Motion 3 vs. After Effects Pro
- Thread starter hapychkn
- Start date
It's tough to say since Motion 3 hasn't been released yet. You may want to wait until May, when Motion 3 is released, and see what people who use both think.
I'm going to make an educated guess that Motion 3 will work a lot like Motion 2, and having worked on plug-ins for Motion 2 (which will also work with Motion 3), I can say that Motion, and FCP both use premultiplied alpha. In my experience with compositing in Motion and FCP, I'm inclined to say that AE is still a better compositing tool.
For other things, like particles, live fonts, and such, Motion may give you better, realtime feedback than AE. As a result, it may give you a faster workflow for colorful effects. I think it's going to come down to which environment you like to work in, and what sort of work you do. If you're mostly compositing, I think Shake or AE are where you want to be. If you're doing a lot of motion graphics and you like Motion's interface, then it may be something to consider.
Of course, if price is no option, get all three!
For other things, like particles, live fonts, and such, Motion may give you better, realtime feedback than AE. As a result, it may give you a faster workflow for colorful effects. I think it's going to come down to which environment you like to work in, and what sort of work you do. If you're mostly compositing, I think Shake or AE are where you want to be. If you're doing a lot of motion graphics and you like Motion's interface, then it may be something to consider.
Of course, if price is no option, get all three!
Yeah, it is unfair for me to compare 2 products who's new versions aren't even out yet. I'm just trying to budget. I CAN afford both, in fact I was planning on getting Production Studio when it comes out in July; but I'm also getting Final Cut Studio 2 for my Mac Pro and looking on Apple's preview page, I was getting some serious deja vu seeing what Motion 3 was all about.
So those out there that use Motion 2... what are your thoughts? Happy? Sad? Libertarian?
So those out there that use Motion 2... what are your thoughts? Happy? Sad? Libertarian?
Then your question is really moot, because you'll get Motion 3 with Final Cut Studio 2. Then you just pick the best tool for the job, or work where you are most comfortable. Most of these choices come down to personal preference.
In that case, I think Shake @ $500 would be a better deal. You'll have virtually every tool you need in Final Cut Studio, except, maybe a good compositor. Shake would fill that need for a lot less money. You'll probably find that Final Cut Studio is going to take you far, and you won't need anything else for most of your work.
I do some compositing in Lightwave 3D. I don't own a license for AE, and I get along fine without it. However, it's unlikely that the nature of your video editing will be like mine. I do a lot of cuts-only editing, a fair amount of greenscreen work, and some special effects for which I use Lightwave, because that is what I know. Someone else said this before me, but the biggest cost of any tool is the learning curve, and learning a couple of tools really well is far more effective than having 20 tools and not being proficient with any of them.
I do some compositing in Lightwave 3D. I don't own a license for AE, and I get along fine without it. However, it's unlikely that the nature of your video editing will be like mine. I do a lot of cuts-only editing, a fair amount of greenscreen work, and some special effects for which I use Lightwave, because that is what I know. Someone else said this before me, but the biggest cost of any tool is the learning curve, and learning a couple of tools really well is far more effective than having 20 tools and not being proficient with any of them.