magic mask in Apple Motion

Motion is not a video editor. It's a template maker. The fact that you *can* edit video is a plus. I personally cannot think of *any* reason why I would need a Magic Mask in Motion. (But then again, I can't afford to upgrade my 2017 Mac, its OS, or my versions of FCP/Motion which are still at 10.4.10 and 5.4.7).

Everybody complains about Motion's "stagnation for a long time now". How about: Motion developer's stagnation for a long time now.

There is a LOT going on in Motion that NOBODY ever ... mentions(? — maybe they're holding out — secrets of the trade... etc). I figure the public knowledge of Motion has peaked at around 80 to 85% of its capabilities, so you won't be finding tutorials from Ripple Training, Ryan Nangle, Dylan Bates, etc... that even comes close. If you want to learn Motion, you've really got to spend some quality time with it. And, from what I've been able to tell — most people don't want to know... they just want to be shown how to "do something" and move on. I stopped doing tutorials a long time ago because "nobody" watches my videos (dozens with < 100 views since YouTube pulled monetization from me.)

The three most obnoxious words used in most tutorials is "it doesn't matter". As soon as I hear it, I know the *influencers* don't really know what they're talking about. They might be able to get something "presentable" put together (Ubsdell's artwork however, with Motion is rather amazing), but I generally tend to dismiss them as "amateurs". I'm not saying "I know everything" — I don't — not even close — but I do know "they" are not even trying.

As for MotionVFX and other similar (PFS, a lot of FxFactory users): These guys are using FxPlug and programming their own generators (or using some provided by FxFactory) "outside" of Motion. Their stuff might be impressive, but every time FCP updates, there is a risk that all their work needs to be updated as well and users get stuck with templates that break (in the meantime). I paid a lot of money for mObject (I loved it), but its broken now (even in 10.4.10) and MotionVFX offered no reasonable upgrade path to the mO2 version (it was full price.)

The best Motion templates are the ones that are 100% Motion made. The ones I made for FCP 10.0 are still working in FCP 11.

Are you still waiting for mO3?

Yeah, you'd think that's be a no-brainer, include the Magic Mask in Motion, where it's probably more needed. And as Luis said, MotionVFX makes mPuppet which is the AF equivalent for Motion. Motion has been stagnating for a long time now.

"VFX" is up for argument... What is it? "Color correction" is VFX. I think what you're trying to refer to is CGI — something like this:

https://youtu.be/NtC-Mu5jLG0

and

https://youtu.be/jOa1DSuzO_E

Ignore the links in the description for this one — I'm not trying to sell you anything.

These videos "blend" a 3D model into actual video clips.

Or this one creating a "special effect"

https://youtu.be/TC9aSGICtk8

This one was my response to Andrew Kramer's example of the same scene using After Effects. (I did others... don't remember where they're at anymore.)

At any rate, the line between VFX and CGI is a little blurry. Motion has capabilities. I'm not going to claim they are "cinematic quality", but they can definitely be used for fan films:

https://youtu.be/8N2h6DGXosI

and

https://youtu.be/EmCabJ23EBk

(The font, Rogue Too used for the 3D models — is free)

So, technically, Motion is not a VFX/CGI application - it doesn't need to be - but it *enables* Final Cut to be.

Round Tripping was removed from FCP/Motion 13 years ago,... It is *unbelievable* that there are people who still miss it (I never did!!)

Don't know anything about anything made by MotionVFX (anymore, since mObject days). They make software that breaks and sometimes they don't fix it. Version upgrades are full price — no upgrade path. I'm over 70 years old and on a fixed income... Not likely I'll ever buy anything from them again. Can't afford them and don't really trust them anyway.

Don't know anything about DaVinci Resolve. Will never use it. Once upon a time, I tried using Fusion. Did not like it at all. Once upon a time, I tried After Effects (circa 2003) — ditto. Back in those days I preferred Adobe LiveMotion... they decided to go with Flash instead. Flash was trash. I dumped Photoshop (and Illustrator) for Motion (2) in 2007.

I don't want to see Apple weigh down Final Cut by offloading a bunch of Motion into it. It can never be a complete build. There are things in Motion for Motion alone. It can be, after all, a Standalone Application (but still NOT a video editor!)

By the way — Final Cut CAN render motion blur. Just turn it on in a Motion Template and it carries over into Final Cut. (There's a little more to it, but that's a discussion for another time.) These videos will probably be edited out by the moderators, but here's at least proof if they let them pass:

https://youtu.be/E8x78-4iV9o

https://youtu.be/0WNeaAy_1Ts

(again, I'm not trying to sell anything — just showing it can be done.)

Toendra wrote:

Finac Cut 11 came with the magic mask tool. Is this mask also included in Apple Motion's update?

No.

And wouldn't it be nice if there will be a puppet warp tool available in Apple Motion, as in After Effects?

I am not familiar with how that works, but I feel that would be more useful in Motion than the Magic Mask.

Maybe have a look at the third party mPuppet plugin - available for both FCP and Motion - which might do what you are after.

Mr. Fox, are you saying that Motion is not a VFX software (like Adobe After Effects), but rather more of a template maker for Final Cut Pro?

I think Toendra's confusion most likely comes from them believing Motion is a VFX software, and therefore the lack of modern rotoscoping functionality (like the Magnetic Mask in Final Cut Pro) confuses them.

I started a thread about this earlier today in this Motion forum, where I discuss the misconception that Motion isn't really a VFX software like After Effects.

MotionVFX's mPuppet also works in Final Cut Pro, so if Toendra wants both modern rotoscoping functionality and the puppet tool then they might as well use MotionVFX's mPuppet together with the Magnetic Mask in Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro doesn't render any motion blur, but aside from that they might as well do it in Final Cut Pro since Final Cut Pro is the only one of the two that has gotten any useful updates in the last five years. I kind of feel like Motion is on its way out and Apple might just implement some Motion features directly into Final Cut Pro (kind of like DaVinci Resolve has different workspaces for cutting and VFX).