http://www.w3schools.com/html5/html5_ref_canvas.asp.
<div class=”MADoc”>
<canvas id=”f2dc8479c90b4769a3b8bf4c8c8c5ed5_canvas”
• JavaScript is used to draw the graphics on the
width=”872” height=”486”></canvas>
</div> HTML page, and is contained in the file named
<div class=”MAButtons”> motionartist_1.0.js. The HTML page references
<ul class=”MAButtonSet”>
<li><button class=”MAButton” id=”f2dc8479c90b4769a an external version of this file by default, located on
3b8bf4c8c8c5ed5_pauseButton”>Play</button></li> a remote Smith Micro Software Inc. server. This makes
</ul>
</div> loading images and audio easier and faster for the
majority of users. If you would like to download the
motionartist_1.0.js file to use on your own personal

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server, simply reference the new path in the HTML Opacity

directions (example: <script src=”scripts/
Unwrapping image
motionartist_1.0.js”></script>
Outline

Creating a Home Scene Toon Effect

Shadow
By creating a home scene (such as a table of contents
scene or menu page), you enable your viewers to branch Shading effects
out to different scenes, and the return to the home scene
Blur
with just a click.
• Interactive elements: Use the HTML Export tab in the
• Create a home scene that includes interactive objects
layer settings dialog to configure the functionality of
that navigate to other scenes in your project.
clickable objects, looping scenes, and so on. (See
• Be sure to include interactive objects in each of the “The HTML Export Tab” on page 134). You can also
other scenes that return the viewer back to the home add interactivity with camera pause points (choose
scene at anytime. Arrange > Position Camera and set the camera pause
points in the Camera Stop Point window).
• You can also duplicate your home scene, then
animate the objects to create an interactive page! • Scene Transitions: Cut, Fade to Black, and Fade to
White are supported in HTML5.

Supported Features in HTML5 Crossfade, Horizontal Wipe, Vertical Wipe, Iris

Wipe, and Crumble are not supported in
Basic HTML5 features that are supported by MotionArtist HTML5.
are as follows:

• Supported image layer parameters that get baked for • Panel shapes, objects (images), and camera
output on their first frame: movement are supported.
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• Setting the background color of the scene. • Blur, Outline, Shadow, and Shading effects: There is
currently no way to support the “blur” effect in HTML5.
• Optimizing the size of the exported image for the web. Any object with animated blur will export with the blur
value that is set at frame 0. The same goes for Outline,
• The ability to place a clickable hotspot in your scene
Shadow and shading effects.
as a floating object, or attached to an object. This can
be triggered by a single tap or mouse click. • Brushes on Panel Strokes. If you choose to outline your
panel with a brush, it will not export correctly to HTML5.
To assign a hotspot to a floating object,
The stroke on the panel will be the same thickness, but
image, or panel, open the Layer Settings
just be the basic stroke.
window to the HTML Export tab, and enter the
hotspot destination in the Click or Tap Action field. • Camera Tilt is not used in HTML-exported projects.
For an example of this tab see “The HTML Export
Tab” on page 134. • Layer blend modes are not supported in HTML output.

• Imported Anime Studio file features that are not

supported in HTML5 include:
Unsupported Features in HTML5
Bending vectors or images with bones
Due to the challenges of supporting multiple browsers
Particle layers
in HTML5, some effects that would normally work when
exported from MotionArtist to video don’t function ideally 3D rotations
in HTML export. Here’s a list of instances that won’t export
3D camera movements
with HTML5:
Actions
• Video: Currently for version 1.x, video cannot be
exported to HTML5 due to the variety of video support Smart bones
among web browsers. 3D layers (including imported Poser layers)

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Animated point movement.

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Chapter 12: The Library access files from multiple locations in a centralized
location.

Window You can drag items from Finder or from Windows Explorer
to place them in your library.

The Library Window is not included in the

MotionArtist Mac App Store version.

By default, the Library appears undocked. You can dock

or undock the Library window as follows:
To undock a docked Library window, choose Window
> Library, or use the keyboard shortcut COMMAND/
CTRL+SHIFT+L.

• Choose the command again to redock the Library

window.
The Library window consists of two tabs: The Library tab
and the Search tab. Within the Library tab are two main
folders:
The first folder is called Current Project, and displays the
contents that are in use in your currently opened project.

• The second folder is called My Library. These are virtual

folders, or shortcuts that allow you to point to content The Library Window.
from anywhere on your system, allowing you to easily

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Current Project Folder

As you create scenes and add content to your opened
project, the Current Project folder in the Library will display
the content in each of the scenes in a Scene subfolder.
The following image shows an expanded view of the
Current Project folder as an example.
When you first start MotionArtist, the default project consists
of one scene, with one panel in the scene. The following
screen shot shows the scene and panel expanded so that
you can see the objects that appear within the panel. The
currently selected item appears with a larger thumbnail.

Current Project folder.

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My Library Folder
The My Library folder is a virtual folder hierarchy that
provides easy, organized, and centralized access to files
that you have stored in different locations on your system.
You can create your own folders and add links to images,
movies, sounds, and other content that is compatible
with MotionArtist. The files that you link to can exist in
any location that you can browse to in Finder (Mac) or
Windows Explorer (Windows).
Four buttons appear at the bottom of the Library window
to assist in creating folders and subfolders in which to store
the content, and to add these items to your project. From
left to right, these buttons are:

Library buttons.

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• Add to Scene: After you select an item from your My 1. Select the “parent” folder beneath which you want
Library folder, click this button to add the item to your to create the new folder. For example, if you want to
project. create a new folder beneath the My Library folder,
highlight the My Library folder to begin.
• Add a Folder: Click this button to create a new folder
beneath the folder that you currently have selected. 2. Click the Add a Folder button at the bottom of the
Library window.
• Add to Library: Click this button to add objects to the
currently selected My Library folder. 3. A dialog prompts you to enter a name for the new
folder.
The Add to Library button only allows you to
add content to folders that appear beneath
the My Library folder. In order for content to appear
in the Current Project folder you’ll have to add the
content to the scenes in your currently opened
project.

• Delete from Library: This button appears only when Creating a new Library folder.
you have selected a folder or content item that
you created yourself. It will not appear when you
4. Choose OK to create the new folder. The new folder
select content and folders that were furnished with
appears in the Library window.
MotionArtist.

Creating New My Library Folders

To create a new folder beneath the My Library folder,
follow these steps:
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2. Navigate to the location that stores the files that you

want to add. Select one or more files from the folder
and click Open.

The new folder in the Library window.

Adding Content to the My Library Folder

After you create folders in the My Library folder, you can
add content to these folders. This helps you organize your
content in easy to find categories. Use the Add to Library dialog to select one or more files to add
to the selected folder.
To add content to the My Library folder, proceed as
follows:
3. The items that you selected will appear in the selected
1. Select the My Library folder that will store the content My Library folder when you return to the library. A
you want to add. thumbnail will appear for each content item, and
the name of the file will appear at the right of the
1. Click the Add to Library button at the bottom of the
thumbnail.
Library window. The Add to Library dialog prompts you
to locate the files that you want to upload.

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Deleting My Library Content and Folders

When you delete files and folders from your My Library
folder, it will not delete the original content that is stored
on your hard drive. Rather, it deletes the My Library
reference links to those files.
To delete file or folder references that you created or
added to the My Library folder, follow these steps:
1. From the My Library folder or subfolders, select the file
or folder that you want to delete.

2. Click the Delete from Library button at the bottom of

the Library window.

3. A dialog informs you that the reference for the

selected entry will be deleted from the Library. Answer
No to cancel the operation, or Yes to delete the
selected file reference.

Selecting a single file will only delete the

reference to that file. Selecting a folder will
delete the reference to the folder and all file
Content added to the My Library subfolder.
references contained within that folder.

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An option in the confirmation dialog will also To search the contents of the library, follow these steps:
allow you to automatically delete items in
1. Enter a search term in the Search For field.
the future, without confirmation. Check the Always
delete without confirming option before you choose 2. Click Search. MotionArtist will display the results, after
Yes to delete the selected file if you no longer want which you can add the items to your current project.
to receive a confirmation to delete the files.

Searching the Library

The Search tab in the library allows you to perform a
search through the contents of the Library. It is particularly
useful when you have a lot of content in your library folders
and want to find content with a specific theme.

Library Search tab.

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Chapter 13: Importing 1. Click the Scene tab to choose the scene into which
you want to import the images.

Content 2. Determine whether you want your image(s) to appear

on the artboard as floating objects, or within one of
the panels.
When you import objects into your MotionArtist project,
you can place them on the artboard in one of two ways:
If you want the images to appear on the artboard
• To place an object inside a panel, first click the panel as floating objects, make sure that there are no
that you want to place the object into. Then choose panels selected before you proceed.
the File > Import command (or COMMAND/CTRL+I), or If you want the images to appear within a panel,
use the Import button in the Project tools to select the select the desired panel.
file you want to import.
If any of the images that you import exceed
• To place an object directly on the artboard as a the size of the selected panel, those areas
floating object, click somewhere on an empty space will be masked out.
on the artboard to deselect any panels. Then choose
the File > Import command (or COMMAND/CTRL+I), or 3. Move the timeline indicator to the frame at which you
use the Import button in the Project toolbar to select want your image to start.
the file you want to import.
4. Use one of the following methods to import images:

Importing Images 5. Select one or more images from Finder (Mac) or

Windows Explorer (Windows). Then drag and drop
MotionArtist allows you to import many standard image them into the project.
formats, including layered Photoshop files.
The steps to import an image are as follows:

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Select one or more images from Finder (Mac) or You will need to convert CMYK images to
Windows Explorer (Windows). Then choose File > RGB format before importing.
Import (or COMMAND/CTRL+I).

Select an image that is saved to your My Library • If you group items in Photoshop, the top-level groups
folder (not applicable for MotionArtist Mac App will be imported as a panel in MotionArtist. This allows
Store version) you to arrange the contents of a panel into layers so
that they can be animated in Panel view. Layers are
After you import your images, they will appear on the
imported into MotionArtist in the same order that they
artboard or in the selected panel.
appear in the Photoshop file.

Using Layered Photoshop Files • Remove hidden layers, or merge special layer types
or functionality that is not supported in MotionArtist. If
Layered Photoshop files serve as a powerful tool. When the Photoshop file contains any layers that have Smart
you import a Photoshop file as layers, the layer names are Layers, Shapes, Alpha Channels, Layer Masks, or Layer
retained in MotionArtist. This feature is especially useful styles, you will receive a warning that the file will not
for cases where you have existing artwork (a comic, for import unless you turn it into a composite image.
example) and want to use MotionArtist to convert it to a
If you want to retain the layers, apply masks
motion comic.
in Photoshop before you import them into
MotionArtist.
Preparing Your Layers
You can arrange the content in a Photoshop file into layers • Text layers will be flattened (rasterized) before
that will be reproduced, if desired, when you import the importing into MotionArtist. You will not be able to edit
files into MotionArtist. the text in Photoshop.

Use Photoshop files that are close to the • The background layer in your Photoshop document
output size of your project. will not import and be usable because it is locked.

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Duplicate the background layer in Photoshop to

create an unlocked version that you can use in
MotionArtist.

• Arrange your layers so that the layer that you want to

display first appears at the bottom of the layer stack.
Each successive layer should appear in the layer
above it. This arrangement will be duplicated when
you bring the Photoshop file into MotionArtist.

