Wipe

What is Wipe?

A wipe is an editing transition where a moving boundary line sweeps across the screen, replacing the current shot with the next one as it travels.

At a glance

Also known as
Wipe transitionWipe cutIris wipe (circular variant)
Used for
Stylistic transitions between scenes or shotsReferencing period or genre cinema conventionsBranded or graphic transition sequencesComic timing punctuation in comedy editing
Key features
Moving boundary reveals incoming shot beneath outgoingMaintains clear edge between shots throughout the transitionComes in many geometric variations with distinct associationsMore graphic and visible than dissolves or invisible cuts

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How it compares

How it compares

Compared with related concepts

The wipe is most usefully compared with the dissolve, the other primary graphic transition in the standard editing toolkit. A dissolve creates a simultaneous overlap between outgoing and incoming shots, with both images blending together in varying proportions throughout the transition: an effect associated with memory, passage of time, and gentle scene changes. A wipe maintains a clear boundary between the two shots and reveals the incoming image progressively, creating a more graphic, mechanical, and visible transition that reads as a more deliberate stylistic statement. Where dissolves tend to be used for emotional or temporal transitions, wipes tend to be used for graphic, stylised, or genre-referential ones.

Think of it like…

A wipe transition works like turning a page: the current view is swept aside as a new one is revealed beneath it, with a clear edge marking the boundary between what is passing and what is arriving. Where a dissolve is more like one image fading through another ( a photographic double exposure ) a wipe is more like physically uncovering a new image that was hidden under the old one, the boundary line marking the progress of the reveal as it moves across the frame.

Pro tip

Use wipes deliberately and sparingly, and always in awareness of the cultural associations they carry. The horizontal wipe is not a neutral transition: to audiences familiar with Star Wars and the serial cinema tradition it references, it signals a specific genre or period aesthetic. Using it thoughtlessly in content that has no relationship to those associations can create tonal confusion. When a wipe is genuinely right for a project: because its graphic quality, its period associations, or its comic energy serves the work: commit to it fully and use it consistently as part of the project's visual language. An isolated wipe in otherwise conventionally cut content stands out awkwardly; a production that embraces the wipe as part of its visual identity uses it with coherent intention.

Types and variations

  • Wipes are categorised by the geometry and direction of their boundary movement.
  • Linear wipes move in a straight line from one side of the frame: horizontal (left-right or right-left), vertical (top-bottom or bottom-top), or diagonal.
  • Radial wipes rotate around a central point, like a clock hand sweeping around the frame.
  • Iris or circular wipes expand from a point or contract to one, the circular boundary growing or shrinking to reveal the incoming image.
  • Push wipes move the outgoing image off-frame in one direction while the incoming image slides in from the opposite direction, combining a wipe with a sliding movement.
  • Split wipes open from the centre outward in opposite directions simultaneously, or close from opposite edges inward.
  • Shaped wipes use any defined form as the transition boundary.
  • Each variant carries different visual energy and genre associations.

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Common use cases

  • Wipes appear most frequently in production contexts where their graphic, stylised quality serves a specific creative or communicative purpose.
  • Star Wars-influenced genre filmmaking uses horizontal wipes as a deliberate style reference.
  • Animation and children's media use shaped and iris wipes as expressive, playful transitions that suit their visual worlds.
  • Broadcast sports and news graphics use wipes as branded transitions within graphics packages.
  • Comedy editing uses wipes ( particularly the fast horizontal wipe ) as a timing mechanism that signals a scene change with comedic energy.
  • Archival and documentary productions sometimes use period-appropriate transition styles, including wipes, to match the visual conventions of the era being depicted.
  • In AI video production, wipes are most useful in contexts where the production's overall aesthetic is heightened, graphic, or period-referential rather than naturalistically invisible.

