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Using Transitions
Transitions are the centerpiece of the SE-800’s functionality, sort of its reason for being. (Would the SE-800
still be a Switcher if it didn’t do transitions? This is the sort of philosophical question that will be dealt with in
volume 2 of this manual: SE-800, an Observer’s Manual.)
The SE-800 can do 4 kinds of transitions: cut, fade, wipe, and zoom. The cut is a simple switch from one
input source to another, and can be accomplished by selecting a source on the Main Source Bus, and then
selecting a second one. One source is replaced by the next at the video output. Not flashy, not fancy,
nothing to customize, but gets the job done. In fact, if you watch a film or video, paying attention to
transitions, you’ll see that the cut is far and away the most often used transition.
When you want a transition that is more stylish or fancy, see the next section.
Selecting a transition: Fade, Wipe, Zoom
First, some definitions:
A fade, also known as a dissolve, is a transition wherein all the pixels of one source
are replaced by all the pixels of another, at a smooth rate, and at the same time.
In a wipe transition, the change from one source to another happens along a
predefined edge. It is like one source is being pulled back or pushed on to the other.
A zoom transition has one source shrinking and flying off the screen, revealing the
Sub Source, or vice versa.
But a picture is worth a thousand words, so...
Select a source and sub source, select Wipe, Zoom, or Fade from the buttons above,
press Take button and see what happens. See below for a list of transitions and
variations.
Playing a transition manually
The T-Bar is the traditional switcher device for performing transitions manually; it can
be either all the way up, all the way down, or anywhere in between. The up and down
positions are relative, meaning one position is before and one position is after the
transition.
The T-Bar performs the selected transition between the selected sources as fast as
you move the T-Bar. And it performs as much of the transition as you want.
If no transition is selected, moving the T-Bar performs a fade between the selected
sources.
