Motion versus After Effects

[Steve Roberts]

[Adolfo Rozenfeld] “After using Motion for a couple years, I now have the impression Motion is more for people with some motion graphics needs (news/corporate/event video editors, for example) than for pro motion designers.”

I agree. It could be a godsend for editors who are intimidated by AE and don’t need all its features.

[Nik Manning]

“After using Motion for a couple years, I now have the impression Motion is more for people with some motion graphics needs (news/corporate/event video editors, for example) than for pro motion designers. And that it’s not a bad thing at all.” Exactly!

This is what I agree with. A lot of the commercials you see on tv have video and then some graphics are sprinkled on top of it. These commercials don’t need advanced motion graphics. For Example a large percentage of car commercials we see on tv. A Commercial Production company could get buy with just Final Cut Studio. No need for after effects.
Again I am comparing Motion to After effects Standard. Obviously if you are comparing a $1000 program with a $300 program there will be major differences. If you compare motion + Shake to After effects then you have an argument. I agree hands down that after effects is king for motion graphics, but if speed is more important that complexity to you then give motion a serious look. Buy one of the Apple Certified Motion training books and give it a few months.

Young, Dumb, and full of
Potential!

[Ross Gerbasi]

Hey all,

First Post on the CC forum. So please don’t attack to me too much :).

I have been working with AE, Motion and Shake for a while now, and honestly its not even a fair fight. I completely agree with Nik. In order to really create somewhat a battle you would have to combine Shake and Motion. Even then you are looking at the lack of a 3D camera.

Shake offers the great node structure. I love easily being able to see different levels of my composite and simply rearranging pieces with a nice linking interface. For compositing I think its extremely intuitive and very fast. Motion has a couple things that After Effects doesn’t, right out the box. Mainly a Simple Particle generator and the Replicator. Now you can do these with plugin’s and all that jazz BUT why? It’s really simple to drop motion project files into After Effects, not the render’s I mean actual project files. So create those effects in motion and then master everything in after effects. Motion has the speed and after effects will offer you the advanced features.

So my two cents…

Is something BETTER? nope…
Can you do everything in after effects you could with motion or shake? Yup.

So whats the solution?! Learn why these tools are good at what they do. The more knowledge you have about them the better you will know when to pull one of them out for a project. If you have the means to get them all, they are all amazing tools.

To answer the original post. If someone can’t see that there is reason to use different software for different problems they are crazy. They should never say “you have to do this in motion”. If its your job to deliver something let them know they hired ya to deliver the best quality product in the time frame. They should let you decide what software is going to make it happen.

sorry for the super long post 🙂 its my first so I had to get it out of my system.
You guys all rock here, thanks for all the tips, tricks and support!

-ross

[Adolfo Rozenfeld]

Nik: you hitted the nail on the very opposite direction of what I believe 🙂 That’s the beauty of web forums, freedom…

Let me say it this way: there is hardly *any* creative industry where the difference between Motion and After Effects is more evident than in commercial/adverstising production for broadcast. Which happens to be an area I myself do quite a lot.

Let me elaborate: there are products that are more specialized than AE at hard core compositing for fx, like Shake for instance. Others swear by Fusion or Nuke, etc. Then Motion has its’ own very interesting credentials for motion graphics (but really could benefit from a deeper toolset IMO). However, commercial spots production is the one area where AE shines, as it has one leg on compositing and the other in motion graphics. This produces an hybrid that it’s hard to beat. Believe me: having one application which is adept at both, is not the same as using two different ones. Example: Shake has a competent tracker, Motion has a competent text animation system. Only After Effects is able to use its’ motion tracker to drive text animation, see what I mean? That’s what makes it shine. I could think of 100 similar examples where compositing concepts mix with motion graphics concepts, and that is hard to beat for tv/commercial production.

As for AE standard, AE Pro, Motion and the whole price difference: I chose not go in that direction, because for me it’s not at all Motion vs After Effects, since I love both. I also chose not to go in that direction, because I love Apple and I hate noting Apple sells you (used to sell) a $300 application that wants a $600 graphics card and last night’s computer to feel well.

But the truth is that this a moot point: Motion can’t be bought for $300 anymore (or for any other price, for that matter) on its’ own. You get it for $1300 with FCS, or as part of a FCS upgrade, or you don’t get it. No $300. AE standard includes 3D, expressions, and the whole text animation engine, which as far as motion graphics is concerned, are really defining features. Also, you can get AE as part of a suite, just like Motion, at very competitive prices. So much so, that I have both 🙂

Finally, the important part: the subtle differences between the Adobe text tracking/kerning engine and Motion’s incorrect way of handling those (always my opinion, of course), makes a tiny yet huge difference when it comes to those car commercials you mean. When type design is such an specific aspect, it has to be elegant and beautiful. Cool animation is part of it, but not enough.

Adolfo Rozenfeld
Buenos Aires – Argentina
https://www.adolforozenfeld.com
adolfo(AT)adolforozenfeld.com