Motion 5 / FCP X - Frustrating Drop Zones

I've been (trying) to use Drop Zones lately on a number of projects and while I've been able to kludge things here and there to get them to work properly, they sure have frustrated me. The projects I'm working on need snippets of properly timed video floating around the screen, usually within the opening sequence for the video. The trouble is I've never been able to really figure out the timing for these things.
1) Initially, the logical thought was (for me, at least) to set at least an in point for the video before dropping it into the Drop Zone in FCP X. That certainly didn't work because it appeared as though FCP X totally ignored my clip's in point. I wanted that clip video to start exactly at the beginning of that drop zone.
2) Since that didn't work I did some Internet research and someone posted that Drop Zones ignore clip in points. They said that when selecting the clip for the drop zone to place the cursor on the exact frame where you want the video to start before applying it to the Drop Zone. Well, that works to an extent.
Here's what I found after doing some experimentation in both Motion 5 and FCP X (latest versions of each). First, I created a video with timecode in it so that I could accurately track where the video really started on the first frame of the individual Drop Zone. The video starts with 10 seconds of color bars followed by 5 minutes of burned in timecode, then another 10 seconds of color bars. I created a simple Motion Generator with four Drop Zones - upper left, upper right, lower left and lower right. Each Drop Zone was placed exactly 10 seconds apart. So, for example:
For the first test I placed each Drop Zone within one Group in Motion. Drop Zones start at the following timecode for each location as follows:
UL: 00:00:00:00
LL: 00:00:10:00
UR: 00:00:20:00
LR: 00:00:30:00
After publishing the project, I loaded it into FCP X. I used the same timecode video for each Drop Zone starting it at timecode value 00:01:00:00. Now, one would think that each drop zone window, having been placed exactly 10 seconds apart, would show timecode values for the inserted videos also each 10 seconds apart. But they don't! All four Drop Zones show exactly the same timecode value. They are acting as if all four were placed within the Motion 5 timeline starting at 00:00:00:00. But they weren't.
So, I thought, what would happen if I placed each Drop Zone in Motion in a separate Group? I created four Groups, each one holding only one Drop Zone. It didn't make a difference. The timecode videos in each window were still in sync with one another.
The only way I can get this to work properly is to offset the beginning of each clip by -10 seconds. Unfortunately, if there's not enough "preroll" in the clip to do that, I'm out of luck.
But it gets stranger! Further experimentation leads me to believe that all of the Drop Zones within a project reference themselves to the very first Drop Zone within the project. I picked a new point within the timecode video - in this case, the 2 minute point (00:02:00:00) and dropped it into the UL drop zone. I did the same then for the other three and now they all track based on that 00:02:00:00 point within the video!
But it gets even stranger!!! I tried one more experiment, this time loading the Drop Zones in reverse order. That seemed to work. But still, why should I have to mess around like this trying to sync drop zones in some of weird order?
The question is, why do Drop Zones work this way and what can be done to fix this problem? However I select the first frame of video for a particular drop zone should be what that drop zone references when rendering. Ideally it would be great to be able to use an in point on the clip, but I'm also happy with just moving the clip's cursor to the first frame. It's easy enough to do. Hopefully the software team working on these apps can come up with a solution that makes sense. Thanks.
John

I've had this too and the fix then was to delete my project render files (FCP that is).
Russ

Similar Messages

Adjusting Motion Template Media in Drop Zones in FCP

The Motion User's manual claims that you can adjust certain parameters of Drop Zone media in templates in FCP. I'll go to the template's Control tab in the Viewer and there are no options and I do not get a red cross-hair in the Canvas as t says I should.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

Speaking off the top of my head, if you click on the drop zone then head over to the Inspector pane, there should be a well you can click and drag from to get rid of old content. Not sure why it should hang around though in the first place.
hth
adam

Motion drop zones not behaving

I have drop zones on a canvas x 4.
I have made this "Fit" setting.
The drop zones are not all the size of the footage for example one of them is really tall but thin.
When I place it in the fcp timeline the drop zones shrink to accomadate the footage.
Shouldnt the footage fill the drop zone wih the edges of the footage that don't fit being cut out?
I have tried "stretch" as a drop zone setiing and it distorts the aspect ratio of the footage. Centre looks no good either.
Can anyone help?

"Fit" means that the footage will be shrunk so that it completely fits inside the dropzone. This means that if the aspect ratio does not match, it will basically either letterbox or pillar box the footage.

