Newbie question's -editing-

Well I want to start using the video of my 60D. I have been practicing in premiere pro and after effects, but was wondering which kind of transitions are the most natural look..(or how many frames it's considered normal for the transition) I guess it will depend on the style/look we are going.. but can someone give me some examples which ones looks best in what situation..

Also on the videos that appear to be rolled in just 1 shot with no cuts, how is that done ??

Thank you..

Take a look at any random movie, tv show, etc and you will find that very few of the countless transitions that come with editors are ever used. Cuts are going to be the primary choice followed by basic dissolve with the occasional dip to black or white. Now and then I see a slide transition. Most other transitions tend to look cheesy except specialized situations like the custom graphic transitions used on sports programs and news shows.

When using transitions beyond cut, it is rare for transition to be more than 1 second and that is a long transition. I would say the average dissolve is half a second and often less. Dips to white tend to be quicker since the effect is somewhat like a flash of light designed to quickly jump to next scene.

If you see a scene that appears to have no cuts, it is either a very well planned shot or ultra slick editing that was also very carefully shot. The best example i can think of is the long scene near the end of Children of Men. It seems like one uninterrupted shot, but it turns out that it was just an amazing combo of shot planning and editing to give that appearance.

Thank you.. Also I found this video http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=CVyGcUc8LmY it really help me a lot to understand more all this stuff !! It's a complete different world against stills, that also I'm enjoying a lot

that's a very good video. Thanks for sharing. Explains it much better than I did. You will find that , in the same way that reading tends to make authors better writers, simply watching video with new eyes will make you a better editor. Most transitions are deceptively simple once you are aware of the common methods. Best of luck.

I was taught many years ago that
- A cut keeps you in the room
- A dissolve takes you down the hall or next door
- A dip to black takes you anywhere else.

IOW, the longer the transition, the more you give an impression of the passage of time or that the location has changed significantly.

As mentioned, the texture mapped warps, shreds, twists, spheres, etc really need to be avoided unless they fit the mood or have a really good reason to be used. Less is more.

Two other techniques that can really add some polish to a project are the so-called "J Cut" and the "L Cut." In a J Cut, you make a change in the video preceding the next change in audio and in an L Cut, the video changes after the preceding audio edit. Watch for scenes in shows or movies where two people are having a discussion and see if you can find where they use these edits. They're especially useful when you need to get to Character B's reaction before Character A has actually finished their line of dialogue. These are almost universally done with cuts for edits.