• For each panel, determine how you would like to layer

the content. For example, you can place background
elements on one layer, characters in the scene on one A complete panel, before layering.
or more additional layers, text effects such as bangs,
pows, and pops on another layer, and word balloons
on another layer. You can also use a Photoshop • As you cut out your layers from the original comic
image that has a transparent background layer, or no page, you’ll need to keep in mind that during
background layer at all. animation, the camera might display your comic
pages at an angle. As a result, when you cut your
comic panel into layers, you’ll need to fill in the cutout
areas on the layer below - at least enough to prevent
holes from appearing when the camera tilts the view.

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Background (with cutout areas filled). Word balloons in the top layer.

• Name the layers in a way that makes sense to you,

while also considering the order in which you want
the panels to be read. For example, for the first panel
on the page, you can name the layers Background,
Hand and Card (or a description of the elements in
the foreground), and Bubble.

Character/foreground elements separated into another layer.

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Importing a Photoshop File

You can import a Photoshop file either as a composite
image, or as a layered image. MotionArtist will create a link
to the file that you import.
When you update the original Photoshop file, the updates
will also appear in MotionArtist automatically. This allows
you to make changes to the layer or content in your
Photoshop file at any time.

Certain types of changes will cause the layer

orders and associations to be incompatible
with the Photoshop file that you initially imported. If
you change the ordering, visibility, or naming of the
layers in your Photoshop file, these changes will not
update properly in MotionArtist.

Do not change the size of the canvas in your

Photoshop file. This can potentially affect
existing animation and scaling in your MotionArtist
Panel 1 layers shown in Photoshop. project.

• After all the layers have been broken out, save the Photoshop images are imported as described in
Photoshop file. “Importing Images” on page 156. If you choose one
or more Photoshop files, MotionArtist will display a dialog
that asks if you want to import layers individually or as a

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composite. If multiple Photoshop images are selected, you

will be asked to confirm this choice for each file. After you
make this selection, the image(s) will appear in the scene.

• Choose Cancel to exit the dialog without importing

the file.

• Choose Composite to merge all of the layers into a

single layer.

• Choose Individually to retain the layers as they exist in

Photoshop. Layers shown in MotionArtist timeline.

Importing Movies
To import a movie into MotionArtist:
1. Do one of the following:

To import a movie on to the artboard, click in an

Photoshop Import Options empty space on the artboard to deselect any
panels.
After you import your Photoshop file into MotionArtist, click
To import a movie into a panel, click the desired
to select the file on the artboard, or switch to Panel view if
panel with the Move tool. Then switch to Panel
you imported the file into a panel. You should see the layer
view.
names appear in the timeline, as they were arranged in
the original Photoshop file.

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2. Choose File > Import (or COMMAND/CTRL+I) and

choose the desired movie file. After selecting the
movie, it will appear on the artboard or inside the
panel.

MotionArtist allows you to import several

movie formats, including AVI, MOV, M4V and
MP4.

AVI support on Mac will be dependent upon

the codec used to create the AVI file. Basic
codecs such as Motion JPEG are supported, but not
all codecs are automatically supported by
QuickTime without installing special plugins.

QuickTime installation will be required in order An imported movie with available Layer Settings for images
to import MOV format in Windows. and movies.

3. After you import your movie file, you can open the
Layer Settings dialog to change properties. See “The Importing Audio
HTML Export Tab” on page 104 for more information.
MotionArtist allows you to import many common audio file
formats, including AIFF, MP3, and WAV format. To import
audio into MotionArtist, follow these steps:

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MotionArtist also allows you to record audio

from within the application. See “Recording
Importing OBJ Files
Audio” on page 203.
This feature is unavailable in the MotionArtist
Mac App Store version.
1. You can import an audio file to the artboard (without
a panel selected), or into a selected panel.
MotionArtist also provides a way to import a 3D object
and create one or more snapshots (or images) that are
If a panel is selected while importing the
imported into the project and its timeline.
audio file in Presentation Mode, the length of
the panel will increase as necessary to MotionArtist allows you to import 3D objects using the
accommodate the longer duration of the audio file. Wavefront OBJ file format. You can use any 3D application
that exports in this file format.

Do one of the following: After you export an OBJ file from your 3D application, you
can use the Make Snapshots from Scene dialog to rotate,
scale, and shade the object and then output an image
Choose File > Import (or COMMAND/CTRL+I) and
directly into your scene and into the timeline.
select an audio file from the Import window.
To import an OBJ file into MotionArtist, follow these steps:
Drag and drop an audio file from Finder (Mac) or
Windows Explorer (Windows) into your MotionArtist 1. Do one of the following:
project.
To import a movie on to the artboard, click in an
2. The audio file will appear in the timeline. empty space on the artboard to deselect any
panels.

To import a movie into a panel, click the desired

panel with the Movie tool. Then switch to Panel
view.

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2. Choose File > Import (or COMMAND/CTRL+I).

3. Select the OBJ file that you exported from your 3D

application.

4. The Make Snapshots from Scene dialog appears, with

several settings. See “Making Snapshots” on page
172 for more information about this dialog box.

If your OBJ included textures in your 3D

software and they do not appear in the
Make Snapshots from Scene dialog, check the
paths in the MTL file that was saved with the object
to see if absolute or relative paths were written. If
relative paths are used in the MTL file, you will need
to locate a copy of the images in paths that are
relative to the folder into which you saved the OBJ
file.

Image options

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Importing Poser Files The camera that is used in the Make

Snapshots from Scene dialog is not the Poser
camera; rather, it is pointed to the center of your
This feature is unavailable in the MotionArtist
Poser scene. If your Poser scene contains many
Mac App Store version.
large objects (buildings, landscapes, and so on),
you may find it difficult to navigate the Make
MotionArtist allows you to directly import a Poser scene Snapshots from Scene camera through it. In cases
(.PZ3 file). Before you import Poser scenes, make sure that such as these, we recommend that you simplify your
you have the path to your Poser application set in the Poser scene before you try to import it, or break it up
Options tab of the Preferences dialog. This tab is described into pieces so that your snapshots can be more
in “Options” on page 55. targeted.
When you choose to import a Poser file into your
MotionArtist project, you are not actually importing the
When you import a Poser scene into the
contents of the Poser scene. Instead, you are taking
Make Snapshots from Scene dialog, the
“snapshots” of the content in that Poser scene, which will
Frame slider becomes active. This allows you to
be imported into your MotionArtist project as still images.
move forward or backward through the timeline in
The preview window in the Make Snapshots dialog displays
your Poser project, so that you can select a specific
the area of the snapshot that will be imported into the
frame in your animation for import. This slider is
scene.
disabled when you choose to make snapshots from
an imported OBJ file.

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The Make Snapshots from Scene dialog 5. Set your other import options as described in “Making
generates images that are more stylized than Snapshots” on page 172.
a render that you produce in Poser’s Firefly renderer.
You can change the styling by choosing one of the
shading options available in the Make Snapshots
from Scene dialog. These options are described in
more detail in “Making Snapshots” on page 172.

To import a Poser file, follow these steps:

1. Do one of the following:

To import a Poser file on to the artboard, click in

an empty space on the artboard to deselect any
panels.

To import a Poser file into a panel, click the desired

Importing a PZ3 File
panel with the Move tool. Then switch to Panel
view.
2. Choose File > Import (or COMMAND/CTRL+I) and
choose a Poser file (.pz3), or choose File > Make
Importing Anime Studio Files
Snapshots. MotionArtist allows you to import Anime Studio files directly
into your project.
3. Highlight the file you want to use, and click Open.

4. Advance the frame slider in the Make Snapshots from

Scene dialog until you reach the frame that you want
to use to generate your snapshots.

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When you export your MotionArtist project to • Content that was arranged in Group Layers in Anime
HTML5, keep in mind that patch layers, Studio will appear as a single group layer in the
particle layers, stroke exposure, bone deformations, MotionArtist timeline. If you switch to Panel view, you
and animated points/shapes will not be supported will have access to the individual objects in that group
in HTML5 output. layer.

If you need individual access for one or more

To import an Anime Studio file, follow these steps:
layers in your Anime Studio project, you will
1. Do one of the following: need to place them outside the group in your
Anime Studio project before importing into
To import an Anime Studio file on to the artboard,
MotionArtist.
click in an empty space on the artboard to
deselect any panels.

To import an Anime Studio file into a panel, click

the desired panel with the Move tool.
2. Choose File > Import (or COMMAND/CTRL+I).

3. Locate the folder on your hard disk that contains the

Anime Studio file (.anme).

4. Highlight the file you want to use, and click Open.

5. You will notice the following after you import your

Anime Studio project:

To see the contents of the Anime Studio file

after it is imported into a panel, switch to
Panel view.
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Importing Manga Studio Files

You can use Manga Studio to assemble images and 3D
content into panels, and then export that panel as an
image. For complete instructions on how to use Manga
Studio, refer to the Users Manual that is furnished with the
software.
After you assemble your project in Manga Studio, you can
use it within MotionArtist as follows:
1. With your completed project opened in Manga
Studio, click the Visibility icon in the Guide Layer panel
to hide it.

Contents of Anime Studio project (top); as imported into a

MotionArtist panel (bottom).

• You may need to use the Layer Settings dialog to Turn off the Guide layer in your Manga Studio project.
extend the length of the panel to include the portions
of the Anime Studio file that extend beyond the last 2. Turn on only the layers that you want to appear in your
stop point in your MotionArtist timeline. MotionArtist project.

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All layers that you want to export from Manga Studio are
turned on.

3. Choose File > Export > Image File (in Pixels). The Export
Image dialog appears.

Export Image dialog

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4. In the Output Size area, select Specify Output Size.

Enter the width, height, and resolution of the image
that you want to export.

5. Use the Output Area selector to choose Entire Page.

6. Use the Output Color Depth section to choose Color.

Then click the Color Settings button to specify color
options.

If you are outputting your project to a

layered PSD file, you should choose Color
output if your project contains any 8-bit grayscale
layers. Otherwise, these grayscale layers will not
show up in MotionArtist.

Color Settings.

7. Click OK to return to the Export Image dialog. Next,

click the Raster Settings button to specify color settings.
The default option is Conform to the Layer Settings.
Click OK to return to the Export Image dialog.

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9. Click the Settings button to open the Photoshop

Settings dialog. If you want to retain the layers in the
Photoshop file, make sure that Keep Layer Structure for
Output is selected. Also check Keep Layer Structure for
Output, check Output Layer Set (Photoshop 6 or later),
and Up to 5 Layers (Photoshop CS or later).

Raster Settings.

8. In the File Settings section, enter a name for the file,

and choose Photoshop from the Type dropdown.

Make Snapshots from Scene dialog.

10. Use the Output Destination area to select the folder

and assign a file name for your Photoshop file.

Select Photoshop file format. 11. Click OK to export the image. The file will be rendered
and saved to the location you specified.

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12. In MotionArtist, choose File > Import (or COMMAND/

CTRL+I) and locate the Photoshop file that you
exported from Manga Studio. MotionArtist will ask
if you want to import layers individually or as a
composite image. For more information on importing
Photoshop files, see “Using Layered Photoshop Files”
on page 157.

Making Snapshots
The Make Snapshots dialog appears whenever you try to
import a file format that has to be converted to an image
before using it in MotionArtist. You can quickly create static Make Snapshots from Scene dialog.
image files that you can add to your MotionArtist projects.
The Make Snapshots from Scene dialog allows you to scale
and position 2D content in all versions of MotionArtist. You You can also use the File > Make Snapshots
can also scale and rotate 3D objects (not included in Mac command to open the Make Snapshots from
App Store version. Scene dialog at any time, and then select the
content that you want to import and make
The Make Snapshots from Scene dialog snapshots from.
includes a Snap button that you need to
press at least once to import a snapshot into your The following options appear in the Make Snapshots from
MotionArtist project. Be sure to create at least one Scene dialog:
snapshot before you click the Done button.
Otherwise no snapshots will be imported into your • Scale: Move the slider toward the left to make the
project. object smaller, and toward the right to make it larger.