FCP X / Motion 5 Drop Zone Video Freeze Frames Only!

Hmmm, well, I've followed the other discussions here regarding what appears to be an on-going issue with videos not playing (freeze frame only - usually the first frame of the clip) in a Drop Zone. I'm using the latest versions of both FCP X (10.1.1) and Motion 5 (5.1). I created a video generator in Motion with 15 drop zones for use in an open for a project I just started on. These drop zones are sliding left and right in three bands across the canvas. I can't get any of them to display moving video. I've used drop zones before and had some success with getting video clips to play in them, but in this case I'm batting zero.
Has anyone found a way around this problem? I may just import the videos into Motion and render them there since this open more than likely won't ever be used for any other project; nevertheless, I'd like to be able to use the Motion 5 template as it was designed to be used.
Thanks.

The good news, Russ, is that I've made some progress! To say that using Drop Zones can be a bit quirky is an understatement! Nevertheless, your Pro Res hint seems to have fixed my issue. I've been recutting the clips from the master archived files and saving them as Pro Res 422. The file size is considerably larger that the H.264 files, but since it works I guess I won't argue that point! :-)
I need to do a bit more investigation of this next point, but it also seems as if I need to move a frame or three into the clip before inserting it into the drop zone. I had just been taking the clip and dumping it in as is. When doing that I noticed that in some cases the clip either didn't play (freeze frame) or it started at some random (or at least what seemed to be random) location within the clip. However, since I moved the start point in 2 or 3 frames (end point doesn't seem to matter) so far, at least, the clip plays every time and starts from the proper point.
I don't know if this mattered or not, but I completely deleted the library with the project and event that I was originally trying to edit to. Since it wasn't working anyway there is nothing lost and I felt it was worth starting the project "fresh", so to speak.
So far I've only re-clipped and inserted 5 of the 15 drop zone videos but for now, at least, they are all working!
Thanks again for your help and suggestions.
John

Motion 3 template drop zone content won't play in FCP

I am new to Motion. I made a custom template and brought it into FCP. It inserts and previews fine. In FCP I place a clip into one of the masked-out "drop zones" under the "controls tab" and here is where I run into the problem:
The clip shows up ok in the template but doesn't play once I render; all I get is a static still from it.
I sense that I am almost there... any suggestions?
many thanks,
Alan
intel iMac, G4 Powerbook Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Hi, this problem has been solved over in the Quicktime discussions:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5106282&#5106282
Turns out you need to install Qmaster to play HDV files in QT (without FCP installed).

Upgrade to Final Cut 10.0.7 destroyed my generators created in Motion that include drop zones. Anyone experienced the same problem ?

In Motion 5 I created generators that included a drop zone. The objective it to bring them into Final Cut and insert into the drop zone a clip of the same duration.
In FCX 10.0.6 I used to bring a clip to the time line and re size it to the exact duration of my generator. Then I bring the generator to the time line and selected the generator, click in the drop zone of the published parameters menu and select this clip I wanted to insert. The result was the generator using my clip and the clip playing during all the duration of the generator with the generator effect.
Now, with 10.0.7 I can’t make that work. When I click in the clip I would like to import into the drop zone, the result is that there’s just a frozen image of the clip (in the same place I clicked with the mouse)
Is this a known problem of 10.0.7. It used to work well in 10.0.6
Thanks for your help !

I can't see that the update would have any effect on custom generators as they are housed separately from FCP X.
Many weird things happen as a result of corrupt preferences which can create a vast range of different symptoms, so whenever FCP X stops working properly in any way, trashing the preferences should be the first thing you do using this free app.
http://www.digitalrebellion.com/prefman/
Shut down FCP X, open PreferenceManager and in the window that appears:-
1. Ensure that only FCP X is selected.
2. Click Trash
The job is done instantly and you can re-open FCP X.
There is absolutely no danger in trashing preferences and you can do it as often as you like.
The preferences are kept separately from FCP X and if there aren't any when FCP X opens it automatically creates new ones . . . instantly.

