Digital Video - September 2007 - (Page 59)

Motion is no longer a simple accessory for the After Effects artist. With version 3, it’s become a very strong all-around graphics application in its own right. tasks. For example, you often want to move a camera to center a layer in its view. To do this in Motion 3, select the camera, click Add Behavior, and choose Camera > Zoom Layer. Then drag and drop the desired layer from the Project pane to the HUD for Zoom Layer. You can adjust the timing of the move through a combination of the HUD’s parameters (which are duplicated in the camera’s Inspector > Behavior tab) and the length of this behavior’s bar in the timeline. To then move to another layer, add a second copy of this behavior to the camera and set it up as desired. The company has added numerous useful touches to Motion. For example, you can switch the Camera Type between “viewpoint” and “framing,” which determines whether it rotates around its lens or its point of interest. When you’re manipulating an object, an inset viewer appears that displays a second angle, such as a perspective view of the scene or through the active camera. If you are having trouble “reaching through” a complicated scene to select a specific layer, tap X to bring up Apple’s Exposé, which spreads the layers out, and then select the desired layer. Also, a small button to the right of a selected layer in the Project pane centers the viewer on that layer. Motion 3 contains a few other nice shortcuts to creating sophisticated 3D animations. Lights have a falloff parameter, as does the camera—you can have layers automatically fade in and out depending on their distance from the camera. The already exceptional particle system can be toggled to work in 3D space, including having the layers it emits automatically orient to face the camera. There is also a new set of 3D text behaviors. We don’t even have time to talk about the new paint engine. But we wish There are two major shortcomings in Motion 3. First, the 3D implementation lacks 3D shadows: there is currently no way to cast shadows from one object to another, where the size of the shadow changes depending on the space between objects. Although we miss this feature, it may not be a big issue for you— especially if you are going for a Web-inspired “dimensional flat” look. Regardless, we expect this feature to appear in the future, especially as graphics cards become even more powerful so they can calculate the shadows in real time. In the meantime, you always have traditional 2D drop shadows, which are an acceptable cheat in many situations. Second, you can only get Motion as part of Final Cut Studio. Apple long ago discontinued the ability to buy Motion—or for that matter, its excellent audio editing and composition program, Soundtrack Pro—as a separate product. Even though we’re primarily Adobe After Effects artists, we’ve always considered Motion to be a must-have accessory (especially when it was available as a stand-alone for $300); with version 3, Motion has become a very strong all-around graphics application in its own right. We hope Apple returns to selling Motion separately so that more users get the chance to play with it in the future. ■ Trish and Chris Meyer run CyberMotion (www.cybmotion. com), an award-winning motion graphic design studio in Los Angeles. They are the authors of the Creating Motion Graphics series as well as the just-released After Effects Apprentice (Focal Press). above: To have a 3D camera automatically move to aim at a chosen layer, use the Zoom Layer behavior. The Sweep behavior adds rotation to the mix. To move from layer to layer, employ copies of these behaviors at different points in time. WWW.DV.COM DV SEPTEMBER 2007 57 http://www.dv.com

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Contents News AG-HPX500 HD Camcorder First Look: Color V8000HD 8" LCD Monitor Shoulder Mount System Instant Expert Close-Ups Fest Cercuit Q&A Flight Plan Cutter's Way Imagination in Action Motion Graphics Production Diary

Digital Video - September 2007

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