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Need help working out FCP>Motion workflow
I’m having some headaches finding an efficient FCP>Motion workflow, and would appreciate any input you guys have…
What I’m doing is cutting a promo in FCP, and then selecting a clip in the sequence and using Send to Motion Project to jazz it up with some effects and graphics – only three or four clips out of the 30-second promo will need to be worked on in Motion, so I don’t want to send the entire sequence. I spend some time playing and getting a look that I’m happy with, and that clip is available as a Motion project in my FCP Browser for immediate dropping back into the sequence. So far so good.
The problem comes when I want to select a second clip from the sequence, send it to Motion and apply all the same effects and graphics settings. Using Send to Motion Project on a clip in a sequence opens that clip in a brand-new Motion project, so of course I’ve lost all the groups, layers, filters etc I’ve just spent time setting up.
So my question is, what’s the quickest and easiest way of sending a clip from an FCP sequence into Motion in such a way that I still have access to all the groups, layers, effects etc of a previous Motion project? Or is there a way of being able to open a new project and then import the groups from another project? Or am I thinking about this in the wrong way?
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6 Replies
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Unfortunately with Send to motion you can’t tell it to go to a specific project- it will always go into a new project. So in your case I’d just export that piece of media from FCP as uncompressed QuickTime. Then import into a Motion project with all your groups and layers. Takes a few extra seconds but you’ll have everything you need.
Noah
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Ah right, that’s what I’ve been doing. I’d hoped there was a better way, that didn’t lose the handles on the clip. Thanks anyway!
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Yeah- I’d do a quick match frame and then add your own handles.
Noah
My FCP Blog. Unlock the secrets of the DVX100, HVX200 and Apple Color and Win a Free Letus Extreme.
Now featuring the Sony EX1 Guidebook, DVD Studio Pro and Sound for Film and TV.
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Howdy,
It sounds like you would benefit from creating some master templates in Motion for use in FCP. Basically, you can send stuff to Motion, do work on it, add drop zones as placeholders for any future footage, then use the template(s) in your FCP timeline. You just drop footage into the template “clips” in your FCP timeline, and it will plug the footage into the Motion templates. You can even edit certain things like text objects from the FCP timeline, without having to return to Motion. You can also decide if each template clip becomes its own Motion project, or if they’re all instances of the master, which lets you make changes to a single project and have them propagate across the project.
For more info on Motion templates in FCP, check out Appendix C (starting on page 1223) of the Motion Help.
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Thanks Jim – that’s exactly what I needed 🙂
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You can copy Groups, effects, layers between two opened Motion Project. I always do it. Just easy Command C and Command V.
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