Opacity, Keyframes and dissolves

[Tom Wolsky]

In legacy FCP you could not place a transition solely on the start of a clip of it was inline with another clip. It would always extend the other clip if there was available media. You could shift the center of the transition bit you could not disconnect the transition, not without detaching the clip from the inline clip.

I don’t know how to pirouette and I don’t need to. Really moving one second is that difficult for you? Jeez.

You don’t need the Cmd-P. I just do it out if habit fir moving the playhead to a location. Plus or minus is all you need.

All the best,

Tom

“Final Cut Pro X for iMovie and Final Cut Express Users” from Focal Press
“Complete Training for FCPX” from Class on Demand
Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP7,” “Basic Training for FCS” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”

[David Eaks]

So you have two clips butted up to each other and want to fade the second one in from black? Just stick a gap clip between the two (option-w), add transition and ripple trim the excess gap clip by grabbing the top right side of the transition or with keystrokes.

With playhead at edit-

option-w

‘
cmd-t

;;

option-]

Think of gap clips in FCPX as an empty space on the timeline of FCP7 (sort of).

[Julian Bowman]

I beg to disagree as I would often drop the transition on the start of a clip, not making it span the previous clip because, lo and behold, I had a gap in my timeline and achieved exactly what I wanted.

And no, it isn’t really difficult doing the FCPX method of moving forward one second but it is 4 keystrokes to one for something I do A LOT whilst editing so it has made things harder in the grand scheme of things simply because of an arbitrary design decision to alter something that worked, to something different.

Particularly using PAL, can anyone hold their hand up and say a 10 frame jump forward is preferable and more useful than a 1 second jump forward on a day to day basis?

I really appreciate your help Tom, and others who have piped up now and then, but there appears to be this blind acceptance that FCPX is the dogs bollocks as it is and ignoring stupid design flaws. Why on earth would you not be going ‘er, 4 clicks instead of 1, WTF?’ As I said, I have to use this software but i’ll be buggered if i am not going to bitch about its shortcomings out of some blinded adoration for Apple. it really isn’t a brave new paradigm, it is just a different way of doing things. I got it after a few hours and some tutorials. it doesn’t freak me out, doesn’t challenge my old ways, it just moves stuff around differently. Fine. Not a problem. But the design flaws of the basic functionality of it, and there are many flawed decisions, are genuinely frustrating and I kind of object to be chastised simply because I would prefer the ‘old way’ of a single goddam shortcut to the ‘new better way’ of multiple keystrokes.

[Tom Wolsky]

“I beg to disagree as I would often drop the transition on the start of a clip, not making it span the previous clip because, lo and behold, I had a gap in my timeline and achieved exactly what I wanted.”

I’m sorry, but this is simply not true. You had to move the clip in the timeline if it was abutted to another clip or it would always extend the adjacent clip to create an overlap. I just tested it again. Dragging and dropping would create a start on edit transition, bit it would still extend the adjacent clip for the overlapping handle.

All the best,

Tom

“Final Cut Pro X for iMovie and Final Cut Express Users” from Focal Press
“Complete Training for FCPX” from Class on Demand
Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP7,” “Basic Training for FCS” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”

[Julian Bowman]

I didn’t say you were wrong, but I did say I would do this when I had a gap in the timeline between clips. This is how I would use it. personally I have never gone from a clip to the next frame fading in from black. I’m someone has somewhere but not me. I do however go from black to 100% from a clip which has been preceded by space. So fading in after an extended pause I guess.

I could choose the amount of seconds I wanted the gap to be using the +1 sec shortcut, nice and quickly, then put my clip there and add the dissolve transition to the start of the clip. Very easily achieving my aims.

My frustration with FCPX is that this isn’t possible because of what appears to be an automated process of decision making on my behalf and a lack of gaps. The slugs it puts in the timeline are not gaps, they are active elements. And in this use of editing, they make things far more inconvenient.

What frustrates me about this board, as I posted above, is that these things are accepted as being better simply because of a like of FCPX. I guess if the posts went, ‘yeah, but frustrating but try this workaround and hopefully Apple will make the change’ I may be a tad more ‘fine, ok, cheers’ but I’m being told that using 4 keystrokes instead of 1 is better and I should get a grip* (*not actual wordage used, but inferred obviously).

So, there we have it. FCPX does it different. But in this case, its different is not better. In fact it is worse.

[Tom Wolsky]

” I do however go from black to 100% from a clip which has been preceded by space.”

You do this exactly the same in X.

All the best,

Tom

“Final Cut Pro X for iMovie and Final Cut Express Users” from Focal Press
“Complete Training for FCPX” from Class on Demand
Class on Demand DVDs “Complete Training for FCP7,” “Basic Training for FCS” and “Final Cut Express Made Easy”

[Richard Hall]

seriously, its really easy and much faster than 7… just grab the top right or left corner of the clip you need a single transition as Julian mentioned, it took me a while to figure at first – so its worth persevering!

Today only your imagination is the limitation.

[Julian Bowman]

what do you mean grab the top left corner? When I do and drag it just moves the clip length. Is there an opacity feature like the audio feature of grab and move to create a fade?

right… whilst trying to figure out what Richard meant I tried moving the clip I wanted to add the dissolve to into a secondary track position and it created a grey roof clip and then I dropped the transition on the start of the clip and it did exactly what I wanted. So, that’s fine and dandy.

Would still like to know what you meant though Richard. Cheers

[Julian Bowman]

Ok, after zoom to fit I saw it didn’t fully work as it added a transition at each end, but deleting the uneeded one wasn’t so hard.

[Dave Jenkins]

Julian, if I understand what your asking to do this video should show you the steps.

Transition at the start of a clip

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