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• Tracking Essentials In Motion 5
• by Ben Balser
• Apple's Motion 5 is a great program for motion tracking. Ben Balser explores the basics and shares a selection of tips, tricks and techniques including Stabilize options and Match Move behaviors.

• Swinging Panels In Apple Motion 5
• by Ben Balser
• Learn how to add some swing to your animations in Apple Motion 5. In this tutorial, Ben Balser shows how a swinging panel/sign is much simpler to create in Motion than in other motion graphics app.

• Motion: How to Manipulate a True 3D Box
• by Iain Anderson
• In this article Apple Motion Expert, Iain Anderson, shows you how to create a "real" 3D box and, because he's a generous sort, also provides the project files to download. Go 3D in Motion 5!

• Motion: Quality Anamorphic Output
• by Iain Anderson
• It's easy to get confused when outputting widescreen images for SD consumption. Iain Anderson expertly breaks down the anamorphic settings for best quality results in Motion.

• Animating Map Lines In Motion 5
• by Ben Balser
• We've all seen them: lines, in different colors, shapes & sizes, shooting across a map to show the journey taken on a travel program. Ben Balser shows the A to B of map line creation in Motion.

• Media Composer 6 105
• Creating Titles
• Master the tools of title creation in this 32-video Media Composer 6 tutorial by Avid Certified trainer Jeff Greenberg...

• Motion 5 201
• Crafting Final Cut FX Templates
• Did you know that Motion 5 is Final Cut Pro X’s special effects farm? They’re brother and sister programs designed to work together. In this tutorial you learn how to create all kinds of original Motion 5 effects templates that magically appear as presets right in FCP X!

• Motion 5 401
• Creating 3D Text Fly Bys!
• Watch and learn how to create a complex 3D text flyby effect in this 26-video series taught by motion graphics expert, Iain Anderson...

• Final Cut Pro X 201
• Multicam Editing
• Learn the art of Multicam Editing in Final Cut Pro X in the 23-video tutorial created by our in-house, Final Cut "X"pert, Michael Wohl...

• Media Composer 6 102
• Basic Editing Techniques
• Learn the fundamentals of editing in this 36-video, Avid Learning Partner tutorial by Media Composer expert Jeff Greenberg...

• Final Cut Pro X 204
• Managing Media
• Final Cut Pro X projects can incorporate tons of different assets in many different formats. Learn how to micro-manage them to speed up your workflow. FCP X Certified Trainer Ben Balser shows you all the tricks...

• Final Cut Pro X 202
• DSLR Workflows
• As DSLRs become the de facto standard in video production, they bring with them a host of challenges in an editor’s workflow. In this tutorial Final Cut Pro Master Trainer Jeff Greenberg shows you how to optimize your DSLR workflow in FCP X...

• Motion 5 109
• Rendering and Output
• You’ve finished animating. Now what? In this concluding tutorial from our Motion 5 "100" Series, learn how to precisely Render, Export and Share your work in an array of different formats...

• Motion 5 108
• Creating Content For Final Cut Pro X
• One of the most important new features of Motion 5 is the ability to create content for Final Cut Pro X. Think of Motion as your very own "FX incubator" where everything you create can be saved as a custom plugin for FCP X. No more shopping around for those 3rd-party FX. In this tutorial Michael Wohl will teach you how to “roll your own”...

• Motion 5 107
• Working in 3D
• Add another dimension to your motion graphics in this exhaustive 24-video exploration of Motion’s complete set of 3D animation tools. Best of all, you don’t even need to wear those goofy 3D glasses! See how the multidimensional Michael Wohl creates 3D magic using virtual cameras, lighting, reflections and shadows...

• Motion 5 106
• Editing In Motion
• OK. So you’ve got all this wild text, multiple objects, particles, generators and replicators silently flying around the screen. Now what? In this tutorial by Michael Wohl, learn how to Edit, Retime and add Audio to heighten the power and “emotion” of your motion graphics...

• Motion 5 105
• Animating Effects
• Got a behavior problem? Motion 5‘s got a solution. Learn how to animate using Behaviors, Keyframing and Tracking with the always animated Motion expert, Michael Wohl...

• Motion 5 104
• Effects, Particles and Replicators
• Motion comes jam-packed with a huge variety of very hot motion graphic effects. This tutorial shows you how to ignite these awesome Filters, Particle Systems and Replicators to fill your frames with kinetic energy and action...

