Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 9:55PM 
On this week's MacBreak Studio, Steve Martin and I have way too much fun talking about particles in Motion. Heck, particles in Motion are alway fun. Check it out for a couple of useful tips for changing cell color and exchanging media.
Monday, December 5, 2011 at 9:17AM 
I have a new tutorial out today that will teach you how to create, modify, and animate particle systems in Motion 5. Everything I cover will also work in Motion 4 as well. Check out sample movies, screenshots, and the full table of contents here.
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 10:05AM 
On this week's MacBreak Studio, I show host Steve Martin how to design a quick title in Motion 5 and publish it for use in Final Cut Pro X. Motion 5 really is a dream fx tool for FCP X editors.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 10:07AM 
I recently gave a presentation at the LA Final Cut Pro User's Group on a few ways FCP X editors can take advantage of the power of Motion quickly and easily - without even learning how to use it.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011 at 9:40AM I give Steve Martin a brief overview of the new Motion 5
Wednesday, September 21, 2011 at 1:27PM If you are interested, here are my upcoming Motion presentations/demos:
MacBreak Studio Live: Thursday, September 21st, 6pm PDT at pixelcorps.com/live
This is our monthly show with Alex Lindsay, Steve Martin, myself and other guests where we talk about all things production and post. We'll be discussing the FCPX/Motion/Compressor updates from yesterday and I hope to squeeze in a few cool Motion tips.
LAFCPUG: September 28th (info here)
I'll be presenting some Motion tips at the Los Angeles Final Cut Pro Users Group's monthly meeting next week - if you are in the area, stop by - it's free - just make sure to register, it usually sells out.
MotionFest Pre-conference October 9th (info here)
If you've never heard of it the Motion conference held every October in Albuquerque, New Mexico is a fantastic event for anyone who creates motion graphics for a living. Top-notch presenters and sessions, and great networking opportunities. I'll be doing 2 short sessions explaining how to create and use effects for Final Cut Pro X using Motion.
SFCutters: October 19th (info here)
Come to the monthly meeting of the very first Final Cut Pro users group in San Francisco if you'd like to learn more about Motion 5 - and some other great stuff as well.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 5:11PM
Apple today released updates to Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5 and Compressor 4. Fire up the App Store and click the Updates icon.
If you don't see Motion 5.0.1, FCP X 10.0.1, and Compressor 4.0.1, click the Purchases tab. If clicking Install from there won't work, first trash your current version of the appropriate app and try again - that's what worked for me (thanks, Twitter).
The FCP X update is signifcant: media stems export, XML support, Xsan support and more.
What about Motion 5.0.1? Dual monitor support. You can send your Timing Pane or your Canvas to a second monitor (from the Window menu). But it's full frame - you can't manipulate it - and you can't send it to any monitor you wish. Other than that, it's bug fixes. Which ones, I haven't yet seen. More to come.
Friday, September 9, 2011 at 8:03PM 
If you like the last short video tip on how to get all those great Motion 4 templates into Final Cut Pro X, you'll probably want to watch this one to learn how you can easily customize them in FCP X as well.
Friday, September 2, 2011 at 11:00AM 
A short video that explains how to get all those beautiful templates that came with Motion 4 into Final Cut Pro X.
Saturday, July 30, 2011 at 7:19AM Thursday, June 30, 2011 at 9:31AM 
In the first edition of MacBreak: Studio Live, Alex Lindsay hosts Steve Martin and myself in a roundtable (literally, a round table) discussion of Final Cut Pro X and Motion 5. It's over 2 hours long and it takes a few minutes for us to get settled (Steve had literally just walked into the studio when we went live) but we are getting some good feedback about the show. See for yourself by clicking the image above or click here.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011 at 11:48PM Important information if you are upgrading to FCP X and/or Motion 5 and/or Compressor 4
Apple is recommending installing on a separate partition from FCP 7/Motion 4 but frankly I've been running FCP X/Motion 5 on the same boot drive with no issues, as have many others. Installing FCP X and the other apps does NOT overwrite your existing FCS apps - it just moves them to a new folder in your Applications folder.
Although if you do have Motion 4 and Motion 5 installed on the same partition, you'll run into this issue:
Motion Projects Cannot be Previewed in Finder or QuickTime Player
Not a deal-killer, but annoying.
Run Software Update After Install to Install ProApps QuickTime Codecs
You'll definitely want to to this.
You need an OpenCl-capable graphics card or Intel HD Graphics 3000 or later with at least 256MB of VRAM.
The link includes a chart of cards that do NOT meet the spec - of note is that the ATI Radeon X1900 XT, which used to be THE card for Motion (before the 4870 and 5870) is not supported.
You can download a content update that will add more Library content and sample media, but don't get too excited - it's all stuff that can be found in Motion 4.
Incorrect Alpha Interpretation
Easy to fix, but good to be aware of.
You can get the user manuals for FCP X, Motion 5, and Compressor 4 from the Help menu in each application or online - you can also print them to PDFs for easy offline access - I put my on my iPad to make them easy to grab.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011 at 9:33AM 
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 9:56AM 
I have TWO trainings available NOW to help you get the most out of the new Motion 5:
Motion 5 Fast Forward - for those of you brand new to Motion
Rigging and Publishing in Motion - if you already are familiar with Motion 3 or 4 and want to get up to speed fast on the amazing new rigging and publishing features.
Monday, May 2, 2011 at 9:29AM 
Andy Neil from TimesaverTutorials joins me on MacBreak Studio to share some great tips for working with particles in 3D space in Motion. Click either image above.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 at 9:12AM 
Preview of updated Final Cut Pro X UI | Source: Photography Bay
I attended the FCPUG Supermeet in Las Vegas last night, where Apple gave a "sneak peek" of the upcoming new version of Final Cut Pro, dubbed "FCP X". It was a standing-room only crowd of about 2,000 people and seemed to be very well received. Shipping in June via the App Store for $299.
No mention of Motion or the rest of the suite, so we'll have to wait and see.
For a blow-by-blow of the presentation and a good run-down of features, see Apple Insider.
For a summary of many of the new features, see fcp.co.
And here are some official Apple images from the Loop.
Thursday, March 10, 2011 at 7:00PM 
I'll be teaching 6 different sessions on various aspects of using Motion with Final Cut Pro as part of NAB's Post Production Conference. Check out the list of sessions - I'd love to see you there!
Sunday, January 23, 2011 at 11:28PM 
I'm teaching a one-day Motion Fast Start workshop on Wednesday, January 26th - click the image above for a 15% discount on a conference pass. Select the pre-conference workshop, then code WC. Or, come to my 75-minute Motion 3D Fast Start session which will be on Saturday 1/29 at 10:30.
Thursday, January 13, 2011 at 9:43AM 
Is the Quadro 4000 worth the extra money vs. the ATI 5870? Éric St-Martin has tested several cards and you can see what he discovered on his blog.
