Sending media from Final Cut Pro to Motion
Final Cut Studio 2.0 provides for excellent integration of Apple Motion. The key is to learn when it's appropriate to use Apple Motion instead of doing the same task within Final Cut Pro.
A great example would be if you need a clean chroma key. You may have noticed that standard built in Chroma Key plug-ins that ship with Final Cut Pro sometimes do not provide the best controls for obtaining a good looking key.
That's where Motion comes to the rescue! Follow this short tutorial on how to send your Chroma Key elements into Motion so you can use the 'Primatte RT' filter. I think you'll find that the process is fairly easy, and you'll end up with a better key.
In Final Cut Pro, place your Chroma key clip on V2 and your background video on V1.
Instead of using the standard Final Cut Pro chroma key filter, you can send these clips directly into Apple Motion. To do this, highlight both clip on V2, and V1 and right click on one of them. Then choose the contextual menu 'Send to: Motion Project'
*IMPORTANT: Motion will ignore any effects or speed changes applied within Final Cut Pro. If you need certain effects within Final Cut Pro, you will need to apply these after you've processed your clip in Motion.
A dialog box will appear asking you to name the new Motion Project that will be created. Make sure the 'Launch Motion' and 'Embed Motion Content' boxes are checked.
The Motion application should now open by itself. After it opens, press the F5 key to open the 'Media Window' Within the layers tab, you should see the clip thats that have been sent over from Final Cut Pro.
Navigate over to the Library window and find the Primatte RT filter located within the Filters/Keying category.
Drag the Primatte RT filter onto the Group2 track within the Layers tab.
Then within the Inspector window you can adjust the controls to obtain the cleanest possible key. You'll notice that the default settings are pretty good.
The last step is to navigate to the File - Save menu. This will automatically update the Final Cut Pro sequence.
You'll notice that all of the original Final Cut Pro layers have been collapsed into a new 'Motion Project' clip layer. The good news, is that you can re-open the Motion Project by right clicking on the clip and selecting the contextual menu 'Open in Editor'
