Let's take our video series posts now onto the topic of transitions. When you are in a video editing app (e.g. Windows Live Movie Maker, iMovie, or other similar app), you have the option of how one clip leads into the next one. If you do nothing at all, it will be a straight cut, in the blink of an eye from one video clip to the next. If you are doing several shots of the same subject, perhaps different points of view, straight cuts are fine. However, if you are changing subject, say from exterior to interior of house, then a transition can soften the change and give visual cue to the viewer of the scene shift.
A most basic but effective transition is a crossfade, where one clip fades out while the other fades in. A variation of this is a fade through black (or a fade through white). This gives a more tangible break or marker in the presentation. A page turn is often used and can be interesting. A wipe is where you see the new clip transition in over the old one like a wave from the ocean coming across the beach. The application of a transition is very simple to do. Select the clip that you want to transition into and then find your transitions tool palette. In Windows Live Movie Maker, you will find it under the Animations Tab.
The duration of the transition is set by default, but can be changed. There is a "timer" value on the tool palette where you can type in a longer duration if you want a more dramatic timing. You can experiment to see what works.
If you are working with another video editing app, applying transitions will be similar. The concept remains the same. For example, in iMovieyou will drag the transition you want and drop it between the two clips.
The video below illustrates how some of the most common types of transitions look. I took two clips from my library (winter/summer) and show you different transitions between the two clips.
That's it for today's class. Thanks for stopping by the classroom! :)
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