Embedding Transitions In Your Scene

Watch the Marking Transitions Video

Total running time: 4:33

Transitions are an essential element in video production that help to create a smooth flow between different scenes of a video. They are used to connect one scene to another, seamlessly, and add a sense of continuity to the video.

Furthermore, in a dynamic timeline, such as you use on the Idomoo platform, you can use transitions to move from different alternate scenes to the next scene more smoothly. You can also smooth the automatic shortenning of a scene by using an incoming transition.

Transitions are simply a scene appearing on top of another scene, or disappearing and leaving another scene under it. As an animator, this is what you need to do. Animate your scene from full transparency, or dismantle your scene to full transparency. Here's an example of a transition at the start of a scene:

Here's a description of the complete flow of creating and using this scene with a starting transition:

1. Animate a scene so it starts from transparency.
2. Mark what kind (start, end) and what duration a transition you created using Scene Builder. In this example it's a two second starting transition.
3. Export the scene as an IDM file.
4. After uploading the scene, add it to a storyboard. You need another scene before it, so the transition has something to transition from.
5. Preview the storyboard and you can see there's now a two second overlap between the two scenes.

How To Define A Transition In After Effects

Defining a transition in After Effects starts with animating the transition. Once you have that you just need to tell Scene Builder what type of a transition it is and how long it is. You do that by following these steps:

1. In the case of a starting transition, in the animation window move the playhead to the first full frame of the scene, where no transparency remains.
2. Click the transition start button in Scene Builder:
3. A new layer appears in your composition. This is the indicator for the type and duration of your transition.
4. Notice the start transition button is now blue. If you don't want to have a transition anymore click that button again. If you need to update the duration of the transition, move the cursor, and click the button until you have that layer appearing in the right place.

To mark an ending transition follow the same steps. Position the playhead on the first frame that has some transparency, then click the transition end button.

Use Transitions With Dynamic Timelines

Transitions can solve issues with the visual flow of a video, especially when your timeline is dynamic. There are two main features transitions can assist with:

• Dynamic scene duration: A scene's duration can be changed by chopping off its tail. You do that by using dynamic scene duration. In order to make sure the video carries on in a smooth manner, the next scene could have a transition at the start of the scene.
• Alternate scenes: You can logically and automatically use one scene instead of another scene. This creates an issue with transitioning from the previous scene and to the next scene. By embedding transitions in either the alternate scenes themselves or in the adjacent scenes, this can be solved.