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Activity Forums Apple Motion Video imported into Motion is limited to 7 seconds

  • Video imported into Motion is limited to 7 seconds

    Posted by Bertrand Damien on November 2, 2008 at 9:46 pm

    Hi there! My first post in this forum…
    I created a 15 sec animation in FCP based upon photoshop images, and exported using Compressor as an animation to keep the alpha channel. The problem: when I import the resulting quicktime movie into Motion, the movie is limited to 7 seconds. This is the second time I have this problem, and I just can’t fix it. The media is considered to be 7 sec and cannot be extended using the inspector. I don’t understand why motion considers a 15 sec movie to be only 7 sec, when this movie really does 15 sec and can be played on the desktop for its real length. Any clue on what’s going on?

    Noah Kadner replied 17 years, 10 months ago 3 Members · 5 Replies
  • 5 Replies
  • Peter Wiggins

    November 3, 2008 at 5:57 am

    Why are you using Compressor? Just export out of Motion and do not toggle the ‘use play range’ radio button and you should get the entire timeline.

    You could also drag the Motion project into FCP too

    Peter

  • Bertrand Damien

    November 3, 2008 at 9:29 am

    Hello Peter… The flow is not Motion > FCP, but the reverse. I create an animation in FCP, and I want to import that animation into Motion, not the reverse. While exporting from FCP, if I don’t use Compressor’s “Animation” setting, I loose the alpha channel and I can’t do compositing in Motion.

  • Noah Kadner

    November 3, 2008 at 1:24 pm

    It’s not necessary to go through Compressor for this and yes of course you would need to use the Animation codec or something similar to retain the alpha channel. It’s one of the few codecs that has one. I’d suggest a simple ctrl-click, send to motion instead. Or if the item must be rendered out of FCP, do a File>Export Using QuickTime conversion and send out as a Photoshop image sequence. That gives you more flexbility in Motion. Oh and increase your project length in Motion to accommodate the longer clip.

    Noah

    My FCP Blog. Unlock the secrets of the DVX100, HVX200 and Apple Color and Win a Free Letus Extreme.
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  • Bertrand Damien

    November 3, 2008 at 3:06 pm

    Hello Noah. I had set the motion project length longer already.

    I found something interesting though: when I check the media through the inspector, I find a 5 fps cadence. This corresponds to the length of the photoshop images I set in FCP (this way I just place the images one after the other one to create my animation without having to redimension the images inside the timeline, and it does 5 x 5 = 25 images per seconds when I render). It looks like Motion finds in the rendered video an information that defines the fps at 5 fps while the video is actually at 25 fps (HDV1080i50). Now, I think the source of the problem is there, what do you think about this?

  • Noah Kadner

    November 3, 2008 at 5:31 pm

    Sure could very well be. For that reason I’d try an export directly to QuickTime and make sure to specify the proper frame rate before bringing into Motion. And confirm this in the QuickTime Player.

    Noah

    My FCP Blog. Unlock the secrets of the DVX100, HVX200 and Apple Color and Win a Free Letus Extreme.
    Now featuring the Sony EX1 Guidebook, DVD Studio Pro and Sound for Film and TV.
    https://www.callboxlive.com

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