my internet is mostly down (Burundi), but from what posts i've found, Motion 3 has lots of problems. i'm on Motion 3.0.1 on both a Macbook pro OS 10.5.3 4 GB ( GeForce 8600M GT) and an iMac 10.4.9 with 3 GB, and Motion freezes and crashes and is generally about as fast as an Amiga Toaster on BOTH... it is basically unusable, even for simple tasks.
i am hesitant to run the FCP and OS updates 1. because downloading them here will take many hours (if not days...) and many failed attempts 2. because everything else is working and the last thing i need is an update to render Compressor useless (again) or have my Pro Tools 7.4.2 messed up (or any other number of problems...) 3. it is a lot of effort to go through if it doesn't fix the problem.
sooo, anyone with any experience with Motion problems and 'surefire' fixes? i found no definitive answer with my limited internet access...
Thanks!

any one? Bueller?..... Bueller?....

Brian: Not that this helps but my Motion (3.0.2) under OSX10.4.11 is nearly useless on my white iMac2.16CoreDuo. Heavy crashing, so much so I just do my titles in LiveType and do what I can in FCP for motion graphics. I'm in the middle of a project right now so I can't try the upgrade. Better luck to you.

I've not used Motion on our MBP however it is even more resource intensive than FCP so I'm not surprised it's been an ustable app.

There are two options you could potentially use, one is over-simplified (but works beautifully) and the other requires purchasing expensive software.

The cheap-and-dirty option is to use Keynote. I know it sounds crazy but I've used Keynote on several productions to create motion graphics with gorgeous text fly-in's fades - you name it. (If you do a search on this forum you'll see a post I made about how to use it). Surprisingly, you can actually output a finished Keynote project in any video codec you have loaded on a FCP system, up to and including uncompressed formats! (see attached screenshot)

The other option is to use After Effects - assuming you know how to use it.

The hope is that with FCPS 3 (whenever Apple gets serious about updating the studio again) that Motion, DVDSP and the rest of the apps will get their much needed facelifts and functionality updates that will address these horrendous stability and time-crunching issues.

Thanks for the responses. it's frustrating that it is so unstable because i see great creative potential in the program! i have been sneaking out quicktime titles piece by piece from motion before i inevitably crash it (usually about 7-10 minutes...) and assembling/adjusting in FCP. i have also noticed that the particle emitters need a broadcast safe filter to actually play correctly when burned to DVD (???).
I think i will hold off on the updates unless someone has a tale of success- anyone? i am also interested in tales of woe with motion/OS versions so i know what combos will NOT work (though i have read motion works for some and not for others with the SAME computer/versions...???)
thanks Robert, i will check out Keynote. unfortunately, i updated to CS3 without all the extras ($$$$!!!!!)
While on the subject of updates, i would also like to know if Media Manager has been improved? my experience has been that, when i have to pull up a project that MM has *copied/created new media/deleted unused/renders included* that some clips are missing, others have changed, CC gets buggy etc. Lots of time wasted fixing what shouldn't be broken...

Brian,

This is an old post but I'm curious as to what your workaround-ultimate fix was to this issue. (?)

Robert:
i have not updated or changed anything, but have just recently resumed experimenting with Motion. I used it for credits in an actual project, and though buggy, i forced out some interesting titles. i had way less freezes and crashes and am suspecting that the biggest culprit may have been using 'Livetype' in Motion. also, i had to use 'normal' quality, as using 'best' looked good when previewing, but the letters would become unreadable jumbles when playing at 'best' in FCP as a motion project or even outputting from Motion with compressor. i even had strange little yellow dashes that i could only get rid of by (after much experimenting) blurring the text by various amounts. weird stuff!
i think i will be updating OS, FCPS, Pro Tools, and, well, everything else next fall, so in the meantime i will limp along sparingly with Motion. i do see great potential in the program, and i hope the newest version is 'fixed' or at least 'less broken'...