When you save a template, the project and all associated files are saved in your /Users/username/Movies/Motion Templates/ folder, organized by template type. The template types include Compositions (templates created in Motion for use in Motion), Effects, Generators, Titles, and Transitions.
When a Final Cut Effect template is saved, it is saved to /Users/username/Movies/Motion Templates/Effects; a Final Cut Transition is saved to /Users/username/Movies/Motion Templates/Transitions, and so on.
When you save a template in Motion, you assign a category. For example, when you save a Final Cut Effect, choose an option from the Category pop-up menu in the save dialog, such as Blur, Distortion, or Stylize. After you save a template into a category, that category’s folder appears in the corresponding folder on your computer (Effects, Titles, Generators, and so on).
Categories represent the how the effects are organized in the Final Cut Pro X media browsers. For example, in the Final Cut Pro Effects Browser, video effect categories include Basics, Blur, Distortion, Keying, Light, Looks, Stylize, and Tiling. In Motion, a Final Cut Effect template saved to the Blur category is placed in the Finder in the /Users/username/Movies/Motion Templates/Effects/Blur/your template name folder.
You are not limited to the preset Final Cut Pro browser categories. You can create a template category by choosing New Category from the Category pop-up menu in the template save dialog. Custom categories also appear in Final Cut Pro browsers.
You can further organize templates using Themes. A theme is a metadata tag attached to a template that assists in categorizing different templates as being part of a single family. For example, you may have different template types that are related to the same project, such as a transition, an effect, and a group of titles. By tagging the templates with the same theme, all templates, regardless of their template type, appear in the Final Cut Pro Themes Browser.
Themed templates also appear in other effects browsers. For example, a themed Final Cut Title template appears in the Final Cut Pro Themes Browser as well as in the Titles Browser (underneath the nonthemed templates).
Assigning a theme to templates is optional.
In the Finder, templates are stored according to the following folder hierarchy: template type/category/theme. For example, a Final Cut Effect template saved to the Blur category and the News theme is stored in the Finder in the /Users/username/Movies/Motion Templates/Effects/Blur/News/your template name folder.
Note: You can also sort by theme in the Motion Project Browser using the Theme pop-up menu.
Each template folder contains the following items:
.moef is the Final Cut Effect template extension.
.motn is the Final Cut Generator template extension.
.moti is the Final Cut Title template extension.
.motr is the Final Cut Transition template extension.
Note: If you select “Include unused media” in the save dialog, media in the Media pane (the storage area for media not used in the project), is included in the Media folder.