Transitions

scale out transition

Drop scale out transition between two clips and it does the work of a widescreen (16:9) transition: 2 layers, already stacked. Skip the setup phase entirely. Paste it in and you're already looking at a finished comp to tweak. One click brings it into After Effects.

This transition pastes straight into your timeline via MotionPotion, a free plugin for After Effects: get it free, no card needed.