After Effects is the software from whence a new art form, motion graphics, was born.
Motion offers many advantages and disadvantages to AE. The two can work together, AE users can use Motion to generate layers for their AE compositions.
Owners of both, before starting many projects, will have to pause and consider which program to use.
So when would you use Motion?
- projects involving interaction between elements (attracting, repelling, orbiting easier in Motion)
- users needing something cool-looking quickly without having to create it from scratch (because of the large library of text behaviors and textures (particle emitter presets) - LiveType also good for this
- particle emitter design (because of real time playback)
- prototyping (because of Motion’s real time capability with simple projects)
- easier integration with FCP (don’t have to render a movie)
- matching motion to audio (due to real time playback)
When would you use AE?
- if you want to composite layers in 3D with shadows
- projects needing high quality keying (greenscreen/bluescreen)
- projects needing high quality resizing, rotation, changing tracking, etc.
- as projects get more complex, the AE interface handles projects with dozens or hundreds of layers better when moving or scrubbing the playhead, manipulating objects, adding filters etc.
- there is such a huge variety of AE plug-ins, some projects depend on them, so a project requiring a special AE plug-in will work better on AE
- AE is happy running on any semi-decent Mac or PC made in the last few years, Motion really requires the fastest possible computer with avery high end video card and tons of RAM to be viable in a professional environment
- some features, like Motion Math, offer power to do things Motion cannot
- film projects
- output to .swf
This is not a comprehensive list, just a general guide. All in all, both programs are so deep and offer so much no one will ever come close to exhausting their potential.
Click here to ask a question about After Effects
Click here to ask a question about Motion
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DV Enlightenment
After Effects PowerStart
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Motion PowerStart
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Bogen Tripods
Miller Tripods
SteadyTracker
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Skycrane Jr.
Tiffen Filters
Wide angle lenses
FireStore FS-4 Direct to Edit
Edirol Video Mixers
Reflecmedia 
Serious Magic
DVcreator Light Kits
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Lowel Ego light
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Editing Techniques with FCP
APTS : DVD Studio Pro 4
APTS: FCP Advanced FX Book
FCP Visual QuickPro Guide
Thanks, Josh, this is exactly the kind of precise features, function, overhead, and purpose comparison I was looking for. Do you have any further thoughts based on developments, if any, in the two apps over the last year and a half?
All the best,
Michael
Seems looking at the list of why to use one or the other, the this list was the to-do list for the next version of motion coming out in may ‘07
I think apple hit all of them in order in their presentation on their website…including specifically driving the scale of an object in a layer via specific audio.
I updated the article to be current just now.
I new to the editing world, and looking that the apple site and saw Shake, this look like it does all that AE does and is native to FCP ? granted reading and watching the promos on apple it make it to be the greatest thing since water, but I’m nit sure how this fit into the product line. It look cool but do I need it?