Blog Archives

Whether you use Apple Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere Pro CC, or any other video editing software, you can create high-quality motion graphics using Apple Motion. In this short video excerpt, Larry Jordan shows how to add, style and animate text in Motion 5.3.

Whether you use Apple Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere Pro CC, or any other video editing software, you can create high-quality motion graphics using Apple Motion. In this short video excerpt, Larry Jordan walks you through the Motion 5.3 interface.

An illustrated tutorial on how to import audio and add audio fades in Motion 5.3.x. It isn’t hard, but it certainly is not intuitive!

An illustrated introduction to creating animated particle effects in Motion 5.

A detailed, Illustrated tutorial on creating a fly-by effect using a moving camera in Motion 5. Ideal for sports or other text-based transitions.

An illustrated tutorial on how to create a tasteful lower-third title template for Final Cut Pro X that can be adjusted for opacity, position and content.

A collection of more than 40 articles covering video editing, Adobe and Apple software, written over the summer of 2016 by Larry Jordan. Designed to make it easy to see any you may have missed.

In this short video tutorial, you’ll learn how modify FCP X text titles by sending them to Motion, make some changes, then send them back to FCP X.

[This is an excerpt from a recent on-line video webinar: “Create Animated Lower-Third Titles in Apple Motion 5” which you can download in our store, or as part of our Video Training Library.] The best way to learn something is …

A step-by-step, illustrated guide to creating and animating text on a curve in Motion 5.

If you are looking for visually interesting ways to style, degrade, or spice up your images, Rampant Edit Essentials is a great place to start. Here is an illustrated review of the product.

An illustrated tutorial on using simulations and movement in Motion 5.

An illustrated, step-by-step tutorial on how to control the movement of objects within Motion 5. (Written for beginners.)

An illustrated, step-by-step tutorial on how to create, export and apply a 3D animated watermark for video compression using Apple Compressor.

Here, Larry Jordan shows how to animate video using audio in Motion 5 – more specifically, animate movement driven by the beats in an audio clip.

A step-by-step tutorial, by Larry Jordan, on how to create an animated 3D template in Motion 5 to use in Final Cut Pro X.

Why become a member of Larry Jordan’s Video Training Library? Because you can learn exactly what you need to know from our library more quickly and better than you can learn it on your own.

Today, Apple released the latest updates to Final Cut Pro X, Motion and Compressor. Here are the details.

Step-by-step tutorials covering Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, Adobe Media Encoder and product reviews written during Dec. 2015 by Larry Jordan.

Its the holidays and time for something fun. Here’s how to create a fairly simple text and texture effect using Motion, some existing Library effects and two strategically-placed blend modes.

An illustrated tour of all the different options in the Color Picker in Final Cut Pro X or Motion 5.

A list of new features and bug fixes in updates for Final Cut Pro X (10.2.2), Motion (5.2.2), Compressor (4.2.1) and Apple’s Pro Video Formats.

An indexed and linked list of all technical blogs and articles written by Larry Jordan during August, 2015.

An illustrated, introductory explanation of how to add, modify, position, and delete audio in Motion 5.

An illustrated explanation of how to measure free space on your hard disk – and why you need to do this – along with an explanation of how to improve performance by minimizing file “swapping.”

A list of articles – and links – written by Larry Jordan during July, 2015, for those folks who were on vacation and missed his weekly newsletters.

In this short video excerpt, Larry Jordan illustrates the differences and benefits when moving cameras using Throw or Dolly in Motion 5.

In this short video excerpt, Larry Jordan illustrates how to animate custom lights and position them in 3D space using Motion 5.

Spectrum, from Luca Visual FX, provides endlessly fascinating visual backgrounds and transitions for Final Cut Pro X, as Larry Jordan writes in this article.

In this short video tutorial, host, Larry Jordan, illustrates how to create the illusion of depth-of-field using a camera in Motion 5.2.x, then how to adjust the focal plane to create a "rack-focus" effect.

In this short video tutorial, host, Larry Jordan, illustrates how to create a 3D set with a camera, drop zone and editable text in Motion 5.2 then move it to Final Cut Pro X 10.2.x.

This illustrated article explains what you need to know about cache files in Motion 5.x.

In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan provides a tour of the Motion 5 interface, along with several keyboard shortcuts that make working with Motion more efficient.

Blend modes are essential in motion graphics. In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan explains what blend modes are, why they are so important in motion graphics and illustrates how to use them in a project.

This short video tutorial illustrates how to create, modify and animate 3D and 2D text in Motion 5.2.

In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan shows how to convert new or existing 2D text to 3D in Apple Motion 5.2.

In this short video tutorial, Larry Jordan illustrates one of the twelve new Generators supplied with the Apple Motion 5.2 update and how to use it to create an interesting motion background for info graphics.

A detailed look at the latest versions of Final Cut Pro X (10.2), Compressor (4.2) and Motion (5.2) released from Apple today.

A step-by-step, illustrated, tutorial on how to rename or remove custom generators created in Motion 5 and used by Final Cut Pro X.

An illustrated, step-by-step tutorial on how to create a custom background featuring a client logo using the Replicator in Motion 5.

A step-by-step illustrated tutorial showing how to animate an effect in Motion 5 using audio. This also shows how to animate color changes.

A short video tutorial, by Larry Jordan, showing how and why to modify motion paths in Motion 5. This easy technique can actually create some pretty amazing effects.

A short video tutorial by Larry Jordan showing how to motion track inside Motion 5.

A short video tutorial showing how, and why, to add image masks to graphic elements in Motion 5.

A list of all new articles for September, 2014, written by Larry Jordan for his newsletter.

This short video tutorial shows how to create and animate masks in Motion 5.x using Bezier curves.

Larry Jordan shows how to use Apple Motion 5.x to add the illusion of depth by rotating images in 3D space, without adding cameras or even switching into 3D space itself. This is a very easy technique to add a dynamic look to info graphics or opening titles.

A short video tutorial illustrating how to add soft focus depth-of-field to a 3D camera in Apple Motion 5.x.

A short video tutorial illustrating how to add, modify and animate a 3D light in Motion 5.x.

A detailed tutorial on how to create Hold frames and freeze frames during video editing in Final Cut Pro X 10.1.x.