To adjust a template’s anchor point without shifting its graphic at rest, use Motion sliders that change matching anchor and position coordinates together. Publish those sliders to Final Cut Pro, choose the pivot at 100% scale and zero rotation, then animate.

This walkthrough is for a Mac editor building a reusable generator with a simple original rectangle. It preserves the graphic’s placement while choosing a pivot in its untransformed state. Changing that pivot after scaling or rotating requires additional compensation.

Why publishing the anchor point alone moves the graphic

An anchor point determines the pivot for rotation and scaling. Apple explains that a layer’s position is centered on its anchor point, so offsetting the anchor also changes where the layer appears relative to its position coordinates. Publishing only the anchor therefore does not establish a stationary-image control. Properties Inspector controls in Motion.

The practical solution developed here pairs two values on the same layer: horizontal anchor with horizontal position, and vertical anchor with vertical position. At 100% scale and zero rotation, equal changes cancel the visible displacement. The pivot moves, while the rectangle stays put.

That pairing is a construction derived from Apple’s documented transform and rig behavior, rather than an Apple preset. Apple documents sliders that drive multiple parameter states and interpolate between them. The instructions below use those capabilities to build the paired controls. Build a simple rig in Motion, Slider widget in Motion.

Build a neutral test graphic in Motion

Start with an uncomplicated generator so you can see whether the compensation works before adding other artwork.

  1. In Motion, choose File > New from Project Browser.
  2. Select Final Cut Generator, choose the intended project preset, and click Open. For this example, use a 1920 × 1080 project.
  3. Leave the containing group’s transforms at their defaults and use a standard 2D arrangement without cameras or transform behaviors.
  4. Select the Rectangle tool, draw a medium-sized rectangle, and press Esc. Use a plain fill such as blue. Rename the layer Pivot Graphic.

Apple documents generator projects as the route for creating graphics that appear in Final Cut Pro’s generator browser. Its shape instructions describe drawing a rectangle with the Rectangle tool and pressing Esc to leave drawing mode. Create a generator template in Motion, Draw simple shapes in Motion.

Select Pivot Graphic and open the Properties inspector. Set its Position and Anchor Point coordinates to zero, its Rotation to zero, and its Scale to 100%. Keep these values static while constructing the rig. Expand the coordinate controls so you can edit individual axes. Apple documents these transform controls for layers and groups. Properties Inspector controls in Motion.

The rectangle’s exact dimensions do not affect the cancellation. The example’s pivot ranges are illustrative coordinate values, not measurements of the rectangle or automatic edge detection.

Rig horizontal and vertical pivot controls

Create the horizontal slider

Choose Object > New Rig. Select the rig, click Add Slider in the Rig inspector, and rename the resulting widget Pivot X. These are Apple’s documented controls for adding a rig and slider. Build a simple rig in Motion.

A slider starts with two snapshot tags beneath it. Each tag stores a parameter state; values between the tags interpolate. Use the following mapping for the rectangle:

Widget Snapshot Graphic’s anchor coordinate Graphic’s position coordinate
Pivot X Left endpoint Anchor Point X = -300 Position X = -300
Pivot X Right endpoint Anchor Point X = 300 Position X = 300
Pivot Y Left endpoint Anchor Point Y = -150 Position Y = -150
Pivot Y Right endpoint Anchor Point Y = 150 Position Y = 150

To record the first horizontal state, select the left snapshot tag under Pivot X, then click Start beside Edit Mode. Select Pivot Graphic and enter -300 for both Anchor Point X and Position X. Click Stop Rig Edit Mode. Record the right endpoint the same way, entering 300 for both values. Apple documents selecting a snapshot, entering edit mode, changing parameters, and stopping recording. Create and manage snapshots in Motion.

While recording, change only the intended coordinate pair. Canvas dragging can alter additional parameters, making it harder to see what the widget actually controls.

Add the vertical slider

Return Pivot X to its midpoint. Add another slider to the rig and name it Pivot Y. Record its two endpoint states using the vertical values in the table. Change only Anchor Point Y and Position Y; leave the horizontal pair under the first widget’s control.

Inspect both widgets after recording. Each should contain its intended pair of coordinates. Apple identifies rigged parameters with a joystick icon and shows the recorded parameters beneath the widget controls. Create and manage snapshots in Motion.

Keep slider interpolation set to Linear. Optionally set Pivot X’s displayed Range Minimum and Range Maximum to -300 and 300, and Pivot Y’s to -150 and 150. Those settings label the sliders; they do not create the parameter mapping. The snapshots establish that mapping. Slider widget in Motion.

