Can transitions be applied to part of screen? and more....

[perfection]

In VS3 when processing my videos i wish to add a lower third periodically. can i apply a transition only to the lower third area to make it appear animated in its entry?

Can i otherwise animate the entry of these lower thirds which are basically (for me) avi files brought in as PIP video on video track 2.

Are there programs that can create dazzling lower thirds (like those that appear on tv), and if yes please mention them here because these constitte a large part of my work and if i can buy a program that fulfills this need it will be good. Right now i work in Powerpoint, export as avi and then crop and the background color transparent etc etc to make the lower third

[Ken Berry]

Have you explored the NewBlue P-in-P filter which was added to X3? It gives you enormous potential in its own right for what you want to do.

[perfection]

No i have not - thanks for this will experiment with the newblue filter

[Black Lab]

You can simply use the generic fade in/fade out buttons on the edit or attribute tab for the overlay track.

If you want some other kind of transition you can use transitions in the overlay tracks with X3. However, as you probably know a clip must transition to and from another clip. What you could do is put another clip (just a color clip) in front and behind your lower third, and set the transparency to 100% so you don't see it. Then insert whatever transition you wish.

[Ron P.]

Are there programs that can create dazzling lower thirds (like those that appear on tv),

Most of those dazzling lower thirds are not done by a single program. They are created using a combination of programs, one being photo editing, composite, along with animation. These could be in a variety of formats, flash, SWF, or various video file formats.

Take a look at the different applications that New Blue Effects provides. Not only the freebies included with VS, but what they offer for sale. There's also programs such as Bluff Titler, Digital Juice, and Xara. You can create some outstanding lower-thirds with any of these.

Again most of those lower-thirds you are probably seeing are not the work of a single program. If there are 3D graphics involved, well you will need a 3D graphics program to create those first, and then animate them.

[perfection]

Thanks all yet again and Blacklab i did think of (and try) the workaround that you proposed but the transitions seem to cover/fill the entire screen not just my lower third - yes i have placed a 99% transparent colour matte followed by a similarly sized text banner avi file of 10 secs followed by another 99% transparent color matte, after which i used a 2 sec tansition between 1 and 2 and a 2 sec transition between 2 and 3.

maybe i am doing something incorrect?