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Tip #1540: Create Movement with a Zoom Blur

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Zoom blurs create the illusion of movement from a point.

Zoom blur settings (top) and the results applied to a diamond (bottom).

Topic $TipTopic

Here’s a fast way to make a still image – or other element – look like it’s moving: a Zoom Blur.

Filters > Blur > Zoom Blur creates the illusion of movement from a specific point. By default, this blur is located at the center of the frame.

However, as you can see from the screen shot, moving the Center of the Zoom blur to the edge of an object makes it look like the image itself is moving.

Apply the blur to an element, then:

  • Drag the white circle (the Center setting) to the edge you want to remain in focus.
  • Adjust Amount to vary the amount of the blur.
  • Be sure Crop is unchecked to allow the blur to extend past the boundaries of the element.
  • Tweak other settings and watch what happens.

Especially for elements that are moving around the frame, this increases the illusion of the speed of  the movement.


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Tip #1531: Motion Titles for FCP are More Than Text

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Title templates can contain anything a Motion project can – including video!

Title templates can contain text, shapes, gadgets, animations, even video. These are full Motion projects.

Topic $TipTopic

When you create a title template in Motion for use in either Motion or Final Cut, you are not limited to only using text. You can actually do far more. Anything you can put into a “normal” Motion project, you can put into a title. It’s just that the title is saved in the Titles browser for use in Final Cut as a template.

The screen shot illustrates a title containing:

  • Text
  • Spinning gadget
  • Animated shape using Behaviors
  • Gradient colors
  • A zoomed-back background video
  • Lighting using Spot and Point lights

Don’t get creatively trapped into thinking titles are only text.


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Tip #1532: Align: A Cool, Unused Behavior

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Align tracks an element closely or loosely with another element.

Behaviors > Basic Motion > Align settings (left), with the effect applied; along with the options in Align and To menus.

Topic $TipTopic

Align is one of those Basic Motion behaviors that you probably never use. Mostly, because Fade In/Out, Spin, Throw and Motion Path are more obvious and clearly useful.

But Align has some very cool traits. Align forces the element to which it is applied, to align itself with whatever element you drag into the “Object Well” (indicated by a blue bean in the screen shot).

We can align objects by:

  • Center
  • Anchor Point
  • Left edge
  • Right edge
  • Top edge
  • Bottom edge
  • Upper Left corner
  • Upper Right corner
  • Lower Left corner
  • Lower Right corner
  • And a custom setting

What makes this effect especially cool is when you apply animation – say a Throw behavior – to the object that is the focus of the alignment AND you change the Transition setting for Align to, say, “Ease In,” the Aligned object will slowly drift toward the focus, then follow after it as it moves.

The more you play with the Transition and Alignment settings, the more fun you’ll have in creating organic movements.

EXTRA CREDIT

Here’s an example. Let’s say you animate a logo to move across the screen. Using Align, you can have a flock of stars (each with the effect applied) slowly become attracted to the logo and travel with it as it moves.


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Tip #1533: Point At: A Little-Used Behavior

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Point At has one element point at another, no matter where each of them moves.

Behaviors > Basic Motion > Point At settings (top) and a red arrow “pointing at” the blue bean.

Topic $TipTopic

Point At is a Basic Motion behavior that you may not have used. Mostly, because Fade In/Out, Spin, Throw and Motion Path are more obvious and clearly useful.

But Point At does one thing none of these others do: it takes an element and points it at another element, no matter what each of them does in terms of movement.

For example, in the screen shot, the blue bean is moving across the frame from left to right. The red arrow is rising from bottom to top.

Using the settings in the Point At Inspector (top of screen shot) the red arrow will point at (track) the blue bean as both elements move around the frame.

Very cool!

EXTRA CREDIT

Imagine you have a product shot moving around the frame, with a cloud of arrows, or clapping hands, or exclamation points all moving around it randomly while at the same time pointing to the moving product shot. The Point At effect would be applied to all the objects that “point at” the product shot.


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Tip #1482: Don’t Get Lost in 3D Space

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

When you get lost in 3D space, choose Reset View.

Active Camera menu options, with Reset View used to restore the original view.

Topic $TipTopic

Once you add lights. cameras or sets to a Motion project, you move into 3D space. And that is a place where it is easy to get lost. Really, really lost.

Why? Because the background is black, the space is vast, we are moving in three dimensions, and there’s no floor.

NOTE: All three of these options change your view, but they don’t alter your Motion project.

To help you quickly get reoriented and find home, go to the Active Camera menu in the top left corner of the Canvas (Viewer).

  • Reset View (Shortcut: Control + R). This instantly brings you back to the 0,0,0 point. So, no matter how far you wander, you can always get home.
  • Fit Object into View (Shortcut: F). Select an element in the Layers pane. This option instantly fills the frame with the selected object. This is great way to quickly see small text or background elements.
  • Frame Object (Shortcut: Shift + Cmd + F). This rotates the selected element to the active camera’s point of view, centers it, then zooms until it fills the frame.

These options are even more useful when you are using other perspectives than Active Camera.

EXTRA CREDIT

Using Frame Object often means that you are seeing an element from a different perspective than the one displayed in the Active Camera menu.

Choose Reset View to get everything reset back to normal.


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Tip #1501: Get Rid of a White Background

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Removing a white background is easy, just hard to find.

Luma keyer settings (top), original image (lower left) and final.

Topic $TipTopic

Removing a white background in Motion is easy, but the settings are hard to find. This is one of those tips that, if you know it, seems easy. And, if you don’t, drives you nuts.

