Working in Motion and FCP

I have some footage of a presenter reading the news and i need to know the best way to create a lower third caption in Motion and incorporating it into my movie in FCP.
So far i have created my lower third caption in Motion and then saved it as a template, when in FCP i then open the template and drag it into the timeline, but it was trial and error getting the lower third to position at the right place on the footage.
Is there a better way ? should i edit my footage then export to motion and creae the lower third over the footage ?
Help
Hillster

I would suggest using one of the many pre-produced lower third templates in LiveType.
They are all in the standard lower third position and can be modified. Just save a the file and it's an .ipr file that yu import into FCP.
Open in editor if you need to change it. Save it with a different name where you have different talent.
Opps, I just realized I inadvertently answered a Motion post and not a FCP post. Certainly one of the Motion Gurus will have a better Motion solution, but this one is viable nonetheless
Message was edited by: D Gilmore

Similar Messages

Working with Motion and FCP 6

I have some footage of a presenter reading the news and i need to know the best way to create a lower third caption in Motion and incorporating it into my movie in FCP.
So far i have created my lower third caption in Motion and then saved it as a template, when in FCP i then open the template and drag it into the timeline, but it was trial and error getting the lower third to position at the right place on the footage.
Is there a better way ? should i edit my footage then export to motion and creae the lower third over the footage ?
Help
Hillster

Do not worry, while you gain more experience in editing and motion graphics this non-issue will gradually disappear.
However, there are several things you can try within FCP, one is to toggle on Image+Wireframe (FCP main menu>view) and swiftly reposition your lower third as you wish in the canvas by dragging the image center.
g.

Best way to work between Motion and FCP

I use Motion on occasion but always seem to run into a problem when I export projects to .mov files and import into FCP as the same. The files always show up in FCP but if I return back to Motion to edit the Motion Project I get an alert that say that file is in use. Should I just import the whole .motn file into and FCP and render after or is there a better way? Any ideas would be helpful.

Hi Buck,
if you export your motion project as a mov file you create an independent file with properties selected prior export. That file becomes independent from all applications and will remain even if you delete the project it originated from. On the contrary, if you import a Motion Project into FCP it will always depend on and reference its native editor.
If you are using a previously exported mov file within both Motion (say you re-imported it, apply changes and try to save it with same name) and FCP at the same time then you may get the warning that the file is in use.
Any change you make in Motion to your .motn project should update within FCP timeline instantly.
Luca

Combing Keynote, Motion and FCP. Best Strategy?

Ok Im trying to do a project where Im using Keynote content, Motion content and FCP content.
My final screen delivery will be on a flat screen plasma monitor with a native resolution of 852 x 480.
I am going to be playing this back as a looping Quicktime movie from a Mac to the plasma screen. The screen will be functioning essentially as a computer monitor.
The piece will only be about 3-4 minutes max run time.
The video I've shot is standard DV resolution: 720 x 480.
I am building the whole project at 852 x 480 so I dont have to scale up the video to fit the final screen size vertically.
I was intending to piece it all together in Motion.
(Exporting Quicktime renderings from Keynote and Final Cut at high resolution and placing them on the timeline in Motion...)
Now, with Motion and FCP's ability to transfer files back and forth, am I using the best strategy? Should the whole thing be assembled in FCP? Or is Motion just as good for assembly.
(I want to use Motion because I find it's interface way easier to push around than FCP and much less cryptic...)
Is there any slicker way to bring in Keynote material than to do the exporting to Quicktime thing?
Any advise I could get from all you motion gurus out there would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Well after actually starting in on the real construction of this project it has become very obvious it must be assembled in FCP.
Now that I have resolved myself to that fact, I have a few issues:
I've exported all my Keynote stuff in Animation Codec.
Is that better than H.264? (Seemed to be slightly sharper on type edges)
I tried setting up the sequence to have H.264 compression but it refused to accept any imports.
I changed it back to NTSC DV Codec and it accepted to imports no prob.
Must all FCP projects use DV codec?
You cant tell them to use a different compression system?
(This is one of those areas of FC that I find utterly mysterious.)
When I bring the Keynote clips into my FCP document, they look crunchy.
And they stumble on playback.
Is that just temporary in the editing environment.
The video plays back pretty clean...
Can I get all the files to play back cleanly in FC as Im working on them?
Will the compression used in my sequence be ignored upon export to the Final Quicktime?
And what's the deal with the frame rates on the Keynote files.
Even though I specified 29.97 on export, when I get info on the files theyre all over the place (20fps, 24fps...)
Is that a problem?

Workflow Qs: Using LT, Motion and FCP!

