Cover Transition

Watch as an animation →

In plain words

Hide the cut at the moment an object such as a person, a pillar or a hand fills the whole frame, so that when the cover clears, a different scene seems to continue.

When to use it

Film scenes that should look like a single take. Travel or fashion ads where the location changes. Scene changes in YouTube vlogs. It is easier to make than a wipe-by transition, which uses a mask to wipe along an edge.

Example videos

Alfred Hitchcock’s Long Takes — Directing Techniques from 'Rope' — Explainer: The part that explains the invisible editing used to hide cuts in Rope
Slick Walk By Transition Effect - Adobe Premiere Pro CC Tutorial (Custom Wipe & Reveal with Masking) — Explainer: How to make a mask that follows a passing person to reveal the next scene
Walk By Transition Tutorial in Premiere Pro | Mask Transition Effect — Explainer: A tutorial on making a transition in Premiere Pro where a person walks by and covers the screen
Jim Lynn — The scene transitions in Hitchcock's Rope — Real

In AI video, like this

Generate cut A so the screen is covered at its end, and cut B so it starts in a covered state. In A's prompt put "a person walks right in front of the camera, their dark jacket fills the entire frame", and in B's put "the frame starts fully covered by a dark jacket that moves away to reveal ...". If the model accepts a start frame, use an image where dark cloth fills the whole screen as B's first frame. In the edit, cut at the frame where the screen is most covered. If the cover is incomplete, move a mask along the edge of the covering object in Premiere Pro or DaVinci Resolve. In ffmpeg, do a hard cut at the covered moment or hide the seam with a 2 to 4 frame xfade=transition=fade.

One-click prompt

Two-shot sequence: Shot 1, a girl walks along a rainy night street and ends by raising a black umbrella that fills the whole frame, 3 seconds; Shot 2 begins on the black umbrella filling the frame, lowering to reveal the same girl now in a sunny market square, same walking pace, 3 seconds. The cover hides the cut.

Example films

Rope (1948) — Half of its cuts are hidden by covering the screen with a man's jacket or the back of a piece of furniture

See it in real films and ads

Jim Lynn — The scene transitions in Hitchcock's Rope

AI-made examples

Not verified

Recommended for scenes like these

Techniques that pair well

← Bridge / Transitional ShotMorph Cut →