How to use an instance of a text object

[Jim Kanter]

You can nest layers in Motion just as you can nest compositions in AE for the same grouping capabilities.

Create a new layer and drag the layer with the current composite animation into it.

Jim Kanter,
Digital Film Institute
http://www.dfilminst.com

[Doyle Rockwell]

Heya,

I think he’s talking about the way that AE pre-comps are treated as footage, so he can adjust a single text object and have it propagate across multiple instances. Unfortunately, Motion pre-comps aren’t treated the same way.

There is a dirty little workaround, though: the Basic 3D filter allows you to drop in any object as the backside image. So here you go:

1. Add your master text object
2. Draw a square shape object in the Canvas, bigger than the size of the desired text instance.
3. Turn off the Fill and Outline of the shape (making it completely transparent.
4. Apply the Basic 3D filter to the shape.
5. Drag-and-drop the master text into the Back Face image well in the Basic 3D filter.
6. Set the Y Rotation of the Basic 3D filter to 180 (so you’re looking at the back).

Now you can adjust the master text and the instance will update. The extra filtering that Basic 3D does will soften the text a little. Also, if your instanced text gets clipped (too big), you’ll need to increase the size of the shape object. Scaling it won’t do the trick, though, because transforms happen after filters, so the quality will be terrible. Instead, adjust the points of the shape to make it larger.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your project!

[Juan Obregon]

Hi all

I found the the answer to my question, but thanks for your help anyways.

here it is

added a layer then
added a text object (position size etc…)
selected the layer
went to objects menu and selected replicate (short cut letter ” L “)
I needed to scale the copy (replicate) of the text object
so I scaled the replicator object inside the replicated layer
I had to move it to compensate for the scale
since I wanted to use it like a reflection across the panels
I added a copy of the panels to the replicated layer (the copy of the original text layer)
then added an image mask to the replicated layer
turned off the panels inside the replicated layer
selected the image mask
from the layers tab I draged the turn off panels object and droped it in the small drop box with the title “image”
in the image mask tab
set the source channel to Luminance everything else at default

and that is it

Thanks again, and I hope this will be of help to others
matzunaga