I am researching what it will take to transition from FCP7 to FCPX. I have a considerable amount of time and work invested in .motn files which I use a lot of in my FCP7 projects. Are these usable in FCPX? Can they be converted to Motion 5 files and then used in FCPX?
MMotion projects cannot be put into FCPX except as generators, transitions, or titles. The projects have to be exported as video files to be used in FCP.
Motion 5 should open about 98% of projects going back as far as at least Motion 2. The reason why it's not 100% is for two reasons:
Motion 5 no longer supports LiveType and there are several image filters that are no longer supported (some of them will "crash" Motion 5... but their use was more or less rare, so try to open them if you like. If it doesn't work... then if you still have Motion 3, try removing the Image Filters. You can rebuild it in Motion 5.
I have been able to open all of the old Motion Templates from Final Cut Studio. Most of them were made in versions 3 or earlier.
All projects from Motion 4 and before can only created as Generators (in direct "upgrade"). There are three other project types that have specialized objects built into the project. Effects have a "effects source" layer (a specialized form of Drop Zone which acts as a placeholder for *whatever* exists in FCPX' storyline), Titles have a Title Background placeholder which is a placeholder for whatever is *below* the Title's layer (I hope you get the distinction!) and Transitions have two placeholders: one for the outgoing (left-side) clip handle and one for the incoming (right-side) clip handle. For these three types of effects, you normally do not use the placeholders as Drop Zones (which are to be filled by FCPX.)
If you have templates you used with "roundtripping", you figure out how to redesign them in Motion 5 by picking an effect type, then copy and pasting your other elements into the new project type. (You can always just continue to use Generator types which are identical to any "regular" Motion Project, they're just automatically saved to a location FCPX will find them.)
I watch the Motion Support forum fairly closely. If you have any questions, ask on that forum.
[NOLA = New Orleans?]
Can I use motion 3 motn files in final cut pro x?
