Creative Communities of the World Forums

The peer to peer support community for media production professionals.

Activity Forums Apple Motion How to create a shearing effect in Motion?

  • How to create a shearing effect in Motion?

    Posted by Christopher Childs on October 13, 2011 at 2:47 pm

    Hey everybody!

    I’m fairly new to Motion to please forgive me if I’m overlooking something simple…

    I’m trying to create a shearing effect on the “edges” of several videos. Ideally, what I’m trying to create is a collage of videos on one “canvas.” I’d like the edges of each video on the canvas to look like they were torn from paper.

    Any suggestions on how one would create this effect?

    Stephen Smith replied 14 years, 10 months ago 3 Members · 5 Replies
  • 5 Replies
  • Mark Spencer

    October 13, 2011 at 2:52 pm

    Create or purchase a sheared graphic, ideally white on a transparent background, and use it as an image mask applied to your photo.


    Mark Spencer
    Freelance Producer/Editor/Motion Graphics Artist
    Apple-certified Master Trainer
    Author, Motion 4 from Peachpit Press
    https://www.applemotion.net

  • Stephen Smith

    October 13, 2011 at 2:55 pm

    Or just create your own sheared rectangle with the bezier tool. If you have never used an image mask be sure to check out this tutorial on Image Masks. Image masks will be discussed around 4 minutes and 3o seconds.

    Stephen Smith
    Utah Video Productions

    Check out my Motion Training DVD

    Check out my Motion Tutorials

  • Christopher Childs

    October 13, 2011 at 5:11 pm

    Good advice. Thank y’all very much!

  • Christopher Childs

    October 15, 2011 at 1:42 am

    Alright Motion gurus, I’m in need of help again…

    I feel that using a mask is the best means for my project but I’m having serious issues creating really effective looking “page tears.” Basically, in a perfect world, I’d like a mask that I could manipulate on many videos, adding a page tear effect to the edges of a video in motion. However, while I can create a mask, I just can’t get it to look like it’s an actual torn page. I would like the tear to look as “paper-ish” as possible…meaning a frade/random/tear white paper look.

    Any suggestions on how to tackle creating such a mask?

  • Stephen Smith

    October 17, 2011 at 4:23 pm

    Take a look at the Paper Tears in the Compositor’s Toolkit. Click on the Gallery link to see them.

    Stephen Smith
    Utah Video Productions

    Check out my Motion Training DVD

    Check out my Motion Tutorials

We use anonymous cookies to give you the best experience we can.
Our Privacy policy | GDPR Policy