I am looking at both Motion and After Effects.

I know that I will probably have Motion in a couple of weeks because I may have FCP Studio 2. However, I would like to know the difference between the two effect systems. I have been doing a little research, but the info I am finding is circa 2006 and I know there have been improvements in both systems, namely Motion now has 2D and 3D capabilities like After Effects. I know it is possible to make AE work with Final Cut.

Can anyone give me a compare and contrast opinion of the systems? If I get Motion, should I still consider After Effects also.


-- spinner :cool:

I use After Effects but I have seen Motion being used and was introduced to it, and I like what I saw. However, I stuck with After Effects though because there seems to be a lot more plug ins available for AE than Motion. Motion appears to be a little more easier to use. Overall, I think they both do pretty much the same things it's just the workflow might be different, hopefully someone who has actually used both can provide you better detailed answers, but Plug-Ins were my main reason for going with AE.

After Effects has SOOO many plug-ins I wouldn't even know which to get. As cool as the system is, I know I can't afford to be buying all that stuff. I guess I am wondering if maybe Motion is a streamlined version of the effects system, the way Final Cut can be considered to be a streamlined version of Avid :huh:


-- spinner :cool:

As far as I know they are completely different beasts.

What are you looking to do with either program? That would be the best place to start to determine which you should look at getting.

This is a bit of an older article, but should be helpful..
http://www.dvcreators.net/how-does-motion-compare-with-after-effects/


This, to me was a rather telling point of note:
"AE is happy running on any semi-decent Mac or PC made in the last few years, Motion really requires the fastest possible computer with avery high end video card and tons of RAM to be viable in a professional environment"

i used to only be an after effects user, but after i learned motion ive been leaning more towards motion for everything i do now




The best thing about motion is the real time playback.
you can make changes to the effect your using while playing the film and watch the changes occur in real tim

motion is lacking in plugins while after effects has tons of them. i think motion will catch up with the more people buying macs and final cut. so hopefully soon motion will have just as much... but as of now.... not even close

motion is much easier to learn (imo) than after effects... especially since you can just drag and drop everything (effects, behaviors, clips,...everything)

keying (green screen) in after effects is not more difficult.... its just not as good.... so you have to use masks and dual layers along with cropping...... its just much more work to get the same look... it actually really pisses me off.... after effects has a much better keying system

the effects that come with each program are both really mind blowing... but motion just has a many newer, sweet looking replicators and the particle emitter is outstanding....

both programs have a great 3D workspace in which you can add real camera movements and make jaw dropping effects...

both programs you can draw and create your own shapes or whatever you want and color them... then add them to your project

both work great with final cut but with motion you can export your projects directly to the compressor and compress it to any dvd, podcast, mpeg setting you want........ roundtripping, which sends your project from final cut to motion ( to add text, graphics or effects) then send it back to final cut

both work great with final cut... but if you are a final cut user i suggest getting motion 3....

Part of the reason I am asking is that I want to give my docs some polish. I also want to see what I can do creatively with them. Initially, I wanted to come up with some original ways of transitioning from one segment to the next and come up with interesting ways to bring on titles, but I hope to extend myself beyond that.

From the research I was doing, which was kind of odd because I don't really know what I am looking for-I'm just trying to read what I find, it seems as though Motion will probably be the way to go. If you get the Final Cut Pro Studio 2 package, Motion comes with. I was trying to find out from people who know, what it is most used for.

Everything sounds good, guys. Especially the green screen and real time playback. I am looking forward to learning everything. Plus, Studio 2 has soundtrack which I want to be more familiar with. I am thinking about attempting to figure out how to 3D my logo....

I am just looking forward to getting started. Thanks for the help everybody.

-- spinner :cool:

I am thinking about attempting to figure out how to 3D my logo....

There's a pretty easy to use plugin available for AE as well as FCP & Motion from Zaxwerks, ProAnimator (http://zaxwerks.com/proanimatorfx/index.shtml) that will convert an Adobe Illustrator file into 3d without much hassle. Of course it's a $700 program, so it's not an impulse purchase for most people..

Yeah, I can see that.

Will, what do you use After Effects for the most?


-- spinner :cool:

There's a pretty easy to use plugin available for AE as well as FCP & Motion from Zaxwerks, ProAnimator (http://zaxwerks.com/proanimatorfx/index.shtml) that will convert an Adobe Illustrator file into 3d without much hassle. Of course it's a $700 program, so it's not an impulse purchase for most people..


Every now and then Digital Juice has Zaxwerks on sale for 50% off. That's where I bought mine. I've attempted to use it, but there's just too many bells and whistles for me to learn without a Tutorial. It's pretty powerful, at least that's what the website says anyway.

Yeah, I can see that.

Will, what do you use After Effects for the most?


-- spinner :cool:
Any kind of compositing that I have to do.. rotoscoping, tracking, color correction, keying, you name it. it's my go-to app. :)

Motion Tracking- now there's a tutorial you can put on your website. I still can't get it right most of the time.