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final cut X to motion 5

poohat1000

poohat1000

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 11, 2005
271
1
London
Anyone know of a good workflow for this using fxp x and motion 5?

I have a couple of clips midway through a timeline that need some elements masked out, I can't for the life of me work out how to send the clip to motion for masking then send it back to my fcpx timeline....

....I can always copy and paste the clips into new timelines, export, re import, but surely this is not the best method?
 
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floh

macrumors 6502
Nov 28, 2011
460
2
Stuttgart, Germany
poohat1000 said:
....I can always copy and paste the clips into new timelines, export, re import, but surely this is not the best method?
Click to expand...

Sadly, it seems like it is... :(

I wanted to do the same thing (especially with some Green Screening, but luckily the nice Keying Tool from Motion has been included into FCPX in the last update), but an extensive internet search revealed that there is currently no way in the new Final Cut suite for a round trip between FCP and Motion.

I think this really blows and have already expressed so towards the Apple developers, and it might be included again some time in the future. Especially since it was included in Final Cut Studio and is included in Adobe's suite.
 
poohat1000

poohat1000

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Nov 11, 2005
271
1
London
how the hell could they not include this... fcp and motion are meant to work together, yeah you can import your effects, which is nice.... Lots about fcpx is really nice, but some things, like this really leave me scratching my head as to how apple would let it out of the door in the state that it was in
 
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cgbier

macrumors 6502a
Jun 6, 2011
933
2
poohat1000 said:
Where do i find this?
Click to expand...
Click on the FInal Cut menu, then Provide Feedback.

Apple is very conscious about any feedback provided via this menu. The more folks complain about (the lack of) a feature, the bigger the chance it'll get fixed.
 
Erendiox

Erendiox

macrumors 6502a
Oct 15, 2004
706
12
Brooklyn NY
I've moved to Premiere and After Effects because of this lack of integration (among other things). Dynamic Link works pretty damn well. I can roundtrip AE compositions crazy fast, and make changes quickly. :)
 
bagelche

bagelche

macrumors 6502
Nov 2, 2007
439
3
Western Mass.
cambookpro said:
Very funny :D

This worked perfectly in FCP7 and Motion 4. Shame they messed it up with all this dark skinned, X, simplistic nonsense.
Click to expand...

in the post before mine the OP asked where to find the feedback feature. I do give feedback on bugs and feature requests.

I like the dark skin; seems they've all headed that way--Premiere, Avid, FCPX. Overall I like X. To call it simplistic nonsense is, I think, to give it short shrift. Not to say there aren't problems or room for improvement (i.e. roundtripping to Motion), but, overall I prefer using it to 7. I get my projects in and out quicker and ultimately they look good.
 
cambookpro

cambookpro

macrumors 604
Feb 3, 2010
7,215
3,331
United Kingdom
bagelche said:
in the post before mine the OP asked where to find the feedback feature. I do give feedback on bugs and feature requests.

I like the dark skin; seems they've all headed that way--Premiere, Avid, FCPX. Overall I like X. To call it simplistic nonsense is, I think, to give it short shrift. Not to say there aren't problems or room for improvement (i.e. roundtripping to Motion), but, overall I prefer using it to 7. I get my projects in and out quicker and ultimately they look good.
Click to expand...

I was referring to you bookmarking it.

Of course it's general to call it 'simplistic nonsense', and some of FCP X is very useful, however you have to feel that 7 -> X wasn't exactly an 'upgrade'.
 
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cgbier

macrumors 6502a
Jun 6, 2011
933
2
cambookpro said:
Of course it's general to call it 'simplistic nonsense', and some of FCP X is very useful, however you have to feel that 7 -> X wasn't exactly an 'upgrade'.
Click to expand...
It all depends. Getting my stuff out in 1/2 the time is a major upgrade to me. I've been using it from day one and never looked back.

(Disclaimer: I get paid for my stuff, but don't work for national broadcast or Hollywood)
 
bagelche

bagelche

macrumors 6502
Nov 2, 2007
439
3
Western Mass.
cambookpro said:
I was referring to you bookmarking it.

Of course it's general to call it 'simplistic nonsense', and some of FCP X is very useful, however you have to feel that 7 -> X wasn't exactly an 'upgrade'.
Click to expand...

Gotcha. yeah, I was amused (not quite humorously) at bookmarking it. I think it's a great base for the program and I look forward to its growth and development. I do think Apple released it too earlier and it was a miserable release PR-wise, just terrible. Since then they've added plenty in a reasonably timespan with more to come.

