Motion 3: 3D Camera Effect for Evolution

[Peter Wiggins]

Fairly easy, just set the background as a 2D layer on the bottom.
Then position you elements in 3D space and then move the camera.

Peter

[Burt Hazard]

[Jerome Franks] ” I especially love the camera effect where the camera would pan from item to item, While keeping the same background…”

Actually that’s pretty easy to do in Motion 3, just keep your background layer as a 2D object and it will act as a cyclorama and always face the camera(s) and then make your other object layers 3D (you can a have a mixture of 2D layers and 3D layers in Motion 3; the only thing you have to watch out for is how you layer them in relation to each other).

[Jerome a Franks]

Anybody care for a quick tutorial.. Or shoot me in the right direction..

[Burt Hazard]

OK, here goes…

1) Create your elements
2) Click on Create New Camera in Toolbar, this is the fastest way to create a 3D scene in Motion
3) Click on the 2D/3D icon for your background layer in the Layers tab to change it to 2D.
4) Keep your other elements 3D
5) Either use camera behaviors or a keyframed motion path (or both!) to animate your camera
a) Behavoirs>Camera>Dolly, Sweep, Zoom In/Out, Zoom Layer
or
b) Select camera in either Layers Tab or an orthagonal view
c) Hit Record button in underneath Canvas
d) set initial keyframe for initial position in Inspector
e) Move camera to your liking, add lights, objects, movement, season to taste, deactivate Record button

I know this is an on-going mantra here at Creative Cow, but definitely read the manual (PDF) “cover” to “cover” and of course download the Motion 3 Supplemental Documention from the Apple website and pay particular attention to the “2D and 3D Group Interaction” on p.34.
For really good online free tutorials, go to motion graphics guru Mark Spencer’s website, http://www.applemotion.net and in particular check out two of the Macbreak podcasts he did with PixelCorps’ Alex Lindsay, “Manipulating Objects in 3D” and “Mixing 2D and 3D Groups.” Also I can recommend the Apple Pro Training books MOTION GRAPHICS AND EFFECTS IN FINAL CUT STUDIO 2 (Mark Spencer and Jem Schofield) and MOTION 3: DESIGING AND ANIMATING MOTION GRAPHICS IN FINAL CUT STUDIO 2 (Damien Allen, Mark Spencer, Bryce Button, & Tony Huet). There’s also a new Ripple Training DVD from Mark Spencer called MOTION 3 3D DEEP DIVE which I may end up purchasing myself.

Good luck,
Burt Hazard
Munedawg Communications