Fly-ins are displacement effects in which the new shot floats along a path (often curving) as it grows to cover the old shot.įrom this point on, DVEs proliferate beyond the ability to catalogue them and they have no more meaning than a firecracker: 'BANG! I hereby separate A from B as flamboyantly as possible.' There are many different designs, but in every one the new shot displaces the old one either by pushing it off screen in some way or by expanding from nothing to cover it. In sophisticated versions, the images are progressively distorted so that they are seen in perspective as they are rotated around.ĭisplacements are good alternatives to wipes and flips. Flips are complex wipes that resemble a stand-mounted chalkboard being rotated vertically to display its opposite side. Wipes (other than the horizontal, soft-edge kind) are widely used to semaphore a change in subject. For this reason, these transitions have been widely adopted in corporate, training and commercial programs. Other transitions, including all the fancier DVEs, announce a change in the program, without indicating what kind. Like straight dissolves, ripples may be omitted in modern practice, unless the audience would otherwise have trouble following.Īs you can see, the classic transitions signal changes in time, place or both. In classic film grammar, a return to the present (or to reality) requires a second ripple dissolve to bring the dream or flashback to an end. This effect signals a flashback to an earlier time or a dream or hallucination. This is a useful transition in fiction videos, where the page-turning metaphor reinforces the literary analogy.įinally, ripple dissolves are standard dissolves in which the images waver like reflections on water. In a page turn (often called a peel) one corner of the old image appears to lift and curve up and back out of frame, revealing the new shot 'beneath it' like the next page in a book. This is widely understood to mean the same as a dissolve.

Checkerboards break the images into grids of tiny squares, which then expand to fill the screen. If they look weird after you’ve rendered them out, you might need to adjust settings like resolution, frame rate, and codec to ensure smooth playback.Why not use a snappier flip-flop or other DVE? Because fancy effects can sometimes call attention to themselves more strongly than wipes and you don’t want to distract attention from the interview.īefore leaving alternatives to the classic dissolve, we should add checkerboards and page turns.

Why are After Effects transitions looking choppy or lagging? Memory can be an issue with large productions, so make sure your software is up to date, and you’re previewing your video in a size and format that your computer can handle.

It may take some practice, but you’ll get to know this instinctively.

What is the perfect duration for transitions? There’s no correct answer, but you should balance smooth transitions and consistent pacing.Take the time to adjust the transition in After Effects and make it look perfect for your project – that includes grading, lighting, and overall style.

While that can work out fine, in many cases, it’s just not going to fit your video well. It can be tempting to save time by dropping in something premade and leaving it. If your video is wacky, go wild! If not, subtlety and consistency will go a long way with most projects. You should try to choose After Effects transitions that match your video’s overall style and theme. Avoid using wacky transitions that don’t fit the tone of your film.Too many different kinds of transitions can make your production feel chaotic and distracting. We already touched on this, but it’s a trap that many early-stage filmmakers can fall into. Avoid using a bunch of different types of transitions.

After effects transitions image wipe