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• Translation: Use these sliders to adjust the position of Pressing the Enter key after entering a
the scene in the preview window. numerical value in the X, Y, and Z Rotation
fields will close the Make Snapshots from Scene
X: Use this slider to move the scene left or right.
dialog. If you enter a numerical value manually,
Y: Use this slider to move the scene up or down. click outside the entry field to apply the setting.

Z: Use this slider to move the scene forward or

backward. • Edges: Allows you to control which elements get
edges (or outlines) and to what degree. You
• Rotation: Use these sliders to adjust the rotation of the can choose to enable or disable outlines around
scene in the preview window. silhouettes, materials, or creases. The Crease Threshold
X: Move the slider toward the left to tilt the object setting controls the level of crease outline that will
backward (toward -180 degrees), and toward the appear. The Edge Extension setting makes the outline
right to tilt it forward (toward 180 degrees). thicker.

Y: Move the slider toward the left to turn the • Stroke: Toggles the outline of the OBJ file on or off, and
object toward your left (toward -180 degrees) and allows you to choose a color for the outline.
toward the right to turn the object toward your
right (toward 180 degrees) If the outline of the object appears too thick,
you can use the Scale slider to increase the
Z: Move the slider toward the left to tilt the object size of the object to compensate for the outline
toward your right (toward -180 degrees), or toward thickness.
the right to tilt the object toward your left (toward
180 degrees).
• Width: Enter a value, in pixels, for the width of the
stroke that you want to use on the objects.

• Shading:

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Shading selector: Allows you to choose from None

(no shading), Smooth (for 3D effect), Toon (solid
colored), or Hatched (sketch effect) shading.

Shading Color: When Hatched shading type is

selected, click the color swatch to select the color
of the hatch strokes.

Shading Density: When Hatched shading type

is selected, allows you to set the density of the
hatched effect.
Select Frame Range dialog.
• Preview window: Displays a preview of the snapshot
image that will be imported into your MotionArtist
project. • Image Size: Allows you to set the width of the image
that will be added to your project. Width ranges from
• Frame: Allows you to scroll through the timeline of an 128 pixels to 2048 pixels.
animated Poser (pz3) file to select the frames that you
want to take snapshots of. • Fit snapshots to current panel: This option appears if
you had a panel selected before choosing the File
• Prompt for Frame Range: This feature is only available > Make Snapshots command. Check this option to
if the selected media has multiple frames. Check this scale selected images to fit the panel after they are
option before you click the Snap button to capture a created. The images will still be created with an actual
range of frames. After clicking the Snap button, the proportional pixels size according to the maximum side
Select Frame Range dialog prompts you to specify a length in pixels set before taking the snapshot.
frame start, end, and increment. You can use this to
quick make snapshots of every nth frame. • Snap: Click the Snap button to add a snapshot to the
scene, using the current settings. You can change the

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settings and press the Snap button again to create a To import one of these vector art formats, choose File >
snapshot from a different angle. Make Snapshots, and choose an AI8, EPS or SVG format
image. You can then take snapshots which appear as
13. After you make your selections and snapshots, choose
images in your project.
Done to exit the dialog. You will see the images in the
workspace and in the timeline as image files.

14. The Make Snapshots from Scene dialog also allows

you to take snapshots of vector art in AI8, EPS and
SVG format. They will show up as vector layers in your
project.

The quality of snapshots made from a vector

format are better than raster formats when
exported to HTML.

When you import a very large vector file,

MotionArtist may appear unresponsive for a
while as it loads the vector file.

When you use the File > Import command to

import a vector file, you may receive a
warning that says that there are too many curves
and points in the vector file. This warning dialog
does not appear when you use the Make Snapshots
feature.

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Selecting All Content

To select all content, choose Edit > Select All, or use the
keyboard shortcut COMMAND/CTRL+A.

Clearing Content
Choose Edit > Clear to clear the contents of the currently
selected scene and remove it from the timeline. Note that
MotionArtist must contain at least one scene, so if there is
only one scene in the project, the Clear command will not
apply.

Undo and Redo

To undo an operation, choose Edit > Undo, or use the
keyboard shortcut COMMAND/CTRL+Z.
To reapply a previous Undo operation, choose Edit > Redo,
or use the keyboard shortcut COMMAND/CTRL+SHIFT+Z.

Make Snapshots from Scene dialog.

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Cutting, Copying, and Pasting

Content
To cut (remove) a selection from your scene and place it
in the clipboard, choose Edit > Cut, or use the keyboard
shortcut COMMAND/CTRL+X.
To copy a selection from your scene and place it in the
clipboard, choose Edit > Copy, or use the keyboard
shortcut COMMAND/CTRL+C.
To paste a selection from your clipboard and place it
into the scene, choose Edit > Paste, or use the keyboard
shortcut COMMAND/CTRL+V.

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Chapter 14: Working switch to Panel View to edit the contents within that
panel.

with Objects • Camera (C): Click this icon or use keyboard shortcut
C to switch to Camera View, which is discussed in
“Camera View” on page 67.
The Selection and Workspace tools allow you to select
specific panels or content and move them to a different
• Pan (N): Use the Pan tool, or keyboard shortcut N, to
location. These tools also allow you to pan and zoom to
pan the view of the workspace so that you can bring
view items that you work on.
desired content into view. Drag up, down, left or right
MotionArtist allows you to select one or more items from with the Pan tool to adjust the view.
the artboard, or from the timeline.
• Zoom (Z): Use the Zoom tool, or keyboard shortcut Z,
to zoom into and out from the current view. Drag the
zoom tool left to zoom outward, and right to zoom
inward.
Selection and Workspace Tools

From left to right, these tools are as follows:

Floating Objects
Floating objects are items that are not attached to a
• Move (V): Use the Move tool , or keyboard shortcut
panel. They can be displayed anywhere on a page, and
V, to select and manipulate the panels and objects
can also be scattered in random positions and rotations
in your scene. When working in Director View, you
on the artboard. Adding and scattering floating objects
can select panels and floating objects with this tool.
in a scene allows you to very quickly create a unique
However, if you want to scale, move, or rotate the
animated presentation. See “Scattering Objects on the
content that appears within a panel, you’ll need to first
Artboard” on page 189 and “Scattering Objects in a
click to select the panel that you want to edit. Then

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Panel” on page 192. for examples of using and scattering

floating objects in your project.

Animating Objects
Objects can be animated by making changes to
translation, rotation, or scale over time. You can animate
floating objects in Director view or Camera view. To
animate objects in a panel, you’ll need to select the panel
that contains the object you want to edit, and then switch
to Panel view.

Object Stop Points

When you make a change to the rotation, scale, or
position of a selected object, a stop point appears on the
timeline for that object. Double-click the object stop point
in the timeline to display the stop point in the timeline. Object Stop Point window.
The Object Stop Point window will display its properties.
If the Object Stop Point window is not displayed, choose The settings in the Object Stop Point window are as follows:
Window > Object Stop Point, or use the keyboard shortcut
CTRL/COMMAND+M to display it. • Stop Point Frame: Displays the frame in the timeline
that the Stop Point currently appears. You can enter a
new frame number, if desired, to move the stop point
to a different frame in the animation.

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• Visible: When unchecked, object is not visible in the • Scale: Displays the scale of the object, relative to its
curent frame, and will not be seen in final render. original size.

• Prev and Next buttons: Use the Left or Right arrow • Angle: Displays the amount of rotation applied to the
buttons to move to the Previous or Next stop point for object. Default rotation is zero degrees. To adjust the
the selected object. rotation, enter a new value in the Angle field, or use
the Angle rotator to rotate the object clockwise or
You can drag a stop point left or right in the counter-clockwise.
timeline to visually change the frame at
which the stop point occurs. You can also SHIFT- You can also visually adjust the angle in
click to select multiple stop points. Panel View by rotating the selected object
with the Move tool (keyboard shortcut V).

• Hold Duration: Displays the number of frames that the

object will pause over the stop point. By default, this is • Delete Stop Point: Press this button to delete the
30 frames. You may need to adjust this value to allow currently selected stop point.
viewers sufficient time to read text on screen.

• Blur radius: This is the same blur funciton as in the Animation Commands
layer settings dialogue. It is also placed here for
The Arrange menu contains several commands that
convenience.
will allow you to clear multiple stop points under certain
• Opacity: This is the same opacity function as in the conditions. These commands are as follows:
layer settings dialogue. It is also placed here for
• Choose Arrange > Animation > Add Object Stop Point
convenience.
or use the keyboard shortcut COMMAND/CTRL+0
• Position X, Y, Z: Displays the current X, Y, and Z (zero) to add a stop point for the selected object at
coordinates of the stop point. You can adjust the stop the current frame.
point by entering offset values in the fields.

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• Choose Arrange > Animation > Add Camera Stop CTRL+B to move the selected layer or layers to a
Point or use the keyboard shortcut COMMAND/CTRL+9 specific frame.
to add a stop point for the camera at the current
frame.
Moving Objects
• Choose Arrange > Animation > Clear Panel Animation
When you are working in Director View, the Move tool
to remove all object and camera stop points for the
(keyboard shortcut V) allows you to select one or more
current panel.
panels, objects, or floating objects on the artboard and
• Choose Arrange > Animation > Clear Scene After reposition the selection to another location. When you are
Current Frame to remove all object and camera stop in Panel View, the Move tool allows you to select objects
points for the current scene, starting at the current within that panel.
frame and continuing to the end of the animation. All
• To move a panel or floating object in Director view,
stop points before the current frame will be retained.
use the Move tool to click the inside of the panel or
• Choose Arrange > Animation > Clear Object After floating object and drag to another location. Release
Current Frame to remove all stop points for the the mouse where you want to place the object.
currently selected object, starting at the current frame
• If you need to move an object within a panel, switch
and continuing to the end of the animation. All object
to Panel View, and click the object you want to move.
stop points before the current frame will be retained.

• Choose Arrange > Animation > Clear Camera After

Current Frame to remove all camera stop points,
starting at the current frame and continuing to the
end of the animation. All camera stop points before
the current frame will be retained.

• Choose Arrange > Animation > Set Layer Start Frame

command or use the keyboard shortcut COMMAND/
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• Click and drag from any side (top, bottom, left, or

right) to scale the object(s) non-uniformly. The scale of
the object(s) will adjust from the center point. In other
words, if you drag the left side, the right side will adjust
by the same amount. If you drag from the top, the
bottom will adjust by the same amount.

• Click and drag any side while pressing the OPTION/

ALT key to retain the volume of the object(s) while
you scale the selection. In other words, if you OPTION/
ALT-click with the Move tool to scale the selection,
the height will increase as the width decreases; or the
width will increase as the height decreases.
Click and drag an object from within the bounding box to
move it with the Move tool.

Scaling Objects
To scale an object, use the Move tool (keyboard shortcut
V) to select the object(s) that you want to scale. In Director
View, you can select the object from either the artboard
or from the timeline.
A rectangular bounding box appears around the selected
object(s): Click and drag one of the square handles at the sides or
corners of the object bounding box to scale the object.
• Click and drag from one of the corners to scale the
object(s) uniformly.
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Rotating Objects
To rotate an object, use the Move tool (keyboard shortcut
V) to select the object that you want to rotate. In Director
View, you can select the object from either the artboard
or from the timeline.
A rectangular bounding box appears around the selected
object:

• Drag upward or leftward, outside the selection

rectangle, to rotate the object clockwise. Drag
downward or rightward to rotate the object counter-
clockwise. Click and drag outside the object bounding box to rotate the
object.
• Press the SHIFT key while rotating to constrain the
angles at 45 degree steps.

