After Effects vs. Motion

J

joelaready

Active member
I asked this question in the general software forum, but it hasn't gotten a response, so I thought I'd bring it up here. Is the general consensus that After Effects is better than Apple Motion? Are they just two different softwares that do pretty much the same things, or are they quite different? Is one more powerful? What are your opinions? All thoughts appreciated.
Joel
 
If you Google "After Effects vs Motion" you get over 5 million links.
Have you already looked through the 5 million discussions on the topic?
 
here is the quick answer, after effects is better. You can do SOO much more with AE then with motion. Motion has a lot of present stuff, similar to the preset menus in DVD studio pro which EVERYBODY uses and screams amateur. Trust me learn AE.
 
I don't think it is a question of what is better.

It depends on what you want to do. I unfortunately have not used motion - ever. Though I do own FCS2. Just nothing I've used. After Effects are great to make motion graphics, DVD menus, and even some basic compositing.

My vote is AE. But you get motion with FCS anyways.
 
Cool; thanks. This kind of confirms what I've already read in those 5 million hits I read from google...
Seems like Motion is easier to learn, but doesn't give you the kind of in depth control that I want.
I appreciate the responses.
Joel
 
fcs2 incudes motion at about 1k on the same token you will never see aecs3 being offered with premiere.....just a thought :)
 
aalleexx said:
...you will never see aecs3 being offered with premiere.....just a thought :)
Click to expand...
Adobe Production Premium CS3 includes Premiere, AE, PS, Illustrator, Encore. Soundbooth and Flash. Apple has put together a good bundle, but it's not the only game in town.
 
I have and use both, but I am learning AE and I can say that it is much better for certain things. I know Motion inside and out and I use it more often only because I know it. But AE is amazing. Learn that. I do think Motion is a lot easier to use though.
 
i started on motion and then got into ae. hands down, ae is sooooo much better. motion kinda does the same stuff but it's painfully obvious that it is still in it's early stages. ae has been around for years and it shows. the workflow is more refined and all kinds of stuff i wished that motion did, ae does. if you have access to both, don't waste your time with motion.

with that said, motion does have one cool thing about it. it integrates into fcp seamlessly. i will use it for simple things. just select a clip you want to effect or composite in fcp and "send to new motion project". this opens motion and the clip is there. from that point the clip in fcp is replaced with a motion project that updates itself as you edit it.

if fcp would integrate with ae this way, it would be a nearly perfect world.
 
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I think you missed my point bud, fcs2 gives you motion as a bonus yeah? probono maybe? can you get premiere and ae in one package...no

but hey what the hell do I know

milksac said:
Adobe Production Premium CS3 includes Premiere, AE, PS, Illustrator, Encore. Soundbooth and Flash. Apple has put together a good bundle, but it's not the only game in town.
Click to expand...
 
aalleexx said:
I think you missed my point bud, fcs2 gives you motion as a bonus yeah? probono maybe? can you get premiere and ae in one package...no

but hey what the hell do I know
Click to expand...

Can you get Final Cut Pro and Motion in one package, no, you get the whole suite, exactly the same way Adobe packages their suite.

In reality, Adobe's package is more useful, IMO. It comes with Photoshop, Illy, AE, Premiere, and those other programs. Although I don't use Premiere, for AE users editing is not that important.

Apple's package doesn't come with any photo manipulation software (like Photoshop) or vector drawing program (like Illy), but it does come with Motion...

Also, before you jump at it, I'm aware of the price diff.

Oh, and I forgot about Flash, man that's a deal, lol.
 
whats the use of having all that software if you dont know how to use it anyway, lol. i dont know how many people i've met that have that adobe package and only know how to effectively use one or two of the programs. it's a good deal, but how many people (outside of designers, video editors) actually use illustrator and flash "and those other programs" beyond the basic functions that can be done within the NLE?

"i just bought a toyota camry and it came with an alien space craft in case i need to fly to another state for vacation and dont feel like catching a flight on delta! i got a better deal then you baby!"

:)

bottom line, get what you need.
 
aalleexx said:
can you get premiere and ae in one package...no

but hey what the hell do I know
Click to expand...

YES you can get premiere and AE in one package.....it's the package i bought :)

it's called the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium

Maximize your post-production productivity with Adobe® Creative Suite® 3 Production Premium software. Combines Adobe After Effects® CS3 Professional, Adobe Premiere® Pro CS3, Photoshop® CS3 Extended, Flash® CS3 Professional, Illustrator® CS3, Soundbooth™ CS3, and Encore® CS3, and also includes Adobe Dynamic Link, Bridge CS3, Device Central CS3, Adobe OnLocation™ CS3 (Windows® only), and Ultra® CS3 (Windows only).
Click to expand...
 
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NO NO NO!!!! I am right and you are wrong hahaha J/K

wow, lesson learned, I have used AE for years and just now I lean that you can buy premiere and AE in one bag!!!

koool :)

Mickey Munday said:
YES you can get premiere and AE in one package.....it's the package i bought :)

it's called the Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium
Click to expand...
 
you know, just now out of curiosity I took a closer look at motion, I did a little when I bought my fcs2 package but with all this talk I spent a good 2 hours playing with it and well its got some pretty cool templates on there that would take some time to make in AE but it looks like the keyword that describes motion is
"behavior" looks like a solid program, too bad I have spent 3 years perfecting my skills in AE but ohh well gotta get back to my "LAYERS"

AE might get a little jealous with all this motion talk that I am doing :)
 
Programs can be debated back and forth for ever. Adobe is more money but close enough to FCP suite2 that you can go either way. I have seen stuff produced in Motion that will knock your socks off and we all have seen what is capable with After Effects and neither of these is a Flame. None of us have that kind of money.

The big question is what kind of things do you do. If you need subpixeling rendering then After Effects is more powerful and is the way to go and a lot of national commercials have been created and rendered in AE. There has been of late great things done in Motion and it has some good tools and some things are just a lot easier in Motion. AE has many more plugins available for it than Motion but there are lots of new plugings coming out for Motion as well. You need horsepower with both to get them to preform well so lots of ram and processor like a 8 proc or quad at least and a fast video card and lots of ram ($2500 at OWC for 32gig). I use AE and Motion both in projects. I at the moment use Motion more because its faster at what I'm doing and saves me time. But some projects need AE and you have to have it. If you can afford both and have the time then get both and if you are doing a specific type of work that favors one over the other then get that one.

Trish and Chris Meyer have several books and tutorials out for AE that are well put together.

I love mac and own pc's and have lots of programs and I don't care what the product is if it will save me lots of time at a certain job then I use it. Money doesn't care how its made, it all spends the same.
 
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