Hi, getting all jumbled up on workflow. I am inserting motion projects direct on the timeline, but I want livetype titling in this project as well - the titles are part of the motion animation. I don't see where i can save a livetype style I have set up there to just use in Motion, nor a sendto click. What do I have to do to make the composite? Thanks!
Bonus Question:
I also need to creat this effect:
http://www.livetypecentral.com/cgi-bin/livetypecentral.cgi/scan/MM=463acda593e91 b3da84375f256e196d2:10:15:10?mvsession_id=cxr46APv&mv_pc=31&mv_more_ip=1&mvnextpage=tutorials
Creating a Chalkboard Effect
How to create a Chalkboard effect with text that writes on the board and is then removed with an eraser! Click the image to watch this tutorial.
BUT, we can't afford 99$ nor do we have credit cards in Nepal to order. Can anyone tell me if this is possible to recreate by hand just using Motion and LiveType? Thanks,
Coocoo

coocooforcocoapuffs wrote:
I want livetype titling in this project as well - the titles are part of the motion animation. I don't see where i can save a livetype style I have set up there to just use in Motion, nor a sendto click. What do I have to do to make the composite? Thanks!
Import the LiveType project file as you would import it into FCP. However, my advice is to render the LT movie and bring the movie into the Motion project. You will save tons of processing and be able to edit your Motion project much faster. Try not to get hung up on precision with the LT stuff. In fact, I'd use proxies for the LT files with the simplest settings and minimum effects until you are much further along.
Most of LiveType's effects can be easily emulated within Motion.
coocooforcocoapuffs wrote:
Bonus Question:
I also need to creat this effect:
How to create a Chalkboard effect with text
BUT, we can't afford 99$ nor do we have credit cards in Nepal to order. Can anyone tell me if this is possible to recreate by hand just using Motion and LiveType? Thanks,
Coocoo
The economics of effects are usually grossly misunderstood by cheapskates. The effort you will expend in faking this effect will cost you far more than simply buying it. Credit cards are not the issue, you can make this purchase in many ways, use your imagination.
Find a bold typeface that you like. Apply any noise filter to a matte as a still image to create an alpha mask that will give some chalkboard texture to the text by removing some of the pixels. The same noise matte can be offset slightly and blended using ADD to give you some bright chalk highlights. You create the eraser effect using the paint function in Motion or buy using a grayscale and a procedural or gradient wipe. There is an eraser object in the Content of Motion. Animating the onscreen movement of the eraser and the eraser matte is challenging but a fun exercise in learning Motion's advanced functions. A chalkboard is a dangerously primitive anachronism. Be sure the metaphor is appropriate to your communication goal and not just some silly effect your creative manager insists on using.
bogiesan

Mpeg files no longer work in QT and FCP

I was forced to do an archival install a few weeks ago and, since then, none of my mpeg files will open in Quick Time 7 Pro or Final Cut Pro. When I try and open the file with Quick Time Pro, I get error message -2048. All these video files worked before, and none of them work now. Any thoughts?
Ben

So I found the VLC program, and it seems to be playing all the mpeg files fine (thank God) so I'm thinking that it really is missing a component. I heard through the grapevine that owners of final cut pro should automatically get the mpeg 2 component, so I technically should have it, but I didn't see it in my quick time component folder. I'll go ahead and list everything I've got in there.
3ivx D4 4.5.1 for OSX
AppleIntermediateCodec.component
DivX 5.component
DesktopVideoOut.component
DVCPROHDCodec.component
DVCPROHDMixer.component
DVCPROHDVideoDigitizer.compoent
DVCPROHDVideoOutput.component
DVCPROHDVideoOutputClock.component
DVCPROHDVideoOutputCodec.component
FCP Uncompressed 422.component
LiveType.component
Motion.component
I don't know if this is related, either, but I can't seem to take movie files that I've made with Quick Time Pro and my iSight and put them into FCP. It keeps saying "File Error: Unknown File" (even though it's a quick time file). As far as the update goes, I already have QTP 7.0.3. Should I try installing the update again?
B