Check what stays stationary—and when

Move both sliders through their ranges while the graphic remains at 100% scale and zero rotation. Its edges should stay in the same canvas locations. Then select an off-center pivot and temporarily rotate the graphic. It should rotate around the new pivot. Restore rotation to zero before choosing another pivot.

The cancellation can be understood with a one-axis calculation. Let q be a point in the graphic, a its anchor coordinate, and p its position coordinate. In the unscaled, unrotated example, the displayed coordinate is p + q - a. The rig sets p = a, leaving q unchanged. This arithmetic was checked with sample coordinates; it is not an application playback test.

At other scales, equal anchor and position changes no longer cancel. For an illustrative 200% scale, the graphic’s center at q = 0, with p = a = 100, becomes 100 + 2 × (0 - 100) = -100. That explains why the image moves if you adjust this simple pivot rig after scaling.

Use this decision table when designing the template:

Required behavior Appropriate approach
Choose a pivot while preserving the initial composition Use the paired sliders at 100% scale and zero rotation.
Animate around the chosen pivot Leave the pivot sliders fixed; animate the graphic’s scale or rotation.
Reposition the complete composition Use a separate containing group for placement.
Change the pivot while preserving an already transformed image Rebuild compensation for that transform state; this two-slider mapping is insufficient.

For a known, fixed scale and rotation, position compensation must account for that transform: the position change equals the scaled and rotated anchor change. If scale or rotation also varies, fixed endpoint pairs do not provide a general solution. The straightforward supported workflow here is to choose the pivot in the neutral state, then transform the graphic.

Publish the controls and use them in Final Cut Pro

In the Rig or Widget inspector, Control-click each pivot slider’s parameter name and choose Publish. Select Project, open Publishing, and confirm that both widgets appear. Apple documents that published widgets become available in Final Cut Pro after the template is saved. Publish rigs from Motion to Final Cut Pro.

Publish the rectangle’s Scale and Rotation parameters as well. In Project > Publishing, give them clear names such as Graphic Scale and Graphic Rotation, and place them below the pivot controls. Apple documents renaming and reordering published controls in this pane. Manage template controls in Motion.

Save the generator with a descriptive name and category, then click Publish in the save dialog. In Final Cut Pro, open Titles and Generators, locate it under Generators, and drag it into the timeline. Apple documents this save-and-apply workflow and confirms that published parameters can be adjusted and keyframed in Final Cut Pro. Create a generator template in Motion.

Select the generator instance and use its published controls in this order: keep Graphic Scale at 100% and Graphic Rotation at zero, choose Pivot X and Pivot Y, then adjust or animate scale and rotation. Inspect the beginning, middle, and end of the resulting animation.

Keep the generator clip’s built-in Transform controls separate from the controls you published for the internal rectangle. Final Cut Pro also provides its own Anchor X and Y controls in the Video inspector; Apple explicitly says those anchor controls are unavailable in the onscreen transform controls. Dragging the viewer’s center circle is therefore not the documented method for editing that built-in anchor. Resize, move, and rotate clips in Final Cut Pro for Mac.

Preserve template, shared-instance, and version boundaries

Treat a timeline adjustment and a template-source revision as different operations. Changing a published control is how you customize the selected generator. Opening the generator’s source in Motion changes the reusable template.

For an existing Motion-created generator, Apple distinguishes Open in Motion, which opens the original, from Open a copy in Motion for a Final Cut Pro preset. For your custom template, use File > Save As when creating a separate revision. Apple also documents that subsequent Motion edits to an applied modified template can affect timeline instances. Do not assume that saving the source changes only the instance currently selected in Final Cut Pro. Modify a Final Cut Pro generator.

Compound clips introduce another sharing boundary. Editing a generator inside a compound clip edits that compound’s shared contents. Apple states that content changes propagate to its child instances. If one occurrence needs independent contents, select that compound in the timeline and choose Clip > Reference New Parent Clip before making the internal change. Intro to compound clips in Final Cut Pro for Mac, Create compound clips in Final Cut Pro for Mac.

The current Motion documentation retrieved for this workflow displays Motion 6.4. When working with older installations, select the corresponding guide version instead of assuming identical menus or compatibility. Apple’s generator-editing instructions require compatible, updated apps and specify that both must be Apple Creator Studio versions or both one-time purchases. Build a simple rig in Motion, Modify a Final Cut Pro generator.

For this template, the reliable working sequence is precise: pair anchor and position on the same graphic, choose the pivot in the neutral state, and then animate around it. That gives the editor an adjustable pivot without disturbing the starting composition, while keeping the rig’s transform limits explicit.

Sources