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continuing content edit in Motion – best way?
So I’ve got two 7 minutes pieces that are getting a multi-layered graphic environment treatment in Motion. The issue is that a fair number of content edits are still being called for; pull-ups, new shots, longer or shorter bites, etc. This is painful and time-consuming in Motion, unless there is a way to do this that I’m not aware of. It’s complicated by the fact that the shots have gone through Color and the links to any sync audio was broken at that point, I believe (if I’d though at that point I’d have re-linked all sync shots before sending to Motion).
For the second sequence of this two-part project, I’m trying to do as much as possible in Final Cut, sending almost every shot to Motion as its own project to apply multiple curvy mattes, etc. That way it’ll be easier to make content edits in FCP. I’ll also create the backgrounds and overlay layers as well as text in Motion and lay the projects into the FCP timeline. This is all even more complex because the footage is DVCPro HD and the final sequence is SD. There seem to be multiple aspect-ratio issues when I make the sequence SD with any shots which were originally cropped or resized in FCP before they went to Motion. All shots have differing degrees of squeeze on them.
On top of all this, Motion is almost constantly crashing or beach-balling and refuses to play RAM previews usually. We’re knee-deep into this and trying not to drown. Anyone have any suggestions short of packing up and leaving town after sunset? I’ve already turned off thumbnails, etc. as far as the slow / crashing issue goes.
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Corey Petree
http://www.petreemedia.com
(OT: check my user profile for a good guacamole recipe!) -
8 Replies
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Corey, sounds like you are working on a cool project. Motion does not do good with long projects. I think 7 minutes of intense work is to much for Motion. I break my projects up in sections. For example, check out this TV show open I did for a speed bike show. Believe it or not but it is broken up into 4 Motion Projects that I glued together in Final Cut Pro. Hope this helps.
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Yeah, I’ve discovered that it doesn’t do well. 😉 That’s the exact reasoning for breaking each shot into its own Motion Project in the second video. It seems like it would offer the most flexibility for continuing the creative content edit. An earlier version (experimenting with “looks”) had the project in a bunch of sections going into Motion, but that still would pose a problem with regard to changing the edit in Motion, but perhaps not as much. Any techniques to break the bigger Motion project I have into smaller sections and still maintain audio sync in FCP? Dragging sections into new Motion projects, then taking those into FCP? I will have to develop some sort of fix, and I’m beginning to suspect that I should sew this thing together in Final Cut after ripping it apart in Motion. Thoughts? Wanna trade places?
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Corey Petree
http://www.petreemedia.com
(OT: check my user profile for a good guacamole recipe!) -
A Motion project can be dropped into an FCP timeline as a clip and when you change the project and save it it will automatically update in FCP. Trying to load a 7 minute project into Motion however would be a real challenge.
Noah
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Definitely. That’s how I got the project into Motion to begin with, and you’re right – it has been a real challenge because of its size bogging Motion down to a crawl (tough I’ve done this size thing in AE and been able to get through with much less pain). That’s one reason I’m trying to dissect the FCP timeline to Motion relationship down literally into its smallest components – each shot becoming a Motion project in the FCP timeline – in the next part of this production. I’m just trying to discover the best way to create a workflow that makes changes to the FCP / Motion timelines as painless as possible. I’ve got to find a way to make story content changes (pull-ups, new shots – adding pauses, etc.) as easily as possible. I’ll see how it goes.
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Corey Petree
http://www.petreemedia.com
(OT: check my user profile for a good guacamole recipe!) -
[Corey] it has been a real challenge because of its size bogging Motion down to a crawl (tough I’ve done this size thing in AE and been able to get through with much less pain).
Because of Motion’s real-time design environment you can start animating and make changes instantly, with out having to do any Ram previews. The draw back is that you machine can only handle so much. Keep the projects small and this won’t be a problem. If you need to you can always do a RAM preview. Hope this helps.
Check out the TV Show Open I did.
Check out my DVD Money Making Graphics & Effects for Final Cut Studio 2
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Thanks, Stephen. Right now I’m working in 30 – 60 sec portions of the 7 min FCP timeline I’ve sent to Motion. (Anticipating this, wipe elements have been designed specifically to use to sew these parts together visually.) Nothing will play back in real time because of the amount of stuff going on, and often RAM preview often plays back at single digit fps (???). I have to “clear RAM preview” an awful lot.
What I have wound up doing, though, in order to be able to continue making creative content edits per client request, is to work with an audio mixdown in Motion. Any sync audio that gets changed in Motion also gets edited and kind of hand-synched with the mixdown in Motion (example – move this guy’s bite later 6 secs and remove her bite). Then I’ll export a QT with vid & aud to FCP an conform the audio edits there. Kind of a bit of a pain, but much better than trying to highlight and move many non-linked audio tracks in Motion. Hopefully I’ve describe my work-around well enough to convey what I’m doing. It’s kludgey, but it’s working.
– Corey
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Corey Petree
http://www.petreemedia.com
(OT: check my user profile for a good guacamole recipe!) -
One posable future suggestion would be to assemble the video in Final Cut Pro like you did, and then have the client watch it and make changes until it is approved. Then add the graphics. Because it has been approved by the client, the amount of changes should be very small.
Check out the TV Show Open I did.
Check out my DVD Money Making Graphics & Effects for Final Cut Studio 2
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That’s kinda what we’ve done, as much as possible.
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Corey Petree
http://www.petreemedia.com
(OT: check my user profile for a good guacamole recipe!)
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