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I was happy with a simple Fade (if any), any other popular everyday transitions to consider?
I'm a rank amateur, but I didn't find any of the "magic" stuff worth looking at.
I
have used both effects and different transitions, but be aware that all of my work is "fun" stuff. I'm not doing BBC documentaries, or a Merchant Ivory production, so I have no need of professionalism.
When I have a lot of choppy little clips, I'll often use "slide left" as a transition because a fade between two disparate scenes wouldn't look as good. (Think of a shot of the Mona Lisa, jumping to a shot of the interior of a bus.) In such cases I need a clean break, but I still want some kind of transition. If I do want a simple cross-fade, I might put a tiny bit of black color board between the two clips.
I tend to think of transitions the way I would think of punctuation. I've used the "wormhole" and "mirror" effects almost like parentheses around a clip.
I will also use "grand opening" when a clip ends with a passage through a doorway or gate. For my last effort, I added a "creaky door" sound to go with entering through a cemetery gate.
I do try to maintain some consistency, so it doesn't look as though I were grabbing them at random. Two or three different types, plus a plain fade, is usually the limit.
I've also made good use of "no transition", but it seems to look different in PD9. That might be the "overlay" vs. "cross" issue.
As for effects, I've used those too -- but sparingly. For example, I've applied a flaring effect to text against a black background. (The title room lets you apply effects to the beginning and end of text object, so I guess that's more like a transition than an effect.)
For a surprise birthday party I used an effect that put starbursts around the guest of honor's head when she walked in.
For a tour of a crematorium, I used one of the fire effects (toned way down) near the floor; and I added some smoke coming out of an oven. This is all for comic effect, obviously.
As I said, I use them very sparingly.
Jerry Schwartz
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