How many Transitions is enough?

[Accolades]

Hi,

I am putting together a fairly lenghtly set of photos and a few short vides to create a DVD.

Just after a users opinoin on how many transitions are enough when changing from photo to photo?

Should I use every transition available? What attributes work best with photos? When is enough enough?

I am currently using Crossfade and Shuffle effects with Pan and zoom from different angles with most photos?

[lancecarr]

It all comes down to taste and opinion so here's mine.
Two transitions are enough, crossfades and straight cuts (that's the no-transition transition!). Some "Pan and Zoom" for interest on the photos goes a long way too.
Simple suitable music and/or simple narration.
The point is to interest the viewer in the photos or video not the bells and whistles in between.
"a fairly lengthy set of photos" worries me and makes me think of people sitting in a darkened room desperately wondering whether this will ever end or that they really have died and, despite their best efforts in life,...have gone to hell.

Less is more.

[heinz-oz]

I second that

[Ron P.]

I think over the last 5 years I have used a total of 4 different transitions, and not in the same video. I'm stuck on 3 transitions, hard-cut, cross-fade, and fade-to-black (which is just ½ a cross-fade).

[Black Lab]

The best transitions are the ones you don't notice, sort of like referees.

[MrA]

So far I agree with all the above, but, , depends on the "mood" of the slide show.

I have done many, from kids growing up and getting married to people that have passed away.

Totaly depends on what the "event" is. If it's a childs birthday, for example, the 2 or 3 transition rule gets broken for me. Same with vacations, that doesn't work for me.

A bordeline example for me is a retirement slide show. That is a mixed issue, some goofy times while at work, then ending with the goodbye.

One of my best and favorites was twins prematurley born, very sad, being so young on life support for a long duration, but, mom and dad was very pleased that I was able to "show the love", not only through the transistions but the choice of the music. (btw, that was 2 years ago, the weighed in at 1 lb, and the other just under 2 lbs, both now very healthy and doing fine.)

So, to sum it up, it's your call.

[Clevo]

I tend to only use three...

Crossfade, fade to black and straight cut. TO me the fun is using the Pan and Zoom to create mood. Also depends on the music too.

I can also see MrA's point.

I can;t see myself using anymore than 5 transitions at most.

[MrA]

This is an example of a Vacation slide show I did for my son and daughter. Photos were taken in northern Oregon, near the Washington State border. (maybe in some you can see Mt. St. Helens in the backdrop) Unfornately, the quality dropped considerably, however, there is a fix. Set it on full screen and walk back away from the monitor several feet. ahem.

Notice the use of the transitions and the music. All was created with VS 10 and stock music from VS 10. The middle of the slide show changes as noted with the music. And there is very breif flash black and white grey that was actually a "hand made" transition as well the end was hand made, fade from black and white to color.

http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m3/M ... t=Adam.flv

[sjj1805]

In my early days I used dozens of transitions and my family all went
"Wowwww thats brilliant" - however after the third or fourth DVD they got a bit fed up because they had seen it all before - the transitions that is - not the pictures.

So now I use a different approach - I very rarely use visual transitions and often use none at all. You get a much more polished effect by changing the slides to the beat of the music.
te tum te tum te bang (slide change) te tum te tum te bang (slide change)
Now I again gets lots of "Wowwww thats brilliant" remarks from my family.

[MrA]

In my early days I used dozens of transitions and my family all went
"Wowwww thats brilliant" - however after the third or fourth DVD they got a bit fed up because they had seen it all before - the transitions that is - not the pictures.

So now I use a different approach - I very rarely use visual transitions and often use none at all. You get a much more polished effect by changing the slides to the beat of the music.
te tum te tum te bang (slide change) te tum te tum te bang (slide change)
Now I again gets lots of "Wowwww thats brilliant" remarks from my family.

I agree, again, depends on the audience, the event, etc. The audio approach is probably the best approach of all. Afterall, the eyball and ears work like a dual core processor.

[Clevo]

How does that song go again Steve?

[MrA]

How does that song go again Steve?

Not so much how does it go, but, was that a copyright infringement?

[sjj1805]

Of course not I took it from a royalty free site!

[nitin]

remember the pros keep it really simple. I personally use the cross-fade, cut, and fade to black.

Hope this helps