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Hmm...Motion 2...good for what I need?

I

iMacZealot

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Mar 11, 2005
2,237
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I'm an amateur editor and have been editing for about 2 years. I absolutely love it! I started out using iMovie 3 (that's in late 2004) and iMovie 5 (Last May) and I upgraded to FCE 3.0 last summer, which has really fit my needs. Suddenly, my hard drivve became defunct, and the Genius Bar replaced it with all my files and everything but, of course, the applications themselves. As a young male, it is my duty to have a messy room, and I've fortunately found everything but the LiveType data disks. I've thought about just asking for a warranty, but I've always wanted to get Motion.

Will it work with my setup? I have an iMac G5 rev. 2, 2.0 GHz, 512 MB RAM, a 160 GB internal HDD and 80 GB external HDD, and Final Cut Express HD 3.0. My main concern is its compatibility with FCE. I cannot possibly afford FCS with my budget, but I can shell out the cash for Motion.

What I normally work with is documentaries. My brother is in a fairly popular band, and I just came back from the far east to tape some of his stuff. I'm also planning on buying a green screen soon. I found a sweet deal for one at the local camera store. So, is Motion 2 good for what I need?
 
If you can find a legit copy of Motion 2, GRAB IT!

Motion is no longer sold separately - only as part of the FCS.

But if you can find a copy of Motion 2 then you can crossgrade to FCS for a fraction of the full price.
 
kiwi-in-uk said:
If you can find a legit copy of Motion 2, GRAB IT!

Motion is no longer sold separately - only as part of the FCS.

But if you can find a copy of Motion 2 then you can crossgrade to FCS for a fraction of the full price.
Click to expand...

It's no longer separate? that's awful! Where do you think I can find a copy?
 
iMacZealot said:
It's no longer separate? that's awful! Where do you think I can find a copy?
Click to expand...

The usual place -- Ebay. I see the once-separate apps from Final Cut Studio on Ebay all the time. As long as you keep in mind that not every great deal is really that great (which goes for ANY situation, not just Ebay) you'll be fine.
 
evil_santa said:
check motion work with the graphics card in your mac, it is VERY dependant on the graphics card to work. you can download a trial ver of motion from apple http://www.apple.com/motion/trial/ . For what you get Final cut studio is very cheap.
Click to expand...

Alright, I just checked to see if my iMac is compatible with Motion 2, and it is, although I expect it to run rather slowly due to my low RAM. I'll download the trial and see. The graphics card should be okay, as they actually put a decent card into the Rev. 2 iMac G5s as oppose to the ones in the Rev. 1 iMacs.

By the way, is there a way to buy Motion once the trial is up? I'd really love that as it looks like Motion 2 standalone is hard to find. I e-mailed some sort of video store on the other side of town, and they don't have one. I did see one on Ebay, but it's $405, and I myself don't have the money for it. I suppose I could ask my parents, but I figure I'll get by somehow.

Now, if I decide to stick with LiveType, will I be able to get my warranty? There is a warranty on it, right? I know I bought FCE last June but probably didn't register it until July, so I still have some time.

Thanks for the help!
 
with motion you need to up your ram for video previews, I find the graphics card bogs down quite quickly, and you have to do a ram preview to see it in real time.

Look into how much the FCE to Final cut studio upgrade, that will be you cheaper option.
 
You will definately need more RAM for Motion. 1GB is bare minimum and 2 GB is recommended for small projects.
 
Even if you can get it, are you sure that you want Motion? Besides integration, I've heard After Effects blows it away (I haven't actually used Motion, but i'm a video editor). With the capacity of videos that you're doing, I don't think it'd be worth the money to purchase Motion. You definately won't need to use higher than 8-bit video. Have you found FCP to be inhibiting for graphics & effects?
 
domzanghi said:
Even if you can get it, are you sure that you want Motion? Besides integration, I've heard After Effects blows it away (I haven't actually used Motion, but i'm a video editor). With the capacity of videos that you're doing, I don't think it'd be worth the money to purchase Motion. You definately won't need to use higher than 8-bit video. Have you found FCP to be inhibiting for graphics & effects?
Click to expand...

I use both after effects and motion, and honestly, i prefer motion. Its just as powerfull as AE, but with the slick user friendly interface that i am used to with apple apps.

and yes, the video card is THE most important thing with motion.
 
domzanghi said:
Even if you can get it, are you sure that you want Motion? Besides integration, I've heard After Effects blows it away (I haven't actually used Motion, but i'm a video editor). With the capacity of videos that you're doing, I don't think it'd be worth the money to purchase Motion. You definately won't need to use higher than 8-bit video. Have you found FCP to be inhibiting for graphics & effects?
Click to expand...

