Adding Multiple Transitions

One great feature in iMovie is the capability to add several transitions to your movie at once. If you want the same type of transition to appear in multiple places, this approach will save you a lot of dragging.

To add multiple transitions:

1.	Select two or more adjoining clips (Figure 11.8). Figure 11.8. Select multiple contiguous clips to easily add transitions between them.
2.	Select a transition and configure its settings.
3.	Click the Add button. The transition is added between each clip (Figure 11.9). Figure 11.9. After clicking the Add button, the same type of transition is added between each clip.

Tips

• If you perform these steps on a range of clips that already includes a transition, that transition remains unaffected.

• If one of the clips you selected does not have enough frames available for the transition, a dialog appears with the option of having iMovie calculate a new duration for the transition.

• Even if you don't want all of your transitions to be the same, this is an easy way to add placeholder transitions that you can go back and edit later (see the next page for details).

• I like to use a combination of Fade Out and Fade In transitions sometimes. The Add feature works well here, too: simply apply Fade Out, then apply Fade In with the same clips selected.

Most Valuable Transitions

In most situations, you'll find yourself using only a handful of transitions: Fade In, Fade Out, Cross Dissolve, and Overlap. I'm also partial to Wash In and Wash Out, in the right context. The others, to me, are usually too flashy for regular use.

One of the best uses of the subtle Fade In and Fade Out transitions is to pair them back to back to intercut a series of short scenes or still images: the picture goes from black to full strength (Fade In), runs for a second or two (or even shorter), then dissolves to black again (Fade Out), only to start again with a different scene. I've created an example and posted it at www.jeffcarlson.com/imovievqs/.