I'm shooting a demonstration video where different presenters will show how they do various crafts.

Should I use a sharp cut from one shot to the next or would an overlapping fade-out with fade-in look better?

I think the simple cut might be too abrupt. What do you think?

Tim

Thanks, Tim! Great question.

Let's lay out some definitions for the three most common kinds of video transitions:

A CUT goes from one image to another with no space in between. One frame is the end of shot A, the next is the beginning of shot B. Cuts account for 99% of the transitions you'll see in video, film, TV, or tiktok. We'll talk about why in a moment.

A DISSOLVE is when frames at the end of shot A and beginning of shot B overlap, so that you can see both shots through most of the transition. Frame 1 of the dissolve has a transparent little bit of shot B over the end of shot A. The dissolve becomes more and more of shot B, until the last frame of the dissolve has just a tiny bit of shot A still showing.

Dissolves can last any amount of time. If they're a couple of frames long, you might hear them called "soft cuts" because they're less abrupt than cuts but still pretty quick.

A FADE is when either shot A or shot B of your dissolve is a color (usually black, sometimes white, rarely anything else.) You're dissolving from nothing to shot (or shot to nothing).

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What to Use When

Dissolves are generally used to slow things down and indicate a passage of time, or radical change of deep emotion.

Fades are most commonly used at the start or end of the movie ("Fade to Black"). They are sometimes used to signal HUGE transitions– many years, another world, coming out of a coma. Stuff like that.

Most video transitions are cuts, and they're designed so you don't really notice them.

For example you might cut from (shot A) a person dropping a glass to (shot B) that glass shattering on the floor. If the edit is "transparent" you read it as a continuation of one action: "A woman drops a glass that shatters on the floor." The two shots may have been done on different days, but they're cut together to feel like they flow.

Transparent cuts are the norm in narrative work. Any movie or TV show is 98% cuts on action.

When you are just learning to edit, use CUTS for everything. They work. But as you point out, cuts can feel abrupt to new videographers. There are two reasons for this: 1) because you know what you're leaving out or 2) because it's a bad cut.

The first you'll get used to with practice. As you do more editing, your cuts will seem less abrupt and more normal. It helps if you watch some TV or a film and go back over the editing to see how they do it. Good cuts make a piece move and heighten action and emotion.

How do you know you've done a good cut? You like it more every time you watch it. It feels totally normal. This is not super-descriptive, I know, but you're going to have to try editing and learn what you like by doing.

A bad cut is one that takes you completely out of what you're watching. Maybe the action isn't smooth, or the shot doesn't change perspective enough, or your timing is off. Again, if it feels bad when you watch it, change it! And practice.

So the answer to your question is...

To circle back to your question, using overlapping fades or "soft cuts" where you should have used clean cuts makes your video feel slow and sloppy. Within one person's demonstration, use cuts.

Between demonstrations, passage of time or change of human can be indicated with a short fade or dissolve. But you could also cut– A little bit of dissolve goes a long way. As always, play around. Think you might like a long fade? Try it. There are no rules in video, and "undo" is an editor's best friend.

NOTE: I have not mentioned other types of transitions between shots. That's partly to keep things simple, and partly because the only correct way to use kaleidoscope, star, flips or other weird transitions is ironically.

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