Apple Pro Training Series: Getting Started With Motion

Lesson 5. Working with Filters and Masks

Time Goals

Lesson_05 > Oakley

Lesson_05 > Clouds

Lesson_05 > Fish

Lesson_05 > Puzzle

Lesson_05 > Frances

Master_Project > 05 Master Project start

This lesson takes approximately 1 hour to complete.

Preview filters in the Library

Apply filters to objects and layers

Use the color picker to select a specific color

Modify filters in the Dashboard

Copy and paste filters

Work with Keying filters and masks

Create an image mask

Filters are a motion graphics artist's secret weapon for enhancing, fixing, and finishing a project. They are usually the last step in the creative process of building a graphics composite. Think of filters as the icing on the cake. Sometimes the icing is subtle and delicate, other times it's heavy with sprinkles, and occasionally it's used to glue layers of cake together or to cover an imperfection. In all cases, the icing is applied after the cake is baked. The same goes for filters. They can be used subtly, heavily, as decoration, or to hide or fix imperfections in the project, and they usually are applied after the project has been built.

In the previous lessons, you spent most of your time on one project. We're going to do things a little differently in this lesson. Since you already know how to build a project, here we'll look at five different projects that have already been built except for the finishing touches. Each project shows you a different real-world use of filters; you'll apply and manipulate these filters to complete the projects. With five projects to practice with, you'll not only sharpen your skills, but also learn some new techniques for working with filters, keying, and masks to add to your growing arsenal of Motion tools and graphic design tricks.