The Benefits of Using Transitions in Your Home Movie Project

In contrast to a straight cut, which is an instantaneous change from the end of one clip to the beginning of the next, a transition makes the change between the clips gradually. The most common transition is a dissolve, or mix, in which the outgoing clip fades out at exactly the same rate as the incoming clip fades in. This overlap, or cross-fade, is used to move the viewer from one place and time to another. It's also used when you want to set up a slow, relaxed mood in your edited sequence. Other transitions include wipes in a wide range of shapes and two- and three-dimensional visual changes from one clip to another.

Imagine you've come to the end of a sequence in your movie and you want to transport the viewer to another time and place perhaps you've just featured clips of the kids playing at home and now you want to move things on to the footage you took on a family vacation. A straight cut would suffice, but a dissolve (also called a cross-dissolve in some editing programs) makes for much more agreeable transition from one location to another.

All programs will have an easy way to select a transition, usually a pane or window within the main screen in which a range of thumbnail icons are displayed. It's quite possible that you'll be able to test the transition by clicking on it in order to obtain a preview in the main video window. Sometimes this will consist of a simple A/B graphic representing the "before" and "after" shots, while in other cases it will be possible to display the actual video clips. To preview, you must first apply the transition. Drag your chosen transition icon down and drop it between the two video clips to which it is to be applied. Now you can easily preview it. You don't like it? Drop another one on top in substitution. You'll also be able to vary the time that the transition takes; in some cases, extending or shortening its duration is as easy as dragging it left or right, whereas other programs give you the chance to enter a value using the keyboard. Remember that the duration of the transition will be measured in seconds and frames with 25 frames per second being appropriate to PAL users, and 30 frames per second for NTSC. With two seconds often being the default transition, you probably won't have to change anything. A longer transition appears slow and lazy; it works well if accompanied by a suitable piece of music.

It's important to offer a word of caution where transitions are concerned. In trying to persuade you to buy their editing software, many companies will proclaim their software offers a huge number of transitions, but don't be swayed. Their over-use can make your home movie project look cheap and tiresome to view, so apply them only when they're really needed. Watch a mainstream cinema movie and observe how many transitions you see and apply the same professional standards to your project. You won't regret it.

You'll notice that the timeline that runs across the bottom of your video editor often provides two viewing modes. In all the main low cost or freely bundled editing applications, there's a choice "timeline" or "storyboard" modes. Again, the differences are superficial, and related only to variations in the user interface; the functionality is identical to the point where you should be able to switch from one application to another without needing to drastically re-learn techniques.

The storyboard mode is a simplified method of displaying clips, because they are assembled from left to right with any transitions placed visibly between the clips. This mode is ideal for complete newcomers to the art of digital video editing since the display offers a simple "building blocks" approach to the construction of a movie project. Switching to the alternative "timeline" mode is something that can be done at any time during editing and gives a more detailed view of the content of the timeline. If you feel the need to inspect the soundtrack in more detail prior to making specific adjustments, or you wish to add additional elements such as music or titles to your movie, then the "timeline" mode will be more appropriate. You can work in either mode at any time, switching between one and the other as the need arises.

It's important to choose a transition that's appropriate for the context and the content. It you're editing a nice, laid-back sequence containing gentle pastoral shots to be accompanied by a suitable piece of music, there's little point in placing eye catching 3D transitions between shots where a simple dissolve will be more appropriate. A transition has to be right for the material and the mood you're trying to convey. The same goes for seemingly innocent transitions such as wipes; these are the sort of transitions in which a shape, perhaps a circle, square or multiple geometric shape, will affect the change from shot A to shot B. It could provide more of a distraction and bring no visual benefit at all, so if in doubt leave it out. There could be situations where a particular transition, such as a circular wipe, could be appropriate when wiping from a shot of someone's eye to a different shot altogether. More complex transitions, such as page-turns, can be very effective when conveying a "going back in time" message in a visual sense. There are lots of transitions, both simple and highly complex, at your disposal in virtually all editing applications, all waiting to be explored. The joy of digital video editing is that you can try out any number at will until you find the one that works.

Transitions can greatly enhance your home movie project, both in terms of what you aim to achieve and also in the eyes of those family members and friends who'll be watching it. Most people only show their raw video footage to others, but a lovingly constructed video sequence will make your project look professional by comparison and you'll quickly attract praise as a result!