JBRPG

Q: How to do the "free transform" in Motion 5?

Product: Apple Motion 5

Computer - Macbook Pro

Apple Motion Version 5.2.3

 

Right now, I own both FInal Cut Pro X and Apple Motion 5. I toyed around a little bit with the default parameters and the masking. However, I am having trouble doing the "free transform" that involves moving the control points from the mask to stretch a portion of an image, not affecting the whole source image / video.

 

As far as I know, the technique of a free transform is applicable for Adobe After Effects with the video below:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgNx5TQXZ3U

 

So far, Motion 5 does not have an official solution for free transform, and I wonder if anyone in the Apple Motion 5 community knows how to replicate the effect quite closely?

 

It would be very helpful if anyone provided solutions that match the expectation of the "free transform" based on the draw mask.

Motion 5, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5), MacBook Pro 8 GB RAM

Posted on May 11, 2016 10:13 AM

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Q: How to do the "free transform" in Motion 5?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Worlds collide,

    Worlds collide Worlds collide May 12, 2016 2:10 AM in response to JBRPG
    Level 1 (8 points)
    May 12, 2016 2:10 AM in response to JBRPG

    It is something quite simple. You can use a form available from library-Shapes, or drawing it yourself with the Bezier Pen tool, then select the level of the shape in the Layers window go to inspector-Shape-geometry and click on the diamond at the top right of the "control points" window when it becomes yellow you’ve recorded the first keyframe, then go into the timeline and move the cursor where you want the animation ends, and then in the canvas window, move the bezier points in the new shape position. Ok the transformation is complete now you can start the animation.

  • by BenB,

    BenB BenB May 12, 2016 6:11 AM in response to JBRPG
    Level 6 (9,886 points)
    Audio
    May 12, 2016 6:11 AM in response to JBRPG

    Very simple.  You drew a shape to use as a mask.  It defaults to being a shape.  Change it to Points by selecting its layer, going to the Inspector, to the either Mask or Image tab (depending on which tool you used originally), at the bottom, click the "Convert To Points" button.  You can now move each corner point independently.  You an also create points by double-clicking, or right-click a point to delete it, change its interpolation, lock it, etc.

     

    I'd highly recommend you get some Motion training.  It will save you tons of time and headache.  AE and PS tutorials will teach you nothing about Motion 5.

     

    http://www.finalcutprox.guru/page1/page5/

     

    http://www.rippletraining.com/categories/motion/

     

    http://www.fcp.co/forum/6-motion-5

  • by Karsten Schlüter,

    Karsten Schlüter Karsten Schlüter May 12, 2016 9:37 AM in response to JBRPG
    Level 7 (32,703 points)
    Video
    May 12, 2016 9:37 AM in response to JBRPG

    @Worlds, Ben:

     

    your methods transform the shape

    but, when you watch the video in the OP, the INSIDE of the shape gets 'warped'/morphed/bended/moved …

    sortof:

     

    warp.jpg

     

    no idea how to do that in Motion .....

  • by fox_m,

    fox_m fox_m May 12, 2016 1:11 PM in response to JBRPG
    Level 5 (5,517 points)
    Video
    May 12, 2016 1:11 PM in response to JBRPG

    I'm not exactly sure what you're attempting to do. Just about anything you can do in AE you can do in Motion... sometimes you have to think about it and execute it in a different way... usually it's very much easier to do in Motion -- so much less complication than AE.

     

    If I start with something like this:

    Screen Shot 2016-05-12 at 2.34.02 PM.png

    I created this by using the Checkerboard generator (fills entire canvas/background), loading in the Library > Shapes > 5-sided star. I duplicated the 5-sided star (for the red outline) and used a filled version for the shape-mask applied to the Checkerboard (drag and drop the filled star onto the checkerboard to apply it as a mask.) So, for the layer order, at the bottom I have the Checkerboard with the shape mask and the 5-sided star with the red outline only on top.

     

    All of these items exist in a Group. I selected the Group and selected the Group inspector. I set Fixed Resolution and adjusted the width and height to just fit the points of the shape.

     

    Screen Shot 2016-05-12 at 2.39.15 PM.png

    Bounding box looks like this in the Canvas:

    Screen Shot 2016-05-12 at 2.40.15 PM.png

    When you select the Distort tool, you will notice it has absolutely NO effect on this... so... with the Group selected, type 'K' to create a Clone Layer. Now, the bounding box of the 2D Fixed Resolution group will be used for the Distort (a.k.a.: Four Corner) tool and you'll get the appropriate appearance distortions around the shape area and not the entire plane of the actual source materials:

     

    Screen Shot 2016-05-12 at 2.45.09 PM.png

     

    There are also several Distortion filters that can be applied to this clone for more sophisticated distortions (which are applied to the object *before* the the Four Corner distortion).

     

    To  help with "softness" issues, start with a larger object and scale down (the clone layer object)... you'll get a better results if you have to do a lot of distortion.

     

    While I'm thinking about it -- any animation you apply to any of the objects within the original group will appear (in real time) in the Clone - it is not a fixed object. Doesn't really apply here, but Clones are a very powerful feature in Motion that gets overlooked quite a lot. They are at once, an object, a rasterized movie of its source material, a placeholder for individual frames (think emitters and replicators), etc.

     

    HTH.

  • by Karsten Schlüter,

    Karsten Schlüter Karsten Schlüter May 12, 2016 11:18 PM in response to fox_m
    Level 7 (32,703 points)
    Video
    May 12, 2016 11:18 PM in response to fox_m

    fox_m wrote:

    I'm not exactly sure what you're attempting to do. ..:

    as far as I understand JBPRG's question, and after watching the linked video, I obviously failed with my first sketch, so, second and last attemp (have to admit, the linked video in the OP's post doesn't demo well the 'problem').

     

    stretched.jpg

     

     

    1 … a mask, covering a texture ...

     

    2 … grabbing and moving  the top bezier knot => mask different, texture unaltered

     

    3 … mask altered, texture inside stretched, altered...

     

    and not globally, 4-point distorted ....

     

    (why am I doing that here, it's JBRPG's wish to do so ?? )

  • by fox_m,

    fox_m fox_m May 13, 2016 2:45 PM in response to Karsten Schlüter
    Level 5 (5,517 points)
    Video
    May 13, 2016 2:45 PM in response to Karsten Schlüter

    Closest I can come to that is with mObject:

     

    Screen Shot 2016-05-13 at 4.40.37 PM.png

    (4-pointed star)

     

    ...and the transforms are not "free transforms" they are Bends along the Z (center star) and X (right star) axes. Bending can also be done on 2D shapes with a Page Curl filter:

     

    Screen Shot 2016-05-13 at 4.44.33 PM.png

  • by Karsten Schlüter,

    Karsten Schlüter Karsten Schlüter May 14, 2016 1:09 AM in response to fox_m
    Level 7 (32,703 points)
    Video
    May 14, 2016 1:09 AM in response to fox_m

    … going into 3D space... yep, an option...

     

    Maybe we see in the future a 'liquify' filter or some 'warp net' ...

    in my ignorance, it is all related to elaborated 3D… instead of 'just' fonts, 'painting' with beziers in space would ask for all sorts of texture-effects (mapping) too ...

     

    … waiting for MotionX .... LOL!!!!