I suppose one reason that all of the "other" transitions are there is for editors that are doing local car commercials. It seems that the goal in car spots is to use as many oddball transitions as possible in 29.5 seconds.

John

As has been said before, "Whatever best tells the story."
I can't imagine Star Wars without it's "funky" transitions, for example.
As a cable commercial maker, I have to admit, there are times I have used wacky transitions on, say, a car commercial that I just couldn't get to be energetic enough without doing something non-traditional. Sometimes that lot footage just doesn't do it. So I had a ton of moving graphics and threw the video around via transitions. The client loved it.
Also, along the lines of "Telling The Story," I did some "How-To" videos that I used a transition that looked like someone erasing a chalk board.
By and large, I'm a cuts or cross-fade (or dissolve) kind of guy. But every once in a while, I'm happy to know I have options.

I sometimes use the "funky transitions" for text or lower third entry and exits. Or when used in conjunction with 3d track motion for example.
They also come in handy with masks and such.

They dont just have to be used to transition one clip to another.
you must think outside the clip.........

Many transitions = Better demo
Better demo = More sales

"Many transitions = Better demo"

That's an interesting conclusion. Now I want to see your demo. Any way to do that?

Even with a switcher doing live I have only done a partial wipe
(WW2 scene between two people on a phone call) .

Weddings - I often do fade to white instead of fade to black for bride's scenes.

Good point. Nothing screams "amateur" more than the overuse of transistions. It's similar to folks wanting fonts that can tumble all over the place with unlimited bevels, woodgrains, textures, etc.

Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.

One thing I'm just getting into is making the simplest transitions work (cuts and dissolves) well by aligning image elements, the Vegas preview window is great for this.
Copy a frame just before the transition to the clipboard and then switch the Preview Window into Split Screen.
As I'm working with high res stills of the Australian outback I can afford to crop and move around within the frame quite a bit, not so easy with SD video of course.
Something as simple as getting the horizon aligned on both sides of a dissolve (horizons down here can be ruler straight!) can make for an interesting effect that's purely visual, aligning other elements such as trees can also add a deceptive feel.
Bob.

straight cuts seems to be the most under used transition , watch any good film and straight cuts is about all they use, a dissolve here and there maybe.

As Bob mentioned, an often overlooked element when using cuts is the all important question - "Where is the viewer's attention centred before/after the cut.
A well constructed cut can avoid the sudden jerking of attention from one part of the frame to another, but occasionally it may be desirable to deliberately do this to impart a disruptive, disturbed feeling ...

I convert quite a lot of home videos for clients. That is the main thing I do. Clients like 2 things. Titles (especially with their name in them) and fancy transitions. I use Adorage. I see a lot of high school plays, beaches, go-kart tracks, birthday and holiday parties and sometimes a wedding. Adorage gives me unique transitions that the client cannot get anywhere else and I get a lot of business because of them. The most common thing I see is the blurred picture from a shaky camera!

All those transitions are best for quick collages. A standard video piece that uses several different transitions gets confusing, but having several available helps you to pick a unique set of a few that you use only occasionally to create a signature feel.

johnmeyer: "Many transitions = Better demo"

Yes. Tune into MTV.

But... I was serious about wanting to see your demo...
I find looking at my peer's works to be inspiring.
I figure, if someone else can do that on Vegas, there's a chance I can too. I learn every time I watch other people's work.
Maybe you thought I was being sarcastic. I wasn't.

Actually, there's only four or five different transitions in the Star Wars movies. Mostly cuts and disolves, but when Lucas wanted to transition to a new planet or time point, he would use a wipe or spiral transition like the original Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers serials (which he loved as a kid).

The answer to the original question: "Why so many Transitions?" is - marketing. No pro would use 99% of the supplied transitions in 99% of their work, but let the competition have just one more than Vegas, and the reviewers will conclude that Vegas is inferior due to the limited number of transitions, and the competition will shout this from the rooftops.

Steve

"Think outside the clip" - I like that line.

Maybe there is a good reason for the consumer transitions. I'll have to experiment "outside the clip" and see what I get.

In my previous response, I was only thinking of scene transitions - inside the clip. Thanks for opening the box.

Steve

I agree with the marketing comments and the overall need for extra transitions but lets not forget about fun. I used a bouncing beach ball as a transition between an Easter Egg Hunt and a family vacation to the beach. Any fade, wipe, dissolve or new chapter would work as well, but people like the bouncing ball transition. For a home movie to DVD it is a fun thing that the family enjoys. No one has ever commented about the cool dissolve I did in their DVD but they do comment on the beach ball and the Walking Skeleton transition for their kids Halloween video. Believe me sometimes the transition is the most interesting thing about the video! Naturally you would not use a bouncing beach ball transition in the middle of Star Wars or do 14 different types of transitions. I have done several picture DVD's for my wife's family and for those I mix up quite a few transitions. Vegas has the transitions you need to do most anything you want. If you want a few other options then why not go for it.

Home movies are mostly fun, and fun transitions are to be expected. They can support and add to the experience. However, when you are telling a dramatic story, you don't want the transitions to BE the story. When I edit a stage performance, I use cuts and dissolves exclusively. The goal is to make the transition invisible to the viewer. (Why else do we go to the extra effort to match the cameras?) When I am switching cameras during a dialog, I use cuts. During a musical or dance scene, I use dissolves. When there is a time shift, I dissolve through black.

Admittedly, I learned the art of editing when it was razor blades and glue. Video was still science fiction. Two things from those days that still guide me: Don't let the audience see your transition, and real pros don't zoom. Both are unnatural to the viewers eyes and would break their concentration on the story.

Steve

Two things from those days that still guide me: Don't let the audience see your transition, and real pros don't zoom.

Ahhh... the memories! Great advice, Steve--old or new! I would go so far as to say that any trick, move, cut, transition, effect, etc., that draws attention to itself has failed.

.................and real pros don't zoom

ouch, that hurt my feelings.

real pros don't zoom. ...unnatural to the viewers eyes and...break their concentration on the story.

Huh?

I wonder if this comes from an early era when zooms were only used for TV productions, while movie productions didn't use them (because there were no good zooms at the time).

One oldtimer DP told Steven Spielberg that "if it can't be shot with a one-inch, a two-inch, or a three-inch, it's not worth shooting."

And that was for shooting TV episodes of "Marcus Welby, M.D."...

A zoom is just a different story telling tool. As much as I like and use dolly shots, there are times when zooms feel more natural, but they require different skills.

A zoom-in can imitate how our minds focus on one part of what we take in (see), and it can often do this with less distraction from the surrounding elements than a dolly shot can.

You have never seen a Hollywood film that used a zoom? Perhaps you weren't aware of it, so it was successful.

Zooms are more recent for me too, I didn't have access to any when I shot dramatic 16mm in the late 60s. I was glad to have a lens turret hough...

I quickly learned, editing my first feature-length project with a professional editor alongside me (he didn't know the keystrokes for Vegas), that the TIMING of the cut and the related timing of the audio and/or music (before/during/after the video cut) are far more important to the viewer's experience than the type of transition.

Also learned the rule of thumb that straight cuts imply (usually) contemporaneous action, fades to black imply passage of time, and cross-fades also imply passage of time. My guess would be that a fancy transition is most like a cross-fade, implying passage of time--unless of course you're selling a car in a TV commercial, in which case time and other things lose all meaning.
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