Motion News, Tips, and Tutorials

New Free Video Tutorial: Motion and Photoshop

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-07-15T05:55:41-07:00

I’ve created a tutorial that explains how to spread a multi-layered Photoshop apart in 3D space in Motion, and then animate a camera to fly through the scene. Watch it here and let me know if you find it useful.

Motion and the OoO, Part 2

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-07-08T06:09:36-07:00

Part 2 of a two-part series exploring Motion’s order of operations. This one looks at how to deal with importing digital images into Motion. See it here on ProVideo Coaltion, where I blog with Steve Martin and Brian Gary.

Tutorial: Creating a Photo Wall

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-06-28T12:49:31-07:00

James Weber shows us how to use an image sequence and the Replicator to create and then animate a wall of photos - very nice. See it here.

Audio Behavior Tutorial

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-06-25T06:31:58-07:00

Giorgio Ungania from the United Arab Emirates explains how he uses Motion’s totally addictive Audio parameter behavior. See it here.

Motion and the OoO

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-06-24T20:04:10-07:00

This is Part 1 of an article I’ve written over on ProVideoCoalition that explains how Motion calculates the effects you add and transformations you make to a layer. Read it here.

MacBreak: The Replicator

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-06-21T13:50:06-07:00

I talk with Alex Lindsay about a way to use Motion’s Replicator on MacBreak. See it here.

Veeyou plugin pack version 1.5 released

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-06-09T09:30:40-07:00

CoreMelt has released an update to their popular (and free!) set of eight plugins which work in Motion, FCP, and After Effects and which generate volume level units and EQ animations based on the audio of your project. Check it out here. Plus, participate in the user poll to get a chance to win multiple plugin packs. Poll is here.

Rendering Motion Projects In Final Cut Pro

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-05-20T10:09:36-07:00

A quick tip over on the excellent ProvideoCoaltion.com site on how to decrease render time for Motion projects in Final Cut. See it here.

Cover Flux

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-05-18T20:26:55-07:00

The folks at idustrial revolution are at it again - this time with a very cool cover-flow-like generator that works in Motion (and FCP and FCE as well) called Cover Flux. And the best part is - it's completely free (although it does require that you install FxFactory and are running Leopard). Check it out here.

Ken Burns Redux

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-05-10T13:21:57-07:00

A free tutorial from me that explains why and how to use Motion rather than Final Cut Pro to create a pan and scan effect on your photos. You can watch it by just clicking the picture above, but for a larger version, click HERE.

Nice Collection of Motion Templates

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-05-08T20:02:32-07:00

From out of the blue comes this very sweet collection of Motion templates - which can be used in Motion or Final Cut Pro. Check them out.

A slew of new tutorials and updated plugins

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-04-29T15:12:55-07:00

Ok, I have a backlog of tutorials to share with you today, so let's get right to it.

Up first is a fantastic tutorial from Peter Wiggins showing how you can using retiming behaviors to slow down, freeze, speed up, or loop a particle emitter animation. Really cool stuff - see it here.

Brian Maffitt, who has been teaching After Effects for centuries (ok, since last century :-)) has put out a tutorial on how to use Motion with some Artbeats footage to create a nice little effect. I learned After Effects from his tapes back at version 4.1 (along with Chris and Trish Meyers' excellent books), and he's a great teacher. Here, he covers some basics of using Motion, including masks, blend modes, filters, and keyframing.

Zak Peric has a new tutorial on how to create a cool little animation with Motion.

James Weber brings us a very nice tutorial on how to create a customized write-on effect.

Noise Industries release an update to Fx Factory. If you haven't played with this collection of plugins that work in Motion, check them out.

Final Effects Complete from Boris FX is built on the FxPlug architecture and works in Motion - check out what's new.

MacBreak: The "F" Key

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-04-06T07:58:41-07:00

I talk with Alex about how to use the F key when working in Motion's 3D space. Available here.

Creating a TV Screen Effect

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-04-03T19:43:42-07:00

Ben Scott from London brings us this video tutorial on creating a TV screen look with Motion.

3D Shatter Effect

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-03-31T06:44:03-07:00

Loic Griffie from France brings us this tutorial on how to use the Replicator to create a very cool shatter effect. You can see the tutorial in English, but all the interface elements are in French - still, if you don't speak (or read) French, you can figure it out. You do have to register to see the tutorial, but it's quite nice.

Wormhole Tutorial

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-03-20T09:01:59-07:00

A nice, short, free tutorial on how to produce a wormhole effect. A good example of how to combine filters, generators, and masks to create an effect.

A Cool (and Free) Growing Vines Tutorial

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-03-10T20:05:53-07:00

Almost as omni-present as the reflection effect are those growing vines you see everywhere. Here's a tutorial on one way to make them in Motion.

Free tutorial - Converting Behaviors to Keyframes

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-02-28T10:51:46-08:00

Over on digitalmedianet, Dave Basulto has a short video tutorial that explains how to apply behaviors, then convert them to keyframes in order to get more control over your animation.

Motion Training from VASST

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-02-11T10:18:24-08:00

At the VASST training site, 6 different DVDs to choose from, hosted by either Richard Harrington or Mason Dixon.

dvGarage releases dvMatte Pro 3 Studio and Conduit Suite

markspencer@mac.com — 2008-02-06T06:37:32-08:00

I've been using dvMatte Blast in Motion for awhile, This release brings all the functionality of the Final Cut Pro plugin to Motion and is powered by the GPU so you can key in real time. Here is a short review.

And Conduit is a really great nodal compositor, like having a mini-Shake right inside Motion.