Linear Wipe

Linear Wipe is a transition effect that progressively reveals or hides a cue's content using a pair of parallel straight-line edges. By animating the wipe's parameters over time, you can create clean reveal and conceal transitions, split-screen effects, and dynamic content boundaries.

The wipe shows a band of the cue bounded by two parallel edges. Pixels inside the band are visible; pixels outside are transparent. Completion sets the band width: at 0 the band covers the whole cue (fully visible), and at 100 the band closes to nothing (fully hidden). Location sets where the band sits. At 50 the band is centered on the cue, so both edges move symmetrically. At 0 or 100 the band sits against one edge, so a single edge sweeps across — the familiar single-edge wipe. Angle rotates the edges and Feather softens them.

Wipe Tween Channels

The Linear Wipe effect is controlled through four tween channels, all added together as a group:

• Angle — the direction of the wipe edge, in degrees. The range is unlimited (default display range −180° to 180°), so you can rotate the wipe boundary to any orientation. At 0° the edge is vertical; changing the angle rotates it accordingly.
• Location — the center of the visible band along the wipe's normal axis, as a percentage from 0 to 100. At 50 the band is centered on the cue and both edges move symmetrically. At 0 or 100 the band sits against the corresponding edge, keeping the second edge off-screen and producing a classic single-edge sweep. The default value is 100.
• Feather — the softness of the transition zone at the wipe edge, in pixels. A value of 0 produces a hard, crisp edge. Higher values widen the soft fade across the boundary, spanning that many pixels. The minimum is 0; there is no hard upper limit.
• Completion — the band width, as a percentage from 0 (fully visible) to 100 (fully hidden). This is the primary channel you animate. The default value is 0, so a new wipe leaves the cue fully visible until you animate Completion.

Creating a Linear Wipe

To add a Linear Wipe to a cue:

1. Select one or more media cues in the Timeline.
2. Open the Effect menu and click Linear Wipe. This adds all four wipe channels to the cue simultaneously.
3. The wipe channels appear in the tween area beneath the cue, grouped under the Linear Wipe header.

Once added, the cue stays fully visible (Completion = 0) by default. Animate the Completion channel to wipe it off or on.

Animating the Wipe

Linear Wipe channels support multiple tween points with configurable easing curves, just like any other effect in WATCHOUT:

1. Place the time needle at the start of the transition and set Completion to 100 (hidden).
2. Move the time needle to the end of the transition and add a tween point with Completion set to 0 (visible).
3. Choose a transition type (Linear, Quadratic, Cubic, Sinusoidal, etc.) to control the speed curve.

You can also animate the Angle, Location, and Feather channels independently. For example, you might rotate the wipe edge while it sweeps across the cue, or gradually increase feather softness during the transition for a more organic feel.

Combining with Other Effects

Linear Wipe works well in combination with other effects:

• Opacity — combine a wipe with an opacity fade for a reveal that also fades in.
• Position — slide content into view while simultaneously wiping it on, creating a cinematic entrance.
• Corners — distort the cue shape while wiping for perspective-aware transitions.
• Color adjustments — desaturate or brighten content as it wipes in for dramatic reveals.

Use Cases

• Scene transitions — wipe between content by placing two cues back-to-back and animating their Completion values in opposite directions.
• Progressive reveals — gradually uncover text, images, or video using an animated Completion value.
• Split-screen effects — set a static Completion value and use Location to shift the band off-center, exposing only one side of the cue. Combine two cues with complementary settings to create a hard split.
• Dynamic content boundaries — animate the Angle or Location over time to create moving borders within a cue.