ABSTRACT

Transitions can add life to a sequence, transform a difficult edit into something smoother, or give you a way to mark a change of time or place. The traditional grammar of film that audiences still accept is that “dissolves” denote small changes, and a fade to black followed by a fade from black marks a longer passage of time. With the introduction of digital effects, every imaginable movement or contortion of the image to replace one with another quickly became possible and was just as quickly applied everywhere, seemingly randomly, to every possible edit. They can be hideously inappropriate, garish, and ugly, but to each his own. Transitions can be used effectively, or they can look terribly hackneyed. Final Cut Pro gives you the option to do either or anything in between.