Motion Drop Zone template question

I am using a drop zone template to make a short promo video. I am trying to figure out how to transition from the drop zones flying in to open the video full screen to play. So the effect I want is a bed of music and the motion template flying in 6 drop zones. I want to see a drop zone expand into like a 20 second spot and then fly the drop zones again, pick a different one to expand into the full movie and so on. I have about 3 minutes to make this promo. I am using Final Cut Studio 3 and Motion 4.
What behaviors is there in Motion to do this or do I need to just bring in the motion file into FCP and use some sort of transition there?
Jeff

Which template are you trying to use?
I'd maybe do it this way...
1. Create the project in Motion using a frame that is twice the size of your editing format in FCP. If you're editing DV in FCP, use one of the HD templates. If you're using HD in FCP, you'll need to change the properties of the project to about 2160 pixels high. but the dropzones should be able to hold a full size clip.
2. Render it all out full size.
3. Import it into FCP and drop it into your timeline, set it to 25% or 50% scale, don't let FCP scale it to fit the sequence.
4. You will be able to use the scale and position (center) keyframes to zoom in on any single dropzone to fill the frame at 100%.
That's just one of many simple ways to do this without using a camera in the template. If you're new to Motion, save that for a later project.
Mark or others will have more interesting suggestions later.
bogiesan

Can you customize drop zones in Motion?

Im trying to help a client who spends an extra day on his "template" adding picture to it but then resizing and cropping when the photo's are portrait as a apposed to landscape. I'm not really sure why this takes him so long, I think he has Motion 3 so maybe someone could tell me if this is much different with drop zones? But i was looking for a way to speed up the process? Let me know? Thanks!

Drop Zones will not distort an image, but only show what will fit. If you have a perfectly square Drop Zone, and put an anamorphic clip in it, you'll cut off the left and right edges. You can always take your Motion template in FCP and Send To Motion to change the size/shape of a Drop Zone. It's pretty easy, can be done pretty quickly.

Trying to find termplates with drop zones for FCP 6 Help please.

I'm on FCS 2 (FCP6) and I'm looking for some templates that I can use to create a short video montage. I wold like to have images moving slowly around the screen with 'firework' effects going off around them. I've seen this done with a template but that was done on FCP 7. This would take the rest of my life to do manually so the question is are the kinds of templates WITH DROP ZONES available for use in FCP6? I've searched around but can only find templates for fonts, transitions and so on. Any help much appreciated.

I've just realised that the template I was looking for in FC is actually available in Motion and I'd failed to install it, so I'm sorted. If there is a source of free templates I'd be thrilled to find them.

I've encountered problems with drop zones in generators from Motion 5 toFCP X 10.0.7.

The clips won't import properly and come up as stills rather than videos. In one of my generators (with three drop zones) only one will display the clip - the other two play as stills (frozen?). I've tried having the playhead parked at the start of the clip when adding them to the generator, but it produces the same results.
Any solutions?

I've had this too and the fix then was to delete my project render files (FCP that is).
Russ

How do I resize an image within a drop zone (not the drop zone itself) in motion 5?

How do I resize an image within a drop zone (not the drop zone itself) in motion 5?

I think others would be able to help if you describe a little more why you'd like to do this. Given that drop zones are a way of passing images into Motion that you want to manipulate, resizing a drop zone is the equivalent of resizing the image.
If you're having a problem with an image from Final Cut being too big or too small, select the Drop Zone in the inspector and make sure the Fit parameter is set to 'Fit' - 'Center' will result in images dropped not being scaled to fit the Drop Zone. 'Stretch' will force the dropped image to fill the space defined by the drop zone,
If the image is already cropped and scaled up in Final Cut Pro, that is the information that Motion gets - you can't scale down the image to see more of the edges that have been cropped off.
If you want more than one copy of the image passed via the drop zone, use Make Clone Layer from the Object menu.

MOTION 4 - I can't locate correct drop zones for template

I'm working in MOTION 4 and a template I purchased online.
I'm not deeply experienced with MOTION (one of the reasons I prefer
templates), but I have used built-in MOTION templates and those from 3rd parites
and other sources on many prior occassions. I'm familiar with dragging
the elements you want to customice into the drop zones.
The problem I'm having is with a Calendar template. I've been
playing for hours now trying to get
the video or image into the drop zone. For instance this template is
made of of a bottom part
that shows a January calendar, and the top of the calendar is the drop
zone where you drop in
the picture you want to customize to represent January. And there is a
counterpart for all 12 months and it flips through all 12 months.
No matter how hard I try, I can't drag my images into the right area of
MOTION Canvas or layers area to get it into the right
drop zone corresponding to the month I'm shooting for.
This seems straight forward, but the template is confusing. I've tried
trial and error for hours now, but they're not
ending up where I need.
Is there someway to see ONLY the drop zones in MOTION? I keep replacing things
I don't intend.
Any quick assistance would be appreciated. I've contacted the 3rd party I purchased the template
from but haven't heard back yet and on deadline. Help!

