How do I use transitions?

homeport wrote on 1/17/2006, 3:08 PM

I have the Vegas Movie Studio + DVD 6.0.

I have tried many ways to insert transitions but do not understand how to properly use them. The manual says little and corresponding with Sony was not productive.

When I add the transition, and then stretch the transition effect using the
fade offset icon, several things happen.
(1) If it is stretched too far, some of the video clip is cut off and I lose
some of the action,
(2) If it is not stretched far enough, the transition effect occurs too
quickly and is not effective,
(3) If it is not stretched far enough, you cannot see the "X" mark which is
necessary to click on to get into the transistion to make changes.

All I want to do is to add a transition, have the transition be slow enough
to be effective. Am I correct when I assume that the transition time subtracts from the video clip?
Also, when a transition is dragged to the timeline and inserted, does it automatically, by default, establish a fixed time that does not interfere with the length of the video clip to which it is attached?

Thanks

Comments

Former user wrote on 1/17/2006, 3:10 PM

You have to overlap the video for the transition to work. The length of the overlap determines the speed of the transition.

Dave T2

jrazz wrote on 1/17/2006, 3:16 PM

I am unsure about the movie studio products as this is the Vegas professional forum, but I don't think they would be that different concerning transitions. Why don't you take a clip and drag the other clip over the first clip (overlap) to where it is where you want the transition to be (ie- length, time). Now, the current transition should be a crossfade by default. Drag the transition you want from the transition pane up to the timeline where you have the crossfade; drop it there. Now the dragged transition should take the place of the crossfade and it will be the exact length that the overlap was.
To answer your question concerning transitions subtracting from the video clip. Yes, this is true as most (all?) transitions use the clip as a background or active part of the transition.
My 2 cents: Stick mostly with crossfades, fades to white and fades to black as it will look more professional and less amatuerish.

Edit: When you can't see the "X" that you make reference to, stretch out the timeline so you can see more "time" and less length. This will allow you access to the plugins, pan/crop etc. that you can't see when you are zoomed out.

j razz

homeport wrote on 1/17/2006, 3:21 PM

Thanks, as soon as I try it, I'll let you know how it works.

homeport wrote on 1/17/2006, 4:27 PM

I was able to get the transition to work.
How do you stretch out the time line?
Also, if the transition subtracts from the image, can the transitions be used with single JPEG images which are generally short and do not have much length to begin with?

homeport wrote on 1/17/2006, 5:28 PM

I found the answer. Simply by clicking on the "+" sign, it brings out the "X".