Transition opinion needed...

kentwolf wrote on 8/28/2003, 6:03 PM
With regard to footage transitions:

I just read a magazine article that says the best "rule of thumb" is the 90-9-1 rule:

Use cuts 90% of the time, dissolves 9% of the time, and special transitions 1% of the time.

My question is essentially:

1.) What are most pros using? The 90-9-1 rule?

2.) Why would one not want to use some sort of dissolve a lot more then 9% of the time? Is it just perceived as being "irritating?"

Any veteran opinions on this would be most welcome.

Thanks!

Comments

DataMeister wrote on 8/28/2003, 6:29 PM
Well personally I don't go by a rule. I just use whatever transition I need to create the impression I want the viewer to get. And each of those decisions are based on the mission of the overall project.

By the way, the impression of "Wow that was a cool transistion" is rarely something that benefits the overall project. If a sentence forms in your viewers head, you want that to be from their emotional response based on what they've been watching. You don't want a sentence based on technical observation alone.

Just imagine Terminator 3 with a "3D blinds" or "slide swap" transition every time the camera changed views. Or even a one second disolve for that matter. Pretty soon just getting from one viewpoint to the other is going to get in the way of the story.

However if you are trying to communicate the feelings of peacefulness or thoughtfulness a disolve might be just what you want.

JBJones
DataMeister wrote on 8/28/2003, 7:10 PM
Part 2

I just thought I should add that even if you are doing an edgy news report or something and you want to use a transition to point out to your audience that something new is about to be presented, you pick one or two styles and stick with that the whole way through. Even though you may want your transistion to be flashy, you don't want your audience to be analyzing what they just saw in that transition and miss what you are presenting next.

JBJones
JakeHannam wrote on 8/28/2003, 9:10 PM
Transitions are fun to play with but they seldom add much to your video.

I think most 'pros' will tell you to use simple cuts to transition from one view to another when you are viewing the same subject (e.g. a far shot cuts to a closeup of the subject). You would also use a cut when you have two people talking to each other and you are zoomed in on one at a time.

The 'pros' are also likely to suggest using a dissolve to transition from one (e.g., an outdoor shot of a wedding chapel dissolves to a scene at the altar). You can use a cross-dissolve or a fade to black.

Jake

Souza wrote on 8/28/2003, 9:11 PM
It seems to me that when editing you should use straight cuts unless you have a specific reason to emphasise a transition with something else like a dissolve or wipe. This so called rule you read about was surely the authors way of saying that straight cuts work at least 90% of the time in an average production and that transistions other than cuts or dissolves should only be considered about 1% of the time since they are so jarring.

I'm quite sure that nobody is actually counting transition types and keep in mind that as soon as a rule is made, several reasons to break it will arise. Think about the rule of thirds in visual composition and then watch a movie and see how much it's used.

The best thing you can do is watch a lot of productions of the type you would like to produce and do what they do until you develop your own individual style based on what works for you. :)

Good luck, and have fun learning!
jbrawn wrote on 8/28/2003, 9:30 PM
When moving between still shots (slide show) I've found that a short disolve works very well nearly all the time.

John.
johnmeyer wrote on 8/28/2003, 10:34 PM
Tune into MTV to see what it looks like when effects (including transitions) become the main event. Yeech.
Grazie wrote on 8/29/2003, 1:42 AM
Hmmmm.... makes me think "who" NLEs are targetted at? And what people are/see/percieve themselves doing . . . .

"Buy our New Improved Movie-At-Ease,

. . . lots of work to do here . . keep 'em coming . .

Grazie
PDB wrote on 8/29/2003, 4:17 AM
FWIW, I find that cuts work best with edits done to fast paced music whilst dissolves give a nice emotional flow to more mellow/"romantic" tone music...

just an opinion...

cheers!
Paul.
TorS wrote on 8/29/2003, 5:01 AM
When the shots are good the cuts are cleaner

I use short dissolves most of the time because I shoot with one camera and do not often bother to cover myself with double takes. (But I'm not a pro.) The better the shooting, the shorter the dissolves. When the material allows it I go for the clean cut. Every time I use a transition it's not because I want to, it's because I have to recue myself from something stupid I did on the shoot.
Tor
jopereira wrote on 8/29/2003, 5:50 AM
I also use dissolves most of the time because I'm editing home video and often get totally difference places, time of the day, etc... Dissolves make those transitions smooth. When I'm editing several scenes from the same place/time of day cuts work best - we only have to take video and audio in account to provide a smooth transition.

JP