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FCPX and Fusion
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“Yes” was in reply to Oliver’s question.
– Ronny
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[Bret Williams] ” FCPX is still track based. AE is track based. If you’re expecting there to be i sort of magnetic timeline rippling, that just doesn’t apply to Motion (or AE). A bit OT, but in many ways, the “tracklessness” of FCPX is akin to the way Motion and AE work. In those apps you drag layers up and down vertically and other layers just move out of the way. That’s exactly how FCPX works. “
AE isn’t track based at all… one layer = one object. FCPX functions more like a track based NLE than a layer based compositor. ☺
Shawn
edit: AE isn’t TRACK BASED 🙂
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And I would like to add that there is much more interest in Motion than some people may think. At one of our FCPX Tours, Robin S. Kurz did a Motion introduction. The video got over 40,000 views on our channel and is still one of the most popular videos there.
– Ronny
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I think I saw that once and I remember thinking… “well that makes absolutely not the slightest bit of sense whatsoever.” Because it doesn’t.
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https://BretFX.com FCPX Plugins & Templates for Editors & Motion Graphics Artists
Hang Tag https://bretfx.com/product/hang-tag
Overshoot Text https://bretfx.com/product/overshoot-text/
Outliner https://bretfx.com/product/outliner/
Clock Maker https://bretfx.com/product/bretfx-clock-maker/ -
[Bret Williams] “I think I saw that once and I remember thinking… “well that makes absolutely not the slightest bit of sense whatsoever.” Because it doesn’t.”
What, that AE isn’t track based?
Shawn
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Ok layer based. I meant in lieu of node based. I just meant because something wasn’t node based didn’t mean it was obsolete or legacy. And that layer based is perfectly legitimate and used by AE which is a pretty decent app.
_______________________________________________________________________
https://BretFX.com FCPX Plugins & Templates for Editors & Motion Graphics Artists
Hang Tag https://bretfx.com/product/hang-tag
Overshoot Text https://bretfx.com/product/overshoot-text/
Outliner https://bretfx.com/product/outliner/
Clock Maker https://bretfx.com/product/bretfx-clock-maker/ -
I’m no expert on nodes, but that’s what I always wondered. Looks great for routing and connections due to is visual nature of showing flow. But it does seem to be pretty lacking in showing the temporal. Keyframes, stops and starts, etc. Maybe better for color correction and compositing but less so for motion graphics?
_______________________________________________________________________
https://BretFX.com FCPX Plugins & Templates for Editors & Motion Graphics Artists
Hang Tag https://bretfx.com/product/hang-tag
Overshoot Text https://bretfx.com/product/overshoot-text/
Outliner https://bretfx.com/product/outliner/
Clock Maker https://bretfx.com/product/bretfx-clock-maker/ -
[Bret Williams] “Ok layer based. I meant in lieu of node based. I just meant because something wasn’t node based didn’t mean it was obsolete or legacy. And that layer based is perfectly legitimate and used by AE which is a pretty decent app.”
Ah, I see. I agree, both approaches have advantages. Node based applications aren’t inherently more advanced than layer based applications, they’re just different… better for some things (complex compositing), not as good for other things (complex keyframe animation).
Shawn
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There is a spline editor which I believe shows you keyframes and such. You are spot on with your post but having to dig through all the effects in a stack can be a small pain occasionally. One thing that Fusion offers is to click on a node to see what the comp looks like at a certain”stage”. You can also have up to 6 versions of settings for each node (at least most of them) which I really love. Say you are doing a blur effect or adding text. You may want to cycle through a couple of varations of different styles, looks or fonts. You can easily disable a node at anytime. With that said layers will always have their advantages. I guess nodes for me are more of a personal choice. The downside to Fusion is playback requires some rendering. Motion gives real time playback or something pretty darn close. I still love Motion but worried about what is in store for it at times.
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[David Mathis] “There is a spline editor which I believe shows you keyframes and such. You are spot on with your post but having to dig through all the effects in a stack can be a small pain occasionally.”
Graph editors are nice – just about every animation package has one (AE, C4D, Maya, Fusion, Nuke). What AE (and probably Motion, I don’t know) is especially good at though is wrangling multiple keyframes from different objects. You can easily expose just individual transform properties (scale, position, rotation, opacity, anchor point) or you can see all keyframes in the comp with single or double keystokes. Of all the node based applications I’ve tried or learned to a minimal level of competence, none of them have been particularly good at heavy keyframe animation – it could just be me though.
[David Mathis] ” One thing that Fusion offers is to click on a node to see what the comp looks like at a certain”stage”. You can also have up to 6 versions of settings for each node (at least most of them) which I really love. “
Yes, I wish AE had a similar feature!
Shawn
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