• Apple Motion

  Key framed slider widgets “jump” all over the place.

  Posted by Wayne on April 17, 2012 at 4:56 pm

  I am really struggling, and losing credibility at work with the time this is taking, to get consistent results key framing slider widgets.

  I have a slider widget to which I have set up and defined parameter states for multiple tags. For simplicity say I have:

  – three tags at 0, 50 and 100.
  – range min and max set to 0 to 100
  – interpolation linear for all three tags.

  I then set a key frame for that slider widget:

  – set first keyframe a frame one, adjust slider to the first tag at zero.
  – go to another frame and move slider to the middle point at 50. This action sets a keyframe but I notice that the 0 tag is still highlighted in blue.
  – I go to yet another frame, and adjust the slider to 100. The tag at the 0 point is still showing in blue.

  Now play over the range containing the key frames.

  Does it cycle through the three defined tag snap shots?
  No.

  Am I pulling my hair out?
  Yes.

  Anyone have any guidance to help spare people the site of seeing me bald. 🙂

  Thanks,

  Wayne
  Portland

  Wayne replied 14 years, 4 months ago 2 Members · 3 Replies
• 3 Replies

• 

  Simon Ubsdell

  April 18, 2012 at 8:14 pm

  A lot of questions there but if you want the “states” to change instantaneously from one to the other you need to go to the keyframe editor for the widget and change the interpolation to Constant. Linear interpolation will give you a linear change from one value to another.

  Also note that the widget slider is a parameter control just like any other and the same rules apply – it sounds as though you are expecting a different kind of behavior.

  Simon Ubsdell
  http://www.tokyo-uk.com
• 

  Wayne

  April 19, 2012 at 2:47 pm

  Thanks Simon,

  From your response I see that I did not explain my issue well. Here is another shot at it and I think I see what might be going on. But any guidance you might have would still be appreciated.

  Here is another shot at it.

  – I defined a slider widget with three tags and on the order of five parameters assigned to it for a shape which will function as a button.

  –  I set each of the tags to linear interpolation.

  – I select each tag and set my parameters as desired (snap shots)

  – I set my range for the tags to zero to two, one for each tag.
       * tag at zero, opacity of shape is zero.
       * tag at one – opacity 100% and outline of shape is medium grey.
       * tag at two – opacity 75% and outline gets a treatment of blue border and larger width.
                 

  – I then key frame the slider to move between the values of zero and two and I do not get the behaviors defined above for the color and width of the shape outline. I do notice that there is a gold capital R within a goldish square to the left of the opacity parameter in the inspector for the slider widget. It is not there for the parameters for the shape outline width and color.

  What I notice as I step through frames is that the opacity parameter seems to be working but the color of a shape does not change. The first tag is still blue (highlighted) which is the color that the shape is staying at.

  I think Motion is highly finicky, buggy and too idiosyncratic. I started a new project from scratch and made just one button. It worked. Then I modified the color at one of the. But this broke the animation. It’s like all of the tweened key frame around the tag were as before but just around the modified tag it behaved per the new modification. So the animation “jumped”.

  I deleted the tags and started over leaving the keyframes in place. Now it works.

  Crazy if I have to redo a hugely complex project. I’m hoping I’m missing something basic that someone can enlighten me to.

  Thanks again in advance for any guidance offered.

  Wayne
• 

  Wayne

  April 19, 2012 at 2:56 pm

  Building a new simple project and stepping through it as I put together my last response was helpful. A reminder to slow down and step back when pulling one’s hair out.

  Here is my recommendation – please anyone correct me if I do not have this right.

  Define snapshots for slider widget tags first, then animate. If you modify any of the tags you break the animation. You can keep your key frames in place but you need to delete and rebuild the tags.

  Something that Motion should handle and if I’m right it’s cost me a lot of valuable professional time. All of the resources from Apple getting sucked into iPads.

  W.

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