[Andy Neil]

It feels like there are two separate things happening here. The “linear” setting for the keyframes appears to apply to the curvature of the path, not the easing between the keyframing. If you take the project you show in your video and instead of breaking the handles on the second keyframe, you right click and choose linear (the second keyframe is set to smooth), then the path curvature straightens out without the need to eyeball it using the handles.

However, having a linear path does not change the fact that the timing of the keyframes uses a bezier easing.

I think this is because the position keyframing is pulled from how Motion does position keyframing. In Motion, position keyframes are bezier by default. In FCPX, there doesn’t seem to be a way to change that interpolation. That, to me, is the bug that needs fixing. Just give us a way to set the keyframes to bezier, linear, constant, easing, just like you can in Motion.

Otherwise, the Linear/smooth feature of the keyframes operates as it should in my opinion.

Andy

https://www.timesavertutorials.com

[Andy Neil]

Well, Motion 4 and 5 both rely heavily on the GPU for performance, but I believe that the CPU helps out when rendering/exporting.

Performance seems a bit of a wash since although Motion 5 is 64bit, it’s also 16 bit floating render where Motion 4 is 8 bit by default.

I think Motion 5 handles text better, but I don’t have any attribution. I’m just repeating something I’ve heard.

However, there are ways to make text and motion blur not so problematic in the render stage. 26 hours for 45 seconds seems like something that could be improved upon by making some adjustments to your project.

Have you tried changing the shutter and sample size of your motion blur? How many layers of text do you have? Did you apply any filters to them, or any processor intensive parameters (like custom stroke width or dynamics)?

Andy

https://www.timesavertutorials.com

[Andy Neil]

[Alex Udell] “If you have both versions of Motion installed, could you send to Motion 3/4. Save the Project file and simply open it in Motion 5?”

Should be able to, with caveats. I can open Motion 4 projects in Motion 5, and I haven’t heard anything that says you can’t. However, Motion 4 changed the way that text effects were built so some Motion 3 text behaviors don’t translate anymore. There might be some other gotchas like that.

Andy

https://www.timesavertutorials.com

[Andy Neil]

[Alex Udell] “So can we move forward with upgrading to the New Motion and Compressor and not break our workflow?”

That depends on whether part of your workflow is using the “Send to Motion” function inside FCP. Because there is no roundtrip workflow with Motion 5 and any version of FCP (including X).

You can however, create content in Motion 5, export QT files and bring that into any version of FCP you want (provided it handles the codec you rendered out to).

Motion 5 is totally worth it for rigging and keyer alone, not to mention the 64 bit re-write. You’ll also have access to linking (which was introduced in Motion 4).

I like Motion 5 a lot and would say it’s totally fine to upgrade from M3 provided you don’t need integration with FCP.

Andy

PS: I don’t think any plugins work from previous versions of Motion. If you lean heavy on those, you need to find out if the plugin manufacture even has Motion 5 versions.

https://www.timesavertutorials.com

[Andy Neil]

[Shonn Slivkoff] “FCP X 10.0.2 does its optimized conversion to a 1080i_29.97fp .mov file. From there i can edit it and still looks pretty crisp even though im a little confused why its now in a 29.97fp and didnt stay in 60i with the FCPX conversion.”

60i and 29.97fps are the same thing. Cameras often list frame rate as a measure of FIELDS per second. 2 fields per frame equals 60 fields per second, but only 30 FRAMES per second. Make sense?

[Shonn Slivkoff] “i have to then export the finished timeline to a .mov using the export function and keeping current settings as is. In FCP7 i was able to use the share function and batch multiple timelines with my compressor setting without making a .mov first which is something i am not to happy with.”

Actually, you can use the Send to Compressor function in the share menu to start a Compressor job without exporting a QT first. You can only send one project at a time, but you can start compressing one timeline and then send the others while the first is working.

The best solution for the highest quality is to keep everything in 1080i until you get to the wmv stage which is what it sounds like you’re doing. Compressor doesn’t create wmvs on its own so you need either a plugin like Flip4Mac, or a stand alone program like Squeeze.

If your end result wmv doesn’t look that good, you just need to adjust the settings. Sure it will result in a larger file, but there’s always a give and take between file size and quality. Just find your happy medium.

Andy

PS: Not all wmv converters for the mac are equal.

https://www.timesavertutorials.com

[Andy Neil]

Creating that kind of motion is simple in theory, but getting it to look right can take a lot of work.

I would start by creating a 3D particle emitter with a dark brown/black dot as my “fly.” Make sure that no new flies are created and that their life is longer than the shot.

I would probably use a sphere emitter with a random fill. Then to move them, I would use a combination of simulation behaviors. I’d try random motion and vortex or wind. Mess with the parameters until you have something that you like.

Andy

https://www.timesavertutorials.com

[Andy Neil]

Thanks for the visual. It helps a lot to see it. I’m going to suggest a completely different tactic for this effect. The stroke idea is overkill; there’s a much simpler way to produce this affect.

All you need to do is create a black and white copy of the circuit board (perhaps even using the existing graphic). This will be used as an image mask for a single glowing rectangle (with the image mask set to luminance). Then you animate the rectangle across the frame, but the only part that is visible are the places in the mask that correspond to the circuits.

I hope that’s not too confusing, but it can be done with only a few layers and not much cost to your machine.

Andy

PS: The graphics card is more important with regards to Motion performance in general than the memory and processor.

https://www.timesavertutorials.com

[Andy Neil]

[Travis Simpson] “The design I’ve built consists of each pulse tracing across a unique pattern on the circuit board that sits as an image file on the deepest layer, so not sure if a replicator or clone approach would work.”

I guess I was assuming that since you had over a hundred layers that you were creating a stroke for every straight line. Are you building the strokes with the bezier tool (B)? In other words, each singular stroke is a unique shape? If that’s the case then you’re correct the replicator or clones won’t work. They require the elements to have uniformity. Marks idea sounds like it might work, but you may have to break it into a couple of pieces (ie: first 50 layers, then second 50).

Just out of curiosity, how are you animating the “pulses” with the stroke? Are you using the first point/last point offset? Perhaps there’s something there that can be addressed.

Andy

https://www.timesavertutorials.com

[Andy Neil]

Quick question: Is the wipe transition you applied inside the compound or outside?

Also, if inside, right-click the transition and make sure that “Transition to/from Black” is unchecked (it will be on by default).

Andy

https://www.timesavertutorials.com

[Andy Neil]

It’s hard to say exactly without understanding just how the project is put together, but here are some ideas that might help.

Paint Strokes, depending on their complexity, can take up a ton of resources. You may be able to get better performance by simplifying the way the stroke is created, or by a workaround. I would need to see an example of the stroke to see if this is possible.

You can clone strokes instead of creating individual ones. Cloned strokes maintain some of the properties of the master layer which can be handy if you are doing the same animation on several layers (ie: flashing or moving)

There isn’t a “merge” command per se, but you can build the animation in pieces, export a quicktime with alpha, and import that back into the project. This is typically my last resort because making changes to the work is more difficult if you’re baking in elements.

Hope this helps.

Andy

https://www.timesavertutorials.com