Motion 2 FCP disparity!?

Hi All,

I have a Motion 2 bumper I created and imported into FCP 5; both set at the same NTSC/DV settings.

I borrowed the "curves" from one of the Motion templates to use as an aminated background behind the text. I duplicated the curves layer and darkened it using blend modes. What I've created is a nice dark hued, animating background behind some text in warm grays.

It looks perfect in Motion, however once I import it into FCP the dark background animation is barely there; initially I thought it wasn't there at all, but upon close inspection you can see it's verrrrry faint.

I'm not sure why the huge disparity between the two; especially as I have a separate complex lower third I created in Motion and imported into the same project that looks dead-on perfect.

Thanks so much for any help!
~Chris

OK, I'm closer to figuring it out and just hoping someone can help me take it to the finish line :-)

The only difference between the two Motion files is the lower third was created over video sent from FCP. Since this Motion project (the one I'm having a problem with) is a bumper on its own in the FCP Timeline, I thought maybe there's a problem with the "black" FCP creates in any spaces in the timeline, and this is perhaps adding black to the background of the Motion file import...

Sure enough, I built an NTSC black b.g. still in Photoshop and imported it into Motion. Putting this black NTSC b.g. on the bottom layer recreated the EXACT problem I'm having in FCP! On this NTSC b.g. layer, I can take down the opacity all the way, or choose "stencil alpha" from the blend modes to get the right look, but either way, when I import it back into FCP I still get the same problem.

So, I tried importing the black NTSC still into FCP, sending it to Motion, adding the Motion file to the top, and still get the same problem upon reimporting...I'm out of ideas at the moment...

Can anyone think of a workaround?

Regards,
~Chris

Have you checked the alpha interpretation in FCP?

Hi Mark,

It's reading as a straight alpha channel. I'm still learning about alpha channels; would it work if it was pre-multiplied? Is there a way to change this in FCP? (I couldn't find it in any of the settings...or should I try to change it in Motion?)

Thanks so much for your help :-)
~Chris

GOT IT - whew! Thanks Mark, you got me checking deeper into settings in Motion, and I discovered the "background color" opacity was set to zero. I just raised it up to 100, and it still looked the same in Motion, but upon import into FCP, it's spot on :-)

Cheers,
~Chris

Rather than change the background opacity in Motion, change the alpha interpretation in FCP to premulitplied with black. It's a column in the browser - scroll over far enough and you'll find it. Very common that FCP or Motion will incorrectly interpret the alpha channel.
Mark

Wow, never would have thought to scroll there - thanks Mark, but the only options coming up when I control click are:

* none/ignore
* straight
* black
* white

Am I missing something?

Cheers,
~Chris

Cool, changing the alpha channel over to black works perfectly - thanks again Mark :-)

That's right, choose black. Sometimes you have to try different options and look closely at the edge detail by zooming in on the Canvas to see which works best.

Very good to know - thanks again for your help Mark :-)