Arranging Objects
Use the commands in the Arrange menu to change the
stacking order of your items, or to align them horizontally or
vertically. The commands are as follows:

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• Choose Arrange > Send To Back to move the selected

panel or floating object to the bottom of the layer
stack. This will also place the selected panel or floating
object at the beginning of the timeline.

Aligning Objects
Use the commands in the Arrange menu to change the
Arranging objects.
stacking order of your items, or to align them horizontally
or vertically. The Align commands use the first object that
• Choose Arrange > Bring To Front to bring the selected you click to determine the alignment. You can SHIFT-click
panel or floating object to the top of the layer stack. or COMMAND/CTRL click to select additional objects. Then
If you are working in Presentation Mode, this will also choose the Align command that you want to apply.
place the selected panel or floating object at the end
of the timeline.

• Choose Arrange > Move Up to move the selected

panel or floating object up one level, moving it closer
toward the camera. This will also move the selected
panel or floating object one step toward the end in
the timeline.

• Choose Arrange > Move Down to move the selected

panel or floating object down one level, moving
it farther from the camera. This will also move the
Align Object commands.
selected panel or floating object one step toward the
beginning in the timeline.
The commands are as follows:
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• Choose Arrange > Align > Left to align selected panels • Choose Arrange > Align > Center Vertically to align
or objects at their left sides. selected panels or objects at their vertical centers.

• Choose Arrange > Align > Right to align selected

panels or objects at their right sides.

• Choose Arrange > Align > Center Horizontally to align

selected panels or objects at their horizontal centers.

Align Left, Align Right, Center Horizontally.

• Choose Arrange > Align > Top to align selected

objects at their top edges.

• Choose Arrange > Align > Bottom to align selected

objects at their bottom edges.
Align Top, Align Bottom, Center Vertically.
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Locking and Unlocking Objects disappear from the scene in a sequence. For example,
you can select ten images that all appear on the screen
You can lock objects to prevent them from being at the same time, but then use the Sequence Visibility
accidently repositioned or changed; or unlock them to command to make them disappear one at a time.
allow changes to be made. Use the Move tool (keyboard
Have the layers that you want to affect in
shortcut V) to select the object or objects that you want to
their proper order in the timeline.
lock, and then choose one of the following commands:

• Choose Arrange > Lock, or use the keyboard shortcut Make sure that the playhead is at least the
COMMAND/CTRL+L, to lock selected objects. same number of frames from frame zero as
the value of the fade. In other words, if you have
• Choose Arrange > Unlock or use the keyboard
Frames Between Toggling Objects set to 30, and
shortcut COMMAND+OPT+L or CTRL+SHIFT+L, to unlock
Fade Duration (Frames) set to 5, make sure that your
selected objects.
playhead is at least 5 frames from frame zero before
• Choose Arrange > Unlock All to unlock all objects and you apply the Sequence Visibility command. If you
panels in the current scene that have previously been don’t do this, the visibility will get toggled before
locked. frame zero and the effect is inverted on the bottom-
most selected layer.
Camera and pause points can be moved
even if selected layers are locked. The After you select your objects, choose Arrange > Sequence
selected layers will be ignored. Visibility to open the dialog shown in the following figure.
Then set the options as follows:

Setting Sequence Visibility

Use the Arrange > Sequence Visibility command to
stagger the visibility of selected objects so that they
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• Fade Duration (Frames): Enter the number of frames

that you want to apply to the end of each image for
a fade-out.

• Object Order: Choose one of the following options to

determine when the selected items will be invisible:

Bottom to top: The bottom-most layer will be the

first one to become invisible. Layers above will
become invisible in sequence until the top-most
layer is reached.

Top to bottom: The top-most layer will be the

first one to become invisible. Layers below will
become invisible in sequence until the bottom-
most layer is reached.

Random: Layers will become invisible in a random

order.

• Reverse fade and toggle after first completes: This

Sequence Visibility dialog. make it easier to take a sequence of images and
show them one after another for a limited number of
frames, like a movie. Start with all of the frames invisible
• Frames between toggling objects: Enter the number of
then toggle and reverse.
frames that you want to occur between the time the
previous layer has faded out to when the next image After you apply the command, the visibility of the selected
begins to fade out. objects will be sequenced according to your settings.

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Toggling Selection Visibility

You can use the Arrange > Toggle Selection Visibility
command or use the keyboard shortcut COMMAND/
CTRL+K to toggle the visibility of selected items. Items that
were invisible before choosing the command will become
visible, and objects that were visible will become invisible.

Shaking Objects
Choose Arrange > Shake Object to create animated
keyframes that make the selected object appear to
shake. For example, you can select text that says BOOM
and make it shake as though something exploded.
To shake an object, follow these steps:
1. Select the panel that contains the object that you
want to shake.

2. Switch to Panel view, and use the Move tool

(keyboard shortcut V) to select the object that you
want to shake.
Sequence Visibility options are Bottom to Top (top example),
3. Choose Arrange > Shake Object. The Shake Object
Top to Bottom (middle example), and Random (bottom
dialog appears.
example).

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Reversing Layer Order

After you select two or more layers, choose the Arrange >
Reverse Layer Order command to reverse the order of the
selected layers in their respective group(s).

Scattering Objects on the

Artboard
Shake Object dialog.
The Scatter command is only available in Director’s view.
4. Set the controls as desired: You can use the Scatter command to arrange multiple
selected objects in a random pattern on the artboard. The
Duration: Enter the number of frames in which the scatter can also be animated from a start frame to an end
shake will occur. frame.

Speed: Adjust the slider to the desired shake For example, you can drag several photographs into the
duration, or enter a new value in the Speed field. scene and choose Arrange > Scatter to spread them out in
Move it toward the right to shake the object faster, a random order and at random angles over time.
and toward the left to shake the object more The example that follows shows how you can add several
slowly. free-floating images to a new scene in your project, to
Intensity: Controls the amount of shake. Move the create a quick and attractive presentation.
slider toward the left to shake the object more 1. Use the File > New command (or COMMAND/CTRL+N)
slightly, and toward the right to shake the object to create a new scene.
more dramatically. You can also enter a numerical
value in the Intensity field. 2. Delete the default panel that appears in the scene
window when you first create your new project; or, if
5. Choose OK to apply the shake to the object.
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your project contains panels, make sure there is no

panel selected before you add your images to the
project.

3. Locate a folder on your hard disk that contains several

image files.

4. Select several images and drag and drop them from

Finder/Windows Explorer onto the artboard or into your
selected panel.

5. Use the Edit > Select All command (or COMMAND/

CTRL+A) to select the objects that you want to scatter
(images, movies, or panels). You can also SHIFT+Click
or COMMAND/CTRL+Click with the Move tool to select
objects. Scatter dialog.

The Scatter command will only scatter 7. Set the following options in the Scatter dialog as
selected objects. Any unselected items will desired:
be left as is. The Arrange > Scatter command will be
disabled unless three or more objects are selected. Start Frame: Enter the frame number on which
you want the scatter to start. If the frame number
6. Choose Arrange > Scatter. The Scatter dialog appears. is later than the current frame, the images will
remain in their original positions until this frame
number.

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The start frame box is empty by default. If you Scatter Distance: Controls the amount of distance
leave this field empty, the scatter will start at between the scattered objects. You can move
the object’s previous stop point. the slider to the left to decrease the amount of
space between the scattered objects, or move it
to the right to increase the distance. You can also
End Frame: Enter the frame number at which you
enter a numerical value in the Scatter Distance
want the scattered images to reach their final
field.
scattered positions.
Rotation: Enter the maximum number of degrees
that you want the objjects to rotate. Higher values
If the start frame and end frames both have
will cause the objects to spin while they animate to
values, and the end frame value is greater
their final positions.
than the start frame value, then you will create an
animated scatter. In all other cases, you will get a Randomize Rotation: Check this option to rotate
static scatter at frame 0. each image by a random number of degrees.
Uncheck this option to rotate all images by the
amount entered in the Rotation field.
When the playhead lies between the start
and end frames that you enter, the scatter Fit Scatter to Panel: Check this option to resize
will animate from the start position to the final end the scattered objects so that they fit within the
position. selected panel.
8. The images are scattered around the scene in random
If you don’t want the scatter to animate, order.
perform the scatter operation on frame 0
9. After you scatter the images, you can use the Arrange
and accept the default values that appear in the
> Auto Camera command to animate the camera
dialog when you choose the Arrange > Scatter
so that it moves from image to image. For more
command.
information about the Auto Camera command, see
“Using Auto Camera” on page 81.
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follows a path from the first image that was loaded, to

the last image that was loaded.

11. Switch to Camera view by clicking the Camera View

icon above the timeline. Press the Play button again to
preview the animation.

One of the photographs as viewed through Camera view

during playback.

Photographs arranged on the artboard with the Scatter

command.
Scattering Objects in a Panel
10. After applying the Auto Camera command, press
the Play button, and you can see the outline of the The Scatter command can also be applied to objects in
camera move from picture to picture. The camera a panel. The steps to accomplish this are similar to those
mentioned in “Scattering Objects on the Artboard” on

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page 189. For an example of how to scatter objects in a

panel, proceed as follows:
1. Use the File > New command (or COMMAND/CTRL+N)
to create a new scene.

2. Click the desired panel with the Move tool, or select it

in the timeline.

3. Locate a folder on your hard disk that contains several

image files. Select several images and drag and drop
them from Finder/Windows Explorer into the selected
panel.

4. Switch to Panel view to display the panel objects on

the timeline. Then select the images as described
previously in “Scattering Objects on the Artboard” on
page 189. Switch to Panel view to view and select the panel objects in
the timeline.

5. Select three or more objects for the scatter operation.

The Scatter command will only scatter

selected objects. Any unselected items will
be left as is. The Arrange > Scatter command will be
disabled unless three or more objects are selected.

6. Choose Arrange > Scatter. The Scatter dialog appears.

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End Frame: Enter the frame number at which you

want the scattered images to reach their final
scattered positions.

If the start frame and end frames both have

values, and the end frame value is greater
than the start frame value, then you will create an
animated scatter. In all other cases, you will get a
static scatter at frame 0.

If you don’t want the scatter to animate,

move the playhead to frame 0 in the panel,
or to the layer start frame. Accept the default
values that appear in the dialogue when you
Scatter dialog. choose the Arrange > Scatter command.

7. Set the following options in the Scatter dialog as When the playhead lies between the start
desired: and end frames that you enter, the scatter
will animate from the start position to the final end
Start Frame: Enter the frame number on which position.
you want the scatter to start. If the frame number
is later than the current frame, the images will
Scatter Distance: Controls the amount of distance
remain in their original positions until this frame
between the scattered objects. You can move
number.
the slider to the left to decrease the amount of
space between the scattered objects, or move it
to the right to increase the distance. You can also

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enter a numerical value in the Scatter Distance

field.

Rotation: Enter the maximum number of degrees

that you want the objjects to rotate. Higher values
will cause the objects to spin while they animate to
their final positions.

Randomize Rotation: Check this option to rotate

each image by a random number of degrees.
Uncheck this option to rotate all images by the
amount entered in the Rotation field.

Fit Scatter to Panel: Check this option to resize

the scattered objects so that they fit within the
selected panel.

Scattered objects fit inside a panel.