I had a bug that prevented me from using FCPX regularly (a conflict with Adobe fonts caused all of my titles to revert to defaults regularly), but once that got resolved, I haven't gone back to 7. I'll still keep it around as there'll be times I want to use it, but with a few features and a solid 7toX, I may not need to.

Most of my video work these days is AVCHD, so 7 is a total time sink before getting round to edit. I do use Premiere a bit, but it still feels like a clunkier FCP7. X is fast and good looking. I did get hooked on Adobe Media Encoder, however.
 
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harddriveowner

macrumors member
Nov 18, 2007
72
1
If some of you spent a little bit of time learning how to utilize FCP X and Motion 5 ( and I would suggest checking out http://www.fcp.co for a starter) you might realize that what is possible now with FCP X and Motion was never available before. The ability to 'publish' in Motion and make it usuable in FCP X is a major advance compared to FCP 7. Stop whining an dstrat using it and check out Ripple Training videos etc. You cannot round trip like before but you can do so much more.
 
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bagelche

bagelche

macrumors 6502
Nov 2, 2007
439
3
Western Mass.
harddriveowner said:
If some of you spent a little bit of time learning how to utilize FCP X and Motion 5 ( and I would suggest checking out http://www.fcp.co for a starter) you might realize that what is possible now with FCP X and Motion was never available before. The ability to 'publish' in Motion and make it usuable in FCP X is a major advance compared to FCP 7. Stop whining an dstrat using it and check out Ripple Training videos etc. You cannot round trip like before but you can do so much more.
Click to expand...

I like the Ripple Training videos--definitely worth spending time with to get up to speed. The ways that Motion 5 integrate with FCPX with publishing are very cool and allow for a lot of possibilities. Having said that, round-tripping for a non-title/effect/transition motion project is a highly desirable feature.
 
H

harddriveowner

macrumors member
Nov 18, 2007
72
1
What people do not realize is that FCP 7 was the 7th version of a totally different program.
FCPX is the first of a new program. It will take time to get everything out but I am amazed at how much is avaialble in 3/4 of a year since it was first released. OSX when it first came out was a totally new OS even though it was called OSX it had little to do with OS9. Drivers were not available, etc. but most people stayed with Apple, just as most people will stay with FCPX if they spend the time to see the jewel inside. It is not totally polished, but it is brilliant program.
(No I do not work for Apple. I did not even buy Apple stock until about 5 years ago although it has done quite well since I bought it.)
 
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floh

macrumors 6502
Nov 28, 2011
460
2
Stuttgart, Germany
harddriveowner said:
What people do not realize is that FCP 7 was the 7th version of a totally different program.
Click to expand...

I actually think this here is one of the threads that acknowledges the awesomeness of FCPX in many posts. Everyone (except for one poster) is using it and embraces it.

And you are right that many things are not only different (which scares away some formers users of FCP) but better than in previous versions. One of those things are the export abilities of Motion.

However, a roundtrip possibility would still be a very desirable feature. The first time I did a Greenscreen composition, I was annoyed about having to export back and forth, because Motion's keyer is far superior. Well, in the latest update they included this magnificent keyer directly in FCPX, but still I find myself many times wanting to e.g. add some visual effects to a short clip, do a more complicated masking or rotoscoping, or motion track and match something inside my videos.
You are correct that for titles, transitions and such, the way Motion and FCPX now work together is brilliant. But for visual effects, a roundtrip feature would make life much easier.

By the way, I am also very impressed by how quickly and thoroughly Apple adds new features to this rewritten editing suite. I have edited with FCP7 in my university studies, but would never have gathered the money to buy it. The new price tag is really unbeatable and made me upgrade from FCE overnight, no looking back.

Greetings from Germany and lighten up,

Floh
 
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floh

macrumors 6502
Nov 28, 2011
460
2
Stuttgart, Germany
cgbier said:
FCP X to Motion? There it is. A free app to boot. :D
Click to expand...

It's not perfect (with the additional exporting in XML), but this will actually save me a lot of time!

Thanks, cgbier! Looks like every thread I take part in, you have a good answer for me! :) You are either really active on the forum or interested in the same stuff...
 
C

cgbier

macrumors 6502a
Jun 6, 2011
933
2
floh said:
It's not perfect (with the additional exporting in XML), but this will actually save me a lot of time!

Thanks, cgbier! Looks like every thread I take part in, you have a good answer for me! :) You are either really active on the forum or interested in the same stuff...
Click to expand...
FCP X and Motion are the tools that bring my beer on the table and food in the fridge.... and they are terrific in doing so, so it's only natural that I want to get the most out of these tools. :D
 
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