… for Apple Motion

Tip #1304: Secret 3D View Control

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

This is a fast and interactive way to change the view in the Viewer.

When you switch to 3D space in Motion, an innocuous control, illustrated at the top of the screen shot, appears.

I’ve happily ignored this for years.

But, if you hover your mouse over it, the control expands into a multi-purpose screen controller (bottom of screen shot).

• Click one of the outside boxes to switch between Top, Bottom, Left, Right, or Back views.
• Click the edge of the center box itself to switch to Perspective View.
• Click the center of the box to switch to Front View.
• Type Control + A to switch back to Active Camera view.

There are keyboard shortcuts for these, but clicking the controller creates a very cool effect.