Color discrepancy with imported PSD between Motion and FCP

I've got a Motion project with an imported PSD file as a background element (the PSD was created in Photoshop CS2 for Windows, running under Parallels).
The PSD file consists of two overlapping curved shapes, one blue, one green (part of our corporate look). The colors (RGB) match our official guidelines.
I imported the Motion project to FCP and placed it on the timeline, on V1. In FCP, I then used a color generator to create a small blue rectangle which would serve as a border for a slightly smaller thumbnail image that would get overlaid later on. The rectangle is on V2. I used the exact same RGB values for it as I did in Photoshop for the curved shape.
Trouble is, the blue color in the shape that got imported into FCP inside the Motion project doesn't match the generated color.
See this screenshot, in FCP:
http://elamaton.no-ip.com/~jarkko/colordiscrepancymotion.png
Three blues: leftmost, the color generator resized to a small rectangle; on the center, the shape that I created in Photoshop and imported into a Motion project, dropped into FCP; rightmost, an instance of Photoshop CS2 running in a virtual WinXP in Parallels Desktop. You'll notice that the blues of the generator and Photoshop match, but the middle shape that travelled the CS2->Motion->FCP route is a different shade.
Narrowing it down further, I decided to import the PSD file directly into FCP (just to see if it'd match - it needs to go through Motion for the final product). Here's a screengrab of Canvas this time:
http://elamaton.no-ip.com/~jarkko/colordiscrepancy_motion2.png
Again, from left to right: the generated rectangle, the directly imported PSD, the PSD in the imported Motion project. The first two match, but something in Motion or the Photoshop->Motion route screws up the colors of the blue-green shape (as well as the Työterveyslaitos logo on the top left, also a PSD, in the same Motion project). The blue shade is also incorrect in the Motion canvas, pre-import to FCP.
What's going on here, and how can I fix things?
The project settings are PAL DV in both FCP and Motion. No rendering has been done, I'm importing the .motn into FCP as-is.
Any help is greatly appreciated, deadlines loom...

First, double-check that your PSD is in RGB, but I suspect it it or it wouldn't even work in FCP. I suspect a gamma issue moving between the apps:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93794
You might try setting the colorspace in FCP to RGB or adding a gamma filter in Motion to adjust.
Mark

Font size problems between Motion and FCP

I created a custom Final Cut Pro title in Motion. I set the font size to 110 pixels. My custom title works great, with one exception. The 110 pixel font in my custom title doesn't match the size of 110 pixel fonts in other titles. I double checked the font specs between the two titles, and they are identical. But, the font in my custom title is much bigger (view screen shot). How do I fix this?

Hi Jim,
I found the problem. When I right click a text template in FCP and select "open in Motion", the template dimensions are 1920p X 1080p. My original custom templates were 1280p X 720p. So, I didn't realize I was toggling between different template sizes.
Thanks for you input though.

Exporting/Importing between Motion and FCP

Hi, I'm trying to export a piece of DV PAL Anamorphic video footage into Motion to adjust it and then export it back into FCP. But when I export it back to FCP I don't seem to be using the right settings as it becomes squeezed 4:3. It's still in anamorphic in Motion, my problem is just when it exports from Motion back to FCP.
Can you help me work out what I'm doing wrong please?

Final Cut forgets it's anamorphic after it's little outing to Motion. Simple right-click on the clip in the timeline, select item properties, and add a checkmark in the anamorphic line.

Roundtripping between Motion and FCP

I created an opening in motion, project settings are:
720x480
8bit
NTSC D1/DV Anamorphic PAR 1.20
Lower First
Frame Rate - 25
I started with a template [which explains the 25fps] and I have not been able to change that to 29.97.
My sequence settings in FCP are the same but wgen I bring the Motion project in its 4X3.
If I render the motion project I have the option of changing the Quicktime settings and it exports a 16X9 .mov.
There must be a switch I'm missing somewhere. Does anyone know how so solve this?

I doubt it was intended to work that way. It's a bug. A known bug. One that will hopefully be fixed in a future release. It's not the only bug out there, tho - so reporting it will add to the "fix it" voices...
Patrick
Oh, btw - just so you know how the forums are supposed to work, you should press the or buttons over the posts that warrant it...

Text in Hebrew has gone really weird in Motion and FCP - please help!

Hi,
I have been working in a project for a long time, and produced hundreds of simple titles in Motion in Hebrew. The font I have used throughout is Arial Rounded MT Bold.
In the latest title I added one text object and made it Italic. Since then, all my Hebrew text in this title and now any previous title I open appears really weird (the vowles are disjoined from the consonants). I have turned off the Italics option on all the titles but it still does the same thing.
This occurs even in a brand new title, where I paste the Hebrew directly into a new text object.
I am desperate for someone to help me, as I have a tight deadline on this one. All previous titles I open appear the same, even though they were fine in the past. I have tried deleting the preference file.
I am using Motion 4 (FCS 3) on a iMac bought last year, quad core intel.
Please help!
Thanks

Thank you so much!
Arial did not work, but Arial Bold and Arial Hebrew did!
The font doesn't match what I was using before. I have no idea what it was using previously, but at least I can proceed from here. My previous projects have all been output to movie files so even if the motion files are now messed up, it's not the end of the world!
Thanks again

MacBook Pro late 2013 for Motion and FCP

Hi,
before buying the MacBook Pro 15-inch, I am turning the internet upside down trying to find out how well the model without the NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M would perform when doing Photoshop work and editing HD video in Final Cut Pro and Motion. Almost all tests I read tell me frame rates when playing games. But I wonder how well the MacBook Pro 15-inch is doing on the mentioned tasks if there is only the Intel Iris Pro Graphics ? It would be great to read experiences of people who bought the 15-inch base model. Thanks.

