Apple Motion Keyboard Shortcuts

Single-key canvas tools. Press the key to switch tools without any modifier:

• R: Rectangle Shape tool
• C: Circle Shape tool
• B: Bezier tool (press again to switch to B-Spline)
• T: Text tool
• H: Pan tool
• Z: Zoom tool
• Q: 3D transform tool

Menu commands. Standard Cmd chords for File, Edit, Object, View, and Window menu actions, plus Motion-specific ones like Cmd-K (convert behaviors to keyframes) and Cmd-J (Properties Inspector).

Timeline and playback. Space to play/pause, arrow keys to step frames, I and O to mark In/Out points, and Cmd-R for a RAM preview.

3D navigation. Control-key chords switch camera views (Control-P for perspective, Control-A for the active camera) and toggle a group between 2D and 3D.

A printable PDF of Motion shortcuts is available below. The canvas tool letters and Timeline/playback shortcuts are the ones worth keeping at hand while editing.

Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro are Motion's siblings in Apple's own Creator Studio suite (Motion titles and effects plug straight into Final Cut Pro); Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro cover the same motion-graphics and video-editing workflow on the Adobe side. They are related by workflow, not because every project runs through all of them.

Why do single letters like R or B select tools in Motion?

Motion's canvas toolbar is built around single-key activation, so switching between the Rectangle, Circle, Bezier, and Text tools is one keypress with no modifier. Several of these keys also double as a mode toggle, pressing B again while the Bezier tool is active switches to B-Spline instead of reselecting Bezier.

Is Apple Motion available on Windows or iPad?

No. Motion is a Mac-only app in the Mac App Store (also available through Apple Creator Studio); there is no Windows, iPad, or iPhone version.

Can I use the function keys as Motion shortcuts?

Yes, by default F1 through F10 show the Inspectors, panes, and Player mode directly. Motion also supports remapping keyboard settings so the function keys behave as standard media keys instead, in which case use the Cmd-number shortcuts in the Window menu to show panes.

This section lists official sources and documentation for Apple Motion. Use these references to verify shortcut behavior instead of trusting old notes, screenshots, or memory.