Does anyone know where I can find a flash transition for FCP? I had one a little while ago, but it disappeared when I had to reinstall my OS. I'd prefer something that's free, but I'm willing to pay for the transition.

I think you're looking or this: http://www.mattias.nu/plugins/

Why bother with a plugin?

Keyframe brightness and contrast. Make a standard settings keyframe one frame before the end of the clip. On the last frame, pull it up to maybe 75% each, then you'll get a very bright overexposed look. Insert a white frame after. Then apply the same brightness/contrast settings to the next clip, with the brighter frame at the start.

You could change this around a bit.

Is that what you're after?

Aha! Yes, that's exactly it. I'll do that, thanks!

Why even bother keyframing brightness and contrast?

Just use the Dip to Color Dissolve. Apply the transition, double-click to bring up the controls in the viewer, then set the color to white (or a very, very light gray if you want to stay broadcast safe). Many times, just a short, 3-10 frame transition will give you the effect you're looking for.

Often, to get a "flashbulb popping" kind of transition, you want the dip to color to be very quick, just 2 or 3 frames, then the dissolve back to the next clip to be much slower, maybe 20 frames or so. In that case, double-click the Dip to Color Dissolve to bring up the controls in the Viewer. Try setting the start to 40-50% instead of 0%.

Or, to get even fancier, create a Color Solid from the Generator popup (lower right-hand corner of the viewer) and place it between the two clips you want to flash to/from. Then just apply a dissolve at each end. You can right-click each transition and change the transition alignment, so that the first dissolve ends on the first edit, and the second dissolve begins on the second edit. The advantage here is that you end up with an easily tweakable transition, adjustable on both ends. You can also change the color of the solid, say to a whitish yellow, or blue, or green if you prefer. You could also choose to replace the solid with a cool, flash-y still image, like a custom gradient from white to another color, or even another video clip to create another cool effect.

But 95% of the time, the Dip to Color Dissolve will do it.

That's simpler, yes, but it won't overexpose the clip properly. It will just wash in from white, bringing up the black levels.

I use several of the plugins from Natress. I believe the website is www.natress.com I like to use the g-film flash filter.

John

Be Careful! there's a typo in that address.

It should be www.nattress.com - (two Ts) to get graeme's company for his highly rated and recommended filters and plugins.

www.natress.com (one T) seems to have been put up by an automated domain grabber, albeit one that has "automatically" associated itself with Graeme's services. (The mention "Graham Natress" plugins - two spellign errors in a row!)

Yep...my bad. I mis labeled the folder I have them in.
John