Quite honestly, I don't know what the advantage FCP is for me over FCE. I've used FCP in a summer camp, although I don't see the advantage. I suppose it would be nice to have DVD Studio Pro and Logic, although I don't know if it's worth the money, at least with my budget.

What I usually do when making a project is that I import my footage, then I create several sequences tailored for different audiences. I usually make one for my family, one for my brother's band's website, and one for his record label and manager. I create opening titles and other graphics in LiveType, with each sequence using the same general theme. (The opening titles are usually synchronized with the title track, which I usually just pull off a CD. The titles, or bumper, are usually in their own sequence and then just pulled into all the other sequences.) I then export to QuickTime DV quality and make a simple DVD in iDVD. I do not place the movie onto the website myself; I just give it to the webmaster and he or she puts it up somewhere.

So far, with my Motion Trial, I'm wondering if it is for me. I make mostly graphics with a moving background and text in LiveType, nothing fancy. I don't know if I'll use all the particle stuff and special effects. I might, but right now, I don't know how to really use it. I guess I could buy a book or take a class.

I think I'll head to the Apple Store tomorrow and see if I can get a standalone copy of Motion or a replacement of LiveType. I've seen standalone copies of Motion 2 in there recently.

So, what do you all think I should do? Thanks for the help so far!



UPDATE

I just came back from the Apple Store. They don't have any standalone Motions, but we eventually concluded that I can buy the Final Cut Express HD Upgrade. Since Final Cut Express 2.0 or 1.0 never included LiveType, we figured that the upgrade to FCE HD would have the missing LiveType disk. I think I'll just use LiveType for now until I either get the money for FCS or find a good deal on Motion 2 on Ebay or Froogle or something.
 
Lebowski said:
you do know that logic is NOT part of FCS.
Click to expand...

Oops. I meant SoundTrack Pro. Sorry!

I still don't know the advantage over FCS, though. I don't even use normal SoundTrack in FCE. Well, I'm happy where I am now, and I'll upgrade when it's opportune.
 
no, not good for what you need. i have a little experience with motion (my copy is on its way in my fcs crossgrade), and it is a very difficult app to work with. trust me, unless you work really hard to do minor things with its terrible interface, you will find it was a waste of money.
 
virus1 said:
no, not good for what you need. i have a little experience with motion (my copy is on its way in my fcs crossgrade), and it is a very difficult app to work with. trust me, unless you work really hard to do minor things with its terrible interface, you will find it was a waste of money.
Click to expand...

No, Motion is a very easy app to use. I understood it right after I used it for a few minutes :)
 
eXan said:
No, Motion is a very easy app to use. I understood it right after I used it for a few minutes :)
Click to expand...
there is a difference between having a ball bounce around the screen as opposed to doing something useful or even the slightest bit complex. it is slow, clunky, and the biggest hog of screen real estate i have ever seen. i rememb when i went to MWSF05 where they had the fastest G5 powermac, filled with ram, and set up with dual 30" screens, and getting the beach ball after 2 minutes in motion.

(pay no attention to the first line of my sig :rolleyes: )
 
virus1 said:
there is a difference between having a ball bounce around the screen as opposed to doing something useful or even the slightest bit complex.
Click to expand...

yep +1 for that, after a few days of training i found it good for having butterflies replicating all over the place, and a few funky text animations that get old very quickly, but a pain to do anything complex.
 
Its ALWAYS difficult to make something complex, no matter how easy/difficult the app u use is. If you want the result of your work to look professional, you can either
1) Spend a lot of time on it (the hard way)
2) Use templates (the easy way)

So "easy" apps that make results look "professional" just actually make u use templates (iWeb, iDVD for example), "easy/hard" apps (Motion - easy with templates & small things, hard at complex projects) allow you much more freedom with an option to make things "the easy way".

So you always spend a lot of time for good results, no matter what app ur using :)
 
eXan said:
Its ALWAYS difficult to make something complex, no matter how easy/difficult the app u use is. If you want the result of your work to look professional, you can either
1) Spend a lot of time on it (the hard way)
2) Use templates (the easy way)

So "easy" apps that make results look "professional" just actually make u use templates (iWeb, iDVD for example), "easy/hard" apps (Motion - easy with templates & small things, hard at complex projects) allow you much more freedom with an option to make things "the easy way".

So you always spend a lot of time for good results, no matter what app ur using :)
Click to expand...
i have no doubt of what motion can produce, i am just saying whoever uses it will have to endure hell squared to get there.
 
virus1 said:
i have no doubt of what motion can produce, i am just saying whoever uses it will have to endure hell squared to get there.
Click to expand...

Do you prefer After Effects instead?
 
why not sell FCE and get FCS with that money, it won't carry the whole cost but you could get something...right...
 
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