ichbinesderelch wrote:have you tried using xrandr? xrandr -q shows available outputs, xrandr --output outputadapter(like VGA) --mode 1280x1024, as far as i can see, virtual monitor is set high enough that this should kinda work!
Yes, I tried xrandr:
$ xrandr --newmode "1280x1024" 65.0 1024 1048 1184 1344 768 771 777 806 -vsync -hsync
$ xrandr --addmode VGA 1280x1024
$ xrandr --output VGA --mode 1280x1024
$ xrandr --output VGA --right-of LVDS
At first this didn't work at all, so I tried to mess with screen resolution applet and got output on the second monitor, but not at the desired resolution.
I tried running these commands again and got output on the second monitor, but at the wrong resolution. The strange part is that the resolution I want is listed by xrandr:
$ xrandr -q
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 2304 x 800, maximum 2560 x 2048
VGA connected 1024x768+1280+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
1280x800@60 60.0 +
1360x768 59.8
1024x768 60.0*
800x600 60.3 56.2
640x480 59.9
1280x1024 60.0
LVDS connected 1280x800+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
1280x800 60.0*+
1024x768 85.0 75.0 70.1 60.0
832x624 74.6
800x600 85.1 72.2 75.0 60.3 56.2
640x480 85.0 72.8 75.0 59.9
720x400 85.0
640x400 85.1
640x350 85.1
TV disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

Drop Zones from Motion to DVD-SP ...?

I have done a template in Motion with a drop zone in it.
I want this drop zone to be usable in DVD Studio Pro.
When I import the .motn file into DVDSP and drag it on it displays the drop zone OK as a down-pointy arrow drop zone symbol in the right place in my template.
But when I try and drag a MOV asset to it, nothing happens except the usual "Set Background", "Create button & Track" etc.
How do I drag an asset onto that drop zone which I can see right in front of me in my template?
Thanks,,

Those are really good. I like the Plasma TV one and the 9-block 3D.
In Motion I can zoom and spin drop zones though, and it's this animation that would be very nice to see in DVD-SP.

Apple motion 5 template drop zones play only 1080p video clips. 720p will play outside of dropzone.

I am also getting a -1 error when trying to export with the 720p clip in a dropzone. I bought the clip stock and they didn't offer this one in 1080p. Is there any explanation as to why this clip will not run in the dropzone but does on the canvas?

You shouldn't be "loading" drop zones in Motion. You should be doing that in FCPX (as long as the drop zone source well is published.) You do not have to use Motion to "bake" video for import into FCPX. Install the template for FCPX [ place the effect folder in ~/yourHomeFolder/Movies/Motion Templates/<TypeOfEffect>/<CategoryFolder - create a new one if you want>/<place effect folder here> ]
The types of effects are Effects, Titles, Generators, Transitions.
The effect you bought came in a folder. That folder structure must be maintained for FCPX. That usually means: a Motion document (.moef, .moti, .motr or .motn file), 2 .pngs and a Media folder. If any of these are missing, it will not work in FCPX.
To use the drop zone in FCPX, apply the effect to the clip (or if it is a Title, place the title over the storyline); click on the Drop Zone source well, then click on the clip you want to apply to the drop zone from either the Event browser or the storyline. You'll see a "2-up" display, and you should see an "Accept" button in the viewer to finalize the application to the drop zone.
If you have the same problems in FCPX, let us know!

How to stop motion menus or drop zones?

In iDVD 4, I was able to select a theme (motion or not), turn off motion, and drop my own custom image right on top. The preview would work perfectly.
Now, in iDVD 6, I do the same thing, I pick any theme (with or without motion), stop motion, and drop my own image on top:
1) The drop zones (or highlights) do not go away, they stay on top of my image, and
2) When I click preview (even though I click the stop motion button), motion from the initial theme starts up.
Is there something different in iDVD 6 that I need to be doing differently?
Thanks.

Sounds odd...
This frequently helps solve some problems. Quit iDVD. Search for the file named com.apple.iDVD.plist and trash it. (A new one will be created next launch of iDVD.) Or look in: User/Library/Preferences. This may solve project loading errors too. Restart and use Disk Utility to Repair Permissions.

Motion 5 / FCP X - Frustrating Drop Zones

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for