Modify a text path in 3D space in Motion

1. If there’s no camera in your Motion project, add a camera by doing one of the following:

   • In the toolbar, click Add Object, then choose Camera from the pop-up menu.

     

   • Choose Object > New Camera (or press Option-Command-C).

     Note: If none of your project groups is set to 3D, a dialog appears asking you if you want to switch your 2D groups to 3D groups. Click Switch to 3D to allow the camera to affect the groups.

2. To see your text path from above, change the default camera view to Top by doing one of the following:

   • Click Active Camera in the upper-left corner of the canvas, then choose Top from the pop-up menu.

   • Choose View > 3D View > Top.

     The text is no longer visible because the camera is now looking down perpendicularly (along the Y axis) at the text on a path. The text path and its points are still visible. (The yellow wireframe camera icon in the canvas represents the scene camera you added in step 1.)

     If the text path is not visible, you may need to zoom out of the canvas.

3. Drag a control point to adjust the text path in X, Y, or Z space.

   Note: Make sure you are in text edit mode (the text is selected with the cursor, not the Select/Transform tool). If you lose the selection, you may need to choose Active Camera from the camera menu, enter text edit mode, then choose Top from the camera menu.

   Manipulating text on a path in 3D space only works when Path Shape is set to Open Spline or Closed Spline (in the Path Options controls in the Layout pane).

   

   If the path selection disappears, choose Active Camera from the camera menu, enter text edit mode (double-click the text in the canvas), then choose Top from the camera menu. To enter values for the control point locations for Open Spline or Closed Spline, click the Control Points disclosure triangle in the Path Options group of the Layout pane. The first value slider is X, the second value slider is Y, and the third value slider is Z.

4. To change the camera view, click the pop-up menu in the upper-left corner of the canvas, then choose a new view.

   

5. To reset the camera view, do one of the following:

   • Click the pop-up menu in the upper-left corner of the canvas, then choose Active Camera.

   • Choose View > 3D View > Active.

     Tip: When working with text in a 3D project (especially text that moves close to the camera), before exporting, set Render Quality to Best (choose View > Quality > Best). Best mode dramatically slows project performance and interactivity, so you might want to set the Render Quality to Normal while working. You can also set the Render Quality when you export, by using the pop-up menus in the Render pane of the Export window.

When working with text on a 3D path, type may become difficult to read depending on its orientation and distance from the camera. To edit the text, you can snap the text object to its original face-forward orientation using the Isolate button in the Layers list (or Timeline) or the Isolate command in the Object menu.

In Motion, do one of the following:

• In the Layers list (or Timeline), click the Isolate button.

  

• Control-click the layer or group, then choose Isolate from the shortcut menu.

• Choose Object > Isolate.

  Click the Isolate button again to return to your previous view.

  Note: Clicking a camera’s Isolate button activates that camera’s view.