A wipe is a transition effect in which an incoming shot progressively replaces an outgoing shot across the frame, with a moving boundary sweeping from one side, corner, or center outward to reveal the new image beneath. Unlike a dissolve where the two shots overlap simultaneously, a wipe maintains a clear edge between the outgoing and incoming footage as the boundary travels across the frame.

Wipes come in many geometric variations: hard-edge wipes that move horizontally, vertically, or diagonally across the frame; circular wipes that expand from the center or contract to a point; shaped wipes that use custom boundaries; and soft-edge wipes that feather the transition boundary for a less graphic look. The technique has strong associations with specific visual contexts - the classic horizontal wipe is iconic from its use in the Star Wars films as a stylistic transition that references 1930s serial cinema, and it carries a graphic, somewhat theatrical quality that is immediately recognizable. In broadcast graphics and lower-budget productions, wipes were widely used as an alternative to dissolves, giving them associations with certain eras and production aesthetics. In contemporary film editing, wipes are used either as deliberate stylistic choices that reference these associations or for specific visual transitions where a hard geometric boundary serves the narrative.

In AI video production, wipes are applied in post-production during the editing stage. When assembling sequences in Compose on Morphic, transitions between clips can include wipes when the visual language of the project calls for a more graphic, stylized approach to scene changes rather than the invisible cut or gentle dissolve that conventional editing typically favors.