In our Videomaker workshops, when we discuss transitions, we often ask our attendees what they think of when we say "fade to black." The inevitable answer is usually "commercial break" or "end of movie, roll the credits." But the fade to black is actually a powerful transition denoting a change in time or location. It can also change the mood of the story tremendously. Some directors will hold the fade to black so long that the audience often is tricked into thinking the movie has ended, but it's usually just a transition to an epilog or last chapter to the movie. It's different from a dissolve: when we see the time shift, location change or scene change made with a fade to black, we think of a shift that is important and meaningful to the movie.

Using our poker game example, we've established that our card player has been at the table a long time by the number of empty bottles and snack bags at the table. Perhaps we've had him open his shirt all the way and pull his shirttails out, and we've given him an aged, tired look. But now, he's playing his final hand, and we see a look of jubilation as he lays down his cards: a Royal Flush. We then fade to black for a 2- to 3- or even 5-second pause, then we fade up to a shot of him on a yacht or on the beach of an exotic locale or driving off in a brand-new souped-up sports car. Unlike the dissolve described above, this transition was both showing a conclusion to the tension in that long-played-out poker game and changing the mood from tense to relaxed. The fade to black shifts our gambler to a better time and place.

Narrative storytelling doesn't hold all the chips in the dissolve game. In fact, it can be a lifesaver to the documentary editor. Let's say a doc producer shot a long talking-head interview but failed to acquire B roll. This producer also failed to alter the framing of the shots, thus having an entire hour-long interview of the same framing. Definitely not a good place to be.

The interviewee occasionally lapsed into long fits of coughing, which almost blew the headphones off the audio person. The editor needs to remove these coughing segments, but, to her horror, she finds there is no B roll.

What comes to save the day? You guessed it: the dissolve. A straight cut would produce a jump cut, which could jar the audience. When this instantaneous transition between two identical or near-identical shots occurs, the subject appears to "jump" within the screen. But a quick cross dissolve between two identical or near-identical shots will soothe the visual "jump," allowing the audience to continue to move smoothly along with the story. You can watch just about any PBS documentary with talking heads, and you'll see this cross dissolve used.

Though the cut dominates the editing profession with little competition, the dissolve is a transitional player more involved in both narrative and documentary pictures than you may think. When the chips are down and you feel all is lost, try playing your dissolve and see how you fare.

Contributing editor Morgan Paar is a nomadic producer, shooter and editor, making documentaries worldwide.

It's not unusual to find many different dissolve transitions in your video editing application. Some of these might be useful, while others act more like a fade, which is completely different from a dissolve. We suggest sticking to a cross dissolve.

• Cross Dissolve: Blends the first clip into the second clip.
• Additive Dissolve: Adds the two clips so that the first clip fades out and the second fades in.
• Dip to Color Dissolve: Blends the first clip into the plain color of your choice, and then blends the plain color into the second clip. You can adjust the speed of the blend.
• Dither Dissolve: Dissolves the first clip into the second by removing random pixels from the first clip to reveal the second clip.
• Fade-In Fade-Out Dissolve: Fades in the incoming clip as the outgoing clip fades out. Reveals the track below the current track in a transition.
• Non-Additive Dissolve: Compares the pixels in the two clips and displays the lighter of the two as the first clip fades out and the second fades in.
• Ripple Dissolve: Applies a pond ripple effect to the first clip, simultaneously blending it into the second. You can choose the number of ripples, their center point on the first clip and their amplitude and acceleration. You can also apply a circle highlight to the ripples.