Build the title in Apple Motion with two size links and a position alignment behavior. Link a rectangle’s dimensions to the text, add fixed padding, then save it as a Final Cut Pro title template.

Apple explicitly documents a rectangle following animated text size with the Link behavior, together with an Align To behavior to maintain its position. The workflow below combines those controls into a reusable title using only editable text and a plain rectangle. Link behavior in Motion.

Set up a simple title with a separate background shape

The task is to make each Final Cut Pro title clip fit its own wording automatically. Start with a single line such as Sample label, light text, and a dark rectangular background. Keep the first version free of character animation, outlines, and shadows so you can judge its dimensions clearly.

Use compatible installed versions of Motion and Final Cut Pro. Apple’s current instructions for modifying titles require updating both apps and using compatible editions: both must be Apple Creator Studio versions or both must be one-time purchases. These instructions follow Apple’s current online guides; they do not establish compatibility with every older release. Modify Final Cut Pro for Mac titles in Motion.

  1. In Motion, choose File > New from Project Browser.
  2. Select Final Cut Title, choose the project preset, and click Open. Apple recommends creating the template at the highest resolution you intend to use.
  3. Replace the default text with Sample label.
  4. Add a simple rectangle with the Rectangle tool. Place it below the text in the layer order, in the same group.
  5. Keep the text and rectangle at their normal object scale while building the size relationships. Use the rectangle’s geometry dimensions for resizing.

The title project starts with a text layer and a Title Background placeholder. That placeholder represents underlying Final Cut Pro footage when the title is connected above a clip. Your text-sized panel is the separate rectangle you draw. Leave the placeholder’s transforms and effects untouched for this basic overlay. Apple documents both adding shapes to title templates and how underlying clips populate the placeholder. Create a title template in Motion.

Keep the rectangle as a simple shape. In its Shape inspector, open Geometry and expand Size to reveal Width and Height. These are the two destination parameters for the resizing setup. Converting the rectangle to points changes the available geometry controls, so retain the simple rectangle for this workflow. Geometry pane controls in Motion.

For the first test, set the text’s Layout Method to Type. Apple describes this as a single-line layout that continues as characters are added. Paragraph introduces wrapping and margins; deleting words does not automatically reduce those paragraph margins. Establish the single-line result before introducing wrapping. Text Layout controls in Motion.

Link the rectangle’s dimensions and add fixed padding

The sizing rule is straightforward: rectangle width equals text width plus the left and right padding; rectangle height equals text height plus the top and bottom padding. This is a construction derived from Apple’s documented size-linking and constant-offset controls.

Connect width and height separately

Select the rectangle, open Shape > Geometry, and expand Size. Control-click Width, then choose Add Parameter Behavior > Link. Applying the behavior directly to a parameter assigns its destination for you. Apple documents this parameter-menu method. Add or remove a Parameter behavior in Motion.

In the new behavior, assign the text layer as Source Object. From Source Parameter, also identified as Compatible Parameters, select the text object’s width under Object Attributes > Size > Width. Check that Apply To targets the rectangle’s geometry width. Set Apply Mode to Replace with source, Scale to 1, and Source Frame Mode to Continuous. Repeat on the rectangle’s geometry Height, selecting the text object’s height as its source. Apple documents source selection, compatible parameter types, replacement mode, and continuous evaluation. Link behavior in Motion.

If the source width is unavailable, inspect the destination first: select the individual rectangle width rather than a compound transform parameter. Apple explains that the destination determines which compatible source parameters appear. Choosing a source also activates a newly added link. Link behavior in Motion.

Calculate padding as an addition

For an illustrative design, choose 24 units of padding on each horizontal side and 12 on each vertical side. Enter a constant offset of 48 in the width link and 24 in the height link. Keep both link multipliers at 1. Apple documents the behavior’s offset as a constant difference between the source and applied values. Link behavior in Motion.

Illustrative input Calculation Rectangle dimension
Text width: 300 300 + 24 + 24 348
Text width: 600 600 + 24 + 24 648
Text height: 60 60 + 12 + 12 84

These are example dimensions, not measurements from a particular font. They provide a useful diagnostic: doubling the wording’s width should leave the added horizontal space at 48. A multiplier of 1.2 would instead add 60 to a width of 300 and 120 to a width of 600, so it would not preserve fixed padding.

Treat this as padding in the template’s working coordinate system. Scaling the entire finished title also scales the visible gap. If you want to preserve the designed gap while changing lettering size, test changes to font size with the title’s overall scale left unchanged.