Arranging Objects in a Grid

You can use the Arrange > Grid command to arrange your
objects in a grid pattern, either on the artboard or within
a selected panel. For example, you can select a series of
twelve photos, and use the Arrange > Grid command to
arrange them in a grid pattern that is four photos wide and
three photos high.
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The Arrange > Grid command works best

when the selected items are all
approximately the same size (such as a group of
photographs that are the same resolution and
dimensions).

If you choose this command while working in Presentation

mode, or afterward use the Auto Camera command to
arrange the objects in your scene, the camera will start
at the first photo in the top row. When it reaches the last
photo in the top row, it will then move to the first photo
in the second row, and play through that row of photos.
Each successive row will play in a similar manner.

Photographs arranged in a Grid.

After you select your content, choose the Arrange > Grid
command. The Grid dialog presents the following options:

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If the start frame and end frames both have

values, and the end frame value is greater
than the start frame value, then you will create an
animated grid layout. In all other cases, you will get
a static grid at frame 0.

If you don’t want the grid to animate, set the

playhead to frame 0 or at the layer start
frame before choosing the Arrange > Grid
command, and then accept the default values that
appear in the Grid dialog.

Grid dialog.
When the playhead lies between the start
and end frames that you enter, the grid will
• Start Frame: Enter the frame number on which you animate from the start position to the final end
want the scatter to start. If the frame number is later position.
than the current frame, the images will remain in their
original positions until this frame number.
• Fit Scatter to Panel: Check this option to resize the
• End Frame: Enter the frame number at which you want scattered objects so that they fit within the selected
the scattered images to reach their final scattered panel.
positions.

Positioning Objects
After selecting an object with the Move tool while in
Standard Mode, you can choose Window > Object Stop

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Point to open the Object Stop Point window. This dialog 3. Choose Panel > Insert Text or use the keyboard
allows you to enter X, Y, and Z coordinates for the stop shortcut COMMAND/CTRL+T to add text to the current
point associated with the object. For more information, see panel. The Insert Text dialog appears.
“Editing Stop Points in Director View” on page 76 and
“Editing Stop Points in Camera View” on page 80.

You can reposition the origin point of any

object by pressing the CMD/Ctrl+Alt keys
and selecting the origin point. You can change the
origin point at any time, even after you have
animated it.

Working with Text and Word

Balloons
MotionArtist allows you to enter text in your projects. While
doing so, you have the option to automatically create a
word balloon that encloses the text.
The following example explains how you can add text and
a word balloon inside a panel:
1. Select the panel into which you want to add the text.

2. Switch to Panel View and position the content in the

scene as desired.

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4. The Select Font list displays all of the fonts on your

system. Select the font that you want to use from the
list.

When entering text in MotionArtist, text

created with the Insert Text panel will be
drawn with characters in the selected font. If a
desired Unicode character does not exist in the
selected font, a box will be displayed when you
type. To use Unicode characters that do not appear
in the selected font, you must choose a font that
includes the characters you need.

5. Enter the text in the Text field. The artboard shows the
text as you type.

Word balloons will automatically resize to

accommodate the text. If you want to break
the text into multiple lines, you will need to press the
Enter key where you want a line break to occur.

6. Use the remaining settings to set additional text

properties as follows:

Insert Text dialog. Fill: Check this option if you want your text to be
filled with a solid color. Uncheck the option if
you want your text to only use an outline stroke

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(described next). For filled text, click the color

swatch to select the fill color.

Stroke: Check this option if you want your text

to have an outline. You can set the width of the
outline (in pixels) in the Width field. Click the Color
swatch to select the outline color.

Justification: Click the justification type that you

want to apply to the text. Choices are Left, Center
(the default), or Right.

Scale: Use the Scale slider to increase or decrease

the text size, or enter a scale value in the Scale
field.

Leading: Use the Leading slider to adjust the

spacing that appears between multiple lines of Text preview (with word balloon) that appears on the artboard
text. Move toward the left to decrease space, while you type.
and toward the right to increase space. Negative
values are also valid. 8. Use the following settings to determine the color and
size of the word balloon:
Kerning: Use the Kerning slider to adjust the
amount of space between letters. Move toward
Custom Fill: Check this option if you want to select
the left to decrease space, and toward the right
a fill color for the word balloon. Click the color
to increase space. Negative values are also valid.
swatch to choose the desired fill color.
7. If you want to use a word balloon to enclose your
Custom Stroke: Check this option if you want to
text, select one of the word balloons from the list.
select a stroke (outline) color for the balloon. Click
Otherwise, choose None if you do not want to use a
word balloon.
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the color swatch to choose the desired stroke 9. When you select a word balloon, additional options
color. (custom for each word balloon) appear beneath
the selection. These options allow you to change the
Stroke Width: Enter the width of the stroke used for
appearance of the word balloon. For example, you
the word balloon in pixels.
might find options that affect the appearance and
Size Relative to Text: Use this slider to increase placement of the balloon tail, or whether the outer
or decrease the amount of white space that edges of the balloon are smooth or cloud-like. Each
appears between the text and the outer edges of these balloon morphs are set to zero, initially. You
of the balloon. Move the slider toward the left to can move the dials in any combination to change
decrease the amount of space, and toward the the appearance of the balloon. The preview window
right to increase the amount of space. updates as you make your changes.

Flip Vertical: Check this option to flip the object

vertically. For example, if the tail is on the bottom
of the balloon by default, it will place the tail on
the top.

Flip Horizontal: Check this option to flip the object

horizontally. For example, if the tail is on the left
side of the balloon by default, it will flip the balloon
so that the tail is on the right side.

Constrain Proportions: Check this option if you

want to keep an equal amount of white space
around the width and height of the balloon. When
unchecked, the height of the balloon will be closer
to the text, and the width of the balloon will have
more white space. Balloon morphs.

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Creating Word Balloons • When you install MotionArtist, default word balloons
appear in the Resources > Support > Word Balloons
You can use Anime Studio to create word balloons for installation folder. It is not recommended to put
MotionArtist. Briefly, the following conditions should be met your custom word balloons in this same folder.
when creating word balloons: Instead, create a content folder as recommended in
“MotionArtist Demo” on page 33, and place your
• The Anime Studio files must contain a rectangular point custom word balloons in its Word Balloons subfolder.
group named Text Region. If this point group is missing, Your user-created word balloons will show up in the list
the balloon will be considered invalid. the next time you choose the Text tool.

Working with Images

Reverting Images to their Original Size

When creating word balloons in Anime Studio, the project If an image has been resized manually or by other
must contain a rectangular point group named Text Region. MotionArtist commands (such as Images > Fit Image to
Panel), you can easily revert them back to their original
• If you want to add morph targets to your word size. After you select the image(s) you want to change,
balloon, you will need to use the Window > Actions choose the Images > Revert to Original Size command.
command to open the Actions window. Use the New The image will stay in its current position, but will be reset to
Action button in the Actions toolbar to design single- its original size.
frame animations that you can use for your morph
targets. For further information on this process, see the
Creating Morphs topic in your Anime Studio Pro users
manual (in the Character Wizard chapter).

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Fitting Images to Panels Working with Audio

If an image is too large to be fully displayed within a panel, You can record and edit audio in MotionArtist, and
you can use the Images > Fit Image to Panel command to perform simple edits such as volume adjustment, length,
resize it. After you select the panel, switch to Panel view. and simple cuts.
Then click to select the image that you want to resize.
Choose the Images > Fit Image to Panel command to
resize the image appropriately for the panel. Recording Audio
Resizing the image will not automatically To record audio, choose File > Record Audio, or use
center the image in the panel. If you want to the keyboard shortcut COMMAND/CTRL+U. The Audio
center the image, use the Images > Center in Panel Recording dialog appears.
command, described next.

Centering Images in Panels

You can use the Images > Center in Panel command to
center one or more images in a selected panel.
After you select the panel, switch to Panel view. Then
select the images that you want to center, and choose
the Images > Center in Panel command. The selected
image(s) will move to the center of the panel.

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You can display or hide the Audio Recording

window using the Window > Audio Recording
command.

1. If you have multiple recording devices on your system,

use the dropdown list in the middle of the dialog to
select the microphone that you want to use.

2. To begin recording, click the top icon with the red

dot. When the recording is complete, click the button
again to stop recording.

3. To play the recording back, click the Play icon to listen

to the recording.

4. Check the Sync with Timeline Playback option to

record the audio at the same frame rate as that which
is set in the Project Settings dialog.

5. You can use the Pitch Shifting section to raise or lower

the pitch of the speaker. Move the slider toward the
left to lower the pitch, and toward the right to raise it.
The Reset button will set the Pitch back to the original
level.
Audio Recording dialog.
6. After you have completed your recording, click the
Add to Project button. The audio file will be added
to the project. The length of the project will be

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lengthened if necessary to include the entire length of

the audio file.

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Chapter 15: Distributing

Your Comics

Previewing Your Work

To preview your work while you are designing your project,
or before you publish your final product, choose File >
Render Frame, or use the keyboard shortcut COMMAND/
CTRL+R. MotionArtist will render a quick JPG render of the
current point in time, through the current view.
After you render the frame, click the Save As button at
A rendered frame.
the bottom left corner of the Render window to save the
render as a JPG, BMP, Targa, or PNG file. You can also
copy the image to the clipboard by choosing Copy to
Clipboard. Gathering Content
The File > Gather Media command allows you to easily
collect all of the media that is contained in a project, and
save it to a single folder. A Bill of Material.txt file will list all of
the files in the gathered project.
To create a gathered media folder, follow these steps:
1. Choose File > Gather Media. MotionArtist will display
a dialog that asks if you will want to switch to the

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gathered document after it is created. Choose Yes to The ming file that is saved into the Gathered
switch after completion, or No to remain in the current Media folder will reference the media files
version of the project. stored within that gathered media folder. The
gathered project will no longer link to the original file
See “Options” on page 55 for a locations that were brought into the project.
Preferences setting that you can check to Therefore, if you open the ming file in the gathered
automatically switch to the gathered document media folder and need to make changes to the
each time you use this command. If this option is media, you should edit the media stored in the
checked you will not receive this prompt each time gathered media folder.
you choose File > Gather Media.

Imported Anime Studio files are combined

2. The Save As dialog appears. with the .ming file on import. You will not see
a link to the original .anme file in your gathered
3. Locate the folder beneath which you want to create
project, or references its associated media (images,
the gathered media folder, and enter a file name. The
brushes, etc.)
file will be saved with the .ming file extension.

4. Click Save. MotionArtist will save the project file in

the selected folder. The associated media will be Exporting Movies and Images
collected and saved in subfolders. For example,
images associated with a project will be stored in a To export your comic to a format that you can distribute,
subfolder named images. choose File > Export Movie, or use the keyboard shortcut
COMMAND/CTRL+E. You can also click the Export button
on the MotionArtist toolbar.
The Export Animation dialog allows you to export your
MotionArtist project in several different file formats,

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including JPEG, BMP, Targa, PNG, PSD, AVI Movie, and • Movie Formats: Several movie format options are
QuickTime movie. available to output video in various different frame
sizes: The size you select here should generally
The options in the Export Animation dialog are as follows:
correspond to the project size that you set in your
• Start Frame: By default, the first frame in the animation project settings. For more information about project
is entered here. Enter a new value if you want to start settings, see “Project Settings” on page 109.When
the export later in the timeline. you export in the MOV or AVI format, a dialog will
display a progress bar as the movie is exported. After
• End Frame: By default, the End Frame value is the the export is finished you will be able to view your
last frame in the project. If your project has multiple movie in any media player that supports the MOV or
scenes, the value entered in this box will represent the AVI format.
total number of frames in all scenes in your project.
Windows movie output options include:
You can toggle the scene’s Visible icon off to
prevent a scene from being viewed or
rendered. See “Adding Scenes” on page 114 for
further information about this icon.

