Finally, as with FCP X, Motion 5 has also gotten a shiny interface remake. Motion's transformation, though, is far less radical; aesthetic adjustments aside, it mainly serves to consolidate settings into panes. Users of previous versions will likely find everything within a couple of minutes, and Motion has never been more usable on a lower-resolution laptop display.

The natural impulse is to compare Motion to other tools, like Adobe's  ( Macworld rated 4.5 out of 5 mice ), that produce motion graphics and add dynamic visuals to video. However, Motion is a different kind of motion graphics program, one that emphasizes playing with parameters live and in real-time. The idea is not to choreograph elaborate, planned-out visuals and then see how they look, but to constantly experiment and tweak as the motion plays.

Wrap your head around the workflow, and Motion is, above all else, quick to use. First, drop in some media--Motion supports PDF, still images, video, and Photoshop PSD with layers, though not EPS (Encapsulated PostScript). It supports PDF import, but Motion retains its own independent crop settings, so you can't simply crop a PDF externally. Next, hit the play button; you'll likely want to leave everything in Motion looping all the time so you can see immediate results. Finally, add filters, generators (covering a range of visual sources), and movement behaviors, and watch as your composition updates in real time.

The new keyer chroma key filter is a real joy, far beyond what you'd expect as a bundled freebie. Drop the filter onto your footage, and compositing to a color (such as a green screen) is effective immediately. To adjust the effect, there are basic but effective and understandable controls for tuning color sampling for the background and edges, all of which nicely complement Motion's matte and 2D and 3D compositing tools.