How to Cheat in Motion

Part of Apple?s Final Cut Studio 2 editing suite, Motion is designed for use by the editor that needs to create and edit motion graphics, titling for video and film production, and 2D and 3D compositing for visual effects. As these are ancillary activities, editors want a resource that will provide handy solutions/techniques to solve day-to-day challenges. Focal's 'How to Cheat' series presentation is the ideal for this purpose. Its "cookbook" style of presentation is tried and true; presenting the user with specific recipes to achieve desired outcomes. Projects are presented as small "bite-sized" undertakings in a few pages and are designed as "snap-together" concepts, allowing the reader to build them into more complex projects to suit their needs. Sparing the reader a great deal of history, theory or user interface tours, this book presumes the reader is an experienced editor that knows what effect they want and merely need to be set in the right direction.

Creative solutions without the filler. That is what you get from this practical guide to enhancing your titles, motion graphics and visual effects with Motion. Step-by-step instruction is concisely described and lavishly illustrated. The downloadable resources show the techniques at work so you can take them and run.

Introduction; Breaking Up; Text Effects; Backgrounds; Enhancing Reality; Transitions; Cartoon Looks;Animation;Tricks;Sound;3D;Light and Shadow; Grab Bag; The Future

Patrick Sheffield has 20 years of film and video postproduction experience with credit for more than 500 commercials, and 200 music videos, including an MTV award for Music Video Award for Best Editing in a Music Video for the REM video Everybody Hurts. As a partner in Pistolera Post, Patrick uses the Apple professional suite of applications to edit and finish material for broadcast television, DVD, and the web. His music videos have included acclaimed artists such as Madonna, Michael Jackson, Elton John, and the Rolling Stones, and he has edited all the NBC Emmy award winning PSAs The More You Know for the last 3 years. Patrick is active on the Apple Support Discussions forum for their Pro Applications, ranked as the highest poster in the Motion and Shake forums.