• Entire Animation: Click this button to reset the start and

end frames to the length required to export the entire
animation (all frames from all scenes in the project).

• Image Formats: If you choose JPEG, BMP, Targa, PNG,

or PSD, each frame of your MotionArtist project will be
exported as a series of sequentially-numbered images
that you can assemble and edit in your video editing
software.

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• iPad Movie (1024x768)

• iPad HD Movie (1280x1024)

• AVI Movie (DV) (720x480)

• AVI Movie (Uncompressed) - Exports an uncompressed

movie. This option is generally used when the exported
movie is edited in a third party movie editor.

• AVI Movie - Exports an AVI movie using the current

project dimensions

When choosing an AVI or MOV compression

format or codec for export, keep in mind
that viewers must also have the same codec
available to view the file. We recommend that you
select a basic compression format/codec that is
installed with Windows or Mac OS X.
Export Animation dialog (Windows).

QuickTime for Windows is required to export

• MP4 (H.264-AAC) and view MOV format on the Windows
operating system.
• iPhone Movie (480x320)

• iPhone 4 Movie (960x640) Macintosh movie output options include:

• iPhone 5 Movie (1136x640)

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• MP4 (JPEG-AAC)

• QuickTime (H.264-AAC)

• QuickTime (H.264-PCM)

• QuickTime (JPEG-AAC)

• QuickTime (ProRes 422-AAC)

• QuickTime (ProRes 4444-AAC)

• QuickTime (ProRes 4444-ALAC)

Exporting iBooks (Mac Only)

Macintosh users can export their MotionArtist projects
to iBooks format. In order to export to iBooks format you
must have iBooks Author installed on your system. You can
obtain this from the Apple App store.

Export Animation dialog (Macintosh). Design considerations for iBooks are similar to
those discussed previously for HTML5. Review
“Supported Features in HTML5” on page 146 and
• Apple M4V (H.264-AAC) “Unsupported Features in HTML5” on page 147 for
further information.
• Apple M4V (JPEG-AAC)

• MP4 (H.264AAC)

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iBooks Author only supports iPad and Mac

versions of iBooks. It won’t create iBooks for
iPhones.

To export your project to an iBook, follow these steps:

1. After you create your MotionArtist presentation,
choose File > Export iBooks Widget. The Export iBooks
Widget appears.

2. Choose a style sheet option from the drop-down list.

Available default choices are MotionArtist, MotionArtist
B&W, Plain Black, and Vanilla.

3. Choose OK. The Export As dialog prompts you to select

a folder to export to. MotionArtist saves a file with a Select a folder for your iBook widget export.
.wdgt extension.
4. Open the Apple iBooks Author application.

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iBooks Author application.

5. Open a template and create your book. Choose an iBooks template.

6. Drag the widget that MotionArtist created into your

iBook text, or choose Insert > Widget > HTML from the
iBooks menu and locate the widget that you saved in
step 3.

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In some cases, movies and audio files in

HTML widgets may not play in iBooks Author
but will play in iBooks. If you are unable to play a
movie or audio file in your widget in iBooks Author,
try previewing on iPad or with OS X Mavericks. This
should show you how the file will play in your
completed book. In iBooks Author you can choose
File > Preview then select This computer (iBooks for
Mac) to preview the file on your Mac computer.

Publishing to YouTube or
Facebook
Add the widget to your iBook.
MotionArtist allows you to publish and share your creations
on YouTube and Facebook.
7. When the iBook is completed, choose File > Export
from the iBooks Author menu to export or publish
to the Apple store. See your Apple iBooks Author On YouTube
documentation for more information.
Before you upload a video to YouTube, make sure that
8. To play the widget, open iBooks on your iPad or on your YouTube account information is entered in the
your Mac computer. Touch the widget on the iPad, or Preferences dialog, as mentioned in “Web Uploads”
click the widget on your Mac computer. on page 58. If this information is not entered, the
Preferences dialog will open to the Web Uploads tab the
first time you try to upload to YouTube.
To share a movie file on YouTube, proceed as follows:
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1. Choose Share > YouTube Upload. MotionArtist will 2. MotionArtist will open a dialog that prompts you to
prompt you to locate a movie file to share. select the movie that you want to upload. Use the
dialog to locate the movie you want to upload.
2. After you select your movie file, the Video Upload
dialog displays the name of the movie you are 3. After making the selection, MotionArtist displays the
uploading. Choose Cancel to return to MotionArtist, or Video Upload dialog. The name of the movie that you
Change Movie to select another movie. If you want to are uploading appears in the upper section of the
upload the movie, choose OK to proceed. dialog. Beneath that, a preview window displays a
preview of the first frame of the movie.
3. MotionArtist will upload the video to your YouTube
account. Depending on the preference you set, the 4. Choose OK to continue with the upload.
videos can be uploaded publicly or privately.
Choose Cancel to return to MotionArtist.
You can use the Web Uploads tab in the Choose Change Movie to select another movie
Preferences dialog to configure your from your hard disk.
YouTube user name and password, and set a
5. If you have not yet authorized Facebook to use the
privacy option if you want your movies to be shared
video uploader app, your default browser will open to
privately. For more information on the Web Upload
your Facebook account. You will be asked if you want
preferences, see “Web Uploads” on page 58.
to allow video uploads from the Smith Micro Video
Uploader. After you authorize the application, close
your browser window and return to MotionArtist.
On Facebook
6. When you return to MotionArtist, a dialog asks you to
To share your content on Facebook, follow these steps: confirm that you want to upload the file. Click OK to
1. Choose Share > Facebook Upload. complete the upload to your Facebook account.

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You will need to agree to all the

authentication requests before posting. If you
deny the request, MotionArtist will not upload the
video and will give you an error message as such.

Publishing to MotionArtistTV
The Share > Publish to MotionArtistTV command allows you
to publish your MotionArtist projects to the MotionArtistTV
portal, where others can view them.
MotionArtistTV is a public publishing portal for MotionArtist
users. Movies are displayed in a gallery type format which
displays the movie name, the name of the user that
The MotionArtistTV Home Page.
uploaded the movie, and a record of how many times the
movie has been viewed.
If you have not yet signed up for a
MotionArtistTV account, you will be
prompted to do so before you publish your first
movie. You will be directed to the MotionArtistTV site
where you can set up your account. You will be
required to enter first and last name, a username, a
valid email address, and a password.

After you have completed your project, choose Share

> Publish to MotionArtist TV. MotionArtist will display

Chapter 15: Distributing Your Comics

216 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

a progress dialog while it prepares your project for

publication,
Next, you will be prompted to log in to your MotionArtistTV
account.
If you have not already created an account the
MotionArtistTV Login dialog includes a Create
Account button. Click this button to open your web
browser to the MotionArtistTV web site, where you can set
up your new account.
The MotionArtist TV dialog appears.

Publish to MotionArtistTV dialog.

Chapter 15: Distributing Your Comics

217 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Complete the following options: After you press OK, a progress bar will display as your
project is uploaded to MotionArtistTV.
• Thumbnail: Use the slider to select the frame that you
want to use for a movie thumbnail.

• Name: Assign a name to the movie. This is the name

that will appear beside the thumbnail. Try to select a
name that is descriptive of the movie.

• Series: Enter a series name, which you can use to

categories movies that have a common theme or
purpose. Existing series names can be selected by
clicking the down arrow that appears at the right of
the Series field. You can also remove a movie from a
series by selecting None from the dropdown list.

• Info: In this field, you can enter descriptive informaiton

about the movie, such as a storyline, production A progress bar appears while your project is being uploaded.
credits, and other information that might be useful for
the readers. To view the published movie, open your web browser
and navigate to motionartist.tv. Log in to your account if
• Switch User: Click this button if you want to log in under necessary. Your new MotionArtist project will appear in the
a different MotionArtistTV user name. New uploads section.

• Cancel: Click this button to cancel the upload

process.

• OK: Click this button to complete the publishing

process.

Chapter 15: Distributing Your Comics

218 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

You can make changes to uploaded videos

at any time. To do so, click on your account
name which is located in the top right section of
your browser window, then choose Profile. You will
be able to view the episodes and series that you
have uploaded. Simply select the video that you
want to edit or delete, and make the desired
changes.

Chapter 15: Distributing Your Comics

219 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Part 4:
Appendices

Chapter 15: Distributing Your Comics

220 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Appendix A: Technical form. When contacting Technical Support, please fill

out the form as completely as possible and include as

Support much information as possible. This will help us resolve

your issue faster. Once the form is complete, a Technical
Support representative will contact you directly as soon
We’ve worked hard to ensure that MotionArtist’s powerful as possible. Support requests are answered via e-mail in
features are both easy to use and available to users the order they are received. Online support is free to all
running a wide variety of computers. However, there registered MotionArtist users. MotionArtist users are strongly
may be times when you need technical support. Smith encouraged to register after installing the application on
Micro Software is pleased to offer free technical support http://store.smithmicro.com/productregistration.aspx.
to registered users of our products. To receive technical In order to receive support, we require the following
support, please visit our Web site at https://support. information:
smithmicro.com/ and browse through our extensive
product FAQs. • Your name
Please use the following checklist before contacting
• E-mail address
Technical Support:
• Telephone number (including international dialing
• MotionArtist Reference Manual: This Reference Manual
information, if applicable)
answers most MotionArtist questions. Before contacting
Technical Support, please read the pertinent section(s) • Your current operating system
of this manual thoroughly.
• Your computer specifications (CPU, RAM, hard drive,
• FAQ: Please visit the product FAQs at the above-listed video card, etc.)
URL.
• MotionArtist serial number
Still don’t see your question answered? Please contact
Technical Support by clicking the link to http://support. • Detailed description of the problem
smithmicro.com and completing our online support
Appendix A: Technical Support
221 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

This information will help us isolate and resolve your issue.

We require this information in order to provide support
services and are unable to respond to incomplete requests
in a timely fashion.
For international support, please contact your local
distributor. Smith Micro Software maintains a list of our
international distributors at http://my.smithmicro.com/
store/intlpartners.HTML.

Smith Micro Software reserves the right to

alter our technical support policies at any
time without advance notice.

Appendix A: Technical Support

222 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Appendix B: Keyboard File > Render Frame CTRL+R COMMAND+R

Shortcuts
File > Export Movie CTRL+E COMMAND+E

File > Import CTRL+I COMMAND+I

File > Make CTRL+SHIFT+C COMMAND+SHIFT+C

Snapshots
Keyboard shortcuts are available for many menu
File > Record Audio* CTRL+U COMMAND+U
commands found in MotionArtist. You can also use the
Keyboard Shortcut Editor to create a custom keyboard File > Open Custom COMMAND+F
Content Folder
configuration. See “Using the Keyboard Shortcuts Editor”
on page 226. File > Quit CTRL+Q COMMAND+SHIFT+A

The following tables summarize the default keyboard * Not available in Mac App Store version
shortcuts for each menu.

