Lock left edge. Set anchor. Scale x with left edge anchored. Possible?

Hi John,

What you describe is happening in Motion, would be the result of setting an anchor point to the edge and then animating the width parameter. I

The result you expected should be the exactly that if we get if we set the anchor point to the edge and then animate the scale parameter.

For example here is a shape that is 2000 width, the x anchor is to set -1000, putting it at the edge, and the x scale parameter is keyframed from 0 to 100. This is the result we should get.

As Fox has detailed, if you do need to be working with width, then the align to behavior is ideal. It may sound like overkill, but the align to is a versatile solution to many things. Otherwise, we can use a link between the anchor point and the width with the link settings pining the anchor point to the edge preventing any displacement. It is often a decision between width and scale with animation if it is for a template for Final Cut, because one parameter needs to animate and the other needs to be free for publishing - in some cases not all.

Now on the topic of getting svg assets into Motion. If you work in AI or in Affinity, you do have a couple of options that can import full svg compositions into motion, with all the layers in order and with the shape all editable.

For AI, there are various scripts you can run that will export a file that you can then add to your Motion shapes library via finder. It has it's limits and depending on the AI composition, it may take some specific organisation steps to make a good export. I've been using a script called motionize for many years and many of the graphics designers I collaborate with have become familiar with it too.

For Affinity - there is Pixelmator Pro. Pixelmator pro can actually export a Motion project. This is a different process than using a script to export shape files, but it has been very successful with Affinity users since they launched the feature. I use this too in workflows when the designers don't work in Adobe. Generally, you export your Affinity project as an svg - which Pixelmator Pro can then open and export as a Motion project.

I personally prefer the script process with AI.

You're not really "missing" anything. Motion is ... weird and wonderful ... but there's a lot in it that just isn't immediately obvious. A lot of people tend to be distracted by "what *should* make sense".

I also have to say, that what you see in the interface is not always what is going on "under the surface"!

SVG support in Motion is NOT native... but SVGs can be used in FxPlug plugins made for Motion... (they'll cost extra.)

Shape support in Motion is Vector, typically Bézier, optionally B-Spline. Rectangles are now natively set up by Width and Height, Circles by Radii. Otherwise by Control Points. [Rectangles and Circles can be converted to Points if you desire — I'm sure you've seen the button.]

You may think you would need some way to set the Anchor Point based on other factors besides just "eyeballing" the position and as you have noticed, Lower Left and the Anchor point are not related with the Width changes.

Motion does Math*, but luckily you don't need it! [*to a certain extent - Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, but not Divsion by variable divisors... you can set up "fixed" divisions as fractional decimals.]

Draw another rectangle (or shape or line). To your *original* rectangle, add Behaviors > Basic Motion > Align To. Drag the new shape into the Object well and Align "original rectangle" Left, To "new Rectangle" Center [any option will be fine - center is convenient.]

Adjust the Width of your original Rectangle... You can now position that Rectangle based on the Position of the newer shape.

Now, simply TURN OFF the visibility of the shape (uncheck it in the Layers List). We refer to this kind of "trick" as a "null object".

HTH

Regarding svg: if you happen to have Pixelmator Pro, you may be able to open the svg in Pixelmator Pro and export it. Not sure if you can keep all the vector elements in the file, though.

However, a great feature of Pixelmator Pro is its ability to export directly as a Motion Project, with all the layers fully editable. This alone is worth the price of admission in my opinion. Many things are easier to draw in Pixelmator and then use in Motion, even if you could do it all in Motion.

Adding into the conversation...

While Motion does not support SVG, it does support PDF for vector art files. You can find the complete list of supported Video/Still/Audio formats in the documentation (Adding and Managing Content>Import media Files>Media file types>Supported media formats

I just downloaded an SVG file from the web, opened it in Pixelmator Pro, and exported as a Motion Project.

It correctly tranferred all the 200+ layers and it can be fully edited inside Motion.