5 Most Common Video Transitions in Film | Free Use Now

When watching films, you will find there are many video transitions. In general, almost every film or video is composed of many individual shots edited together. Filmmakers or video creators always use a post-production technique to join two shots together. This technique is the video transition effect.

Related article: combine videos

What Is Video Transition Effect?

Video transition is used to join two separate shots or clips. Filmmakers always use transitions to tell viewers the scene has changed, e.g. a pan from one person to another. Video transitions can crate seamlessly integrate different shots, therefore the core narrative moves forward believably.

Video editing software offers different kinds of video transitions. Video transitions let you connect one shot to the next to jump between storylines, move backward or forward in time, spice up the narrative, convey a particular mood, switch to another point of view, etc.

Top 5 Most Common Video Transitions in Films

There are many different video transitions. Here, we list the frequently used transitions in films or videos.

#Fade Video Transition

Fades are the building blocks of many other transitions and make the scene gradually turn to a single color, usually black or white. Using fades is an effective way of conveying the passage of time.

Fade in transition makes the shot gradually become visible, giving the viewer time to take in an image. Filmmakers always put the fade in transition at the beginning of a film or scene.

Fade out transitions are often used to end a film or scene. By using this transition, you will find the shot starts at full brightness and gradually becomes invisible.

Sometimes, fade out also called fade to black. It is a dramatic transition, and symbolizes the passage of time or signifies completion. Filmmakers always use the fade to black transition to move from a dramatic or emotional scene into another scene, or to the credits at the end of a film.

To know the fade transition effect, you can watch the following video.

#Wipe Video Transition

If fades symbolize completion, you can try the wipe transition to show that the action is unresolved.

Wipe transitions replace one shot with another through animation, making shot travels from one side of the frame to the other. Filmmakers always use wipe transitions to establish tension or conflict. For instance, the original Star Wars trilogy has some great examples of wipe transitions.

A clock wipe uses a circular motion like the hands of a clock to show the second shot.

Iris out transition will animate a contracting circle inward from the edge of the frame. This transition indicates the end of a story.

Iris in video transition effect is widely used at the beginning of a scene since this video transition effect shows a small, circular area of the shot before expanding out to reveal the entire frame. You can easily find this video transition in Tom & Jerry or The Departed.

#Zoom Video Transition

Zoom transitions are widely used to convey a frenetic pace, switching quickly from one scene to the next. Edgar Wright uses zoom transitions to make the Shaun of the Dead film has a comedic effect.

#Whip Pan Video Transition

Whip pan is a bit similar to a wipe, but it tends to be much faster. Camera quickly pans to create a blur effect between scenes. This is a whip pan.

Whip pan can move one shot to another and can change to a different angle in one shot. If you want to create a comedic effect or to convey fast-paced action, whip pan is a great choice for you. Director Paul Thomas Anderson frequently uses whip pan video transitions in his films.

#Dissolve Video Transition

Building on fades, dissolves overlap two shots or scenes and gradually move from one to another. To show two narratives or scenes are linked or time passing, or to move from one location to another, filmmakers always use dissolve effects at the end of one scene and the beginning of the next.

Match dissolve effects is a slightly more advanced form of dissolve. During this video transition, you can see that a similarly-shaped and object will dissolve to another. For instance, slowly dissolve from a soccer ball to the moon, and match their size and position on the screen.

Cross dissolve gradually replaces one shot with another, implying a passage of time or a change of location.

Ripple dissolve is similar to a cross dissolve. However, it can give a dream-like quality to the transition since it makes use of a “Ripple” filter.

No, enjoy the dissolve effects in the film.

See! If you want to convey a particular mood, switch to another point of view, or move backward or forward in time, you need to use video transitions.

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Reading here, we know the most commonly used transitions in films. What should you do if you want to try more excellent and cool video transitions? Besides, how to add transitions to video?

4 Useful Tips about Video Transitions

Tip 1. Free Enjoy 98 Popular Video Transitions

Now, we can see fade, dissolve, wipe, whip pan and zoom are the most commonly used transitions in film. If you want to use more video transitions for free, you can try MiniTool MovieMaker because it offers 98 different video transitions. You can safely use these transitions to make a cool video or film as it is a free, simple video editing software without watermark.

