Logo and Effects - What Program?

Hey Guys!

I'm wanting to create a little visual intro for my video productions. I made a logo using Photoshop but wanted to try my hand at animating it or adding a bit of the "wow" factor to it. Can this be done in FCPX or is best left to another program? What are your preferences?

Thanks in advance for your insights and ideas!

P

Also . . . I have a text logo (psd). When I import that image to FCPX and play the video, the text becomes distorted however, when I'm not playing the video, the text is crystal clear. Do I need to convert my image file to some other file type or . . .?

Thanks again!

You can do basic transform animations (position, rotation and scale animation), along with opacity in FCPX, but for more elaborate stuff you're going to use Motion or After Effects. Motion has a much smaller learning curve, but once you start to understand the principles of compositing you'll be able to move from one Post-Production software to another. I started out learning After Effects, then Motion myself... and eventually learned the basics of Shake & Nuke.

If it's distorted via playback, then it's probably because Final Cut Pro is changing it's render quality in order to playback as many frames as possible. If when you stop playback it's fine, it should be fine when rendered as well.

Fordee
FordeeTV.com

pwillis wrote: … a bit of the "wow" factor to it. Can this be done in FCPX …

… hard to create 'wow' in times of Transformers and Gollums

an underestimated 'effect' is the wipe or dissolve.
depending on what your two frames contain, you can easily create at last 'a lil' wow'.
I demoed it a few hundred years ago on one of my iMovie websites:
sites.google.com/site/karstenschluter/accents

same pic in two 'versions', dissolve, ahaaaa.-

the 'wow' depends on your drawing skills, e.g. your logo as sketch, 2nd version in shiny chrome (ok, that is a bit too much 80ies).-

animating a 'hand written text' was explained in a MacBreak Studio episode about 'Write-on Effects' at iTunes' Podcasts section ......

for something simple Motion is fine then a step up would After Effects... hmmm for the WOW effect I would suggest a 3D Application. If you have the time to invest... if you have money to invest there is also the option to hire a motion graphic artist.
I'am a sucker for a good logo with a standard transition.

There are allot of tutorial to start off for Logo animation and etc.

Motion is all you need.

This just in, lots o' wow ...

First off . . . thanks to everyone who replied and threw out some advice and ideas here. You guys rock! (and are way nicer and more helpful than audio dudes).

Sounds as though Motion's the way to go. I have it as it came bundled with my FCPX deal but I've never quite understood how it worked. I see many posts about FCP and Motion working together in tandem and within FCPX I've seen options to have Motion do some of the tasks. That's been a bit confusing to me. I guess I find myself wondering why FCPX doesn't just incorporate Motion right into it. It's all Apple.



Karsten, Thanks for your reply man! Yeah, I've been fiddling with the dissolve/wipe thing. As a nube I've been warning myself not to over use stuff but I get ya . . . That may be kinda cool to try! Thanks too for your link!



Scrub . . . thanks for the offer. I'd really love to learn this stuff myself. I'm a hands on kinda guy and maybe too much of a control freek. LOL!

Ben: Thanks man! I'm gonna get Motion out and start futzing around with that. Sounds as though it's the way to go!

peterwiggins: Thanks for the tutorial! A few nubee questions for you: Is FxF 4 compatible with 10.6.8? I've been thinking of making the investment. Does loading ALL the FxF plugs slow down FCPX? I was wondering why some were blacked out bcz in your video you mentioned that all you had to do to load them was "check" the radio boxes. KeyFrame and Alpha Channels are a foreign language to me but I keep hearing them buzz by my ears. Gonna have to do some research about that I'm guessing.

Thanks guys! REALLY appreciate your time and advice!!

P

Hey no problem, it wasn't really a offer but I can offer you to create your logo or a logo in 3D.

What about this little program called Kinemac?

www.kinemac.com/products/kinemac/index.html

BenB wrote: Motion is all you need.

pwillis, do not limited yourself to one Application!
It is not a bad idea if you get a graphics house to make you a trademark animation.