Welcome back to the third tutorial in the series, where we show you how to add transitions in Premiere Pro.
We’ve already learned how to import and edit footage. Next, we’ll be looking at how to add some of those nifty effects you see in the bottom left-hand corner.
After laying out and cutting up your footage on the timeline, you need to consider how it all flows together.
What Are Transitions?
Video transitions are a post-production technique used in editing. They’re a valuable toolkit for video editors, helping to move the story along, convey a mood or tone to viewers, and set the stage for the next scene.
In other words, quite simply, they are not just used to connect one shot to another.
Adding Video Transitions
Firstly, at the bottom left of your editing workspace, where the project panel is, you’ll see the option to click two arrows pointing to the right.
This will then provide a drop-down menu that gives you the option to select the Effects tab.
Search
Here, you’ll see a few folders with lots of options for both video and audio.
Firstly, we’ll take a look at video. Select the drop-down option for the Video Transitions folder and review all the options.
Obviously, some of these options are a little gimmicky. Also, using lots of different transitions for every cut can come across as a bit amateur, so try to use them sparingly.
Apply
Next, once you’ve picked which transition you would like to apply, you can click and drag across, dropping it into the middle of two clips.
The area where it will overlay is highlighted. In this example, we’ve used Film Dissolve to move from the outside of an ancient church in Istanbul to the inside.
Play the sequence back to analyze the transition. If it’s too fast, you can hover your cursor over one edge of it and drag it outwards, making it longer. Or you can drag it inwards if it’s too long.
Customize
Similarly, you can make changes by selecting the Effect Controls tab at the top left of your workspace.
Here, you can change the duration, choose where to place the transition, and also have it play in reverse.
However, clicking and dragging constantly can slow you down a bit, so it may be worth making a transition default.
To make a transition default, right-click on it and select make default transition.
Then, when you select a cut (it will be highlighted in red when selected), press Ctrl + D if on Windows or CMD + D if using a Mac. This applies the transition quickly and easily.
Adding Audio Transitions
Sometimes, if you don’t add transitions to your audio, it can seem a bit jarring and abrupt.
For example, if I were to cut from the outside noise of the city to the indoor ambiance of the church, it would be too much of a sharp cut.
Luckily, you can use the audio transition Constant Power to smooth this all out and make it feel much more natural.
The same as with video transitions, you can find them in the audio transitions folder and drag them between the audio tracks.
Congratulations. You can now add transitions in Premiere Pro. Next, we’ll be covering color grading and exporting.
