Motion
has been shipping for several months now and there are several
excellent Motion tutorial books on the market. These books teach
by providing lessons and exercises along with video material
to work with. A good way to learn Motion. So with several good
books out there why would one be interested in the Motion for
Mac OS X: Visual Quickstart Guide?
The main reason is that 'Motion: Visual
Quickstart Guide' is as much a Reference book as a tutorial.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Peachpit Press Visual Quickstart
Guide format, it is a streamlined approach to teaching: each
topic, each procedure is presented with the appropriate screen
shots, and step by step instructions to perform the desired procedure.
There are brief explanations of the process, Tips and sidebar
information that add to the reader's understanding of the subject.
Motion is a totally new application with
many processes and workflows that are new to us, features like;
Behaviors, Particles, Objects, Layers, Libraries, Mini-timelines,
Dashboard controls and Real Time abilities, to name just a few.
Because of this, 'Motion: Visual Quickstart Guide' has a very
through introduction, a walk through of the interface, and very
complete explanations of the many features of Motion.
You can use the 'Motion: Visual Quickstart
Guide' in two ways. If you are just starting off with Motion
you can read the book from cover to cover, this will not only
introduce you to Motion and the concepts of how it works, but
to the methods used to achieve Motion graphics effects. Once
you have become acquainted with Motion you can use the book as
a Reference guide to find ways to accomplish the effects you
desire. The book has a very complete Index that you can use to
look up any topic that you need help with.
Motion is a new and exciting application
which runs much deeper then it would at first appear. Mark Spencer
has done an excellent job with this book, sorting out the different
elements of Motion and presenting the information in a clean,
efficient, and concise manner. It is obvious that he thoroughly
knows Motion and has the ability to explain, in simple terms,
Motions' more complex abilities.
I admit to having Peachpit Visual Quickstart
Guide books for all of the Apple Pro series applications and
'Motion: Visual Quickstart Guide' by Mark Spencer now sits at
the top of the stack. For me, the reference nature of this book,
the ability to look something up in the Index and then find a
step by step lesson, is a powerful learning tool, one that I
could not do without.
Enjoy,
--ken
You can purchase 'Motion for Mac OS X: Visual Quickstart Guide'
from the
lafcpug store.
Review copyright © www.kenstone.net
2005
This article first
appeared on www.kenstone.net and is reprinted here
with permission.
All screen captures and
textual references are the property and trademark of their creators/owners/publishers.