[Click for Larger Image] Transitions can be added a number of ways. One of the most common is by selecting a group of clips to which you would like to add transitions and pressing the "T" key on the keyboard. A default transition will be added to all clips based on the default length specified in the preferences.

[Continued from Page 1] If you're not entirely comfortable with using the keyboard shortcuts, it's still quick and easy to mouse around the timeline while using the keyboard as punctuation. For example, place the cursor between two clips and hit T, and it adds your default transition, set whatever length. Select multiple clips, hit T, and all have the default transition between. Hold Control and drag between clips and voila! You've added a transition and expanded and contracted between the two clips. As you move your way around the interface, it becomes apparent that Incite has made all the things an editor will do day after day available via a few mouse moves and a quick keystroke.

Clever Workarounds
There are also clever additions in this software that help you to work around the limitations in Matrox's hardware. For example, it's not normally possible to add a real time transition between two graphics with Matrox hardware. But with Incite, you can change that second graphic into a one-frame avi -- you just click on the "G" that sits on that graphic and it's instantly turned into a one-frame avi that can accept a real time transition. There are other little indicators on each picon that are nothing like I've seen before, like a little arrow (>) that indicates forward motion. Click it, and it turns into a (<) and reverses the motion of the clip. Now, I'm not sure how often you'll need to reverse a clip, but if you want to, Incite makes it easy to do.

Lay of the Land

[Click for Larger Image] The layout has four presets -- one for a single monitor and three for dual monitors. You can have as many different storyboards in a project as you want, and information can be copied and pasted between storyboards.

First there's a tree layout, where your bins of shots live. Then there's a graphic representation of your timeline, called a storyboard, in another area. Want to edit another version of your production? Copy and paste the icon for a storyboard and you have a complete second version, ready for modification. A delight for Avid users, most of whom are comfortable with the concept of subclips, is the ability to see them as they're created in the bin, just like your old friend Avid. Also similar to Avid, double-clicking adds a shot to the clip editor, or you can drag it up there. Adding convenience and flexibility is the ability to either edit everything in the clip editor, or drag edges around on the time line. And, as is becoming a standard in nonlinear editing software, control-click on your clips in the bin and when you drag them to the timeline, they're placed there in the order you clicked. I like the way you're allowed to choose the clip on which you want to work, and then open a dialog box and do everything you need right there. It's a convenient and fast way to work. Once you've fine-tuned your effects and placed the clip on the timeline, you can further adjust the clip there. Another detail that saves lots of time is the ability to save a transition, and you can copy that to all other transitions. Adding convenience to that is the ability to take all the effects and transitions from one project and import that database into another project, thus creating a consistent signature look. And don't worry if you make a mistake, either -- if you don't like the result of anything you do, there are unlimited levels of undo.

Next: What's Missing?

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