Very choppy footage when trying to edit a clip in motion 5

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Level 1

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Very choppy footage when trying to edit a clip in motion 5

Hi there, I have just recently got Motion 5 and have wanted to use it to add some tracking points to some of my footage to add some effects. However my problem is that even importing footage into motion of a very simple 10 second camera pan shot, I can't even play it back with out it stopping a bunch and skipping frames and essentially sputtering to try and play the clip. However the exact same clip I can pull into FCPX and edit it no problems completely smooth with no issue, even after color correction and added audio ect. I can't figure out why it does this but Motion does this to me a lot. Any ideas? It's very frustrating, but if I could fix this problem I could continue experimenting with visual effects to see what motion can do for me. Any ideas? Thanks!

Posted on Nov 30, 2012 7:52 PM

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Answer 1

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Dec 1, 2012 7:44 AM in response to Dreaded Hope

What codec is the clip? FCPX is designed to play well with some compressed codecs that Motion will struggle with. Depending on your system, if you are working with H.264, it may cause Motion to play back at reduced frame rates and/or inconsistently; it will work better if you first convert it to some flavor of Pro Res.

Otherwise, consider adjusting the resolution and quality in the Render drop down menu. You could also do a RAM preview for real time playback, although you'll have to render each time you make a change.

FWIW, I'd transcode and adjust resolution if necessary.

Good luck.

Russ

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Answer 2

Dreaded Hope Author

Level 1

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Dec 1, 2012 4:38 PM in response to Russ H

Sounds like that could be it, I'm shooting with a Canon 5D Mark ii/T3i which when you import the files to the computer they automatically are .mov files with a h.264 codec. I'll get compressor and see if switching them to prores solves the issue. Thanks a lot for the reply!

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Answer 3

Russ H

Level 7

22,432 points

Dec 1, 2012 4:52 PM in response to Dreaded Hope

If you want to get Compressor, great. It can do a lot of things to help most editing workflows…

However, you could do what you need to do in Motion. Just export the H.264 clips from Motion as Pro Res and re-import them. Or use the free MPEG Streamclipfrom Squared Five.

Good luck.

Russ

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