When to use MOTION? …workflow?

Hey there! I'm a "hacker" and use FCPX every once in a while for projects, etc, and this forum has been SUPER helpful over the years! So THANKS!

I just got Motion, last week, because i've heard all good things, and I've been needing to do a lot of type-heavy video lately and found out that FCPX is fairly limited in that capacity. I've been watching a bunch of tuts, etc, and so far it's super fun, but I've realized I really don't understand the overall "workflow" between the 2 programs.

For instance: I have a 30 second spot I'm working on that is a SINGLE SHOT, with music and audioFX, with an intro logo, some fancy type, and then a fade-to-CTA at the end. I've built the project in FCPX and was assuming I would do the "fancy type" in Motion…but after watching the Tuts it occurred to me that i probably should've done the whole darn thing in Motion?

I've also been doing a lot of little animated GIF ads (:10) - several scenes, simple type, simple FX, etc– and I've been using FCPX for those, but i'm wondering if motion can handle that kind of thing?

?? IN GENERAL: what is the workflow with Motion/FCPX? What's the "line" where one ends and the other begins?

TIA!!

It depends what are your needs. I use Motion to make custom transitions.
Some animation with objects is easier for me in Motion.

I will make what I need in Motion and then import it into FCX.
Most of the time with transparency.

Motion is - GoT lingo! - a bastard… its line to FinalCut is a bit unsharp:

Motion as a NLE
One can abuse it for very basic editing, hard cuts, fades, titles … even iMovie would outperform it. What it fundamentally lacks: you can not transfer projects in an editable form btw Motion and FinalCut, not ‘swap’, no XML exchange

Motion as effects machine
Motion/FC don’t allow ‘bouncing’ of clips btw each other. But you can export a Range from your FCproject, prep it in Motion (for example using Motions tracker) and - phew! - export/import that processed clip back into FinalCut

Motion as a plug-in Maker
Its biggest asset: creating your own or 3rd party made Titels, Transitions and Generators for use in FinalCut. Those plugins don’t need Motion on a Mac, have a look in our plug-in depository here at fcp.co …


Motion is called a front-end for all features hidden in FinalCut… basically true, but not a 100% realized , Apple Dev Dept handles Motion as a hobby, a patchwork project, it begins with its very Apple-unlike unintuitive GUI, its inconsistent handling of coordinates and angles and ends with its very 80ies canned elements …

We Motion enthusiasts wait for years for some from-the-ground-new MotionX, supporting physics, Boolean, tics, smart-tracking, nodes, etc etc etc……

Completely agree with Karsten.
I also have the impression that it is a tool that is just not evolving like it should.
I might just go and learn Fusion do move on.