-
difference between additive dissolve and cross dissolve
Hi Everyone,
This is a dumb question. I have been editing for years and to be honest I don’t use the additive dissolve that much. I went to the user manuel and it says that the additive dissolve: Adds the two clips so that the first clip fades out and the second fades in.
I have done some comparison tests. I still don’t get it. I guess my point is that when I fade to black should I use the additive dissolve or cross dissolve? When I dissolve from video to video should I use the cross dissolve? When I edit to white should I use the color dissolve? When I edit still photos I use the cross dissolve.Also I edit over many timelines and sometimes in my final product after it has been released to dvd it looks like some of the dissolves have a little too much noise in them. I have wondered if this is a compressor thing or if the dissolve is to long or maybe it is a case where I am editing across to many time lines. What is the proper way to edit with dissolves.
Thanks,
Steve
-
3 Replies
-
Hi there, this post is a bit old but I was wondering the same thing and found a reply elsewhere. My understanding is that, while a cross-dissolve will equally fade one clip out and the other in, an additive dissolve will combine the luminance values creating a spike in luminance at the mid point. Comparing the two transitions while looking at the video scopes seems to confirm this. I guess it makes for a punchier transition in some circumstances.
-
I thought that’s what an additive dissolve did, until I rendered my clips. Now they just look like cross dissolves.
-
The effect behaves differently depending on your clips. Dark clips don’t react as strongly because there isn’t much luminance to ‘add.’ Bright clips also might not react as strongly, because once they hit white, they can’t go any brighter.
As a test put a solid Color Matte in your timeline, something with mid-level brightness. Add an edit to the clip, and place an additive dissolve on the edit. The dissolve will essentially add the clip to itself, and you’ll see it get brighter.
I’ve actually found this to be a quick, dirty technique to create ‘glow pops’ in a music video: just add edits to a shot, and throw additive dissolves on the edits.
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up