Transitions are tools used by video editors to create professional and artistic effects between video clips or still images. Digital cameras and drag-and-drop video creation programs have made video editing accessible to non-professionals. Choosing the right transition effect is important to enhance the overall theme and content of the project. Crossfades and fades are the most common transitions, while other effects can be distracting if not chosen carefully. Using transitions effectively greatly improves the quality of home videos or slideshows.
Transitions are creation tools that a video editor can insert between two video clips or still images to create a professional and artistic effect. There are a multitude of transition effects available, the two most common being crossfade and fade out.
While video editing used to be reserved for professionals, digital cameras and camcorders have created a market for non-professionals. Drag-and-drop video creation programs like Apple iPhoto and Microsoft Movie Maker have brought video editing to the masses, making it possible to combine vacation videos or still images into movies or slideshows. When creating projects, one of the first things that becomes clear is that transitions make a project look professional.
A slideshow with no transitions is just a series of photos flashing on and off the screen, much like the old fashioned slide projectors that crammed a carousel of slides through a light projector. Using transitions, special effects are inserted between photos to artfully transition from shot to shot, eliminating the ‘on/off blink’ between images.
While transitions of almost any type look better than no transition at all, a good editor will pick the right effects that enhance the overall theme and content of the project. Many new videographers will happily insert a different transition between each digital photograph, using all the transition effects available in their editing program without thinking about what kind of effect they create.
For example, one type of transition effect “rotates” the new image into a frame or “rotates” the old image away. The drooping transition is commonly seen in television commercials where, for example, products are sold by an 800 number. The text might fall in and out of the frame to alert the view that there are additional savings or freebies with the purchase . That doesn’t stop the fall from working in a home slideshow, but it’s not the best transition effect to use between wedding photos, for example. However, it might work well for transitioning between two sports shots, such as at your local high school football or soccer game.
Working with transitions effectively will greatly improve the quality of your home videos or slideshows. If a transition takes away from the content, mood, pace or meaning of the events or images it joins, try something different bearing in mind that using too many different transitions can be distracting. Dark, romantic, loving, selfless, or beautiful graphic images like nature shots are almost always enhanced by crossfades or dissolves, although other transitions can work. Action shots and fun events work with crossfades or dissolves to build intensity, as in a tribute video or memo, while transitions involving movement will enhance the feel of the content for a more uplifting effect.
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