I want a transition that will dissolve only the central portion of clip one. I’ve been using Shotcut for a few years. I’ve been experimenting with masks including putting a mask on the dissolve and putting a mask on either of the two clips but I’m not really getting the effect I want. I want clip one to dissolve into clip two, but I only want the central part of clip one to show. In other words, the outer edges of clip one won’t be included in the dissolve. I’ve tried some things, but the result is not very good.
Not sure this will help but … the first scene is a sunrise. The second is an item with some metal on it that is reflecting the light. What I’m really after is leading the eye from the sunlight to the metal. Both are pretty much aligned, but I want the viewer to notice it just a bit more. The scene could work without this dissolve at all, since the eye lead is pretty good. But, I like learning stuff. XD So while I’m consumed by this idea, I’d like to know a good way to accomplish it.
Can you please show a screenshot including your timeline and the preview window. Based on your description, some kind of masking on the dissolve transition should get you there.
Out of curiosity, have you messed with some of the other built in transitions, like Iris box or Iris circle and adjusting the softness to a higher value?
EDIT: On second thoughts masking the dissolve transition won’t work. To get the perfect result, this depends on the effect you want and the location of the objects (light from the sunrise versus the reflection of the metal) in your mentioned videos. Sorry about that.
I no longer have those clips in a timeline. I’m familiar with the Iris wipes. Out of curiosity I’ll try Iris circle and adjust the softness as you suggested. Thanks for the tip.
It might not be what you want, but here are a couple of demos with some simple colour clips. Dissolve might not actually be quite the right transition to achieve your desired outcome (due to some limitations on that transition type). If I had to guess I would say the last one is closest to what you want, and you can keyframe the mask as I have done to suit your needs (including softness, shape, and location).