Hey Clo1,
This video meight give you an idea of what the iris pro can handle...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATKDuQOQw9k

Does the "Anamorphicizer" work for FCE and FCP?

I have:
Final Cut Express HD 3.0
iDVD 6.0.2
Just downloaded the anamorphicizer from this link
http://homepage.mac.com/sith33/FileSharing34.html
to help my project maintain it's 16:9 aspect ratio in iDVD.
Before I spend $30.00 for quicktime pro (so that I can start using the anamorphicizer with it) can someone tell me if the anamorphicizer works for Final Cut Express?
If you go to the page above it says, "Export your video from FCP like you normally would for going to iDVD," and does not mention FCE.
Or, is there another website to download a "anamorphicizer" version that works for FCE?
Thanks!
PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.4) Final Cut Express

I've had kind of iffy results with Anamorphicizer, but I suspect that's because I don't know what I'm doing (or am trying to convert funky file formats). But when I drop a file on top of Anamorphicizer, it automatically opens up QT Pro and instructs me to save the converted file. I think you might have to get QT Pro in order to use it—I'm not sure, but don't think that the regular (free) version of QT has the "save as" capabilities of QT Pro. (Could be wrong, though. . . )
Anyway, sure, if you save a file after it's been converted by Anamorphicizer, it should be able to be opened in FCE. (I save my files as a "Hinted" Quicktime movie.

Drobo for Motion and FCP projects

Does anyone have any experience with the Drobo system? I am thinking about purchasing one for my ever increasing size of projects that eat up so much space on my hard drives. I have 3 separate external drives and thought this would be a good way to combine a couple together. I want to know if this is fast enough to use for editing or is it primarily used for back-ups? Any suggestions or advise would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Works great for me. If I had a nice Mac Pro I would absolutely use the internal drive bays for my video content, but would also have a Drobo to serve as a RAID.
As for you and me with our iMacs, the Drobo on FW800 is as fast as my internal drive. I don't see any lag time. I have 4 x 1TB Seagate drives in my Drobo. With about 1.8 TB of raw video. Not a ton, but it sure was nice to bust open all my external drives and slide them in the Drobo! I recommend keeping at least one external drive dedicated to Time Machine. And by the way, I can be editing video on my Mac and rip out one of my 1 TB drives in the Drobo with out a single skipped frame... Dude... that's cool.

Best way to work on timerange from FCP X project in motion?

Suppose there is a region within my FCP X that I want to add some touches (that may rely on the footage and sound i.e. tracking etc) in Motion.
As I cannot export a region from FCP X, just the whole time line, for long projects this seems quite inefficient. I don't want one massive motion project and bit may change in the edit and it is a nightmare to maintain.
What is the best way to do this now? Is there a workaround.

You can save a lot of time by trying to do what you can in FCPX. You want to track something: easy. Apply your title, graphic, or other overlay as a connected clip. Select that clip and move the playhead to the beginning (type up arrow if you're after that start, down arrow if you're ahead of the start). In Video > Transform, set a keyframe on the Position (X and Y are keyframed simultaneously -- you only need to set that first keyframe -- any subsequent adjustments will automatically add new keyframes). Command - right arrow to advance 10 frames and reposition the clip, right in the canvas with the onscreen control. Repeat until you get to the last frame (the last frame is the right edge of the clip – 1 frame!). Playback (or frame advance with right arrow) and for any frame that needs adjustment, just drag that OSC to the new position. It will take you a lot less time than trying to get a Motion tracker going in Motion for a "remote" clip in the storyline.
If you're bound and determined to use Motion tracking:
Blade your clip.
go out to the projects pane and duplicate the project (right click on the project > duplicate project :: duplicate project only)
In the duplicate: delete all the clips before an after your target clip (magnetic timeline will move it to the beginning)
Export > Current Settings (should be some flavor of ProRes)
Do your work in Motion and Export out with same settings (go into the Render tab and set Render Quality to Best. No Fields, No Motion Blur, No Frame Blending (that way you'll get it back into FCPX the way you exported it.)
Import into an Event in FCPX. Select the clip from Motion in your Event Browser. Select the clip in your storyline and type Option R (to do a replace edit.) You can Move to Trash the duplicate project.

Working in Motion and FCP

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