(As usual) I agree with Barbara (and she didn't even pay me to say that
). I learned years ago that a quick way to recognize a new PowerPoint user was when every available font, color and transition just had to be used. Don't focus on how many or even which ones you've used. Use whatever is appropriate for the show's story, pace and your own style. A fast-paced sports show or a humorous show should be different lots of ways from a travelogue for instance. But, yes absolutely, if you cram too many into one show I will be distracting--where the 'good' vs. 'too many' line sits is one of the things that varies by the type of show and the viewer.
Generally, I'll use the fades and dissolve for most transitions.
But I'll often use another transition type to visually signal a scene change (a sort of boundary between groups of slides that are closely related). The viewer may not even become aware of it explicitly but will mentally sense that there's some kind of change happening. I'll also throw in another, fancier/stranger transition to get to a slide that's supposed to be humorous. Another way you can use the transitions is to "lead" the viewer's eyes to the next slide, say the following slide was taken just to right of the previous one, well then that can be implied by pulling that next slide in from the right. Or, you've got a picture of someone looking out of frame in one shot and the next one is what they were looking at... again, there's an implied direction or motion here and you can use motion in the slides or in the transition to reinforce the images.
I spent some time with a test show right after I got PSG and played with all the transitions but frankly, in the shows I've done for real, I've not found a use for the majority of the transitions--which might only say something about my imagination--but I'm glad they're there 'cause someday I'm sure I'll want something I've not used because it fits just right, right now.
Dick
Last edited by
DickK on Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.