Video Transitions: What They Are & How to Use Them

Good design should go unnoticed. Transitions in video editing are one of the most overused, misunderstood design elements. Either they enhance your video and improve your narrative and watch time…

…or they can turn your precious video into something that reminds viewers of an eight-year-old's PowerPoint presentation!

They can be so tricky to use that some folks don't even touch video transition effects. This is a crying shame because video editing transitions can also be exactly what your content needs to grab attention and stand out.

What are video transitions?

A transition is a technique added in post-production that is used to smooth the change from one scene of your video to the next.

They can be as simple as a straight cut from one shot to another, or a highly complex and multi-layered graphical overlay.

Transitions can be very functional, or they can be used in a more creative way to enhance storytelling, create a specific mood, or set the pace of your narrative.

Be intentional with your transitions

It can be tempting to add a transition because it looks fun, but if you get it wrong you can really damage your video's performance.

I think that if you're going to add a transition, you should do it with a clear intention.

If you think it'll help to guide the viewer's focus, or to differentiate between steps in a training video, or just provide some visual variety in a video that might otherwise not be very engaging, then it might make sense.

But if you can't really find a reason to add one, then just use a standard cut with no transition.

How to add video transitions in Synthesia

Synthesia offers a number of video transition options to help you move your video from one scene to the next in a way that looks professional.

To add a transition, follow these steps:

1. While in the Synthesia editor, select the scene you would like to add a transition to.
2. On the right hand side of your screen you'll see an option to toggle on Scene Transition.
3. Next, choose your preferred scene transition style, you should see a menu of options like the image above.
4. That's it! You can click Change All to apply the transition to every scene in your video if you want to.

You can also watch the video below to see how to add a scene transition in Synthesia.

Use transitions sparingly

I've seen people overuse transitions to the detriment of their videos.

Adding too many or overly distracting transitions to your video can pull the viewer's focus away from your video's core message, so I always go for the most minimalist transition option I can.

Your video's visual and narrative content should carry most of the weight, so don't rely on transitions to do anything more than add a tiny bit of polish to your video.

Create stunning videos with seamless transitions

Ready to turn ordinary content into engaging instructionals and take your video narrative to the next level?

Experiment with Synthesia's AI video maker to add video transitions and see exactly how they impact your content.