Workshop

Review the questions and answers in this section to try to sharpen your Premiere transition-editing skills. Also, take a few moments to tackle my short quiz and exercises.

Q&A

Q1:	I go to the Transitions palette and open a transition to preview it, but all I see are those A and B clips in the windows . I want to see my clips, and there is no check box labeled Show Actual Sources.
A1:	You need to drag the transition to the edit point on the timeline. Unless you tell Premiere what source clips you're using, it can't display them. Despite this, double-clicking a transition is the fastest way to preview it.
Q2:	Finding transitions by name is cumbersome. I remember seeing some with descriptive names , but searching through all the Transition palette sections is tedious . Is there a better way?
A2:	You bet. Use the Find tool. Click the little binoculars icon at the bottom of the Transitions palette and then type in part or all of the transition name, as you remember it. Just like using the Find feature in a word processor, it'll take you to each instance of that word, one after the other.

Quiz

1:	What's the difference between offline and online editing?
A1:	Offline editing adds an extra step to the production process. Typically offline editing takes place on lower-priced editing systems using less than the full-quality of the original video to save storage space and speed up editing. Editors use that process to create Edit Decision Lists (EDLs), which they then plug in to higher-priced online editors to create the finished product. That process is still common for high-end projects such those that use Beta SP analog video, but DV and products such as Premiere are making it more economical to do everything online.
2:	How do you add a thick, colored border to a Wipe transition?
A2:	Open the Transition Settings dialog box, move the Border slider to the right, click the Color box, and select a color. Preview the border size and color by clicking Show Actual Sources and moving the preview window's slider to the right.
3:	How do you view your transitions in real time?
A3:	If your computer has enough processor power, you can preview your transitions in real time by checking the Project Settings, Keyframe and Rendering, Real Time box and then placing the edit line ahead of the transition and pressing Return/Enter. You can manually preview your transitions either in each individual transition's Project Settings dialog box or by Alt/Option-clicking the edit line marker and dragging it through the transition.

Exercises

1:	Take the QuickTime transition for a test drive. You'll be amazed at the voluminous amount of material tucked behind that one little icon in the Transitions palette. It does not offer those A and B clip windows, so if you want to see previews of your transitions you'll need to drag the QuickTime transition icon to an edit point between two clips. I'll cover this powerful tool in some depth in Hour 9.
2:	Fade up from black and fade to black. This is the standard way to start and end a production. Here's how you do it. Right-click the file side of the Project window (or click the New Item icon at the bottom of that window). Select Black Video. Drag it to the timeline either in front of your first clip or at the end of your production (it's default length is 5 seconds). Drag a cross-dissolve to that edit point. Done.
3:	The Transitions palette has some customization features. In particular it allows you to create a personalized collection of favorites. Do that by creating a new folder and then dragging and dropping your favorite transitions into it. You can go so far as to create subfolders . Also, you can hide transitions you don't plan to use to minimize the clutter.