Compositing for beginners on Motion 5

Hey,

I was wondering if there are any good training videos or books for Motion 5? Specifically I would like to get help with compositing live action scenes for a project I will be involved with shortly.

There will be a few small scenes where we will need to simulate some battle footage (muzzle flashes, smoke, dirt hits etc). We got a hold of some pre-keyed footage to help (Action Essentials 2 from Video Copilot), but basic tests in motion so far have been unsuccessful.

Are there any Andrew Kramer type sites that deal with Motion instead of After Effects?

Would older books on Motion 3 or 4 be of any use with Motion 5 (or is Motion 5 significantly different from previous versions of the program)?

Any help appreciated, cheers!

the old book on motion3 is basically the same except for rigging and interface screenshots

one of the Motion 2 books had a lot on 3d and was far more complex

the keyer is obviously quite a bit improved in the new version of motion

a lot of compositing is similar between packages, its just the precomp/group/nesting that is different and the interface looks different

also take a look at these books he is excellent
www.swdfx.com/products/index.php

lynda.com had some OK tutorials a while ago as well and of course
the videos over at ripple training are very good

Apple Pro Training Series: Motion 5 will be released Friday the 14th.

Ripple Training (same author) has fantastic Motion 5 video training.

Those are the best on the market. As for doing specific tasks, learn the app as a whole, part of motion graphics and effects is figuring out what tools and techniques to combine together to create things.

Oh, there's an older book called "How To Cheat In Motion" that is a cookbook for motion graphics stuff.

Thanks for your replies.

I actually have the Ripple Training for Motion (the Fast Forward one), but it seems to be aimed more at creating titles, lower thirds and so forth. Due to a lousy internet connection I have not yet managed to download the media content so I have not started the course though. I have finished the Ripple Training for FCPX, and I agree that they produce excellent courses.

I will definitely order the Motion 5 Training Book when it comes out (I see there is an advanced FCPX book by the same publisher which I might pick up too).

Thanks for the links and other book titles.

Yes, the "Apple Pro Training Series" are the official text books we use to teach Apple Authorized Training (I'm a cert'd Master trainer). They're absolutely the best on the market.

I always recommend them, take the class if you can, because the class dynamics always give you more than just the book along does. And the ATPS books are hands-on, the best way to learn anything.

So, once you have the basics down really well, you can watch AE tutorials, and figure out how that same thing is done in Motion.

AppleMotion.net is a great resource, also. Any tutorial Mark Spencer does on Motion for MacBreak is there. And many of them show side by side how something is done in AE, then how it's done in Motion.

But for special effects, learn the basics, learn to dissect things.

Hi Ben,

Thanks for the links, will check them out. I have just preordered the books from Amazon, so I should get them shortly after they are released. I'd love to attend a course, but this is not possible given my location, so the books will have to suffice for now.

BTW, I found this site from one of your posts at DVXUser; I appreciated the effort you put into helping people with these programs.

You're quite welcome, I'm happy to help out, it comes with being a trainer. Glad you found this forum, too. I like the positive, progressive energy here on FCP.co a lot.

DVXuser, as great as it is, is not all that FCP X friendly. Some forums are, some aren't, and I feel sad for the ones that aren't. I've work with and have spoken to a lot of vendors who've traditionally made third-party software/hardware for FCP. I know there's some awesome things coming down the pipe for FCP X that will blow folks away. I predict that by NAB Show 2012, we'll be seeing people hoping back on the FCP bandwagon again, or else spending way too much time doing editing chores FCP X does automatically.