Align the rectangle to the changing text bounds

Correct dimensions alone do not establish where the rectangle sits. Add Align To to the rectangle through Behaviors > Basic Motion > Align To. Assign the text layer to its Object well, align the rectangle’s center to the text’s center, and start with zero positional offset. Set Alignment to Continuous and Transition to None. Apple documents these controls for dynamically positioning one object relative to another. Align To behavior in Motion.

Center alignment is the appropriate starting point for equal opposite padding: the extra width is divided between left and right, and the extra height between top and bottom. This follows from the geometry of two centered rectangles. Matching only the objects’ stored positions would not, by itself, establish this relationship between their visible bounds.

Test the strings Sample, Sample label, and Sample label preview. Then compare TITLE with typing. Look for the panel following the changed text bounds while preserving the intended surrounding space. Keep all tests at the same font and font size initially.

If you prefer a stable panel height across different words, make that an explicit design choice. Remove the height link, choose a fixed rectangle height, and use an appropriate text reference such as Text Baseline with an alignment offset. Apple exposes baseline, ascender, descender, capital-height, and x-height alignment references. This alternative needs its own font-size testing because it no longer derives panel height from every text change. Align To behavior in Motion.

Expose useful controls and test the Final Cut Pro result

You can keep padding fixed in the template or expose it for adjustment. For adjustable padding, choose Publish from the Animation menu beside each link’s offset parameter. The general template workflow makes published parameter controls available in Final Cut Pro. Create a title template in Motion.

Select Project, open Publishing, and rename those controls to Added Width and Added Height. These names describe the actual values: 48 means 24 on each horizontal side when centered. Apple documents renaming and reordering published controls in this pane. Manage template controls in Motion.

Ordinary text formatting already has controls in Final Cut Pro’s Text inspector. Publishing a text parameter that is already present there produces another control for the same parameter in the Title inspector; the two controls remain linked. Publish only the additional controls the editor needs. Publishing template text controls in Motion.

Save the template with a descriptive name and category, then click Publish in Motion’s save dialog. In Final Cut Pro, locate it under Titles in the Titles and Generators sidebar and drag it above a neutral test clip. This saves a reusable local title template through Apple’s documented workflow. Create a title template in Motion.

Select the title clip and move the playhead over it. Edit its wording in the viewer or the Text inspector, then press Command-Return to finish. Custom published controls are adjusted in the Title inspector. Adjust titles in Final Cut Pro for Mac.

Use this acceptance sequence before relying on the template:

  1. Enter a short label, then a substantially longer label. Check that both sides retain the same gap.
  2. Increase font size without changing overall title scale. Inspect all four edges.
  3. Test the shortest and longest wording you actually expect to use.
  4. Add a second title from the browser and give it different wording.
  5. Scrub through the full title duration, including its first and last visible frames.
  6. If you add wrapping or animation, repeat the sequence with those features enabled.

Keep animation, shared instances, and template revisions distinct

For animated text, decide whether the panel should follow each frame or hold a sampled size. Apple’s Continuous source mode follows changing text dimensions; Fixed samples a specified point in the animation. Choose that point deliberately if you want a panel sized to the completed wording during an entrance animation. Link behavior in Motion.

Wrapping is a separate layout decision. Paragraph can wrap text within margins, while Auto-Shrink changes text scale to fit specified margins. Neither should be treated as an automatic maximum-width policy for this panel construction. Choose a paragraph width and test the resulting source dimensions before adopting a multiline version. Text Layout controls in Motion.

A compound clip introduces a different reuse relationship. Apple states that editing its contents changes the parent compound clip and is inherited by its child instances. If your reusable title is inside a compound clip, changing the wording there can therefore affect other uses of that compound. Intro to compound clips in Final Cut Pro for Mac.

To make such a compound independent, select it in the timeline and choose Clip > Reference New Parent Clip before editing its contents. Apple documents this command as breaking its relationship with the original parent and that parent’s other children. This command addresses compound sharing; the rectangle’s resizing relationships remain inside the title template. Create compound clips in Final Cut Pro for Mac.

For a revised template, use a distinct name so the revision can be tested deliberately. Apple’s browser command Open a copy in Motion, followed by File > Save As, creates a newly named title. Treat replacing an existing timeline title as a separate editing step; the documented copy workflow does not establish an automatic migration of existing uses. Modify Final Cut Pro for Mac titles in Motion.

The finished result is ready to reuse when short and long wording both produce the intended gap, the rectangle stays aligned throughout the clip, and independently placed titles retain their own text. Keep those checks with the template’s design: they make future font, layout, and animation changes easier to assess.

Sources