Edit Menu
File Menu
Command Windows Mac
Edit > Undo CTRL+Z COMMAND+Z
Command Windows Mac
Edit > Redo CTRL+SHIFT+Z COMMAND+SHIFT+Z
File > New CTRL+N COMMAND+N
Edit > Cut CTRL+X COMMAND+X
File > New Empty CTRL+ALT+N COMMAND+OPT+N
Document Edit > Copy CTRL+C COMMAND+C

File > Open CTRL+O COMMAND+O Edit > Paste CTRL+V COMMAND+V

File > Close CTRL+W COMMAND+W Edit > Select All CTRL+A COMMAND+A

File > Save CTRL+S COMMAND+S * Preferences command is found in the MotionArtist
File > Save As CTRL+SHIFT+S COMMAND+SHIFT+S application menu in Mac systems. Use the keyboard
File > Project Settings CTRL+SHIFT+P COMMAND+SHIFT+P shortcut COMMAND+, (comma) on Mac.

Appendix B: Keyboard Shortcuts

223 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Arrange Menu Arrange > Position CTRL+SHIFT+M COMMAND+SHIFT+M

Camera

Command Windows Mac

Arrange > Lock CTRL+L COMMAND+L
Panel Menu
Arrange > Unlock CTRL+ALT+L COMMAND+OPT+L

Arrange > Toggle CTRL+K COMMAND+K Command Windows Mac

Selection Visibility
Panel > New Panel CTRL+SHIFT+N COMMAND+SHIFT+N
Arrange > Animation CTRL+0 (zero) COMMAND+0 (zero)
> Add Object Stop Panel > Insert Text CTRL+T COMMAND+T
Point

Arrange > Animation

> Add Camera View Menu
Pause Point

Arrange > Animation CTRL+9 COMMAND+9 Command Windows Mac

> Add Camera Stop
Point View > Director View CTRL+1 COMMAND+1

Arrange > Animation CTRL+B COMMAND+B View > Camera View CTRL+2 COMMAND+2
> Set Layer Start
View > Panel View CTRL+3 COMMAND+3
Frame
View > Enable Grid CTRL+G COMMAND+G
Arrange > Toggle CTRL+K COMMAND+K
Selection Visibility View > Grid Settings CTRL+SHIFT+G COMMAND+SHIFT+G

Arrange > Position CTRL+M COMMAND+M

Object

Appendix B: Keyboard Shortcuts

224 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Window Menu Oval Panel O

Polygon Panel M

Camera Target A
Command Windows Mac
Split Panels S
Window > Timeline CTRL+SHIFT+T COMMAND+SHIFT+T
Pan N
Window > Camera CTRL+SHIFT+M COMMAND+SHIFT+M
Zoom Z
Stop Point
Add Text T or CTRL/COMMAND+T
Window > Object CTRL+M COMMAND+M
Stop Point Move Tool V
Window > Library* CTRL+SHIFT+L COMMAND+SHIFT+L Camera Tool C
Window > Audio CTRL+SHIFT+A COMMAND+SHIFT+A
Recording

Window > Layer CTRL+SHIFT+I COMMAND+SHIFT+I

Views
Settings
Command Key
*The Window > Library command is unavailable in the
Director View CTRL/COMMAND+1
MotionArtist Mac App Store version.
Camera View CTRL/COMMAND+2

Panel View CTRL/COMMAND+3

Other Hot Keys
Scenes and Panels
Tools
Command Key
Command Key Cycle Panel Tools P (repeat until desired tool is
selected)
Rectangular Panel R
Cycle Panel Tools Backwards SHIFT+P

Appendix B: Keyboard Shortcuts

225 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Next Panel TAB Timeline

Previous Panel SHIFT+TAB

Go to Frame 1 of Scene or Panel SHIFT+ALT+Left Arrow Command Key

Go to Last Frame of Scene or SHIFT+ALT+Right Arrow Navigate Timeline (Select Up/Down Arrow Keys
Panel objects)

Next Scene > or . (Period) Left/Right (Jump to frame + or - 1 SHIFT+Left/Right Arrow Keys
second))
Previous Scene < or , (Comma)
Step backward/forward 1 frame Left/Right Arrow Keys

Move Object Priority on Timeline ALT+Up/Down Arrow Keys

Stop Points Move Object Position on Timeline ALT+Left/Right Arrow Keys

Zoom in Timeline ALT + Mouse Wheel Scroll Up

Command Key Zoom Out Timeline ALT+ Mouse Wheel Scroll Down
Previous Object Stop Point [
Pan Timeline Forward CTRL/COMMAND + Mouse
Next Object Stop Point ] Wheel Scroll Down

Previous Camera Stop Point SHIFT+[ Pan Timeline Backward CTRL/COMMAND + Mouse
Wheel Scroll Up
Next Camera Stop Point SHIFT+]

Previous Stop Point (Camera or CTRL/COMMAND+[

Object) Objects
Next Stop Point (Camera or CTRL/COMMAND+]
Object)
Command Key
Create Object Stop Point CTRL/COMMAND+0 (zero)
Nudge Left/Right SHIFT+CTRL/COMMAND+Left/
Create Camera Stop Point CTRL/COMMAND+9 Right Arrow Keys

Nudge Up/Down SHIFT+CTRL/COMMAND+Up/

Down Arrow Keys

Appendix B: Keyboard Shortcuts

226 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Micro-Nudge COMMAND/CTRL+Left, Right, Up,

or Down Arrow Keys

Other

Command Key
Center Camera ESC

Minimize All Palettes ~

Zoom In =/+ (Equal or Plus Key)

Zoom Out - (Minus Key)

Using the Keyboard Shortcuts Editor

The Help > Edit Keyboard Shortcuts command opens the
Keyboard Shortcuts dialog shown in the following figure.

The Keyboard Shortcuts Editor.

By default, the shortcuts that are built-in to MotionArtist

are displayed in their default configuration, in three
categories: Menus, Tools, and Windows. Simply start typing
a command or action name to scroll it into view and
select it.

Appendix B: Keyboard Shortcuts

227 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

You cannot edit the default configuration. In order to tool name, or window; and the right side of the list
create your own shortcut configurations, you’ll need to displays the associated shortcut if one is configured.
create a custom settings file.
• Scroll To: Jumps to a specific shortcut category. The
The following options appear in the dialog:
categories are named in the order in which they
appear in the shortcut list. Select the desired category
• Current Settings: Displays the name of the shortcut
to jump to that location.
configuration that is currently in use.
• Shortcut Suggestions: Click this button to have
• New: Allows you to assign a name to a new shortcut
MotionArtist suggest an unused keyboard shortcut.
configuration. MotionArtist will notify you if the filename
is too long. After you assign a name choose OK. Your
• Done: Click the Done button when you are finished
new custom file will appear in the Current Settings list,
editing your shortcuts.
and you can begin to assign your custom shortcuts.

• Delete: Select a custom shortcut configuration from Adding Shortcuts

the Current Settings list, and then click this button to
delete it. You cannot delete the Default configuration To create a custom keyboard shortcut file, follow these
file. steps:

• Restore Defaults: Restores all keyboard shortcuts to If a user content folder is defined, MotionArtist
the default values assigned with the MotionArtist will save custom keyboard shortcuts files to a
installation. Keyboard Shortcuts folder in the user content folder.
If names conflict with custom files saved to the
• Shortcut List: Displays all shortcuts by category: Menu, default location, the user location will supercede
Tools, and Windows. You can use the scrollbar at the the default location.
right side of the shortcut list to scroll further down the
list. The left side of the list displays a menu command, 1. Choose Help > Keyboard Shortcut Editor to open the
Keyboard Shortcuts window.
Appendix B: Keyboard Shortcuts
228 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

2. If a custom configuration file has not yet been 3. Scroll through the keyboard shortcut list until you find
created, click the New button to assign a name for a the menu command, tool, or window item that you
new configuration file. Otherwise, select the custom want to modify. Click inside the shortcut field to edit it.
configuration that you want to edit from the Current
Settings dropdown list. 4. With the shortcut field selected, press the associated
keys on your keyboard that you want to assign for the
command.

Customized shortcuts will override default

shortcuts unless there is a conflict with a
default. If a conflict with a default shortcut exists, the
default shortcut will take precedence over the
custom shortcut.

It is possible to create duplicate shortcuts.

The editor will warn you when multiple
actions have the same shortcut when you assign a
shortcut that is already used by another action.
When multiple actions use the same shortcut, the
first enabled action found will be triggered.

Editing a custom keyboard shortcut configuration.

Appendix B: Keyboard Shortcuts

229 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

If you change your locale, there may be

localized shortcuts that conflict with your
custom shortcuts. Your settings will be updated to
eliminate conflicts.

Switching from 32-bit to 64-bit or vice versa

could potentially alter the shortcuts available
and may lead to a conflict between default settings
and custom settings. Your settings will be updated
You will receive a warning when the keyboard shortcut that to eliminate conflicts.
you enter is already in use.
If shortcuts have changed in the application since the last
time you updated, a dialog will prompt you to update
Actions whose shortcuts are already used by
your custom shortcut list accordingly, or to use the new
other actions will appear with a red number
defaults.
that indicates how many actions already use that
shortcut. Hover over the number to display a list of
actions that use that shortcut. The number and
tooltip only appear when editing custom shortcuts,
and not when viewing default shortcuts.

After you are finished with your keyboard shortcuts,

click Done to save the configuration file.

Appendix B: Keyboard Shortcuts

230 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Index
Auto-scaling vectors 57 Transforming camera in 80
Click or Tap Action 135
B Color themes 60
Compositing Effects 96
Background Audio 111
Content
Brushes
A Aligning with curves 104
Clearing 176
Gathering 206
Jitter angle 104
Activating Motion Artist 33 Obtaining 161
Minimizing frame to frame
Add to Scene 152 Selecting All 176
randomness 104
Adobe Illustrator Content Folder
Settings 156
Importing AI8 files 175 Creating 40
Spacing 104
Animation Commands 180 Style 104 Continue to Next Scene 136
Anime Studio Files Tinting with stroke color 104 Crash recovery 57
Importing 166 Brush Settings 102 Crumble 118
Application colors Current Project Folder 150
Resetting to default 60 C
Artboard 51 D
Audio Camera layer 89
Importing 162 Cameras Deactivating Motion Artist 37
Recording 203 Setting outline color 59 Default startup file 58
Tools 53 Setting shade color 60 Delayed animation 135
Auto Camera 81 Camera Stop Point dialog 76 Director View 62
Ignoring 99 Camera Target Documentation 4
Automatic 97, 99 Setting color 60 Document preview thumbnails
Auto play 111 Camera Tool 75 58
Auto-saving 57 Camera View 67

231 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

E Gathered Media Folders 206 I

Gathered projects
Editor Colors 59 Automatic switching 57 iBooks
End of Scene Behaviors 136 GPU accelerated drawing 56 Exporting 210
EPS Grid Images
Importing 175 Arranging Objects 195 Centering in panels 203
EULA 8, 20 Displaying and Setting 71 Fitting to Panels 203
Exporting Images 207 Enabling 72 Importing 156
Exporting Movies 207 Setting color 60 Nearest neighbor sampling
GUI Colors 60 106
Exporting to HTML5 137
Resetting 61 Outlines 100
Reverting to original size 202
F Guides
Setting color 60 Setting outline color 100
Facebook 214 Setting outline width 100
Fade to Black 117 H Settings 157
Source image 106
Fade to White 117
Horizontal Wipe 117 Toon settings 107
Floating objects Unwrapping 107
Ignoring Auto Camera 100 HTML5
Creating a Home Scene 146 Image Tab 105
Setting duration 100
Embedding a MotionArtist Importing 168
Floating Objects 178
Naming 95 Project 143 Installation
Embedding Multiple Motion- Mac 32
Fonts
Artist Projects 144 Windows 31
Increasing font size 61
Interactivity 145 Iris Wipe 118
Frame 89
Supported features 146
Frame rate 110 Unsupported Features 147 J
HTML Export Tab 104, 134
G