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FAQs

Why does Star Wars use wipe transitions?
George Lucas deliberately incorporated wipe transitions into Star Wars as a stylistic homage to the 1930s and 1940s science fiction serials and adventure films that inspired the production. Wipes were a standard transition technique in that era of filmmaking, and their use in Star Wars was intended to evoke the Saturday matinee serial aesthetic that was central to the film's cultural DNA. The wipes became so strongly associated with the franchise that they have been consistently used across the Star Wars saga and are now read by audiences as a genre signal specifically associated with that series and its inspirations.
Is the wipe considered a dated editing technique?
The wipe is stylistically marked: it carries period associations and genre signals that make it feel deliberately retro or graphic rather than invisible and contemporary. Whether this makes it 'dated' depends entirely on the context of its use. Used knowingly in a project that engages with the traditions it references, the wipe is a sophisticated stylistic choice; used without awareness of those associations in contemporary content that has no relationship to them, it can feel incongruous or anachronistic. The technique is not dated per se, but it requires deliberate intention to use effectively in contemporary production.
What is the difference between a wipe and a push transition?
A wipe reveals the incoming image by moving a boundary across the frame while both shots remain in their original positions. A push transition physically moves the outgoing shot off-frame in one direction while the incoming shot slides in from the opposite direction: the images themselves appear to move, rather than just the boundary between them. A push is more kinetic and spatial than a wipe, suggesting physical movement from one location to another, while a wipe is more graphic and mechanical. Both are visible, stylised alternatives to the invisible cut or dissolve.
How do I apply a wipe transition in video editing?
Wipe transitions are standard features in all major video editing applications. In most non-linear editors, they are found in the transitions panel and can be dragged onto the edit point between two clips. Parameters including direction, duration, and edge softness can be adjusted to customise the transition's character. Some applications offer large libraries of wipe shapes and directions; others offer a more limited selection of standard variants. Morphic's Compose tool supports transitions between clips that can be configured for different transition styles when assembling AI-generated sequences.
Can wipes be used in vertical video content?
Yes, and the vertical format actually suits certain wipe directions particularly well. Vertical wipes ( moving from top to bottom or bottom to top ) align with the natural vertical axis of 9:16 format content and can feel more natural and intentional in portrait-orientation video than horizontal wipes, which sweep across the narrower dimension of the frame. Wipes are used in short-form social media content as stylistic transitions, particularly in animation and graphic content styles that suit the visible, designed quality of the technique.
What is an iris wipe?
An iris wipe is a circular wipe variant in which the transition boundary expands outward from a central point to reveal the incoming image beneath (an opening iris) or contracts inward to a vanishing point to close out the outgoing image (a closing iris). Iris wipes are strongly associated with silent cinema and early sound films, where the iris-in and iris-out were standard techniques for beginning and ending scenes. The circular iris has become a visual shorthand for period cinema and silent film aesthetics, carrying those nostalgic associations into any contemporary production that uses it.
Does the wipe have different associations in different countries?
The associations of specific wipe styles vary somewhat by national cinema tradition, though the Star Wars connection has made the horizontal wipe internationally associated with that franchise and its serial cinema inspirations. The iris wipe's silent film associations are broadly consistent across national cinematic traditions. In broadcast television, the specific wipe styles used in regional graphics packages vary by broadcaster and era, meaning that particular wipe variants may carry nostalgic associations specific to the national broadcast context in which they were widely seen.
When is a wipe more appropriate than a dissolve?
A wipe is more appropriate than a dissolve when the production's visual language benefits from a graphic, visible, designed transition rather than an organic, atmospheric one: in genre productions that reference period filmmaking, in animated or illustrated content where a graphic transition style suits the visual world, in comedy where the wipe's mechanical energy adds timing value, or in branded content where a wipe is part of a consistent visual identity system. A dissolve is more appropriate when the transition should feel emotional, temporal, or naturalistic: a gentle passage of time, a memory, a soft scene change that the viewer should absorb without conscious notice of the transition itself.
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