Transitions

A transition softens a cut. Without one, the picture jumps from the end of one piece to the start of the next. With one, it dissolves, pushes, wipes or dips. Between two sounds, a crossfade does the same for audio.

Where a transition can go

A transition sits on a cut. Cutscript finds them for you:

• On the main recording: every place the script removed footage, every razor mark, and every boundary where you reordered pieces.
• Between two clips on a track: two clips that touch on a video or image track take a picture transition. Two clips that touch on an audio, music or sound effects track take a crossfade.

Add a transition

1. Open Transitions in the right rail (the Edit group).
2. Hover a tile on the shelf to preview it.
3. Drag the tile onto a cut on the timeline. Cuts light up as you get close, and the one it will land on glows. Or double-click a tile (or press Enter on it) to put it on the cut nearest the playhead.
4. Change how it looks, either by dragging the ends of its block on the timeline or in the panel (see below).

You can also hover a cut's seam on the Video row and press +, or press ⌘ D to add the default transition at the cut nearest the playhead. With clips selected, ⌘ D duplicates them instead.

The shelf

Video

Audio

Change a transition

Click a transition on the timeline to select it. The Transitions panel then shows its settings:

• Type: swap it for another transition of the same family.
• Duration: from 0.1 to 4 seconds. A new one is 0.5 seconds. You can also drag its ends on the timeline.
• Alignment: Centre straddles the cut, half before and half after. Start begins at the cut. End finishes at the cut.
• Direction: Left, Right, Up or Down, for Push, Slide, Wipe and Whip pan.
• Ease: Linear, Ease in and out, Ease in or Ease out. Each transition has its own default.

Below the shelf, the panel lists every transition on the timeline with its time. Click one to select it and move the playhead there.

Right-click a cut

Right-clicking a cut or a transition opens a menu: Replace with, Alignment, Direction, Edit in sidebar, Remove transition, and Move playhead to the cut. On a cut where the script removed footage there is also Restore removed footage, which puts it back in the script and the video. A cut with no transition offers Add cross dissolve (or whichever default you set) and Add transition for the rest.

To remove a transition, select it and press ⌫, drag it off the track, or use Remove transition.

Set the default

Settings › Editing › Timeline has Default transition (starting at Cross dissolve) and Default transition length (0.5 seconds). Those are what ⌘ D adds. On a sound track, the default is a crossfade.

Limits

• A transition plays only as long as the clips allow. If the piece before or after the cut is shorter than the transition, or there is no more footage past the cut to blend with, it plays shorter. The panel says why, for example "Plays 0.3 s of 0.5 s".
• A picture transition cannot go on a sound track, and a crossfade cannot go on a picture track.
• On a locked track you cannot add or change a transition. Switch off the track's lock first.
• An older project's black bar wipes still play as before. They are not on the shelf, but you can replace one with any transition.

Related

• The timeline
• Edit by editing text
• Compositions and clips