Editing Transitions and How To Use Them

In the language of film and video editing, transitions have meaning. Dissolves have long indicated the passage of time. This is a tradition since the earliest days of filmmaking when a cut or a dissolve were your only two choices.

Today, there are literally hundreds of choices for wipes. You have wipes that indicate a fantasy or dream sequence, an explosion, a water ripple, heck I’ve even sheep bleating wipes. Some wipes look like bow ties, hearts, stripes, squares, circles, squiggles, jagged edges, you name it, a computer editor can do it.

Digital wipes are easy to obtain with any computer video editing program. Even the freebies, like Windows Movie Maker, allow you to simply drag and drop icons for a wipe onto your video timeline. You simply open a file full of wipes, select the one you want, click and drag.

Although they are fun, do yourself a favor and be prudent in your selection of wipes. Select one, maybe two, and use them consistently throughout your project. Using tons of wipes usually indicates an obnoxious used car commercial. Seriously. Just because your computer editor gives you ten million wipe options doesn't mean you should use them constantly. The most common transition is the simple cut and that should be used 95% of the time. Sounds kind of boring, I know, but please trust me on this. If you want your video to look professional, limit your use of wipes. If it’s just a home movie, then wipe away!

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