Don Smith
Forum Replies Created
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I export to ProRes 4444. The video in Motion shows it to be Millions+ and Straight Alpha.
I’m unsure about Mark means about enabling sound in the transport controls. The sound for that video clip is listed under the Audio tab as being on with the same settings as the other media, and likewise when I look at the Audio in the timeline below. Sound from existing clips before and after this new clip from FCPX is playing sound normally and have the same settings.
But, I do have a clue now; I’ve just loaded Motion 5 onto a MacPro. I haven’t checked sound yet, but moving the clip that caused the key to show up black onto the project shows just fine on the MacPro. I’m now thinking something is interfering with Motion 5 on my new MacBook Pro Thunderbolt laptop. Also, Motion 5 on the Mac Pro will export to a movie just fine (although much slower than if I send it to the new Compressor) whereas both Motion 5 and FCPX would crash on my laptop if I tried to export to a movie.
Amazing in that I tried to keep the new MBP as ‘clean’ as possible whereas the Mac Pro has all sorts of crap loaded onto it! On my new MBP I have CS5.5 (the everything bundle), Final Cut Studio 3, FCPX, Motion 5 and the new Compressor. The only other thing loaded onto it is a driver for the Matrox MX01 LE I use in the field.
It still makes me wonder about that Thunderbold firmware update that I applied yesterday morning. When the machine restarted there was no progress bar to indicate that the firmware update was being applied, or may be it got started and bailed. I can’t say for sure but it paranoid side of me things the troubles began after that firmware update attempt.
Thanks to everyone who replied.
Don
NewsVideo.com
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There’s no Output option in Motion 5 preferences like in Motion 4.
I can’t confirm they rewrote Motion 5, but I checked and it’s indeed running as a 64-bit app.
NewsVideo.com
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Zach! Thank you! Here’s the result:
Also, thank you to the others who replied. I tweaked the effect using tips from the other posts here as well. Thank you all so very much.
Don Smith
NewsVideo.comNewsVideo.com
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That’ll teach me to Preview! Make that ‘associated moving TEXT’.
NewsVideo.com
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Thanks Mark. I agree with you about initial organization but in this case I inherited a Motion project that was in-progress so I was hoping for a way to see how the many elements related to each other. Having learned much from you I would also begin any complicated Motion project with all elements at the beginning and the camera at the Home position. I would then stage the elements in 3D space and once happy with relationships, only then would I move them down the timeline. Now, if we’re just talking graphics, they can largely occupy the whole timeline but most of the elements I’m dealing with in the inherited Motion project are video clips where one follows another and each video are in their own Group with associated moving test.
NewsVideo.com
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I did something similar in response to a challenge here to make 3D text circle a globe. Since Motion is not a true 3D environment and only follows layer order, as Andy and Mark ‘splained to me, you can’t put a globe in the middle of circling text. So, I developed a workaround. Still couldn’t achieve true 3D text but I got close as you’ll see in this video at https://newsvideo.com/globe.mov
It’s been a while but I remember that I got the text to move along a circle path in the proper orientation by using the Link parameter from text on its side to text standing up while moving along a curved path. I had to because you can’t get text to curve standing up along a path. So I created a circle path with the text moving on it’s side and then Link’ed that movement to visible text to make IT curve standing up. As for the text going behind the globe, well, that’s just the circle text layer copied with the copy going behind the circle.
Don Smith
NewsVideo.comNewsVideo.com
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The Dropzone as it is won’t allow you to do anything but one of three ‘Fits’. But you can modify it to do any form of fit you want.
Right-click on the DZ and Group it. Change the group to 2D.
In that new group, duplicate the DZ and name the duplicate ‘Mask’
Select the original DZ again and apply an Image Mask (it’s not a Behavior. It’s in one of the main drop-down menus).
Drag the layer now named “Mask” onto the Image Mask layer.I’m doing this from memory and if I have it right, you can now apply your 16×9 image onto the DZ and size it the way you like.
Don Smith
NewsVideo.comNewsVideo.com
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Just had to see what I could do in Motion alone and although not a ‘killer’, it is text circling a globe:
https://newsvideo.com/globe.mov
Don Smith
NewsVideo.comNewsVideo.com
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You could adjust the camera so that it doesn’t ‘see’ that far into 3D space. It’s what I do when I want background objects to disappear instead of doing fades on each object.
Not being one of the expert nerds on this site I’m unsure which will work, but if you select the camera and then go to the camera tab in the inspector, you can adjust the Near Plane and/or Far Far Plane until those objects disappear. Add in a Near or Far Fade value so that they fade out as their distance from the camera increases so they don’t just ‘blink’ out.
Don Smith
NewsVideo.comNewsVideo.com
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I’m about to tell you things about the camera what the really accomplished people on this list already know.
After seriously studying Motion for about the past year, I never ran across a tutorial or message that really put together the Big Picture between the camera, the Active Camera view, the HUD, and keyframes. It was only when struggling with a big assignment recently that the light bulb turned on.
I was modifying the Float.HD template (in the first group of templates). I deleted the behavior “Camera Move” and went with directly keyframing the camera.
This will sound so simple and obvious that people who know will snicker when I say it was a recent revelation for me, but it’ll help people who are in my previous position, so here goes with my findings and positions:
1. Whenever possible, only move the camera. Much simpler.
2. ALWAYS set a keyframe on the camera before adjusting the camera unless you want a global change. It appears that if you move the camera without a keyframe set, you’ll move the camera for the entire timeline, thus upsetting keyframes you’ve already worked on. The global start of the camera is (it appears to me) the only time you’ll set the camera without a keyframe. I found that in a complicated timeline, I would adjust the camera on a keyframe and then check the previous keyframe before moving on to make sure I didn’t upset something.
3. If the camera is on a keyframe, you can select any other layer and hit F to fly the camera to frame that layer as is, or CMD-F to flip the camera around as it flies so that it looks at that layer right-side-up. Even with another layer selected but you’re still sitting on a camera keyframe, you can adjust the the Active Camera view to adjust the camera. However, you must have the camera layer selected to adjust the camera view with the HUD.Once I had my head on straight about moving the camera, my seemingly complicated project was much, much easier.
So, Wizards, if I’m wrong on any of this, please let me know. I really want to have it right. Even with what I’ve discovered for myself, it looks like I need to order Mark Spencers tutorials on moving the camera.
Don Smith
NewsVideo.comNewsVideo.com