Motion vs After Effects

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Tum67

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I know Im wanting to compare apples to ( something like an apple but different), but I am trying to decide if I need to purchase After Effects. I am going to purchase FCS 5 which will have motion2 in it.
My main use is weddings / sports - needing your basic effects; split screen, multiple sliding images etc....... I use livetype for text so that doesn't figure in my decision.
So my question is: IS AFTER EFFECTS THE HOLY GRAIL AND DO I NEED TO PURCHASE AND LEARN A NEW SOFTWARE OR IS THE BENEFIT COMPARED TO MOTION _ NOT THAT GREAT?


:dankk2: For any advice
 
No After Effects is not the Holy Grail, there are plenty of very strong compositing apps. such as Combustion, Shake, digital fusion, etc... Motion can not compare with any compositor mentioned. It's a sweet, fun application, but as of now, not a contender and in my opinion, not ready for prime time.

Now that said, it might be enough for what you need. The plus side of motion is it's speed. It also come with a lot of ready made templates which is a good thing. Best thing to do is try it before buying anything else.
 
As SomewhereinLA mentioned, After Effects is by no means the best that is out there (but its cheaper too). From the very basic editing and effects that you need, I wonder why you have not tried (or are not content with) IMovie? It has all of the basid editing features and its very fast. I do all my editing in IMovie and only selectively use another app such as Combustion or AfterEffects for those effects that I cannot achieve with IMovie.
 
Hi all:

I think that some of you may be missing the intent that Apple has for Motion. Motion is a motion graphics application for video editors. It's not intended as a multi-level compositing tool for advanced animators.

After Effects can do much more than Motion but you can learn Motion in a couple of days, whereas you had better have a couple of years to become proficient in After Effects, Shake, etc. These programs are not really intended for the video editor who needs a couple of cool title cards or an occasional composite. Motion is.

Also, I just finished the Ripple Training "Getting Started in Motion" DVD and it is excellent. We used one of the tutorials for a Disney project that is coming out on DVD in a few months so we made money with the application right out of the box, the first time we used it. See, it's made for editors and producers who need to do it themselves and need it done right now. The fact that you can use it to instantly elevate your production values and that it is easy to use bothers a lot of more advanced users (not saying you guys in this thread). I hear a lot of more proficient users poo-poo Apple's prosumer apps like iLife, LiveType and Motion. I am the opposite, I enjoy doing professional high-end work using prosumer tools. After all, isn't that what the HVX is?

Motion also has a lot of power beneath the hood, once you learn a few tricks. It is actually a fairly sophisticated application once you know how it works. Kind of like iDVD, many people snobbishly look down their nose at it and instead only use DVD SP but for certain jobs, iDVD is quicker, easier and more efficient and makes me more money, what's not to like?

Best,

Dan
 
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Thanks to everyone for the advice.
Puredrifting; I am going to look at Ripple Training tonight and possibly Lynda.com and see where motion can take me...
Fugitive; I am going to play more with my IMOVIE / IDVD and see if I was short selling them both...
 
After spending the past weekend on Lynda.com Motion is a brand new creature - along with FCP / Livetype. I believe these three programs will serfice for my needs, and I thank everyone for the advice.
 
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Yeah Lynda.com really helped me learn motion and final cut pro. You don't need after effects for wedding videos until you are getting paid 10k for them then give it another look and hire someone else to do it. Shake is cheaper than after effects.
 
Thanks Nik, Lynda.com is great, just emailed them to ask when they would add Shake to their online library.....
 
Stick with Motion, then once you're good with it, consider upgrading to something more powerful if you need to, like Shake.

Besides, using AE and FCP means you'll also have to invest in Automatic Duck. Motion will integrate with FCP so much more nicely.
 
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