Motion vs. After Effects?

I'd suggest a quick forum search. This topic has been discussed quite a bit already. Try searching for "After Effects." That should get you started, at least.

Along with Kevin's suggestion, see if you can find somewhere that you can try out both programs(its best to have handled them first hand).... and if that doesn't work, flip a coin...

I don't understand the correlation between: Should I get After Effects or Motion or Final Cut Express?

FCE doesn't have anything to do with AE or Motion.

Also I agree with the previous two posts, do a forum search here, on CreativeCow, and on Google and you'll find all the comparison information you need.

That said, Motion is easier to learn but not quite as powerful and doesn't have the market penetration that AE does (which means it's easier to find user/professional help).

right, final cut is a different sport.
the question between motion and AE, for me it comes down to how "professional" you want to use it. AE is by far still the more professional program. motion just made the first step into 3D and lacks simple things like depth of field for the cameras. the greenscreen keyers are not reaching AE at all. AE is very powerful but you don´t get the easy add a nice behavior stuff. its all about keyframes and alot of changing parameters on effects and know what you´re doing or alot of frustrating trial and error. (which you can do in motion but don´t have to)
so coming from imovie, i reccomend motion, but if you want to make a real big step into the pro world, go for AE.

and look for other opinions. here or on google. google knows everything

I don't know if I'd throw the term "professional" in there. I consider myself pretty professional and have never used AE. You're right I don't generally use Motion's keyers - if I want to do a good key, I use Shake...

Patrick

I'll skip out on the concept of how "professional" the apps in question are. Honestly, I just don't think that's the most relevant argument. Either package can certainly produce "professional" results - but this is all semantics.

But, I will add that, IMHO, AE is simply more mature than Motion. I'll give credit where it's due: Motion has come a very long way for an app that's only at v.3. However, the devil's in the details, and there are things that you can do in AE that you can't do in Motion. But I can't think of anything that Motion can do, that AE can't. If they exist, I'd like to hear them.

The expressions in AE are very powerful! A couple of lines of script can create some intricate animations. The Puppet Tool in AE is really cool, and is only going to get better. If you're a Photoshop user, your "Layer Styles" can be imported straight into AE - or created from scratch in AE, w/o Photoshop, if need be. (Basically since we're talking about 2 Adobe products, the integration between Photoshop & AE is way more advanced than the integration between Photoshop & Motion. And likely always will be.) These are just a few points: this is, by no means, an exhaustive list.

Too, there are more plug-ins available for AE. Although the gap seems to be closing (due in part to the FXPlug technology) there are some cool plug-ins that AE has access to that Motion does not.

Everyone seems to think AE is so hard to learn. I don't really get that, personally. Sure, it can be a little daunting in the beginning. But how can something that can create such complex results not have, at least, some level of a learning curve. But if you read the Meyer's book and/or do all the AE CS3 training at Lynda.com, you'll find yourself quite savvy! Oh...and folks, don't be so afraid of keyframes. They are your friend!

Just my $.02 worth....

I used FCE for a few years and bought Motion 2 seperately. But while I was happy with FCE I was always missing something that Final Cut Pro had that FCE did not. Maybe because I was getting more work than hobby videos to edit / compose.

But I found that I really wanted Motion 3 so I spent the money and am very happy with the product.

I use both After Effects CS3 and Motion 3. I am finding however, that my workflow centers around using only Final Cut and Motion 3. I am even using Motion 3 for alot of Flash work ( converting the .mov with On2 Fix Pro ). Both are outstanding. For me I find using After Effects more of a chore than creative bliss. Motion just flows, epecially with a Wacom tablet. While After Effects has the puppet tool, Motion has the paint tool which rocks. Also I can manipulate objects in Motion just as I would in After Effect's puppet tool. Not the same way ofcourse but I can get the effects that I want.

I find the Primatte keyer in Motion 3 pretty darn good. It of course depends on the quaility of footage shot, but I like it and use it more often than not. As Patrick said, for tougher keys I also use Shake 4.1. The Keylight 1.8 keyer in After Effects is really good too. Again, for me a bit overkill on the parameter controls.

Unless you buy Trapcode or Wonderlust paticle plugins for After Effects, your use of particles in After Effects is extremly limited. Motion 3's particle engine is fantastic.

If I could only have one package, it would be Final Cut Studio 2, period. Depending on what Adobe pushes in the future release of After Effects, I probably will not upgrade to CS4. I am just not using it enough anymore.

The more I use Motion the better and more complex my projects get. The "real time" workflow works really well for me. Sometimes I have to render out as with any software package but I still prefer Motion 3 over After Effects anyday.

So to answer you question, I would go with Final Cut Studio 2. I think it's a great value and you'll have a bunch of fun using it. As for as being professional and using professional software, Everyone is using a bit of everything. I know guys who use Motion, Flame, After Effects, Nuke etc. If you get a job with a VFX house they will probably be using inhouse software or packages that cost thousands. So I really do not think what you use is as important as what you can produce creativly.

Just my 2 cents,

Ed