232 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Jump to End 89 Loop Scene 137 Auto Camera All 83

Jump to Project Beginning 137 Auto Camera Selected 83
M Auto Camera Targets 83
K Auto Camera with Pause Points
Menu Bar 50 83
Keyboard Shortcuts 222 Menu Commands Bring to Front 184
Arrange Menu Grid 195, 196
L Align > Bottom 185 Lock 186, 223
Align > Center Horizontally Motion Assist 90
Layer order 185 Move Down 184
Reversing 189 Align > Center Vertically 185 Move Up 184
Layer Settings window 93 Align > Left 185 Reverse Layer Order 189
Brush settings 102 Align > Right 185 Scatter 189, 190, 193
General Tab 94 Align > Top 185 Send to Back 184
HTML Export tab 104 Animation Sequence Visibility 186
Image tab 105 Add Camera Stop Point 181 Shake Object 188
Shadows Tab 101 Add Object Stop Point 180 Toggle Selection Visibility
Library 52, 149 Clear Camera After Current 188
Adding a folder 152 Frame 181 Unlock 186
Adding content 152, 153 Clear Object After Current Unlock All 186
Current Project folder 149 Frame 181 Edit Menu
Deleting content 152, 154 Clear Panel Animation 181 Clear 176
Docking and undocking 149 Clear Scene After Current Frame Copy 177, 222
My Library folder 149 181 Cut 177, 222
Searching 152, 155 Set Layer Start Frame 181 Paste 177, 222
Locking Arrange in 3D 132 Preferences 55
Objects 186 Auto Camera 83, 126 Redo 176, 222
Scenes 114 Select All 176, 222

233 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Undo 131, 176, 222 Check for Content 46 Camera View 67, 223
File Menu Community 5 Director View 63, 77, 223
Add Scene 54, 114 Help 4, 5 Enable Grid 223
Close 112, 222 Open Custom Content Grid Settings 72, 223
Delete Scene 115 Folder 40 Page Guides 49, 51, 69
Duplicate Scene 115 Register 45 Panel View 68, 223
Export HTML5 138 Set Custom Content Folder Reset 73
Export iBooks Widget 211 40 Show View/Mode 50
Export Movie 207, 222 Video Tutorials 5 Thirds Grid 71
Gather Media 206 Welcome Screen 45 Timeline Zoom In 86
Import 124, 156, 157, 162, Images Menu Timeline Zoom Out 86
163, 164, 166, 167, 172, Center in Panel 203 Video Safe Zones 70
222 Fit Image to Panel 203 Window Menu
Import Background 124 Revert to Original Size 202 Audio Recording 204
New 108, 126, 222 Panel Menu Camera Stop Point 77
New Empty Document 42 Arrange in 3D 131 Layer Settings 93
Open 108, 222 Delete Panel 131 Library 149, 224
Open Recent 108 Duplicate Panel 130 Object Stop Point 179, 197
Preview HTML5 137 Fit Panel to Selection 133 Timeline 86, 224
Project Settings 109, 222 Flatten Panel 132 MotionArtistTV 215
Quit 113, 222 Insert Text 198, 223 Motion Assist 90
Record Audio 203, 222 New Panel 120, 223 Motion Path 75
Render Frame 206 Share Menu Movies
Save 111, 222 Facebook Upload 214 AVI with alpha 106
Save As 111 Publish to MotionArtistTV 215 Frames per second 106
Save As A Template 112 YouTube Upload 214 Holding at first frame 106
Help Menu View Menu Holding at last frame 106
About MotionArtist 5 Camera Frame 70

234 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Importing 161 Online Support 6 Setting Fill Color 98

Looping indefinitely 106 Setting opacity 110
Playing backwards 106 P Settings 156
Settings 157 Setting stroke color 59
My Library Folder 151 Page Guides 69 Setting Stroke Color 98
Panels Setting Stroke Width 98
N Allowing animation 99 Splitting 128
Animating 133 Panel tools 53
Next Stop Point 89 Arranging in 3D Space 131 Panel View 68
Null Panels 123 Automatic tilt 110 Pause at End of Scene: 136
Background color 111
Pausing Playback 139
O Camera Target 123
Photoshop Files 157
Creating 120
Objects Importing 160
Default duration 110
Aligning 184 Preparing layers 157
Default stroke width 60
Animating 179 Deleting 131 Playback controls 88
Arranging 183 Duplicating 130 Play/Stop 88
Locking and Unlocking 186 Exporting 156 Poser Files
Moving 181 In Presentation mode 126 Importing 165
Naming 95 Naming 95 Poser location 58
Positioning 197 Oval 122 Preferences 55
Rotating 183 Polygon 122 Editor Colors 59
Scaling 182 Rectangular 121 GUI Colors 60
Scattering 189 Restoring factory settings 111 Options 55
Setting color of selected 60 Saving default settings 111 Presentation Mode 64, 65, 97,
Shaking 188 Setting Brush Style 99 114
Stop points 179 Setting duration 99 Previewing 206
OBJ Files 163 Setting fill color 59

235 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Previewing HTML5 Output 137 S Turning on 102

Projects Shadows
Closing 112 Sampling by nearest neighbor Blur 102
Constraining proportions 110 57 Color 102
Creating 108 Saving projects 111 Direction 102
Dimensions 109 Scale images for the Web 138 Expansion 102
New Project dialog 41 Scattering 189 Offset 102
Saving 111 Scene Duration 97 Turning on 101
Setting frame rate 110 Shadows Tab 101
Scenes
Setting height 110 Sharing
Adding 114
Settings 109 On Facebook 214
Changing 115
Setting width 110 On YouTube 213
Deleting 115
Project tools 54 Duplicating 115 SMPTE timecode 57
Locking 114 Snapshots 172
Q Naming 114 Edges 173
Reordering 115 Fit to current panel 174
Quitting MotionArtist 113
Settings 115 Frame 174
Transitions 116 Frame range 174
R Visibility 114 Image size 174
Redo 176 Scene Tabs 54 Rotation 173
Selection tools 53 Scale 172
Reference manual 4
Shading 102 Shading 173
Registration 45 Snap 174
Resuming Playback 140 Blur 102
Color 102 Stroke 173
Reveal Source Image 106 Translation 173
Contraction 102
Rewinding 88 Standard Mode 63, 64
Direction 102
Offset 102 Startup file 58

236 MotionArtist
Reference Manual

Step Back 88 Gray Level 107 W

Step Forward 89 Lightness 107
Stop Points 76 Quantization 107 Web Uploads 58
In Camera view 80 Saturation 107 Welcome Screen 44
Moving to Previous 88 Toon Effects 107 Word Balloons
Style Sheet 138 Toon settings 107 Adding 198
SVG Touch support Creating 202
Importing 175 Disabling 57 Workspace tools 53
System Requirements 4 Transitions 115, 116
Choosing transition type 117 Y
T Setting duration 116
Transparent background 111 YouTube 58, 213
Technical Support 6, 220
Templates U Z
Built-in 41
Undo 176 Zooming with drag box 57
Saving a Project as 112
Text Updates
Adding 198 Automatic checking 57
Thirds Grid 71 Obtaining 46
Timeline 54, 85 User stories 6
Minimized view 88
Viewing objects 86 V
Zooming In and Out 86
Vertical Wipe 117
Toolbars 53
Video Safe Zones 70
Toon Effect
Black Level 107 Views
Edge Level 107 Resetting 85

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MotionArtist Reference Manual 1.3

Uploaded by

MotionArtist Reference Manual 1.3

Uploaded by

Revision February 04, 2015

Credits Trademark & Copyright Notice

• libpng (www.libpng.org). Copyright 1998, 1999, 2000

• libsndfile (www.mega-nerd.com/libsndfile/). Copyright

• Lua (www.lua.org). Copyright 2004 Tecgraf, PUC-Rio.

• PortAudio (www.portaudio.com). Copyright 1999-2000

• SoundTouch (www.surina.net/soundtouch) Copyright

• zlib (www.zlib.net). Copyright 1995-2002 Jean-Ioup

• DiracLE (www.dspdimension.com). Copyright 2005-

• libvorbis (http://www.vorbis.com). Copyright 2002-

• wxWidgets (www.wxwindows.org). Copyright 1998-

• libxml2 (xmlsoft.org). Copyright 1998-2003 Daniel

• libcurl (curl.haxx.se/libcurl). Copyright 1996-2007

Before using this software or reading this

Contents Part 2: MotionArtist Overview

What is MotionArtist? 2 The Artboard 51

Key Features and Benefits 3 The Library Window 52

System Requirements 4 The Toolbars 53

When You Have Questions 5 Scene Tabs 54

Transforming the Camera in Camera View 80 Saving a Project as a Template 112

Chapter 6: The Timeline Window 85 Quitting MotionArtist 113

Part 3: Creating with MotionArtist 92 Using Transitions 116

Chapter 10: Working with Panels 120

Creating and Opening Projects 108 Animating Panels 133

Exporting to HTML5 137 Floating Objects 178

Chapter 12: The Library Window 149 Shaking Objects 188

Part 4: Appendices 219

Appendix B: Keyboard Shortcuts 222

Chapter 1: Welcome presentation, and then share that presentation on

to MotionArtist! Micro’s MotionArtist community.

• Word balloons and dynamic text are vector-based.

Chapter 1: Welcome to MotionArtist!

photographs and images. Layered Photoshop files and • Included Documentation

Chapter 1: Welcome to MotionArtist!

• 1024x768 display (1280x800 recommended)

simultaneously, the notation appears as KEY1+KEY2, for

Notes detail tips, tricks, and other important

Warnings alert you to potentially harmful

Chapter 1: Welcome to MotionArtist!

MotionArtist downloaded products purchased directly from

• MotionArtist End User License Agreement (EULA): See

TERMS OF THIS EULA. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS 2. Definition

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

13. Applicable Law 14. Other Services and Materials

MotionArtist Mac App Store End 1. General

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

2. Definition “Other Content” means Content that is not Restricted

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

13. Applicable Law 14. Other Services and Materials

Installing MotionArtist is a straightforward process. Before

The File > Relaunch in 32-Bit Mode and File >

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

1. Double-click on the MotionArtist_1.3.pkg or

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

Serial Number dialog.

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

If you try to run MotionArtist after the seven

There are two modes of activation:

• If you have installed MotionArtist on a computer

• If you have installed MotionArtist on a computer

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

3. By default, the option to receive product

6. By default, analytics information and statistics about

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

Click Activate Manually if you do not have an Internet

3. The Manual Product Activation dialog appears. Click

4. Locate a folder and click Save to save the info.

It is recommended that you leave the

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

12. After you return to the Manual Product Activation

Chapter 2: Installing MotionArtist

 Choose Cancel to return to MotionArtist without

 Choose Deactivate to deactivate your license. A

Contents Part 2: MotionArtist Overview

What is MotionArtist? 2 The Artboard 51

Key Features and Benefits 3 The Library Window 52

System Requirements 4 The Toolbars 53

When You Have Questions 5 Scene Tabs 54

Transforming the Camera in Camera View 80 Saving a Project as a Template 112

Chapter 6: The Timeline Window 85 Quitting MotionArtist 113

Part 3: Creating with MotionArtist 92 Using Transitions 116

Chapter 10: Working with Panels 120

Creating and Opening Projects 108 Animating Panels 133

Exporting to HTML5 137 Floating Objects 178

Chapter 12: The Library Window 149 Shaking Objects 188

Part 4: Appendices 219

Appendix B: Keyboard Shortcuts 222

Choose Cancel to return to MotionArtist without

Choose Deactivate to deactivate your license. A

Import: Opens the Import dialog, which allows