Why do editing transitions not transition smoothly?

Daniel D. Teoli Jr. · November 26

The transition shows a flash of the old clip after it shows some of the new clip. I've tried various transitions, and they do the same thing. The transitions have worked OK before, but it is hit and miss. I am using Movavi software.

Aristeidis Tyropolis · November 26

The main premise of a transition is affected by the amount of "slack" that exists for each clip:

Imagine two clips each of a duration of 30 seconds:

If each are cut to 25 seconds (for example) a smooth transition is ensured assuming generic default transition times (which can be changed) in your editing software.

There's alot of variety depending on which exact transition effect is applied by your editing software.

My suggestion is to move to something like DaVinci Resolve which is free for the base tier.

Brian Drysdale · November 26

With video editing programs you require unused media (i.e. not used in the timeline) in order to create the overlap. This excess media is commonly called a "handle", which is created when you mark your in and out points in the source media.

Basically, you don't put the whole clip or subclip into the timeline, but leave a couple of seconds (or more) at either end unselected. This handle will be used by the NLE as part of the overlap when you create a transition.

Brian Drysdale · November 26

Since someone seems to be confused, here's a video on the subject for Lightworks. Other NLEs will provide their own messages and warnings, or just leave part of the transition black, but the principle is the same. Some editors just cover up by freezing frames or using AI to create overlapping media.

Mark Dunn · November 27

17 hours ago, Brian Drysdale said:

With video editing programs you require unused media (i.e. not used in the timeline) in order to create the overlap. This excess media is commonly called a "handle", which is created when you mark your in and out points in the source media.

Basically, you don't put the whole clip or subclip into the timeline, but leave a couple of seconds (or more) at either end unselected. This handle will be used by the NLE as part of the overlap when you create a transition.

That's my guess too. You're not allowing enough room for the transition. If you're cutting an existing recording, go to the start cut then count in by half the duration of the transition, plus a frame for luck. Likewise at the end.