Tip 2. How to Add Transitions to Video

MiniTool MovieMaker, free, no ads, no bundle video editing software, lets you add transitions like dissolves, fades, wipes and other transitions between videos and images. For detailed instructions and screenshots, see below:

Step 1. Import files to MiniTool MovieMaker

Free download and install this free video editor on your PC.

Related article: MP4 editor

MiniTool MovieMakerClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Next, launch it and close the move template window to enter its main interface.

Now, you can click the Import Media files to import your files including videos, pictures as well as music files.

Drage and drop your files into the timeline.

Step 2. Apply video transitions

Click the Transitions tab, you can see there are 98 types of video transition, and you can hover your mouse over one to see what it looks like. If you find a transition you like, you can drag it into the timeline and drop it between two video or image clips.

Here, for instance, if you like the smooth dissolve transition, you can fade to black video as long as you drag and drop the fade black transition to timeline.

Step 3. Edit video transitions

After applying video transitions, you can see an icon between clips, like this. Now, you can double click it to edit it.

• Change duration: The default time of video transition is 1 second. But, you can change it according to actual needs. For instance, you can set 2 seconds if you want to make the transition longer.
• Transition mode: MiniTool MovieMaker offers 3 options for you, including overlap, prefix, and postfix.

Step 4. Playback video

Now, you can play your video in the preview window to see how the transition looks. If you don’t like it, you can replace it or delete it.

• Replace video transition: You can drag and drop another video transition to replace the former one.
• Delete transition: Right-click the transition you don’t like, and then press the Delete button on your keyboard to delete it.

MiniTool MovieMaker is a great video player that can play different video files. For instance, it can be used as a MOV player to play MOV files in Windows.

Step 5. Save your video with the video transition effects

If you like this effect, you can click the Export button to save this film with the video transitions you have added.

To save video, you only need to click the Export button, give a name, choose a file format, select a location to save this file, and click the Export button to start exporting it. MiniTool MovieMaker lets you save videos into different file formats such as MP4, AVI, WMV, etc. In other words, it is a good option for users who want to change video format.

It is very easy to apply transitions like fades, dissolves, etc. to your video or film with MiniTool MovieMaker, isn’t it?

Tip 3. How to Fade in or Fade out Music

MiniTool MovieMaker not only offers fades to help you create video or film but also lets you fade in or fade out music files. Now, let’s see how to fade in/out music:

1. Launch MiniTool MovieMaker, and import your files.
2. Drag and drop files to the timeline.
3. Right-click the music file in the timeline and choose Edit button.
4. Fade in or fade out music according to actual needs.
5. Save your video.

Tip 4. Some Other Excellent Features of MiniTool MovieMaker

MiniTool MovieMaker offers 98 popular video transitions. You can choose the most commonly used transitions in films like fades, dissolve, etc. to create your movies. Also, you can choose other popular video transitions to grab the viewer’s attention as you jump from scene-to-scene.

On the other hand, this free video editor offers some other excellent features to help you create cool films or videos.

• It is a free, as well as simple video editing software. You can easily use it to create videos without watermark.
• It offers different video templates to help you create Hollywood-style videos easily. You only need to select a template, import your files, and share this video with your friends.
• It lets you split video, trim video and merge video without any difficulty. (Related article: video splitter.)
• It allows you to add animated texts, subtitles and end credits to your video to complete your story.
• It offers a color correction tool. Thus, you can change the contrast, saturation, and brightness of video, and you even can apply 3D LUTs to video.
• It is a simple video editor as well as video player like MKV player, it also is a video converter. It can change video format, change video resolution, and change video bitrate.

MiniTool MovieMaker offers 98 cool video transitions and lets you add transitions to video easily. Click to Tweet

Bottom Line

This post lists the most common video transitions in films and other popular video transitions you like. Now, it’s your time to apply video transitions to your project. If you don’t know how to add transition to video, you can try the free video editing software, MiniTool MovieMaker.

Should you like any other transitions that we don’t have, please share them with us. Thanks in advance. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us!

Video Transitions FAQ