• Motion 5 103
• Animating Text
• What can Motion do with text? Well, anything you can possible imagine! With its advanced text creation and animation tools your 3D text can fly across the screen, rocket to the horizon and burst into molecular oblivion! Let Motion Master Michael Wohl show you how...

• Motion 5 102
• Working With Objects
• Objects are what Motion sets “in motion!” Join Mr. Motion himself, Michael Wohl, as he shows you how to create Objects and manipulate them using Generators, Replicators, Behaviors and much more...

Preview these Motion Tutorial-Videos

Probably my favorite feature of the new Final Cut Pro X and Motion 5 is the ease with which you can create new effects. If you can apply an effect to a placeholder, then you can just as easily apply it to any clip. Here, we’ll create a new effect from scratch in Motion 5 and apply it to a clip in FCP X.

Step 1 - Create a new effect in Motion

Launch Motion 5, and choose the Final Cut Effect preset from the Project Browser window. I’ll choose the 1080p24 preset here, but it’s not critical. Click in the Canvas and press Shift-Z to zoom to fit to the window.

Create a new effect.

Step 2 - Add a filter

In the Layers and/or Timeline panes, you’ll see an item named “Effect Source”. That’s a placeholder clip, a stand-in for whatever clip(s) this effect is applied to in FCP X. At the left of the interface, choose Library > Filters > Stylize, and scroll down in the pane below to find Slit Tunnel. Drag Slit Tunnel onto Effect Source in either the Layers or Timeline panes.

Find a filter in Motion.

Step 3 - Tweak the settings

Click on the Inspector tab (next to Library). Below that, click on the Filters tab if it’s not showing already. A few settings here can be changed, and can produce a very different look. Take a few moments to see what the different settings can do.

Tweak properties in Motion.

Note: It can be tricky to see what you’re doing on a grey placeholder graphic. If you’re having difficulty seeing what you’re doing, feel free to drop in a “dummy” still image or a movie above the placeholder, adjust settings there, then finally drag the filter back down to the Effect Source before deleting the added “dummy” item.

Step 4 - Publish important parameters

Now that you’ve seen your options, it’s a good idea to pick the most important settings and expose them to modification in FCP X. You shouldn’t necessarily do this for every parameter available, just what you might want to tweak in FCP X. Right-click on the name of each parameter you want to expose, and choose Publish. Here, I’ll expose Center, Rotation, and Perspective.

Publishing parameters.

Step 5 - Reorder and rename published parameters

Click on Project in the Layers or Timeline views. In Project > Publishing, you’ll see all the parameters you just published. Double-click any of them to rename them, and drag them up or down to rearrange them.

Reorder and rename.

Step 6 - Make it available in FCP X

This part is easy: choose File > Save. Give the name “Slit Tunnel”. From the Category drop-down, choose New Category... and type “Experiments”. Click the Publish button.

Save the effect.

Step 7 - Apply the Effect in FCP X

Launch FCP X and open any project. Open the Effects tab by clicking on the Effects icon on the right of the toolbar (it’s the leftmost of the seven smaller buttons). Under the new Video category Experiments, drag the Slit Tunnel effect to any clip in a timeline.

Apply the filter in FCP X.

Step 8 - Tweak the parameters in FCP X

Click on the Inspector button, the 'i' inside a blue circle all the way to the right of the toolbar. Select the clip you just applied your effect to. In the Inspector, to the right of the viewer, you’ll see the parameters you published. Change them; in particular, try lower values for Perspective and move the center X and Y.

Tweak parameters in FCP X.

You can repeat these steps for just about any effect in Motion, even combining multiple effects, clone layers, masks and moves. In fact, many of the built-in FCP X effects appear to have been built this way. It’s never been this easy to create original effects and avoid the cliché of an effect you’ve seen a hundred times before — so go for it!

Want to learn more about creating effects in Motion? These Motion 5 tutorial-videos by Michael Wohl will show you what you need to know!

Preview these Motion Tutorial-Videos

Iain Anderson

Iain Anderson is an editor, animator, designer, developer and Apple Certified Trainer based in Brisbane, Australia. He has taught privately and in tertiary institutions, and has freelanced for Microsoft and the Queensland Government. Comfortable with anything from Quartz Composer to Second Life and Final Cut Pro to Adobe Creative Suite, he has laid out books, booklets, brochures and business cards; retouched magazine covers and product packaging, shot and edited short films and animated for HD broadcast TV, film festivals and for the web.

FCP X Effect, FCPX, Motion 5, Motion 5 Effect, FCP X Motion 5 Effect, Slit tunnel

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