Final Cut Pro vs Motion for VFX in 2024

Do you realize the "weight" that has to be added to Final Cut to accommodate all that Motion can do? It's best to keep them separate. Motion is NOT a video editing application.

Also, from what I understand (which is limited on this topic) AE comps are added to Premiere projects much like Motion projects used to be added to Final Cut Pro (Studio - v7 or earlier) requiring the installation of After Effects in order to use the Dynamic Linking to customize parameter settings. For Final Cut and Motion templates, it is not necessary for users to have Motion at all.

There is an extended set of options for 3D Text in Motion that does not exist in Final Cut. This is literally 3D Text:

(3D text possibilities in Motion that will never be available in Final Cut.)

Motion blurs are easily added to FCP via effects... Since there are an extreme number of variation/choices — motion blurs fall under the purview of looks. It's not as easy as just adding "motion blur".

I don't have the "latest and greatest" so I have a question:

for the Magnetic Mask, is there an option for Effects Masks? If not, it would be mostly useless to me.

Motion, on the side, keeps Final Cut "lighter" and faster.

Motion allows people like me to do all the extremely hard work so that editors that only want to use Final Cut can edit faster — otherwise, you would probably have to do all the effects Motion does, by hand, every time you wanted to add whatever effect to a scene in your videos.

To answer your second question: Motion is the *graphics "workshop"* for Final Cut Pro — like a separate room. To those who are intimately engaged in Motion effects, titles, transitions and generators for use in Final Cut — there really is NO difference because they are BOTH the same app — a front end and a back end — where the back end is not required if you don't want to get involved with it. That's your choice.

About keyframing... It should never be necessary. Well crafted Motion templates generally do not need keyframing at all. Behaviors can control everything and it's easier to publish Behavior parameters than it is to deal with keyframes. Keyframing in Final Cut is usually just a "last resort" to allow end users to customize an animation.

FCP without Motion would be like cutting off its right arm. FCP with all the features of Motion built in would SINK.

If I seem a little evangelistic about it... it's because I've invested slightly over 17 years in Motion. It really hasn't changed all that much over the years, and I am ***very much*** appreciative of that.

fox_m wrote:

I have another question — 

Are magnetic masks available to older effects made in Motion — as far back as Motion 5.0?

As far as I can tell, yes. I looked for some older effects in my mac, I don't have many. I found one from 2017, so not Motion 5.0 but a few years old, and magnetic mask worked just like with any other effect.

Great points, as always, Fox.

Regarding your question about the magnetic mask: yes, you can add it to effects.

In the Inspector, where we had "Add Color Mask" and "Add Shape Mask" there is now also "Add Magnetic Mask".

Color + Shape + Magnetic — I think this is a feature I'll miss... Does it also have Add, Subtract and Intersect options? (I'm guessing: yes.)

None of the other FCP Masks (Draw, Shape or Keyer) have accessory Color / Shape Effects Masks available... or have those also been added?

fox_m wrote:

Color + Shape + Magnetic — I think this is a feature I'll miss... Does it also have Add, Subtract and Intersect options? (I'm guessing: yes.)

You guess correctly. One can add, subtract and intersect with those masks.

None of the other FCP Masks (Draw, Shape or Keyer) have accessory Color / Shape Effects Masks available... or have those also been added?

No, that hasn't been added. You still can't add accessory masks to these.

I have another question — 

Are magnetic masks available to older effects made in Motion — as far back as Motion 5.0?

Good to know!