[Sef Pinney]

This is a known issue, but without a solid technical answer. Maybe it’s par for the course…. as Mark says about GPU lifting.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3313985?start=0&tstart=0
It may be that Motion uses the GPU heavily, it may also be that “Analysis” relies on “Playback” as I’ve heard it suggested.

Either way, it’s just dumb to force the user to NOT switch spaces, or not use any other program while Motion is Analyzing. Try it. Motion will continue analyzing as long as IT RETAINS focus. I can pop up Quicksilver in front, for example, but not TextEdit, Preview or anything else, that will steal focus.
it’s a Pro’s Pain in the Ass to have any program NOT allow a background process when said process can take MINUTES. This isn’t the iPad here. I call this a bug, not a feature.

I have a MBP 2011 w/ the AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1024 MB, and it’s no picnic. But with an SSD, ProRes, and No graphics ‘Switching’ Pref I can work fine in FCPX. Motion is the annoyance. Even Compressor, as lame as it’s outdated, clunky interface… works in the background.

How is Motion more complex / Pro control / feature rich, and yet more CPU crippled than FCPX? For example, Retiming, Stabilization, Key framing, I Don’t know…. Mark?