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Activity Forums Apple Motion 9-way chromakeying/drop zone problem, please advise

  • 9-way chromakeying/drop zone problem, please advise

    Posted by Mark Suszko on June 29, 2011 at 7:11 pm

    I’m in the early stages of a spec spot edit, building it in Motion 3. Sample rough below. What I need to do next is chromakey a different, independent video clip into each “flower”‘s video screens. 9 times.

    plant screens sample

    The plants are stationary, I animated a camera move with the timing I need for the script. I did a preliminary test by outputting a single sample plant into an FCP6 timeline and applying the chromakey there, and it worked dandy. But if I can build the keys inside my motion project, then I don’t have to worry about match-moving the key sources in FCP as the camera move happens. In the world of the motion project, the row of plants is stationary, only the camera is moving, so I think this is easier, and will give better quality than my destination sd timeline..

    I had wanted to apply some kind of drop zone to these rectangular screens but didn’t find the way, which is why I went the chromakey route. If there *is* a super-simple way to add 9 drop zones to the individual blue screen areas instead, I’d rather know how to do that, but otherwise, I’m looking for advice on how I set up the nine separate keys within Motion 3’s tracks. Each plant is a single group, the nine plants are duplicates of the first. Should I add a track in each group for the key content? Or make nine new tracks layered behind the blue screens, positioned to line up with each screen?

    I’m kind of winging it here.

    Stephen Smith replied 15 years, 2 months ago 2 Members · 7 Replies
  • 7 Replies
  • Stephen Smith

    June 29, 2011 at 7:18 pm

    Is the same keyed footage going to be in all 9 boxes or is it 9 separate keyed clips in the 9 boxes?

    Stephen Smith
    Utah Video Productions

    Check out my Motion Training DVD

    Check out my Motion Tutorials

  • Mark Suszko

    June 29, 2011 at 8:32 pm

    9 different, independent clips. Each screen is talking about a different bullet point showing motion video.

    So, is there a way to add dropzones to this, Stephan? Or do we do it down and dirty with keying, and if so, how, exactly?

  • Stephen Smith

    June 29, 2011 at 8:56 pm

    Depending on the footage you can pull a key with the Primatte keyer, but for most keys I find it to be a crudy keyer. I typically use third party keyers. The newest keyer that I’ve switched to will not work in Motion. So I key the footage in FCP and export it out as an Quicktime Animation set to Millions +. Then import it into Motion.

    If you do a drop zone and import the clip with the key filter, the key filter will not work. YOu will see your clip with the green background. You cannot import a nest into a drop zone. So you are stuck with doing it in Motion. Sorry, I’m sure this is not the answer you where looking for.

    Stephen Smith
    Utah Video Productions

    Check out my Motion Training DVD

    Check out my Motion Tutorials

  • Mark Suszko

    June 29, 2011 at 9:17 pm

    You sound like you are saying I *can* put a drop zone into that rectangular frame, yes? Can you tell me how to do that, and I’ll try to take it from there.

    I can re-build this project, no sweat, it’s just two canned content objects from Motion 3, the rectangle and the growing sprout.

    I’ll start from scratch, create a single plant with a drop zone in it. Then I’ll duplicate that eight more times, adjusting parameters as needed. Or should I make nine drop zones, numbered one thru nine in a single mega comp, assigning one to each plant?

  • Stephen Smith

    June 29, 2011 at 9:29 pm

    In Motion a clip actually is a drop zone. If you created your group of content with the keyed clip in it and duplicated it you would have the same keyed clip in both groups. Just drag the second keyed clip onto of the 1st key clip and wait for the hooked shaped arrow. Then let go and it will swap out keyed clip 1 for # 2. Repeat 7 more times.

    Stephen Smith
    Utah Video Productions

    Check out my Motion Training DVD

    Check out my Motion Tutorials

  • Mark Suszko

    July 1, 2011 at 3:35 pm

    It’s working, Stephen, thanks. I changed the blue screens to white, brought in my video clips and scaled them, then messed with the blending modes and they act like keys, staying visible just inside the shape-changing frames. The trating imaegs like dropzones trick works very slick, I am able to replace sources at will with uodated versions of clips with better timing, without disturbing the comp. Now the project can go forward.
    Have a great fourth of July weekend, it’s a blast having you as a resource on the COW.

  • Stephen Smith

    July 5, 2011 at 2:13 pm

    Thanks Mark. Had a great 4th of July weekend.

    Stephen Smith
    Utah Video Productions

    Check out my Motion Training DVD

    Check out my Motion Tutorials

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