Motion 4 Fast Forward - DVD Edition

Since it's introduction, Motion has revolutionized the approach to creating 2D and 3D animated motion graphics and effects commonly seen in title sequences, show opens, interstitials, commercials, dvd menus and more. The title of our tutorial is also our mission: to get you up to speed in Motion 4 faster than you thought possible, while empowering you with the skills and techniques necessary to confidently approach any motion graphics projects you or your clients can dream up.

Motion 4 Fast Forward is presented in 20 individual lessons with a running time of just over 4 hours. The tutorial also includes over 80 project files for following along in Motion 4. Each lesson focuses on building fundamental Motion skills such as working with cameras, motion tracking, working with particles, lights, replicators, masks, text and audio behaviors and more! And you'll learn all of this while creating real-world projects you can instantly put to use in your own projects.

For full descriptions of what's in each lesson, check out the table of contents below.

Who is this Tutorial for?

This tutorial was designed for people with little or no experience using Motion as well as for those who are familiar with other motion graphics applications but would prefer learning Motion 4 from the ground up. Lesson 1-12 covers basic Motion fundamentals, and lessons 13-20 cover more advanced applications of Motion's 2D and 3D toolset. Anyone using Final Cut Studio 3 will benefit from this tutorial including, but not limited to, Final Cut Pro editors, broadcast designers, animators, visual effects artists, producers, directors, and even graphic artists working in traditional print media.

This product is based on tutorial content originally presented in Motion 3 Fast Forward and Motion 4 Up & Running. If you already own Motion 3 Fast Forward, you can purchase Motion 4 Fast Forward as an upgrade by clicking here

Animate in 2D or 3D

Our Tutorial doesn't just show you Motion's amazing toolset, but actually guides you, step-by-step in the best ways to put them to use, even if you've never used a 3D application before. Some of you might even be saying, "but wait, I've never even used a 2D animation program before..." That's ok. Motion is comfortable working with either 2D or 3D elements and our goal is to get you comfortable working in 2D before moving you into the 3D world.

Below is an image from lesson 6 on 3D Photo animation. You will learn how to work with layered Photoshop files, a camera and keyframes to give your flat images depth and perspective.

Motion was born to create DVD menus. Perhaps that's why they are often referred to as Motion menus. With Motion 4's paint tools, audio behaviors, loop point markers and more, you will learn why Motion is the perfect compliment to DVD Studio Pro.

In lesson 4 you will deconstruct and animate a corporate logo. This is the perfect lesson to get your head around working with keyframes in Motion.

Motion has trackers that will help you avoid tedious keyframing. In lesson 11, learn how to track graphics onto moving subjects using various tracking behaviors.

Altering the speed of a video clip is a common visual effect. In Lesson 10 Mark focuses on the various options Motion gives you for retiming your video.

In lesson 13, Mark shows you his bag of reflection tricks and what to watch out for when applying reflections to Emmiters, Replicators and Paint Strokes.

Pulling a good key is never without its challenges. In lesson 9, you will learn techniques to achieve good chroma keys using the Primatte Keyer, B-Splines and mattes.

Where there's light, there's shadow. In Lesson 14 learn how layers work with shadows; how replicators and paint strokes interact with shadows and how to approach scenes with multiple light sources.

With only a few mouse clicks, Motion 4's new framing features will allow you to set up complex camera animations. In lesson 16, learn how to "fly" your camera from one scene to another.

With 3D projects in Motion 4, you can focus the camera on specific objects and throw other elements out of focus. In lesson 15 you will learn how to animate the camera's focus to create realistic depth of field effects.

Table of Contents

The Motion Interface

Compositing

Creating Lower Thirds

Building an Animated Corporate Logo

Introduction to 3D

3D Photo Animation

3D Camera Animation

The Wonderful World of Particles

Keying

Retiming

Motion Tracking

Building a DVD Motion Menu

Reflections

Shadows

Depth of Field

Camera Framing

Text

Linking Behavior

The Grab Bag

Alpha Transitions

Minimum System Requirements for Viewing Tutorials

Minimum System Requirements for Following Along in Motion 4