  • Import an element that has a white background into Motion and select it.
  • Apply Filters > Keying > Luma Keyer
  • Check the Invert checkbox to key on white (second red arrow).
  • Slide the top Luma slider to the right until the foreground is as solid as possible (top red arrow). Click the View > Matte icon to make sure the foreground is solid white.
  • To get rid of white edges, slide Matte Tools > Shrink/Expand to the right a pixel or two; I used 2.0 (bottom red arrow).

Done.


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Tip #1503: The Colorize Filter is an Essential Friend

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

The Colorize filter brings B&W graphics to life.

Colorize filter settings (top). (Bottom from left to right) Original image, replace white, replace black, replace both.

Topic $TipTopic

One of the more helpful tools in Apple Motion is the Colorize filter. This turns black-and-white graphics and into something MUCH more interesting.

Here’s how it works.

SETUP

  • Select the black-and-white graphic you what to change. (This will work with video, but it is designed for graphics.)
  • Apply Filters > Color > Colorize (screen shot top).
  • To change white to any color: Click the white color chip and change this to the color you prefer.
  • To change black to any color: Click the black color chip and change this to the color you prefer.
  • And, for those truly daring, change BOTH color chips to change both white and black.

EXTRA CREDIT

The screen shot illustrates all the different options. Also, you can use keyframes to animate the color selection over time.


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Tip #1463: Canvas View Options

 

My two favorite display options are: Active Camera and Top.

The Active Camera display options.

Topic $TipTopic Adding a light or camera to Motion also requires that you switch into 3D. When that happens, a new menu appears in the top left corner of the Canvas. Here’s what the options inside the Active Camera menu mean.

NOTE: These options change the Canvas display. They do not modify your project.

Quoting the Apple Help files:

When you choose Active Camera from the pop-up menu, the topmost camera in the Layers list at the current playhead position (in the Timeline) becomes the active camera. The active camera is the camera through which you view your project in the canvas. It’s also the camera view that’s rendered when you export your project. If a project contains only one scene camera (as shown above), two items appear at the top of this pop-up menu: Active Camera and Camera, which represent the same camera.

If a project contains more than one scene camera, all scene cameras appear at the top of the Camera pop-up menu, under the Active Camera item. To make a different scene camera the active camera, choose a different camera from the top section of the pop-up menu. (Scene cameras listed in this section of the Camera pop-up menu appear in the same order as they do in the Layers list.)


The middle section (Perspective) displays the scene from seven different orthagonal perspectives. These are easier to see in action than to describe.


The bottom section of the Camera pop-up menu allows access to five frequently used commands:

  • Reset View: Resets the camera view to its default orientation. (Control + R)
  • Select Active Camera: Selects the active camera in the project—the topmost camera in the Layers list that is visible at the current frame (when there are multiple cameras existing at the same frame in time). (Control + Option + C)
  • Fit Objects Into View: Reframes the current camera to fit the selected objects into the canvas. (F)
  • Frame Object: Frames the selected objects in the active view. If no objects are selected, Frame Object resets the reference camera to view all objects in the scene. (Shift + Command + F)
  • Focus On Object: Used when a camera has depth of field turned on. Adjusts the camera’s Focus Offset to the selected object. (Control + F)

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Tip #1466: 10 Motion Shortcuts I Wish I Knew Earlier

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

Of these, moving elements up and down are SO helpful!

The Apple Motion logo.

Topic $TipTopic

Over the last four weeks, I presented a series of four webinars on Apple Motion. During that time, there were several features in Motion that I thought could only be done with a mouse. And it drove me nuts, because I kept wanting “a better way!”

There was. And, naturally, I found it AFTER my webinar series was complete. Sigh…

Here are ten keyboard shortcuts that make Motion a whole lot easier to use – and ones I wish I knew a month ago. These all apply to the Layers panel.

Shortcut What It Does
Shift + Cmd + N Create a new group
Cmd + ] Raise the selected element or group up one level
Cmd + [ Lower the selected elements or group down one level
Shift + Cmd + G Place selected Layers panel elements into a new group
Shift + F Display the selected element in the Media panel
Control + L Lock or unlock an element
Control + D Toggle a group between 2D and 3D
Control + T Make selected element visible or invisible
Control + S Solo the selected elements
Up/Down Arrow Move selection up ordown in the Layers panel

The shortcuts to move elements and groups up and down are the ones I’ve needed for a long time.


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Tip #1483: Quick Lighting Trick

Larry Jordan – LarryJordan.com

A 3D Object (Lounge Chair) lit with a single Point light in the top left corner.

Topic $TipTopic

Here’s a quick lighting trick to add visual interest to 3D text or 3D objects: Add a light.

The default light is “Ambient.” This means equal light from all directions. It makes everything visible, but there’s very limited modeling.

Instead, add a 3D element (object or text):

  • Select the object and turn off Environmental Lighting in the Inspector. (Don’t panic if everything goes black.!)
  • Choose Object > New Light (an alternative is to use Object > New Light Group).
  • Select the light element in the Layers panel.
  • In Inspector > Light, change the Light Type to either Point (used in the screen shot) or Directional. Then change either the position (Point) or rotation (Directional) for the light.
  • Keep moving the light until you get a more interesting visual look.

EXTRA CREDIT

Adding lights does not also require adding a camera. Point lights can only be moved, while Directional lights can only be rotated.

You can also use lights for 2D elements, like video, but it won’t be as effective.


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