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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!

• 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.

• Creating a Basic Final Cut Pro X Effect in Motion 5 (Slit Tunnel)
• by Iain Anderson
• Creating custom effects, titles & transitions for Final Cut Pro X just got a whole lot easier thanks to Motion 5! Iain Anderson shows how to effortlessly roll your own slit tunnel effect for FCP X.

• 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...

• 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...

• Motion 5 101
• Overview and Workflow Guide
• In this FREE,15-video introductory tutorial by famed editor and Motion expert Michael Wohl, see how you can easily create high-end Motion Graphics and seamlessly incorporate them into your Final Cut Pro X workflow...

• After Effects CS5 201
• Motion Tracking and Stabilization
• Learn the ins-and-outs of After Effects’ Motion Tracking and Stabilization techniques with special effects expert, Richard Lainhart.

• Motion 4 101
• Core Motion 4
• Michael Wohl is Apple's Courseware & Manual author for Motion 4 - Learn how Motion works from a true insider!

Preview these Motion Tutorial-Videos

Anamorphic is the not-so-secret sauce that uses the full resolution of a DVD to deliver a widescreen image. It’s a simple flag that says “stretch this image 33% wider than usual”. Though it’s widely used in Europe and Australia for SD widescreen broadcast, as well as all professionally mastered DVDs, it’s not widely understood in the US. 

In North America, SD 4:3 evolved into HD 16:9 with no intermediate step. But hang on: now that many of us have jumped to HD production, why should we care about standard definition tricks? Because some clients may require an SD master, and because Motion has a couple of quirks relating to anamorphic resolutions. Important? Very.

Note: all screenshots shown here are taken from Motion projects exported to ProRes 422 QuickTime movies, dropped into an FCP X timeline and viewed at 100%.

First things first: if you deliver a widescreen image with black bars burned into the top and bottom, you’re doing it wrong. Deliver an anamorphic DVD, and DVD players connected to older 4:3 TVs will automatically add the black bars during playback. Conversely, HD sets will stretch the image appropriately to show the full picture at the best possible resolution. Sure, HD looks better again, but not everyone has Blu-ray or a Mac under their TV. Adding black bars yourself is a guaranteed way to throw away 25% of your resolution. Don’t.

Project settings for PAL anamorphic

Start from a nearly-matching preset (NTSC or PAL, depending on your region) and choose Edit > Project Properties. In the Inspector, set the width and height to 720x576 for PAL, and 720x486 for NTSC (D1). Set the aspect ratio to the matching “anamorphic” aspect ratio. Also, set Field Order to None for a progressive-scan picture, to remove any interlacing display problems from the equation.

Now, import a sharp image into the Canvas. It will probably look jaggy, like this:

Jaggies in PAL with Anamorphic aspect ratio

Not good. Let’s try to render square pixels instead. We can squish them back to actual size later in FCP X. So, in PAL we might use 1050x576, and NTSC (D1) we’d use 872x486, each with “square” aspect ratio. Go ahead and change the Project Properties to match.

IMPORTANT NOTE: square pixel sizes have changed to match the widths used by newer Adobe apps. Why? See here.

Project settings for PAL wide square pixels

Now, you’ll see a marked improvement. Motion does a much better job of rendering square pixels than it does at rendering anamorphic ones.

Fewer jaggies with square aspect ratio

But hang on, it’s still not great. What’s the problem?

Well, this is “Normal” quality output. For anamorphic output especially, the “Best” render setting makes a huge difference. On export, visit the Render pane, look for Render Quality, and choose "Best" instead of "Current Settings".

Export settings in Motion

Best render quality is important.

No jaggies with square aspect ratio in Best render quality

Also remember to set your FCP X project to the correct settings, using progressive if you want the cleanest stills. Here’s PAL:

Project settings in FCP X

For the best quality of all, jump straight to HD in Motion. Using the 1080p preset, the resulting slight softness after downscaling to SD is definitely on the pleasing side.

No jaggies at all in 1920x1080

So what’s the quick summary? If you can, use HD resolutions in Motion, even if you’re delivering in SD. If you would prefer to use SD resolutions in Motion, use square pixels, and always render as Best quality.

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.

Anamorphic, Apple Motion, Motion 5, Motion export, SD, Video, Video export

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